ABC Preschool

ABC Preschool Akeman St Baptist Church, Tring, Hertfordshire, HP23 6AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/11/2014 02/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are effectively safeguarded because managers have a wealth of experience and staff are well trained. They adhere strictly to policies and procedures and remain vigilant at all times. As a result, children are kept safe.  The quality of teaching is outstanding. Staff have an exceptional knowledge of how young children learn. Therefore, they plan highly innovative experiences across the curriculum and children make excellent progress in their learning.  Children's behaviour is exemplary due to the staff's high expectations for all the children in their care. Staff include children in all that they do. Consequently, they play, take risks and explore and are active learners and become critical thinkers, confidently making their own choices and decisions.  Children are happy and contented. The highly effective key-person system enables them to form secure attachments with adults caring for them and for their parents to

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This provision is outstanding

share information and support their learning with ease. As a result, children's needs and interests are met and they form excellent relationships with the staff.  Managers and staff are highly motivated and work very closely as a team to continually drive up quality and standards.  Partnerships with parents are highly effective. Staff ensure that parents are actively involved in their children's learning and they frequently seek parents' views about the running of the pre-school.

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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 activities in the pre-school rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the provision and spoke to the staff throughout the inspection as appropriate.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and the provider's evidence of self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked the suitability of committee members and staff and qualifications of the adults working with the children.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

ABC Pre-School (formerly Playgroup) opened in 1976. It is registered on the Early Years Register and is managed by a committee of church members and parents. It operates from the Baptist Church Hall in central Tring. The pre-school serves the immediate locality and the surrounding areas. The pre-school opens on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9.10am until 12.10pm during term time, with a lunch club operating until 1.40pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Children are cared for in two rooms and have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 40 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of early years education for two-, and three-year-old children. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are currently 11 members of staff working

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Information about the setting

directly with the children. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications including one with Early Years Professional status. The pre-school has a core group of volunteers who staff the kitchen. The pre-school receives support from the local authority and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

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

 enhance the systems for monitoring children's progress to facilitate the leaders in easily identifying and addressing under- and over-achievement for specific groups of children and areas of learning.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is outstanding. The whole staff team have an exceptional knowledge and understanding of how young children learn and of what they can achieve. They are extremely skilled in using a wide range of different teaching and learning methods to promote children's all round development effectively. They work alongside the children, extending their ideas, intervening and engaging in their play. Staff place a high priority on the development of communication and language. They expertly use many different strategies, including repetition and modelling with the younger children and a variety of questioning techniques with the older ones, to support the development of language and communication skills. As a result, children acquire the skills, attitudes and dispositions they need to be ready for school. Staff plan challenging and exciting experiences, which spark children's interests and cover all seven areas of learning in

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who attend

depth. For example, the quiet room's transformation into a dark room, in which the children travel to the moon and use torches to explore, provides an opportunity for an extremely stimulating, multi-sensory experience. Children enter the darkened room without fear and delight in lying on the floor, looking up at projected images of moon landings and astronauts, just like them. Children are highly motivated and fully engrossed in all that they do. As a result, all children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make excellent progress in their learning.

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who attend

Staff carry out detailed observations, from which they make precise and useful assessments. They use these, as well as discussions at staff meeting times, to identify the children's interests and next stages of learning. This rigorous system ensures that all activities provide an appropriate level of interest and challenge for children of all ages. For example, where development of fine motor control is identified for some of the older children, an activity to produce an intricate ladybird, with markings and small sticky spots is devised. Younger children who are in the early stages of sustained concentration and focus are kept fully engaged in a large-scale elephant collage activity. Children of all ages demonstrate age-appropriate control of pencils, as they write messages and many of the letters in their names. Children of all ages demonstrate use of number in their play, as they count down from 10 to 'blast off'. Regular opportunities for a range of experiences

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who attend

across the areas of learning to take place outside are well planned for. Practitioners complete the progress check for children between the ages of two-and-three years and share a written summary with parents to enable them to support children's developing skills at home.

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who attend

Staff are highly successful at engaging parents in their children's learning. Prior to the children starting at the pre-school, they gather information from parents about children's care needs and interests during a home visit. This provides staff with an excellent overview of children's starting points. From this and with the addition of initial observations, a baseline assessment is created. Staff use this to plan activities to support children's next steps in their learning and development. Relevant support and guidance documents are used as a reference to allow them to identify if children are operating within the expected bands of development for their age. Parents are actively encouraged to share information regarding children's further development at home. Parents speak very highly of the pre-school and the staff. For example, they comment that staff know the children very well, keep them well-informed about their child's progress and are very

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who attend

supportive. The significant adults in each child's life are working together and their needs are very well met.

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

Children and their families are very warmly welcomed into this friendly pre-school. A highly effective key-person system and excellent relationships with parents ensure that the care and health needs of the children are very well met. The well-established settling-in process which is in place and includes a home visit allows children and parents to build extremely warm relationships with staff. Children of all ages develop very secure attachments with their key-person and other staff members, and separate well from their parents. As a result, children settle quickly and are very happy. Staff demonstrate how they manage the children's move to other settings, particularly to school. There are procedures in place to prepare the children for that move, which ensure that they do so with ease. A transition event at the local children's centre offers a very useful opportunity for children's records to be shared. As a result, staff from the pre-school and other

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

settings work in partnership to ensure continuity of care and learning for all children.

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

Children learn to keep themselves healthy through well-established daily routines, such as washing their hands before snack. Children describe the importance of doing so to make sure their hands are clean before they touch the food. The pre-school provides a snack, which is balanced and nutritious. During animated discussions at snack time, staff and children talk about how fruit is good for keeping you healthy. This raises children's awareness about making informed healthy food choices. Volunteers are used to prepare and oversee the distribution of the food and drink, which frees up the staff to sit with the children. This creates an excellent opportunity for staff to model conversation and promote the social importance of sitting down together. As snack time comes to an end, staff use props to extend the shared social experience and develop the conversation further. For example, one group uses 'All about me' photograph boards to encourage

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

some reluctant speakers to talk about themselves, while others discuss some rocks that the manager has delivered from outer space. Dietary needs and preferences are discussed with parents and adhered to carefully. As a result, children's health and well-being are promoted.

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

Children play in an excellently prepared room, furnished with appropriately sized tables and other good quality, child-friendly equipment. The numerous activities are enticing and vigilant and staff ensure that all children are engaged at all times. Resources are organised well and they are stored in low-level units and are accessible to all children, so that they are able to make choices about what they would like to do. Children have regular access to a large garden, where they can run and explore in the various areas of interest that are set up. As a result, children's overall well-being is promoted to a high level. Behaviour is exemplary. Children of all ages take the change of routine and different way in which the room is set up to allow for the 'Busy body' activities in their stride. Staff are on hand to support them but the children explore the apparatus and activities boldly, yet calmly. Children are not risk averse, as they come down the slide backwards and head

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

first and scramble through a tunnel and under a net. When it is time to tidy up, children are expected to help. Some are keen to lend a hand with putting away some of the larger equipment. Staff enable this to happen, while reminding the children of the many ways in which they must try to keep themselves safe. Staff encourage the children to take turns and share. As a result, they play cooperatively and harmoniously together.

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provision

Leadership is inspirational. The provider, manager and staff have an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The manager is very knowledgeable and experienced and all staff have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training. They demonstrate a thorough understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child's welfare. As a result, children are kept safe from harm. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures are in place. Excellent and efficient induction procedures support new staff in understanding the pre-school policies and procedures. As a result, these are strictly adhered to, maintaining the safe and efficient management in the setting. A range of policies and procedures are in place to support staff and keep parents informed about the provision. The manager and staff consistently ensure that the premises and outdoor

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provision

area are safe and secure. Thorough risk assessments are carried out regularly and daily checks ensure the areas where children play are safe. Well-established procedures for dealing with accidents and incidents are stringently followed, meaning that children are suitably treated in the case of an accident or medical emergency. Due to the vigilance of staff, excellent adult-to-child ratios and the outstanding care provided, children remain extremely safe and secure in the pre-school and the outdoor area.

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provision

The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities to meet the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are effective systems in place to monitor the progress of individual children, specific groups and areas of learning. There is scope to develop these systems further so that the format of the data produced is more user-friendly and can be easily manipulated to provide yet more useful analysis. Staff performance is rigorously monitored. Annual appraisals and regular reviews support staff in managing their personal and professional development. Targets for staff development and training are effectively identified and are always focused on bringing about improvements in the quality of practice. Regular mentoring sessions support staff in their practice and performance on a daily basis, to ensure they are meeting the needs of all the children. This leads to a staff team who are

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provision

extremely enthusiastic, committed and motivated, which helps to maintain the highest levels of quality in the setting.

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provision

The managers and staff have excellent relationships with parents and carers. Parents are warmly welcomed into the pre-school and communication methods are highly effective. This allows for strong partnership working, resulting in positive outcomes for children and their families. Families are given a wealth of information about the operational management of the pre-school, which is continually updated on the parents' notice board. The managers and staff liaise extremely closely with parents and value their feedback to ensure the needs of all children are fully met. There are extremely strong links with outside agencies, such as other health professionals and colleagues at the local children's centre. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are given support because of the excellent partnership working between the pre-school, specialists and parents. This results in highly effective care, which includes targets to help children

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provision

achieve to their highest level. The pre-school has extremely firm connections with other childcare providers and uses a 'share the care' book to facilitate communication with other settings that children attend. This means that there is excellent continuity and shared learning. Furthermore, children's development is effectively monitored by all those involved in their learning so that their needs are exceptionally well met.

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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 129311 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 854189

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Akeman Street Baptist Church Committee Date of previous inspection 02/06/2009 Telephone number 01442 824418

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Type of provision

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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