Impstone Preschool

Impstone Pre-school Pamber Heath Memorial Hall, Pamber Heath Road, Pamber Heath, Tadley,Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG26 3TQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/09/2014 17/09/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 4 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

 Children receive very good support in their personal, social and emotional development. This enables them to form positive friendships and feel settled, secure and motivated to play.  Staff have a good understanding of how children develop. They plan and provide challenging and enjoyable experiences, helping each child to learn and develop.  Partnerships with parents are strong. The staff exchange daily information with parents to promote continuity of care.  The leadership team have been proactive at addressing the actions set at the last inspection, improving outcomes for children and showing a good commitment to improvement.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff work well with most professionals who help to support children's individual needs. However, partnerships with early years practitioners at other settings where children attend are not fully effective.  The organisation of the book area does not entice children to look at books in their free play to enhance their literacy skills.

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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 activities in the indoor areas and in the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection, during and after activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation, including progress records and planning documents, and discussed these with staff.  The inspector and manager conducted a joint observation.  The inspector spoke to available parents at inspection.

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Information about the setting

Impstone Pre-school opened in 1989. It operates from Pamber Heath Memorial Hall, in Tadley near Basingstoke. The pre-school uses the main hall, the kitchen and toilets of the single storey community building. It also has use of an enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school is run by a voluntary management committee.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 22 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. It is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.15am to 12.15pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.15am to 2.45pm during term time. There is also a lunchclub Monday to Thursday which operates from 12.15pm to 1pm. Children have the option to stay for lunch club until 1pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Information about the setting

There are seven members of staff working with the children; of these three hold appropriate early years qualifications. Staffing arrangements vary throughout the week with rotas organised to ensure that at least half of the staff present each day are qualified.

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

 review the organisation of the book area to encourage children to explore books independently in order to enhance their literacy skills

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

 develop further arrangements to work in partnership with all practitioners at other early years provisions, where care of children is shared, to more fully promote consistency in care and teaching.

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who attend

Children in the pre-school are making strong overall progress in their learning and development. Staff work very well as a team and all have a good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This enables them to successfully promote and enhance outcomes for children.

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who attend

Staff support children very well in their personal, social and emotional development. Children are developing good self-confidence and self-esteem as staff consistently praise their ideas and efforts. For example, they expect and receive praise as they push their completed puzzles over to staff to show their accomplishments. Children learn about emotions and feelings through use of the 'happy bear', which is accessible to them when they are feeling sad. This helps them to consider their feelings while helping them to feel happier as they cuddle the interactive bear.

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who attend

Staff provide a good amount of well-planned activities throughout the pre-school, specifically targeted at promoting children's development and helping them reach their full potential. They support children's communication and language skills well by encouraging children to think of describing words as they engage them in interesting discussions. For example, children come up with words such as 'melt' when they are discussing what will happen to a snowman if the sun comes out. Children develop good listening skills as they concentrate on computer programs and take an active part in the reading of a story, with use of puppets. Although children enjoy shared reading with staff they do not regularly look at books in their freely chosen play. This is because the area used to display books is not particularly inviting. This does not fully support children to independently explore the links between written and spoken words. Children's early writing skills are progressing well

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who attend

as they receive encouragement to label their own work. They also practise writing letters on the white boards and chalk boards throughout the pre-school.

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who attend

Staff support children's mathematical knowledge and development very well. They provide accessible mathematical resources and use good mathematical language throughout activities. For example, when children are exploring water, staff talk to them about the containers being empty and full. Staff count with children and encourage them to experiment with colours and shapes as they play with puzzles and put objects in a line according to the colour. Children have access to a variety of art materials, which promotes their expressive arts and design. For example, they explore with paints, dough and sand to make different creations and marks.

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who attend

The pre-school has good documentation and assessments in place to record and identify children's next stages in learning. Staff regularly undertake observations of the children in their care. They use photographs and written observations to monitor children's progress effectively. They also complete the required progress check for two-year-old children. Staff share these with parents to promote continuity and support children's learning and development. Overall, there are suitable procedures in place to support partnerships with most professionals, such as reception teachers. This very effectively helps to prepare children for their move school. However, links with other early years setting where children attend are less effective, resulting in less efficient information sharing. This does not support staff to provide fully consistent care for all children.

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

Children clearly enjoy their time at pre-school and settle well upon entry. Staff support children well and key persons are consistently on hand to aid and support their key children. Staff know the children well and gather a wealth of information from parents when their child starts at pre-school. This successfully enables them to gain a good awareness of children's development and interests and to plan for their progress securely. Children develop a good sense of belonging in the pre-school. Staff provide them with individual labelled pegs and drawers to enable children to store their personal belongings and this enhances children's self-esteem.

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

Children play in a clean, well organised environment. Equipment, toys and resources are of good quality and reflect the ages and stages of children's development. Children benefit from regular fresh air and exercise as they are able to move freely between the indoor areas and the garden. Outside they have a varied range of equipment to support their development, such as a climbing frame and swings to support their moving and handling skills. Children of all ages enjoy playing ball games with the staff. This skilfully develops their hand and eye coordination as well as their physical development.

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

Staff provide a good role model to children along with praise and encouragement to promote their self-esteem and confidence. This has a positive outcome on the children and, as a result, they behave well. Children are developing a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe. Staff remind them to use their 'walking feet' inside to keep them safe so that they do not fall. In addition, the children learn how to use tools safely, such as nails and scissors. Staff support children's good health and well-being through effective hygiene practices and a song to promote thorough hand washing. This teaches children how to remove germs from their hands. Children understand routines in the pre-school and this helps to promote their independence skills. For example, they know to change their shoes when playing at the water station. Other opportunities such as self-selecting their snacks and drink also continually supports children's self-help skills. Staff work well in

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

partnership with parents to promote children's understanding of healthy eating. Parents bring in the children's snacks and lunches from home and staff enhance children's awareness of healthy eating through discussions at meal times.

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provision

The leadership team understand their responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and effectively monitor the success of educational programmes. All staff have a secure understanding of their roles and responsibilities with regards to safeguarding children and they have all undertaken safeguarding training. Daily risk assessments, completed prior to children's arrival, help to identify and address potential hazards to ensure children's safety. There are detailed policies and procedures in place, including written details of safeguarding processes. These are all available to parents to enable them to understand the pre-school's responsibilities and duty of care.

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provision

Recruitment procedures are robust with clear induction procedures for new staff and relevant suitability checks. The majority of the staff maintain first-aid certificates, enabling them to act accordingly in the event of illness or an accident. The management team support staff well. They work alongside them and regularly monitor their practice. This helps staff to feel supported and results in a well-motivated staff team. The leadership team has been proactive in making improvements since their last inspection and the pre-school has undergone a vast amount of change. This has led to staff changes and adaptations in documentation. This has made a significant impact on the children's learning and development, as the staffing team work in harmony with each to support the children. The leadership team have an accurate understanding of the strengths of the pre-school and have an action plan in place to ensures that improvements

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provision

continue. Staff encourage parents to contribute to this plan through their roles on the committee and through the use of questionnaires.

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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 507838 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 963135 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 22 Name of provider Impstone Pre-school Committee Date of previous inspection 17/09/2013 Telephone number 01189 701048

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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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