St. John's Preschool

St John's Pre-School The Reading Room, School Lane, St. Johns, Crowborough, East Sussex, TN6 1SB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/10/2014 22/03/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Children are confident and independent as the staff support them well.  Children benefit from using the outside play area; supporting a healthy lifestyle and encouraging learning outdoors.  Relationships with parents are sound. They are able to involve themselves in the running of the pre-school, through the committee or attending as a parent helper.

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It is not yet good because

 The lead practitioner responsible for safeguarding does not have a secure awareness of the child protection procedures.  The staff are not recording all of the required detail about parents and/or carers for each child.  The assessment process does not show how well children are progressing from their starting points to ensure staff are able to plan suitable activities.  The staff do not consistently support children's developing language skills through conversations and by asking effective questions.

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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 held meetings with the nominated person and the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at some children's records, including their learning assessments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of safeguarding practices, staff recruitment, ongoing professional development and self-evaluation processes.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector observed activities in the playroom and outside play area.

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Information about the setting

St John's Pre-School has been running since the 1960's and was registered by Ofsted in 2001. It is a parent committee run pre-school and operates from a church hall in Crowborough, East Sussex. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. It is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 3pm, and Friday 9am to 1pm, term time only.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and there are currently 32 childrenaged from 2 years on roll. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

There are five members of staff, four of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications to National Vocational Qualification at level 3. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years.

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must:

 ensure the lead practitioner for safeguarding has a secure knowledge and understanding of the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures to follow should there be child protection concerns about a child or member of staff

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must:

 ensure the name and address of every parent and/or carer, including information about who the child normally lives with and who has parental responsibility is recorded for each child

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must:

 improve the system for assessing children's progress so staff can be clear about children's rates of progress from their starting points to plan challenging experiences for each child in all of the areas of learning.

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

 improve staff's confidence in using questions and conversations to encourage children to think creatively and talk about their own thoughts and ideas.

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who attend

The staff have a general overview of their key children's individual learning needs. Staff use a computer system, recently introduced, to record children's observations, identify next steps in learning and monitor their progress. The previous assessment system did not show children's starting points or demonstrate how well children were progressing across the areas of learning. This meant that staff did not identify learning gaps clearly to help them plan challenging experiences for children effectively. The staff are still learning to use the computer system, so current practice is not strong. Consequently, staff are not able to monitor children's progress to ensure that they are working in line with expected development levels. However, parents comment that they like the new system as they can log on when it is convenient to them. The system enables them to see the observations made by staff about their child's development and they can send comments back. As a

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who attend

result, they have the opportunity to support their children's learning at home. There is a suitable two-way communication between staff and parents to help meet children's needs. Staff gather some information about children's interests and some achievements before they start. Most communication is verbal and a positive relationship with parents is in place. When necessary, staff provide parents with the written progress check for two- year-old children. The detail informs parents about their children's personal, social, emotional and physical progress, as well as their communication and language development. The staff are introducing a book lending service. The aim is to ask parents to feed back on how their child participated in the story sharing.

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who attend

Children are confident and keen to communicate. However, at times staff do not support children's developing language and communication skills well. Staff do not routinely use questions that encourage children to respond with more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Therefore, at times there is little creative or extended discussion with children. For example, staff do not always give children the opportunity to talk about their thoughts and ideas during story time or at snack time. However, there are positive relationships between staff and children and this helps motivate children to engage with adult-led activities. Children play and explore outside. There is an interesting range of resources for imaginative play. The staff encourage children's early writing skills by making paper and pencils available indoors and outside. Overall, children are developing the abilities they need for their future learning. However, the lack of effective assessment means staff

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who attend

cannot fully address children's learning needs to ensure they make good progress.

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

Overall, practices at the pre-school help keep children safe. There are suitable procedures in place to ensure premises are clean and hygienic. The manager is aware of the process to follow in the case of notifiable infections. Staff develop positive attachments with their key children and others. They work with parents in settling children into the pre-school. Staff engage with children and are positive role models so children's behaviour is appropriate. For example, they listen and respond to staff requests. Children gain sound personal, emotional and social development. They are beginning to relate well with other children and play cooperatively together. For example, they willingly share resources at the rice tray. Overall, children's positive wellbeing helps ensure they are emotionally ready for their move to school. The premises, inside and outdoors, provide a welcoming, interesting and child-centred

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

learning environment. Resources are at child height and boxes are labelled with pictures to encourage self-selection. Children are developing suitable levels of confidence and independence skills as they make choices about their play. For parts of the day, children decide if they want to play outdoors or stay indoors. Children know to wear outdoor shoes or boots outside and mostly put these on themselves with no help. They go to the toilet when they need and pour themselves drinks at snack time to gain further independence. Children take part in emergency evacuation drills so they learn to keep themselves safe. The staff teach children about road safety. They practise this by using a zebra crossing resource in the outdoor play area. Children learn about the need to stop, look and listen before crossing. Staff help children learn about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle. They provide healthy, balanced snacks to help promote the children's health. In

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

the outdoor area, children play with balls, run, use ride-on toys or the climbing frame to help develop their physical skills.

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provision

The leadership and management requires improvement as the provider does not ensure all of the safeguarding and welfare requirements are met. The manager, who is the designated staff member for child protection, has a sound knowledge of possible child protection issues. However, she is not aware of the correct procedures to follow if there are allegations made against a member of staff or volunteer. This is a breach of the legal requirements of the Early Years Register. There is written guidance available about the child protection procedures and staff have had some in-house training. Other required recorded detail relating to information about where and with whom children usually live is missing. This means that the provider is not fully meeting this legal requirement. However, this does not have a significant impact on children's safety.

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provision

The provider does not meet all of the learning and development requirements. Staff have not been assessing and monitoring children's progress accurately and regularly. In addition, there is a new system in place to track and monitor children's progress and staff are only beginning to understand how this works. As a result, the provider is not able to ensure successfully that each child is making good progress, and that the staff address any identified learning gaps effectively. Consequently, staff are not able to plan to support children's next steps in their learning.

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provision

The staff conduct daily checks to help ensure the premises remain safe and secure for children to explore safely. There are enough staff available to be able to supervise all children, both indoors and outdoors. The provider follows a suitable recruitment system and this includes obtaining the appropriate checks to help to ensure staff's suitability. There is a general induction process for new staff and this helps them learn about the pre- school practices and procedures. There is ongoing professional support for staff with regular supervision sessions. The staff are keen to improve outcomes for children and, if appropriate, undertake further training.

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provision

The staff reflect on the practices at the pre-school, and take account of the views and ideas from parents. There is some positive involvement with parents as they can join the committee or spend time at the pre-school. The provider and staff team identify strengths and areas for improvement. Development plans are ongoing and the staff demonstrate a suitable capacity to improve.

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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 109509 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 816957 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider St John's Pre-School Committee Date of previous inspection 22/03/2011 Telephone number 01892 664214

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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

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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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