St Michael's Family Centre (Church Lane)

St Michael's Family Centre (Church Lane) Church Lane, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 5AE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/01/2015 23/03/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The extent to which the centre ensures children's safety and welfare is exemplary. Managers and practitioners receive ongoing training and fully understand their responsibility with regard to any concerns they may have about a child in their care.  From the very start, outstanding methods are used to assess children's stage of learning and development ensuring that the achievement gap closes very quickly.  Children with specials educational needs and/or disabilities and those speaking English as an additional language receive exceptional levels of support and their specific needs are identified very quickly. This ensures they make excellent progress from their initial starting points.  The enabling approach taken to working with children and their families helps parents feel superbly included in their children's early years experience and brings rich rewards.  The superbly enabling and inclusive environment provides a warm welcome for all

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This provision is outstanding

families who trust practitioners and value the service offered to their children and themselves.  The exceptional thought that has gone into the development of the centre offers children a safe, welcoming and highly stimulating environment within which they learn through high quality play and flourish as individuals.

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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 at the centre and talked with practitioners.  The inspector undertook a tour of the premises and outside area used.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of the suitability of practitioners, and a range of other documentation, including the safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of information contained within the centre's self- evaluation form.

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Information about the setting

St Michael's Family Centre was registered in 2009 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, and is managed by a voluntary managed committee. The family centre serves the local area and surrounding villages and is accessible to all children. It operates from a former church hall and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The centre employs seven members of childcare staff whose qualifications range from level 2 to level 6 or above. The setting opens Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 4.30pm during term times only. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 48 children attending who are in the early years age group. The centre supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and 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 encourage all children's parents to embrace the idea of outdoor play and learning to promote children's continued excellent learning and development.

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who attend

Children make exceptional progress at this nurturing, stimulating nursery where they enjoy a superb range of carefully considered activities within the educational programme offered. Practitioners use the 'Every Child a Talker' monitoring tool to help assess children's communication and language development as they begin attending. This is supplemented by a comprehensive assessment of their learning in each of the other areas of the learning. Therefore, from the very start, children's progress is astutely monitored and these initial assessments are revisited at least four times a year. Parents are purposefully involved in children's learning and development from the beginning, as they liaise with their child's key person at the initial home visit and settling-in sessions. They are invited to attend parent information evenings to hear about their children's ongoing progress. The centre employs many different initiatives to help them support their

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who attend

children's progress at home. For example, parents are invited to 'stay and play' sessions to see how their children learn through play. They see children sitting entranced as they listen to a story and learn how they can repeat this at home. Practitioners observe children closely as they play and record their emerging interests, which inform the following weeks plan and help them to guide children's next steps in their learning. The centre further extends children's progress as they take part in initiatives designed to promote their learning. For example, they take part in the Bookstart initiative, to encourage children's love of reading, undertake 'Talkabout' training to teach children social communication and listening skills and specialists offer bespoke training packages.

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who attend

Children have excellent fun as they create guttering roadways for their cars and a practitioner makes particularly good use of descriptive language to help them explain what they are doing. As they discuss the activity she expertly introduces colour names and numbers, ensuring that children derive the greatest benefit from their learning. Children's developing communication and language skills are prioritised and practitioners seek different ways to engage their attention. For example, at circle time, children gleefully sing well-known nursery rhymes and songs. They develop familiarity with their peers, as they learn their 'hello' song and discover different languages children speak as they sing songs in other languages. Practitioners also help them learn that some children communicate in different ways as they teach them Makaton and sign language. This highly inclusive approach demonstrates how effectively children with special educational needs and/or

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who attend

disabilities and those speaking English as an additional language are integrated. Specialists visiting the centre further promote ways to help children make the best progress, as they show practitioners signs relating to current topics and share strategies to meet children's specific needs. Children are busy, active learners who confidently explore the diverse range of resources on offer. They peer in wonder through the coloured transparent centre of wooden blocks, seeing their room in different colours and press the centre with their fingers to see the liquid move inside. Children explore sensory play as they smell and feel the scented green rice running through their fingers and manipulate the brightly coloured play dough they have made. Practitioners teach children about their community as they regularly visit their local cafe, library and park. They create wooden blocks with photographs of these places on them for children to use in their small world play, adding

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who attend

Exceptional partnership working arrangements exist at the centre, enabling children to receive the support they need as soon as they need it. Practitioners work closely with family support workers, health visitors and speech and language therapists. The manager proactively seeks new ways to support children and introduces new initiatives, which bring additional benefits, such as training for the team. This further enhances children's experiences, arming them with skills for life and preparing them superbly for school and their future learning.

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

Children settle easily in the calm, harmonious atmosphere created by practitioners who develop affectionate, firm and trusting relationships with them. This superbly promotes children's emotional wellbeing and enables them to feel safe and secure in their presence. Practitioners take particular care to suit their interactions with children to their unique characteristics in the interests of helping them develop as individuals in the ways that suit them best. They place extremely high value on parents as partners in their children's learning and development and gather detailed information from them as children begin attending. This ensures that all medical, dietary and cultural needs are met. Practitioners update details regularly, so that they know they are continuing to act in children's best interests. Exceptional relationships develop between parents and practitioners as the centre aim to provide a holistic approach in the belief that, through such support children

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

Practitioners demonstrate considerable skill in managing challenging behaviour while presenting other children with highly positive role models. Their calm, age and child- focussed approach ensures that children feel cherished and valued while learning which behaviours are not acceptable. Of particular note is the intuitive, sensitive care practitioners offer children. For example, when many of the local houses and flats were demolished to make way for new homes, children were unsettled. Practitioners took them to the building sites to see how the buildings were being constructed and children love using the cable spools builders donated as a table in the garden. They help children make sense of this enormous change as they encourage them to build with tools donated by a local supermarket. Children develop a keen awareness of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of ways. For example, they clamber up stacked crates to reach the top of the

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

cane gutter to run their car down, and know they must remain close to practitioners when on outings. They also learn how to keep themselves safe during visits from the police and as they learn they all ride their trikes round in the same direction.

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

Children enjoy the freedom of playing inside or outdoors throughout the day. The centre provides all-weather suits and wellington boots to enable them to spend time in the fresh air whatever the weather and children are encouraged to put on their own coat and shoes. The management team continue to work hard with some parents who find outdoor play in all weathers a challenge, to help them understand the value to children's health. Practitioners teach them about nature and how to care for living things as they create bug hotels and feed the birds that visit their bird table and feeders. Children learn to live healthily through the variety of nutritious snacks they eat, cookery activities which teach them that even cakes can contain healthy foods, such as apple, and banana. Children love to plant, tend and crop the redcurrants, strawberries and blackcurrants that grow in their edible garden. Time spent at their community allotment also teaches them the joy and

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

value of growing their own produce and the fun to be had while spending time with others in the fresh air. Children learn to value and respect their local community and think of others as they collect tins to give to their local church for their food collection. Through such activities, children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is superbly fostered.

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provision

Practitioners receive regular training in safeguarding and child protection to ensure children's safety and welfare is strongly monitored during their time at the centre. They demonstrate clarity of thought regarding the policy and procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child in their care. Parents are made very aware of their joint responsibility as practitioners share the suite of safeguarding policies with them as children begin attending. This further strengthens the joint working ethos that is promoted to parents during each child's time at the centre. The senior management team realise the importance of selecting the best practitioners for roles within the nursery and have undertaken training in safer recruitment procedures. This has resulted in the appointment of a team who are highly qualified and whose skills and knowledge closely meet the needs of the community they serve. The in-depth induction and closely monitored probationary

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provision

periods further ensures practitioners are clear about how the centre operates and their specific roles and responsibilities. All those working with or within the nursery are carefully vetted to ensure they are suitable to work with children. Additionally, the nursery procedures ensure that only children's key persons carry out personal routines with children or answer the door. All required documentation, policies and procedures are in place and are regularly revisited and updated to ensure they comply with governing legislation.

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provision

The exceptional vision of the senior management team and the success with which the entire team reflect that vision within daily practice results in a unique and highly valued setting which meets the needs of the local community superbly. The senior management team are passionate about ensuring that children attending receive the highest quality care and learning possible to provide them with a secure foundation on which to build their formal learning. Through collective self-reflection and evaluation of the service offered the team are able to identify strengths upon which to build and any enhancements that could be made. The extensive work that has been carried out since the last inspection has brought about impressive improvements in the quality of service offered. Practitioners feel supported as the very high expectations of the senior management team mean they are offered rigorous monitoring, supervision and appraisal. Peer-on-peer observations are

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provision

conducted as well as those carried out by managers. This develops trust and cohesiveness within the team, and training needs are easily identified, ensuring continuous professional development is a strength of the centre.

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provision

Partnership working is a fundamental cornerstone of this centre. Highly effective beneficial relationships exist with a wide range of professionals which bring about life changing outcomes for children and their families. The unique characteristics of this centre have grown out of the needs of children living in the local area and parents and children implicitly trust the service provided. Parents know that they can come to the manager or practitioners to discuss anything and that their needs are always dealt with quickly. Those spoken to say that practitioners are 'so vigilant and on the ball' and are 'absolutely fantastic'. They remark that they choose to bring younger siblings here as 'the staff are brilliant'. Furthermore, they say that practitioners are 'very supportive and care about us as individuals, children and as a family'. The overriding comment made was summarised by one parent who stated that since starting her child had 'come on in leaps and bounds'.

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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 EY399923 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 875153

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider St Michael's Family Centre Committee Date of previous inspection 23/03/2010 Telephone number 01553775300

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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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