Banwell Buddies

Banwell Buddies Rear of Banwell Primary School, West Street, Banwell, North Somerset, BS29 6DB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/12/2014 29/06/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 The pre-school is exceptionally well led and managed. Expectations for children's care, development and learning are very high. There is a very strong emphasis on evaluation and reflection to maintain high standards and inspire further improvements.  Children are highly motivated by the stimulating activities and resources that are on offer. They make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development taking into account their starting points and capabilities.  Staff use detailed and accurate observation to assess children's development. They listen to children's interests and questions exceptionally well to plan activities.  Staff provide outstanding support through the key-person system so that children are emotionally secure and can develop high self-confidence and independence.  Staff work very effectively in partnership with parents to ensure all children reach their full potential. The process for children's move to school is exceptional.

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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 staff's interactions and children's play, indoors and outside.  The inspector talked to staff, children and parents at convenient times.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's records, policies and procedures, and other documentation.  The inspector checked evidence of staff suitability, qualifications and training.

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Information about the setting

Banwell Buddies is a well-established pre-school situated on the site of Banwell Primary School, in Banwell, North Somerset. It registered in 1992. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The group is run by a management committee. Children are cared for in the playroom and have access to toilet facilities. There is an enclosed terrace, main garden, alongside access to the school playground and field used for outside play. The group opens Monday to Friday during term time only. It opens from 8.45am to 11.45am, from 11.45am to 12.30pm for a lunch session and from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. There are currently 45 children on roll who attend throughout the week for a variety of sessions. The provider is in receipt of funding to provide free early education funding. The provider employs eight part-time members of staff to work directly with the children. One of these holds Early Years

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Information about the setting

Professional Status, six hold a qualification in early years at level 3 and one member of staff holds a qualification at level 2 and is working towards a level 3. The group works in partnership with the Local Authority Early Years Alliance. The group supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, children who are learning English as an additional language and those children with specific dietary needs. There is disabled access for adults and children. The group has strong links with the Early Years Foundation Stage provision in the primary school and with the local children's centre.

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

 continue to develop the outdoor area so that children get the best possible learning opportunities from the space available.

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who attend

All children make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development relative to their starting points. This is because the manager and her staff have excellent professional knowledge about the learning and development needs of children. They also have a very detailed knowledge of each unique and individual child. The staff have created a very rich indoor and outdoor environment. Consequently, children feel safe and able to learn through the use of excellent resources and stimulating activities. The outdoor area enables the children to explore and learn through purposeful play; it includes areas to paint and draw on a large scale, a large garden, climbing equipment, a digging and construction area, a mud kitchen and a bug hotel.

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who attend

Staff know how to support, motivate and challenge all the children. For example, at the start of the day a group of older children played an imaginary game where they took turns to choose an animal and then moved in the style of the animal. Their skilful key person challenged them to describe the movement, asking 'How does a whale move?' A child replied 'They go underwater like this' before making herself into a big shape and moving quite slowly. Other children were enjoying finding animals hidden in a tray of shaving foam, chatting away about the 'slippery, bubbly' feeling. Another group listened carefully to interesting percussion instruments such as the trickling rain-maker.

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who attend

Children often become engrossed in activities and this helps them develop their concentration and curiosity. For example, one child was drawn to a tray of stones, sand and dried spaghetti where he delighted in picking up pieces of spaghetti one by one, using just one hand before carefully snapping them. Other children became intrigued and gathered round, experimenting with damp pieces of pasta, which did not snap but bent. This was of great interest, prompting children's curiosity as they discussed why the pasta was damp. One child suggested 'It's because it is cooked'. The conversation continued about how pasta is cooked and whether this piece had really been cooked, or had made it a bit soft. Children were highly motivated to explore these questions and were starting to solve problems exceptionally well. They showed themselves to be happy confident learners. Through such activities the children develop their physical, communication,

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who attend

concentration and social skills very well.

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who attend

As well as providing stimulating resources, staff know how to plan very effectively to extend the children's level of development. It often begins with listening to children's questions which are recorded and then used to develop projects. For example, children asked 'How many birds come to our garden?' They then got involved in learning to recognise different types of birds, making food for them, observing, counting and recording the number of birds on a large board. During whole group sessions children learn to work in a large group. They sing songs and chant rhymes together which creates a strong sense of togetherness, security and belonging. At other times they divide into age groups and have more focused learning at their level. This helps to ensure that children receive appropriate levels of challenge in their learning. At the inspection, the younger children enjoyed listening to a story about a train ride. They all actively joined in with the

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who attend

'chugga chugga chugga chugga wooo wooo' chorus. Staff then turned this story into role play. All the chairs were lined up like a train and the children pretended to go off to a local park. Such activities enable young children to develop their literacy, social and imaginative skills extremely well.

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who attend

The staff use extremely comprehensive and effective observation and assessment methods to monitor children's progress from their initial starting points. This enables them to identify children's developmental needs, plan and provide individually tailored support to each child to help them move on in their learning. Consequently, children make excellent progress in their learning, in readiness for school. The staff work exceptionally well with parents and special needs services to make sure every child receives the support they need to learn.

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

Children develop exceedingly high levels of self-esteem and self-confidence. This is due to the excellent key-person system staff use to enable the children to feel secure, relaxed and ready for learning. When children start at the pre-school their key persons take great care to find out the interests of the child and to learn key information from the parents. Children know who their back up key person is as well, so they always have a member of staff they can turn to. Key groups are identified with coloured stars, and these are placed on coat pegs, place mat and trays. This helps the children feel secure and they know the group they belong to.

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

Children enjoy taking responsibility for themselves and learning to be independent. They confidently put on their own coats and gloves, find their peg and fetch a stool so they can reach the taps to wash their own hands. A jug of water and beakers are always available for the children to help themselves to if they are thirsty, supporting their good health and physical well-being. At snack time children sit in their key groups and children of all ages take on roles; for example, a two- year-old was very pleased to collect up the mats and be thanked for this. Staff help children to develop exceptionally good social, communication, physical and counting skills at snack times too. For example, younger children helped themselves to two pieces of apple, two spoons of sultanas, counting and using the spoon carefully. Older children had a stimulating conversation with their key person about Christmas jumpers. Staff and children use Makaton hand signs to help them communicate

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

non verbally, enabling all children to be fully included.

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

Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff are positive role models and they work together to remind children of clear and straightforward rules. This helps children learn to behave in ways that are safe, and they learn right from wrong. All staff demonstrate a very good understanding of the children's individual level of emotional development. They use this knowledge to interact with children appropriately. For example, when one child became very upset in response to another child's behaviour, her key person came over to her immediately. She clearly and sensitively coached the child to recognise and name her feelings and to communicate these effectively with the other child. The child calmed down and the other child relaxed and learning could continue.

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

The manager is justifiably proud of their recent work on school transition. Prior to the children starting, the staff make visits to the school with the children and photographs are taken to make a book about the school on their return. During their last term at the pre- school the children start to practise changing clothes for physical activities. This was done in response to listening to parents' concerns.

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provision

The manager and the leadership team fulfil their responsibilities in managing the pre- school exceptionally well. They demonstrate high levels of care and ability to ensure that children meet their potential. They do this in strong partnership with parents. Children's safety is the highest priority. The manager ensures that her own safeguarding and child protection training in this area is up to date. She ensures that all staff are confident to manage any situation that might occur to help to safeguard children's welfare. The manager does through regular and comprehensive staff training to enable staff to maintain an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Safeguarding information is available for parents in the starter pack and in the lobby so they understand how staff care for their children.

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provision

The management team ensures all staff are of the highest calibre; all staff undergo a rigorous selection procedure when they are appointed. Robust vetting procedures help to ensure that only suitable adults work with the children. Induction is thorough and carried out with the manager, enabling the running of the pre-school to remain consistent and smooth for children.

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provision

Risk assessment is comprehensive and covers all areas indoors and outdoors that children use. The assessments are reviewed and updated regularly to ensure all risks and hazards are removed or minimised to keep children safe. Staff are meticulous in ensuring visitors sign in and out, keeping exits locked and ensuring that children are protected. Staff are well trained in first aid and very high levels of cleanliness are maintained in all areas of the pre-school. Staff take great care over ensuring that children with allergies or dietary needs are well looked after as well. This creates a calm and safe atmosphere in which the children can thrive.

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provision

Children's progress is monitored very closely and reported back to parents on a regular basis. The staff all know how well their key children are doing in relation to their expected levels of development. They are very quick to spot any difficulties and seek expert advice from external agencies to meet children's specific needs fully. Children who have special educational needs are very well cared for indeed. The manager has a very good relationship with local advisors and support teams and they regularly seek their guidance. The manager has been successful in seeking additional funding so that children who need it can get the additional help they require to make maximum progress.

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provision

The manager is continually reflecting on practice and policies are reviewed regularly to ensure they work as effectively as possible. In response to this developments are made. For example more resources for parents are planned to help their children learn at home. The manager is also committed to staff appraisal, training and development because she knows this will be beneficial for the children's learning and welfare. All staff have regular supervision with the manager to share any concerns and identify any training needs. Staff training is having an excellent impact for the children. For example, one member of staff attended training on young children's development. She returned with a new idea to make tidy up time more positive and fun for the younger children which is working extremely well. Younger children are now putting a toy to be tidied away into a little bag before taking bag to the place where they toy belongs and emptying the bag. Since the last

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provision

inspection the manager has made excellent progress on the recommendations raised. They now involve parents comprehensively in their children's learning and development and maintain excellent assessment records of children's progress. The manager has identified further areas for improvement and recognises how developing the garden area to create a running stream will enhance children's outdoor play even further. The manager is extending the school transition work to incorporate other schools some children move to into the pre-school's link books.

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provision

Parents spoken to at the inspection said they were delighted with their children's progress and commented on the exceptional level of care they felt is provided by the staff. They also said how much they appreciated the way the staff helped their older children to make the transition to the local school.

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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 115232 Local authority North Somerset Inspection number 839973 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 37 Name of provider Banwell Pre-School Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 29/06/2009 Telephone number 01934 822233

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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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