Humpty Dumpty Playschool

Humpty Dumpty Play-School Monxton Road, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8HT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/11/2014 18/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff provide a wide range of interesting resources and activities covering all areas of learning both indoors and outside, which engage and motivate children to learn. As a result, children are making good progress in their learning and development.  Staff are good role models and form warm relationships with children. Consequently, children behave well, are happy and confident, and settle quickly into the play-school.  Staff build very good partnerships with parents. An effective key-person system encourages a two-way flow of information sharing, which promotes continuity in children's learning.

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It is not yet good because

 The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of changes to management committee members as required.  Staff do not consistently record children's attendance when they arrive, which compromises children's safety and well-being.  Some staff do not always make full use of all opportunities during activities to enrich children's learning further.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children taking part in activities indoors and outside.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of an activity with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a meeting with manager and deputy manager, and held discussions with the manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including children's developmental records, registers of attendance, safeguarding procedures, risk assessments, accident and medication records, and information for parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to several parents/carers to gain their views and read parents' written feedback.

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Information about the setting

Humpty Dumpty Play-School opened in 1974 and is managed by a committee of parents. The play-school is situated on a military site on the edge of the army base in Andover. The play-school occupies three buildings and there is a large enclosed outdoor play area. The play-school serves a wide catchment area. The play-school opens each weekday from 8.30am to 4pm during school term time. Children may attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 69 children on roll. The play-school is registered on the Early Years Register. The play-school is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The play-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children learning English as an additional language. The play-school employs 13 members of staff of whom 12 work with the children and one member of staff is employed as an administrator. The manager holds a

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Information about the setting

recognised early years qualification at level 5, one member of staff holds a relevant qualification at level 4 and other staff hold recognised early years qualifications at level 3.

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must:

 develop the management committee's knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities to ensure statutory requirements are adhered to, including informing Ofsted of changes to all adults connected with the pre-school

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must:

 ensure that a daily record of all children's hours of attendance is rigorously maintained.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 enhance children's all-round learning and development by consistently using open questions and providing more opportunities to explore and experiment independently.

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who attend

The manager and staff are experienced and have a good understanding of how young children learn and develop. They implement the educational programmes successfully in both the indoor and outdoor environment to promote children's learning in all areas. This supports those children who prefer to play and learn outside effectively. Staff use on- going observational assessments alongside children's interests to identify next steps in each child's learning. Staff plan tailored activities and experiences to meet children's individual needs, which enthuse and motivate children to play and learn. Consequently, children make good progress in their learning and development from their starting points. Staff keep parents well informed about their children's learning and progress through regular discussions and stay and play sessions, children's learning journals and formal meetings. Staff complete regular written assessments including the required progress

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who attend

check for two-year-old children and share these with parents. Staff encourage parents and carers to record comments on assessments and share their child's achievements at home using 'Wow' slips. Staff celebrate and share these achievements with children during group times to promote their self-esteem.

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who attend

Overall, the quality of teaching is good. Staff provide children with many opportunities to take risks under their close supervision and guidance. Staff support children's developing communication and language skills well. Staff use key words in families' home language to help children learning English. Staff reinforce language using sign language to support children's communication. Staff use a language and communication initiative to organise small-group activities that focus on promoting children's listening and attention, and communication and language skills. As a result, children are developing good listening skills and are becoming confident communicators. Staff support children well to expand their vocabulary. For example, staff asked children to describe what was happening and how the cornflour and water mixture felt as they manipulated it using their fingers, hands and tools. However, there are occasions when some staff miss opportunities to extend

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who attend

children's learning further. For example, staff did not give children the packet of cornflour and the jug of water so that they could experiment with the consistency of the mixture.

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who attend

Staff interact positively with children increasing children's learning through their involvement. Staff skilfully support children to solve problems for themselves. For example, two children wanted to ride the red bike and decided that they would share the bike by taking turns. Staff ask a good amount of open-ended questions to encourage children's thinking skills. For example, staff wondered how children had made the chocolate colour during a large-scale painting activity outside. They gave children time to think and respond. Staff praised them when children remembered, 'I used red and green paint to make the brown chocolate and mixed it together like this.' However, there are occasions when some staff use closed questions that only require a yes or no answer. This does not support children's thinking skills or language development.

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who attend

Staff promote children's physical skills well. Children enjoy a game with staff, throwing beanbags and then jumping into the hoops placed on the ground. They confidently manoeuvre around obstacles as they pedal bikes, balance on scooters, and use sit-and- ride cars. Staff support children effectively to persevere and to develop the small muscles in their fingers. Children manipulated wooden pegs to attach laminated sandcastle pictures onto a washing line. Staff skilfully extended the activity by encouraging children to recognise and name the numbers on the sandcastles, sequence them and count the total.

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who attend

Staff provide children with a wide range of interesting resources to promote their early writing skills. For example, children particularly enjoyed using water to paint the fence with an assortment of paintbrushes, rollers and decorating trays. They used their senses as they explored paint and glitter with their hands making handprint artwork. Children enjoy stories and select books to read independently and to share with staff or their friends. Staff encourage children to develop their imaginations as they use the pictures to make up their own stories as they read books. Staff label resources and equipment, which promotes children's early reading skills and develops younger children's awareness of print. Older or more able children are starting to recognise letters and sound out simple words.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are happy and confident, forming good relationships with the kind and caring staff. An effective settling-in system enables children, parents and carers to become familiar with their key person before children start. Staff gather valuable information from parents and carers about children before they first start, such as their interests, likes and dislikes, some skills and abilities, and key words in home languages. Staff use this information to plan activities that capture children's interests from the outset. This helps to ease children's move into the play-school promoting their emotional well-being.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are very confident and enthusiastic learners. Children move purposefully around the indoor and outdoor learning environments developing their social skills as they interact with both adults and their friends. Children enjoy coming to the play-school and quickly settle and get involved in their chosen activities. However, staff do not rigorously record children's attendance on the register at the start of the sessions. This means that although staff who greet children are aware that these children are present, children's safety and well-being is compromised. Nevertheless, staff complete daily checks to ensure that the play areas, toys and equipment are free from hazards. Staff maintain precise accident and medication records and keep parents and carers informed of these by ensuring they sign the relevant forms when they collect their children.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The playrooms are bright and cheery because staff display attractive posters, children's named creative work and photographs of children's families. This promotes children's sense of belonging. Children are able to select a broad range of toys and equipment independently, which staff store at child height within the play areas. Staff promote children's independence further by encouraging them to do things for themselves, such as putting on their own coats, wellington boots and dressing-up clothes. Staff provide plenty of praise and encouragement, which boosts children's self-esteem and supports them to keep on trying. Staff get down to children's level during activities and this helps the children to feel valued, be involved and concentrate. As a result, children are acquiring the skills to prepare them for their next stage in learning, such as school.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children's behaviour is very good. Staff are good role models and provide clear and consistent explanations to make their expectations clear. Staff sit and chat with children during snack and lunchtimes which helps to develop children's social skills. Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe. For example, staff remind younger children to be careful when using the sticky tape dispenser because the cutting edge is sharp. Older children put on cycle helmets independently before riding bikes because they know they need to wear one to protect their head. Staff supported children well to use the traffic signals and lollipop sign to direct the ride-on cars and scooters. Children explained that they had to wait for the lollipop sign before the traffic would stop so that it was safe to cross the road.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children benefit from daily fresh air and physical exercise in the outdoor play areas as they are able to spend extended periods of the day playing outside. Staff ensure that fresh drinking water is available and children know that they can help themselves to a drink when they are thirsty. Staff work with parents to provide healthy lunchboxes, and children enjoy some fresh fruit and vegetable choices at caf-style snack times. As a result, children are developing a suitable understanding of a healthy lifestyle.

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provision

The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of changes to the management committee members. It is a legal requirement to do so. This means Ofsted has not been able to carry out the required suitability checks on committee members. However, this does not have a significant impact on children's safety and well-being. This is because the committee members do not have unsupervised contact with children during the play-school sessions. In addition, staff have failed to fully meet another requirement in relation to recording children's attendance at the start of the sessions. However, as staff have greeted the children and parents on arrival they are aware of their presence and consequently, this does not have a significant impact on children's safety and well-being.

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provision

There are appropriate recruitment procedures in place to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. The manager carries out clear induction procedures so that new staff are clear of their role and responsibilities. Staff implement safeguarding procedures so that unchecked adults, volunteers, visitors or other helpers are not left alone with children at any time. All staff have completed safeguarding training and have a sound understanding of child protection procedures, including the possible signs that a child may be at risk of harm, and how to record and report concerns. Staff are aware of the procedure to follow if they have concerns or receive allegations about a colleague's practice. This helps to promote children's welfare while in the play-school.

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provision

The manager, deputy manager and staff have a secure understanding of the learning and development requirements. The manager and deputy manager are passionate about the play-school and have a clear drive for the continuous development of the provision. They regularly gather the views of staff, parents and carers to help identify areas for improvement. They carefully monitor the educational programmes to ensure they cover all areas of learning in both the indoor and outdoor learning environment. The manager uses effective monitoring systems to track the progress of individual children and groups of children. This helps her to identify trends, such as gaps in learning or areas where children are exceeding developmental expectations so that staff can plan targeted individual support. The manager monitors staff's practice through regular observations and staff supervision meetings. There are effective systems in place to support staff in their

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provision

professional development to benefit children, through mentoring, training and working towards additional early years qualifications.

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provision

Strong partnerships with parents, carers and others involved in children's care help staff to meet children's needs. Staff liaise with other professionals so that children receive any additional support they need. Parents and carers comment positively about the knowledgeable, caring staff and appreciate the advice they receive to continue their children's learning at home. Parents and carers state that their children are making good progress, are happy and enjoy attending the play-school. Parents and carers receive detailed information about the play-school through the notice boards, newsletters, and the play-school's social networking site. They state that they found the information provided during the recent stay and play sessions on play, learning and development 'invaluable'. Staff establish links with feeder schools and liaise with teachers to help prepare older children to get ready for their move on to school.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 110128 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 845983 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 72 Number of children on roll 69 Name of provider Humpty Dumpty Play-School (Andover) Committee Date of previous inspection 18/02/2011 Telephone number 01264 382767

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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