Pangbourne Valley Pre-School

Pangbourne Valley Playgroup Kennedy Drive, Pangbourne, READING, RG8 7LB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/11/2014 27/04/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children are at risk because the provider does not follow robust procedures to assess the suitability of staff. The provider does not understand how to deal with allegations against a staff member and does not ensure that staff are not disqualified from working with children. The provider has also failed to notify Ofsted of changes to the committee. These are breaches in requirements.  Staff deployment does not ensure children's safety or learning indoors, and especially in the garden area. Staff are not able to recognise the signs of abuse or neglect. They do not work in partnership with other professional agencies or with parents to promote children's well-being or learning.  The provider does not ensure the key-person system meets the needs of the children. Key persons do not know how to meet the medical needs of children and have not obtained prior written permission for the administration of medication. Support for

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This provision is inadequate

groups of vulnerable children is very poor.  There are poor systems for staff supervision and supporting staff practice that lead to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Children do not make enough progress, especially in their personal, social and emotional development. More-able children are not making suitable progress in readiness for school.  The provider does not effectively evaluate or monitor the quality of the service provided or place enough focus on staff performance.

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It has the following strengths

 Children enjoy daily access to the outside area.

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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 mainly observed activities in the main room of the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager, local authority early years consultant and other senior staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to members of the staff team about the progress of their key children and their understanding of the setting's policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at samples of observation, tracking and assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability for staff working with children in the setting and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of children and spoke to a number of parents.

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Information about the setting

Pangbourne Valley Playgroup registered in 1998. It is situated within the grounds of Pangbourne Primary School in purpose-built premises and is run by a parent committee. The setting opens Monday to Friday from 9am to 11.30am and 12.45pm to 15.15pm, Monday to Thursday. The setting offers a lunch club, which runs from 11.30am to 12.45pm, Monday to Thursday. The group is open during term time only. There are currently 32 children on roll aged from two to five years. The setting employs eight staff, five of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a qualification. Pangbourne Valley Playgroup is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take the following

We will issue a welfare requirements notice requiring the provider to:

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The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take the following

increase staff's awareness of safeguarding to be alert to and recognise any issues of concern in the child's life at home or elsewhere

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The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take the following

ensure all staff are competent and suitably trained to effectively identify signs of possible abuse and neglect and respond appropriately

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The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take the following

maintain records and share information with carers, other professionals working with the child and social services to ensure the individual needs of all children are identified and met

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The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take the following

implement an up-to-date policy and procedure for administering medicine which includes obtaining prior written permission from the child's parent and/or carer, and maintain a record of children's individual medical requirements.

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must:

 put effective arrangements in place for the supervision of staff, which provides support, coaching and training to ensure the quality of teaching and learning is consistently good

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must:

 promote the educational programme for personal, social and emotional development in order to support children to manage their own behaviour, follow group rules and form positive relationships

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must:

 ensure children's next steps are shared with parents and other settings to promote consistency of learning, particularly for those children who attend the nursery class at the school

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must:

 implement robust systems for monitoring the educational programmes to ensure that any variations in progress made by children are swiftly identified and acted upon so that all groups of children make good or better progress given their starting points

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must:

 ensure the key-person role is fully effective,, in particular when a child's key person is involved in routine tasks, so that all staff interaction meets the needs of children  ensure staffing arrangements and deployment meets the needs of all children, ensuring they are effectively supervised to promote their safety, particularly in the garden and with specific regard to the climbing frame and playhouse area

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must:

 ensure the provider and manager understand their responsibilities, in relation to the procedure to follow should a member of staff disclose that they are disqualified from providing childcare

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must:

 implement an effective recruitment process to ensure that staff, and any other person who is likely to have regular contact with children are suitable with specific regard to obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Service and completing identity checks

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must:

 ensure that people whose suitability has not been checked, including through a Disclosure and Barring Service check, do not have unsupervised contact with children

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must:

 review the setting's safeguarding policy and procedure to ensure they are in line with the procedures of the relevant Local Safeguarding Children Board and includes the correct action to follow should an allegation be made against a member of staff.

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who attend

The provision to support children's learning and development is inadequate. The quality of teaching ranges from good to very poor, with the majority of staff demonstrating a very weak understanding of how to support children in their learning. Children are left to occupy themselves for long periods of time with only a limited range of toys and activities on offer that do not suitably meet their needs. For example, young children wander around the setting with little staff interaction during their play. They pick up some pencils but these do not have the ends sharpened so when they try to write they find that they are unsuccessful. They move to other areas of the room but again the lack of staff support limits their enjoyment of their play. This is because older children are arguing over resources or will not share them. They often do not allow the younger children to join in their games. This means that younger children are unable to participate fully in the

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who attend

activities on offer. Staff do little to address this as they are involved in routine tasks, such as nappy changing or preparation of snack time. This lack of attention also means that staff do not make good use of spontaneous opportunities to build on children's early mathematical skills, promote their listening skills or support older, more-able children to develop their interest in the links between letters and sounds in readiness for school.

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who attend

There is a noticeable lack of arts and craft activities on offer and a general lack of accessible, open-ended resources to support children's creativity. This inconsistent provision, therefore, has a negative impact on the amount of progress children make, especially in their personal, social and emotional development, which is significantly less than expected for those children who are due to start school. It also affects the progress for those children who require further support in their speech and language development. This is because the lack of conversation with staff means children are not getting the daily support to help them develop their confidence in speaking. This affects their ability to make friends and share resources as some children do not yet have the skills to communicate their needs effectively to others. Overall, this does not prepare them for the next stage of learning or support them with their future move to school.

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who attend

The quality of staff's individual observations and assessments of children are generally adequate to reflect the individual stage of each child's learning. Staff complete regular observations of children in their play and link these suitably well to what children can and cannot do in their learning. Staff gather sufficient information from parents on entry for most children in order to inform their planning. The majority of staff accurately identify next steps in learning for the children. However, children make slow progress towards their next steps because staff do not support children to achieve these through good quality, consistent teaching or a range of planned and purposeful play opportunities. They also do not work sufficiently well with parents to promote consistency of learning. Staff do not give parents frequent enough updates on the progress their child is making towards their next steps and are not given ideas on how to support their learning at home. Overall,

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who attend

some children are working below the typical range of development expected for their ages, while some are still only making slow rather than good progress overall.

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

Staff compromise children's safety because the provider does not make sure they deploy themselves effectively to keep children safe. For example, in the garden unvetted staff are left with children, who are playing on the climbing frame. There are also not sufficient staff watching children and they are not, therefore, safe. Staff do not model safe practices to the children because they actively encourage a game that includes running in front of the swings when children are swinging on them. This puts children at risk.

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

The key-person system is not well established in the setting and staff do not always meet children's needs effectively. This is because the provider does not make sure they always deploy themselves effectively to provide children with the help, guidance or reassurance they need and which is tailored to meet their specific needs. For example, younger children are left to wander and become distressed because their key person is busy with other routine jobs. Rather than staff working in different areas so that the key person is able to spend time with their key children, staff continue with these routine tasks and children become visibly upset but are left to manage on their own. This lack of regard to a child's very basic need for attention and care does not help them feel settled or help them gain confidence in the setting. In addition, the provider does not make sure the key person gathers enough information about children's family situation, preferences or

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

medical needs, so when children start at the setting staff do not have enough information to help children feel included or to keep them safe. This means that they cannot sensitively plan activities or support children with issues that affect them in their home lives. The provider does not make sure staff gather enough information about children's medical needs to take action in the event of a medical emergency. They do, however, gather some information about dietary needs and act on these by offering children alternatives that meets their dietary requirements.

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

Staff make attempts to manage children's behaviour but overall, children's understanding of how to share, take turns and stay focused for extended periods of time is poor. This is as a direct consequence of the lack of challenge provided by the range of activities on offer for older children. It is also because staff do not consistently promote a targeted programme that supports children's personal, emotional and social development. Staff take some steps to manage unwanted behaviour and some staff explain to children why they must share and reinforce or model this well in practice. However, as soon as staff move away, the children resume their arguments as they choose to ignore what staff have said.

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

Staff provide some opportunities for children to develop their independence, such as encouraging children to hang up their coats, and some staff allow children to pour their own drinks. However, overall, staff do not do enough for the older age range to prepare children for their move to school. Staff provide a suitable range of resources although some resources are not presented in a way that enables children to use them effectively in their play. These resources are limited to support all areas of learning and the organisation of the room helps some children develop their independence. Children are developing suitable awareness of healthy lifestyles as they have fruit snacks and jugs or cups of water readily available to them through the day. They have access to an outdoor area during the day. This gives them the opportunity to run around outside, climb on the climbing frame and ride on small scooters, although the area is not used well enough to support other

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

areas of learning. This is because staff do not plan or support the varying age ranges that use the space and do not interact purposefully with children as they play. This means that children do not develop the social skills or good levels of engagement in readiness for school.

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provision

Overall, leadership of the setting is inadequate. The provider fails to meet a number of legal requirements to safeguard and protect children and, as a result, places children at risk. In particular, the provider fails to implement robust recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. While staff are subject to a suitable interview process, the provider fails to check their identity when they start. This includes following up on changes of name and keeping a written record of any identity checks. In addition, the provider does not obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service check for all adults working on the premises, including regular volunteers. This places children at risk, as unvetted staff are left in charge of children who are out of sight and hearing of vetted staff. Procedures to ensure staff's ongoing suitability to work with children at the setting are

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provision

poor. The provider does not understand their responsibility to implement robust procedures to prevent disqualified staff from working in the setting. The provider does not have a suitable procedure in place and overall show a poor awareness of their wider responsibilities in meeting this requirement. In addition, the safeguarding policy does not contain a suitable procedure to follow should an allegation be made against a member of staff and is not in line with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board procedures. This means that children's safety cannot be assured. The provider also fails to implement its policy on protecting children from abuse because staff are not able to identify or address indicators that may suggest that a child is at risk of neglect or harm. In particular, the designated person for safeguarding does not make sure staff discuss any potential concerns with her so that they can act on these accordingly. This also means that any

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provision

signs that a child is at risk of harm are not acted upon and vital information to support some families is not shared with local statutory children's services agencies. Children's good health is further compromised as staff fail to obtain sufficient information on the medical needs of some children. Therefore, staff are unable to meet children's needs should an emergency medical situation arise because they are unsure of the type of medication to administer or where it is stored. These are breaches of requirements. The provider has also failed to notify Ofsted of changes to the committee within prescribed timescales. This means that Ofsted does not have a complete record of the registered persons and therefore cannot complete the required suitability checks. Further documentation, such as child detail forms and daily attendance registers, are maintained. There is a suitable regard to implementing the mobile phone and camera policy and staff

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provision

challenge visitors to the setting to ensure they adhere to this at all times. In addition, the provider does not meet the requirements for the Childcare Register.

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provision

There are ineffective systems in place to monitor and evaluate the provision. The provider does not have robust procedures in place to monitor staff's understanding of their roles and responsibilities or check their compliance with the legal framework. While they accept advice and address some aspects of weakness by securing in-house training from a local authority early years consultant, the capacity to identify and tackle ongoing weaknesses overall in the setting is poor. As a result, the provider has failed to identify a significant number of breaches in requirements or implement an action plan for improvement. Therefore, the capacity to make the necessary improvements without external support is very poor. This is also having an impact on children's safety, well-being and readiness for school.

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provision

Procedures to monitor the effectiveness of the educational programmes in the setting are ineffective. Staff have yet to implement a robust system from which they can identify trends in children's learning in order to tackle the slow progress that some children make in areas such as personal, social and emotional development. Although senior staff have more recently taken on this responsibility and are competently collating and analysing this information, this has yet to make a difference. In particular, they have yet to make the link between the quality of teaching, the opportunities they provide and the amount of progress children make in order to sufficiently narrow the gap for some groups. Although children's progress is discussed informally at staff meetings, there is currently a lack of more formal staff supervision opportunities. This means that staff are not sufficiently held to account for weaknesses in teaching and targets for improvements are not closely

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provision

aligned to the progress of groups of children. This means that teaching does not support those vulnerable groups of children who have fallen behind in their learning to catch up quickly enough or ensure that all children are ready for their move to school.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are friendly and positive. Parents spoken to on the day of the inspection express their satisfaction with the setting. In particular, they comment that staff are approachable and they feel that their children have settled well. The setting provides information for parents in their newsletters, on the website and on display boards around the setting. They are able to view their child's learning journey records at any time to view the photographs and comments that staff make while assessing their child's progress. However, while these provide a useful pictorial journey of what children do in the setting, staff do not share details of children's next steps regularly. Therefore, parents are not encouraged to support their child's progress at home. Staff also do not make effective use of information and experiences from home to inform children's interest and learning in the setting in order to make it more purposeful. Partnerships with other professionals who are

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provision

involved in the care and support of families are not effective. This is because staff have not made contact with other professionals who support some children in order to share information and promote consistency of care. In some cases, this places vulnerable children at risk, and in others places children at a disadvantage in their learning. There are poor links with the on-site school, children's centre and Nursery class. Staff do not use these facilities to good effect to support children who require additional support. For example, they do not access the speech and language team or family support workers at the children's centre or the expertise of the teachers in the Nursery class at the school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that every person caring for children is alert to any indications that a child may be suffering from harm (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep and implement a written record of policies and procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the lead practitioner liaises with any local Safeguarding Children Board and Director of Children's Services as appropriate (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  implement effective systems to ensure that the registered person, the manager and any person caring for, or in regular contact with; and any person who lives or works on the premises where childcare is provided (including on a voluntary basis) is suitable to work with children, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 take all necessary measures to minimise any risks to the health or safety of the children and staff in their care (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep records of the following and retain them for a period of two years: any medicine administered to any child who is cared for on the premises, including the date and circumstances and who administered it, including medicine which the child is permitted to self-administer, together with a record of a parent/guardian/carer's consent (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  inform Ofsted of the following: the name, date of birth, address and telephone number of any partner, director, senior officer or other member of the governing body (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that every person caring for children is alert to any indications that a child may be suffering from harm (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep and implement a written record of policies and procedures to be followed for

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  implement effective systems to ensure that the registered person, the manager and any person caring for, or in regular contact with; and any person who lives or works on the premises where childcare is provided (including on a voluntary basis) is suitable to work with children, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  take all necessary measures to minimise any risks to the health or safety of the children and staff in their care (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep records of the following and retain them for a period of two years: any medicine administered to any child who is cared for on the premises, including the date and circumstances and who administered it, including medicine which the

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

child is permitted to self-administer, together with a record of a parent/guardian/carer's consent (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 110733 Local authority West Berkshire (Newbury) Inspection number 839735 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider Pangbourne Valley Playgroup Committee Date of previous inspection 27/04/2009 Telephone number 0118 9841661

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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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