Mayfield Pre-School

Mayfield Pre-School Mayfield County Primary, St. Leonards Road East, LYTHAM ST. ANNES, Lancashire, FY8 2HQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/01/2015 01/06/2009

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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

 Children are making excellent progress in their learning because teaching is outstanding. Staff have created an extremely interesting and stimulating play environment. This encourages children to be confident and exploratory learners.  Staff use their expert knowledge of how children learn through their play. Staff are particularly proactive in extending children's communication and language skills. As a result, children are very effective communicators.  The very enthusiastic and caring staff team ensure that very good relationships between the children and themselves are well established. Consequently, children have formed strong bonds and they are extremely happy and settled within pre-school.  Partnerships with parents and other professionals are very strong. Staff are vigilant in recognising and dealing swiftly with any emerging learning needs of children. Staff are extremely proactive in ensuring the correct procedures are put in place to support

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This provision is outstanding

children and parents at all times.  Arrangements for safeguarding children are highly effective because clear policies and procedures are in place. These are regularly reviewed and are very well understood by all staff. As a result, children are extremely safe in the pre-school.

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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 pre-school and the outside learning environment. The inspector also viewed equipment and resources.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager. The inspector also spoke to staff and children at appropriate times during the day.

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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 pre-school's policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation, including a representative sample of children's records, risk assessments, accident and medication records, safeguarding and complaints policies, evidence of staff suitability and training records and the setting's development plans and self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

Mayfield Pre-School was registered in 2004 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in the grounds of Mayfield Primary School in the Lytham St Annes area of Lancashire and is managed by a private provider. The pre-school serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a self-contained, pre-fabricated building and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The pre-school employs five members of childcare staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The manager holds an early years qualification at level 4. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday, term time only. Sessions are from 8.30am until 11.30am and 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently a total of 38 children attending, of whom all are within the early years age group. The pre-school provides funded early education for

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Information about the setting

two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 continue to enhance staff's already excellent knowledge of early years, to continually develop and up skill current practice, for example, by accessing training that supports and further enhances professional development of the whole team.

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who attend

The manager and staff have an outstanding knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and use this exceedingly well to support children in their learning and development. The environment is highly stimulating and contains an immense range of quality resources, which provide children with a wealth of engaging learning opportunities. Staff use resources extremely well. Therefore, children's learning is significantly enhanced. Staff skilfully extend children's language. For example, outdoors, children go on a bear hunt in the outdoor area and act out familiar scenes from this popular children's story. Staff model language and pose many questions, such as 'Where do you think the bear may be hiding?' This effectively promotes children's language skills and thinking skills, as they recall key events from the story. Staff skilfully incorporate mathematical concepts as children play. For example, they count out resources, and discuss the length and shape of the models

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who attend

they make. Consequently, children's understanding of these concepts is extended. Children demonstrate their excellent literacy skills, as they appropriately use media, such as, pens, pencils and paints to design and create individual pieces of work. Children are beginning to have an appreciation for writing and make meaningful marks, such as independently writing their name on pieces of their work. Additionally, children's communication and language is extremely well developed. Children describe their thoughts in play and can elaborate on their own ideas. As a result, their critical thinking skills are exceptionally well developed.

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who attend

The environment is vibrant, highly engaging and supports children to independently access resources and initiate their own play. Children are extremely confident and self- assured and explore their surroundings with a very high level of enthusiasm. The environment is rich in language, with innovative displays of children's work. For example, the Tell me about you board is filled with children's representations of their family, friends and favourite things. Children display excellent levels of self-esteem in their environment, as they comment on the display and point out their favourite Christmas gifts. Displays engage children to notice text in the environment, which supports early literacy skills further.

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who attend

Staff undertake regular detailed observations, speak with children and identify children's next steps in development. This becomes a focus, which is built into planning activities that inspire and challenge children. Children's individual needs and interests are built into planning. For example, staff provide focused activities for children in their key group, to support them as they develop their skills. Children's next steps in learning are superbly identified. Staff use these to monitor and assess children to ensure that teaching is inspiring and fully supports children's needs. Assessment is rigorous. This gives staff an excellent knowledge of children, as they work towards the early learning goals. Additionally, Staff have an exceptionally good understanding of the characteristics of effective learning, they use expert teaching methods to highly motivate and extend the children's learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well

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who attend

supported by the dedicated staff, who are proactive in working closely with parents and other professionals, in ensuring children receive tailored and individualised support. As a result, children are making very rapid progress across all areas of learning, in particular the prime areas. Consequently, any identified gaps in learning are closing swiftly. As a result, all children are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their learning, such as the move to school.

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who attend

Parents contribute to children's learning, by undertaking activities at home and completing I can sheets. Staff have excellent partnerships with parents, through innovative ideas which supports purposeful partnerships. For example, the pre-school holds regular workshops, where parents are informed about the curriculum and are provided with useful strategies to support children's learning at home. Parents are kept very well informed of their child's progress through parents' evenings, termly reports, newsletters and daily verbal feedback.

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

The staff give the highest priority to children's safety, while on and off the premises. For example, at snack time, staff encourage them to think about how to keep themselves safe, by discussing the appropriate use of knives. In addition, visitors are invited into the pre-school to raise children's safety awareness. For example, community police officers are invited to talk about road safety issues and to help children have an awareness of strangers. Children develop an excellent understanding of the importance of exercise through a wide variety of activities. Children enjoy daily access to the outdoor area, music and movement sessions, and regular trips and outings into the local community. Children develop an understanding of healthy eating, through discussion and taking part in Healthy heroes activities. This supports children to understand good and bad foods and helps them make healthy food choices. In addition, the pre-school supports the Smile for life award,

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

which encourages children to brush their teeth and look after their teeth.

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

Staff build exceptional relationships with children. Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff consistently praise, provide encouragement and offer age-appropriate interventions. For example, children are given stickers as rewards and they proudly show these to staff and their friends. Children learn about different cultures and beliefs, by exploring a range of festivals throughout the year. Staff plan a wide variety of activities, to allow children to explore different cultures, such as, food tasting, art and craft activities, cultural dressing- up clothes and using a wide range of multicultural resources. Positive images are displayed in the pre-school and staff use these effectively, to aid children's growing understanding.

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

The pre-school has highly effective partnerships with other providers, consequently, children are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning. Progress and transition documents are completed by staff. Children are prepared for the move to school by a range of supportive strategies. For example, school teachers are invited into pre- school and an end of placement report is completed. Additionally, children play with school uniform in the role-play area and staff talk with parents about how they can best support children, as they move on to other settings. This ensures that children are fully prepared for times of change.

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provision

The manager and staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Rigorous recruitment and induction procedures ensure all staff are suitable and safe to work with children. There are robust safeguarding procedures in place, that contribute to children's safety and well-being. Staff have received training and are fully aware of what to do if they have a child protection concern. All required documentation is placed on a dedicated safeguarding information board for convenient reference. Accurate attendance records for staff and children ensure that appropriate ratios are meticulously maintained. Staff are well deployed and this has a very positive effect on the quality of interactions, between staff and children. The manager and staff undertake regular and precise risk assessments, in the pre-school and for outings. Therefore, children's safety is always effectively

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provision

The manager and staff demonstrate a dedicated and committed drive to improve the outcomes for children. They use self-evaluation extremely effectively, to identify and develop strategies to aid improvement. This includes working in partnership with the local authority, the host school, parents and other professionals to develop their practice. This demonstrates their positive attitude to drive improvement, to support the children in their care. Furthermore, they have addressed the recommendations made at the previous inspection and are undertaking the Lancashire quality award, to embed quality throughout the provision even further. However, opportunities for staff to develop their skills, through further education at the highest level have been less successful. This, however, is on the development plans for completion in the spring term. The manager monitors the educational programme, to assess how well staff are meeting the needs of the children.

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provision

Evaluations are then made across all areas of learning. Additionally, as a team they formulate action plans to address any areas of concern. As a result, all children make optimum progress, and activities and experiences provided meet their individual needs extremely well.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care and learning are outstanding. Parents and carers receive extensive information through policies, procedures, written reports, verbal discussion and children's progress records. Furthermore, information displayed on the noticeboard and display boards, as well as regular newsletters, provide an abundance of useful information, which keeps parents fully informed about the pre-school and how they can support their children's learning at home. Parents are consulted regularly, through discussion and questionnaires about the service, to help the staff consistently meet children's individual needs. Parents are highly complimentary about the care and education their children receive. Parents' comment about the high standards of care and exiting range of activities provided. Additionally, they comment how they enjoy the extremely good two-way flow of information, and that staff

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provision

are very supportive of their own and their children's needs.

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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 EY281724 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 861092

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 38 Name of provider Bonita Julie Crowther Date of previous inspection 01/06/2009 Telephone number 01253 789 111

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Type of provision

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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