River Meadow Pre-School

River Meadow Pre-School River Meadow Pre-School, Thames Drive, NEWPORT PAGNELL, Buckinghamshire, MK16 9DS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/11/2014 28/11/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The leadership team makes effective use of the processes they have in place to maintain the efficient management of the pre-school.  The leadership team and staff are thorough in their planning and delivery of the educational programme, and their support of children. They extend this seamlessly to the care of children with special educational needs and/or disability and children who are learning English as an additional language.  Staff plan and deliver a wide range of interesting activities to engage children in all areas of learning. As a result, children are inquisitive and confident to explore their learning independently.  Safeguarding children is central to all areas of staff's practice in the pre-school. This allows children to play and learn in a safe and secure environment.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not consistently make use of every opportunity to challenge and extend children's learning.  There are fewer opportunities for children to see and use numbers independently during their play to consolidate their learning of mathematics.

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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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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's activities indoors and outdoors, and spoke with staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector tracked children in the pre-school, reviewed their records, looked at a sample of documentation and carried out joint observations with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed qualifications, recruitment, and suitability information with manager.  The inspector held discussion with the nominated person and parents.

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Information about the setting

The River Meadow Pre-school has been operating since 1986. The pre-school registered at its current premises in 2005. The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register, and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A committee of volunteers manages the pre-school. The pre-school operates from two classrooms and an enclosed garden area within Tickford Park Primary School in Newport Pagnell, close to Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire. The pre-school is open Monday to Friday, from 7.45am until 3pm, and from 7.45am to 11.45am on Fridays. From 7.45am to 8.40am the pre-school operates a breakfast club for children who are in full-time school. The pre-school opens term time only. Currently, there are 120 children on roll, of these 74 children are in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding for provision for free early education for two and three year olds. The pre-school supports children with special

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Information about the setting

educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who are learning English as an additional language. The pre-school employs 16 staff, of these, eight work on a permanently in the pre-school. Eight staff including the manager hold appropriate qualifications.

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

 further develop the use of questioning techniques, to enhance how staff extend and challenge children's learning, especially in large group activities

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

 increase opportunities for children to see and use more numbers during their play, particularly when they are indoors, to extend their awareness of mathematics.

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who attend

Staff use their good knowledge of the educational programmes to routinely plan and deliver a wide range of good quality activities that cover all areas of learning and development. Staff identify clear aims for teaching and learning, and this helps them to make sure that they systematically cover all aspects of the educational programmes. However, staff do not always recognise when to extend some aspects of their teaching to consistently keep the quality teaching very high consistently, particularly in large group activities. For example, during the inspection staff gather children into a group to read them a story. Staff told the story in an engaging manner and children were captivated, however, staff did not take the time to recap the story to challenge and extend their understanding of the story. Therefore, while all children make good progress from their starting points, staff do not make best use of all opportunities to continuously extend

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who attend

children's learning. Nonetheless, staff make good use of information from observations and they deliver activities to engage individual children in purposeful learning. For example, where assessments shows that there are gaps in children's learning the key persons use targeted plans to close these gaps quickly for the children. This is especially effective for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, as well as, those children who are learning English as an additional language. The leadership team, key persons, parents, the special educational needs and disability coordinator and other health, education and social care professionals all work together to meet the needs of the children. They work as a strong and effective team that supports children to make big strides in their learning and development from their starting points.

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who attend

Children are learning to be good communicators, because staff make use of effective use of national programmes to develop and promote children's communication and language skills. Children are confident to ask questions and most speak clearly to give information. Staff, overall, use good questioning techniques to encourage children to think and respond with words. Children experience a wide range of activities that promotes their physical development. For example, they play outdoors each day and children demonstrate that they are developing good understanding of their physical needs. For example, during the inspection they explained that they are drinking water to get their energy back after running.

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who attend

Children's behaviour shows that they feel happy and secure in the pre-school. For example, during the inspection children engage freely with staff and their friends. Their engagement in all activities shows that they are inquisitive and interested to learn. Children are using their increasing independence to drive their learning forward. For example, during the inspection individual and small groups of children used the computer, cooperating with each other and showing that they are learning to share and take turns.

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who attend

Staff generally plan for, and promote, children's understanding of mathematics well. For example, during the inspection some older children demonstrated that they can count accurately, and they use resources, such as sand and water, to learn about quantities, weights and measures. However, there are few numbers displayed indoors for all children to see and use independently during their play.

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who attend

Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to successfully complete the progress check for two-year-old children when required. The manager reviews the checks and is instrumental in completing accurate summary reports, which the leadership team then shares with parents. This identifies to parents what their children can do and their next steps for learning.

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

There is a well-established key-person system. Key person's liaise closely with parents and children right from the start. They gain good quality information about each child. They make effective use of the information they receive to plan for children's arrival in the group. This means that they support new children extremely well. For example, during the inspection key persons' recognised when new children were feeling tired and offered them calm interactions and support. This helps children to manage their behaviour and build trust with individuals who understands their needs, and who responds to them positively. Children settle quickly and this benefits all children, especially new children who staff nurture so they do not become distressed. The kind and caring way in which staff meets children's needs helps to maintain a calm and purposeful environment for the benefit of every child. During the inspection children's positive engagement showed that they are

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

making secure attachments, and are developing appropriate levels of independence for their age and developmental stage.

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

Equality is at the centre of staff's practice in the pre-school and they use efficient teamwork to achieve good outcomes for children. The leadership team is meticulous in its planning, preparation and delivery of services to achieve equality for every child, regardless of background or ability. They keep abreast of changes to equality legislation and work persistently with parents and carers, as well as other professionals, to make the best use of resources available. This enables staff to use published child development guidance, and work in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals, to continually support and promote each child's learning. The leadership team and staff achieve an inclusive environment where children from diverse backgrounds, and with differing abilities, can all play and learn together.

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

All staff are familiar with the pre-school's behaviour policy. Additionally, their good understanding of children's individual developmental stages and needs helps them to use the most appropriate methods to help children to learn to manage their behaviour. For example, staff know the children who properly understand the concept of sharing. They use this knowledge to carry out small group session where they encourage these children to work with other children whose behaviour is less advanced in this area. Staff good and intuitive practices such as this, help children to learn from each other and to start to develop wider friendship groups. During the inspection, the atmosphere in the pre-school was busy and purposeful, and children behaved well.

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

Staff practice demonstrates that they have secure understanding of the appropriate actions to take to safeguard children. They make effective use of procedures, such as assessing risks and hazard, to create safe environments for children to play in. For example, where they identify hazards they take effective measures to reduce the risks to children. This allows children to play freely and explore their environment safely. Staff give children good levels of personal supervision according to need, and this enables all children to increase their independence. Staff continually supervise the children and help them to assess some risks. For example, during the inspection, staff taught children to use some tools correctly and for the intended purpose, such as pouring water from a jug, using a sharpener to sharpen pencils and knifes to cut fruit. This helps children to relate their actions to their personal safety. The pre-school's leadership team provides

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

information for parents about healthy eating, which helps them to provide children with healthy packed lunches. Through regular practice and routines, such as hand washing, regularly drinking water and learning to wipe their noses, children are learning to take responsibility for some aspects of their personal care. Most older children use the toilet independently, or with appropriate levels of support from staff if needed. The pre-school is safe, clean and secure. Overall, staff use the wealth of good quality resources very well to support children who are at different stages of their learning and development. This enables children to make purposeful choices about play. Additionally, this further develops their understanding of how they like to learn and enhances the educational programme for personal social and emotional development.

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provision

The pre-school's leadership team makes good arrangement to meet the learning and development, and the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Team working is a strong feature of this pre-school's staff team. The manager and staff work continuously to observe, monitor and track children's progress. Additionally, the manager effectively implements monitoring processes to track individuals and groups of children. She uses this, alongside the pre-school's self-evaluation details, to enable her to get a good perspective of the pre-school's overall performance. Overall, staff makes effective use of the pre-school's systems and resources, to support and promote every child's learning and development. This enables all children to make good progress from their starting points in readiness for school.

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provision

There are robust recruitment procedures implemented. These are based on safer recruitment practices and information derived from the Early Years Foundation Stage. For example, the leadership team are clear about changes pertaining to disqualified persons. The leadership ensures that every person who works in the pre-school is fully vetted, and this includes completion of Disclosure and Barring Services checks. The leadership team reviews the policies and procedures routinely and updates them accordingly. The leadership team involves staff to review and update policies. As a result, staff are very familiar with the pre-school's policies and procedures, and are experienced at using them to support their practice. For example, staff know what to do if they have concerns about any aspect of children's well-being. They know who the designated safeguarding officer in the pre-school is, and they know and understand the role of the Local Safeguarding

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provision

Children Board. Additionally, safeguarding information is readily available for staff and parents to use. All documents that are required to safeguard child and promote their good health, personal and individual care is in place, and are kept accurate and up to date.

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provision

The leadership team uses systematic procedures for staff management. For example, there are effective systems in place for the induction, supervision and appraisal for all staff. The leadership team provides sufficient qualified staff to support children's learning and development. The leadership team provides training to update staff's knowledge in specific areas, such as behaviour management, safeguarding, food and hygiene. This enables staff to demonstrate good levels of knowledge and skills in their practice. In addition, they are supporting some staff to gain qualifications in childcare and education to level 3. The pre-school's special educational needs and disability coordinator is highly trained. The manager makes good use of her knowledge and skills to support staff and parents in their delivery and monitoring of the arrangements for these children. This strengthens the provision that the pre-school staff make for this group of children. The

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provision

pre-school staff have well established and effective partnerships with the local primary schools to help children make a smooth move from the pre-school to school. The pre- school achieves very good partnerships with parents. Parents praise them highly for the care and education that they provide for children. They value the sharing of information about children's progress and achievements. Parents praise the effectiveness of the key- person system, and state that it helps them to maintain professional and meaningful relationships with staff. For example, where children have had siblings who attended the pre-school in the past the leadership team allocates the same key person to the family. Parents' value this continuity highly.

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provision

Overall, the leadership team is making effective use of self-evaluation. They make use of information from all interested parties to reflect on their practice. They use information from their monitoring systems, other professionals, parents and children to reflect on their overall performance. The leadership team is working effectively to drive and sustain improvements. For example, since the last inspection, they have improved the provision for expressive arts and design, and it is now more enticing for children to use. In addition, they are continuing to improve the garden to achieve a more inviting and exciting outdoor classroom for all children.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are 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 EY314549 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 834421 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 120 Name of provider River Meadow Committee Date of previous inspection 28/11/2011 Telephone number 01908 615 200

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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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