Bright Sparks Pre-School

Bright Sparks Pre-School Child Centre, 2 Sycamore Drive, Swanley, BR8 7AY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30 April 2015 4 April 2011

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Previous inspection: Good 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Good 2

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Requires improvement The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Requires improvement The setting does not meet legal requirements for early years settings

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This provision requires improvement. It is not yet good because:

 Staff lack a thorough knowledge on how to implement the safeguarding policy. As a result, their knowledge and understanding is not good enough to safeguard children securely.  Staff receive appropriate supervision meetings. However, these are not fully effective to extend staff's practice further.  The leadership team places emphasis on the restrictions of running the setting. This means they do not always focus their self-evaluation on overcoming challenges to make improvements.  Staff do not always support each other when running group-time activities to ensure all children benefit from the activity.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff support children to progress well to their next stage of learning. They provide a rising fives group where children take part in physical education (PE) sessions and explore phonics. This helps prepare them for starting school.  Staff involve parents successfully in their children's learning. They hold regular meetings with parents to plan children's next steps in learning. Parents state this helps them to support their children's learning at home.  Staff have warm and caring relationships with children. Children are supported to use their independence skills by serving their own snacks and pouring their own drinks.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well to make progress. Staff work with specialists, such as the speech and language therapist, to explore strategies to support children.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding policy and how to implement this to ensure all children are protected from harm  strengthen staff supervision to provide opportunities for staff to discuss issues around children's well-being and to improve staff's personal effectiveness.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 develop self-evaluation to identify how to overcome challenges and to target ongoing improvements  review the management of group times to promote children's full engagement activities.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 ensure all staff are trained on the written procedures to be followed to safeguard children from abuse or neglect.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting and completed a joint observation with the supervisor.  The inspector looked at documentation, including policies, risk assessments, children's records of assessment and staff supervision records.  The inspector spoke to children, where possible, and parents to gain their views.  The inspector spoke to staff throughout the inspection.  The inspector observed staff practice and their interaction with children.

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who attend. This is good

Staff use their observations to plan a range of activities, which children freely access. Children make good progress and enjoy the activities both indoors and outside. Staff promote children's mathematical skills well. For example, staff help children to count by showing them the amount using their fingers. They support children's interests and exploration. For instance, children asked if they could grow apples from the pips and staff kept them for children to plant to find out. Staff provide children with a variety of resources to support their play, such as real food and crockery in the home corner. Children enjoy sharing stories with staff who ask them interesting questions to encourage their thinking skills. For example, staff ask children why the wolf cannot blow down the house made of bricks.

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requires improvement

Staff monitor individual children's well-being to offer additional support when needed. They share this information to ensure each child is supported through difficulties or times of change in their lives. However, staff do not securely implement the safeguarding policy to ensure children's well-being is promoted rigorously. Staff support children's understanding of health and exercise with daily opportunities to play outside. Older children are consulted on a regular basis about their views and ideas, which staff take on board. Children are confident to communicate their needs. For example, they ask staff when they need to use the toilet located off of the main room. Staff support children's understanding of each other's needs by reminding them to take turns during activities.

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provision requires improvement

Management's knowledge of the welfare requirements is not fully secure. Staff are aware of the importance of keeping children safe and risk assess the environment. However, they do not have a secure knowledge of how to manage safeguarding issues. For example, staff do not follow the setting's policy, which asks visitors to hand in their mobile phones. This means children are not effectively safeguarded. The leadership team has robust recruitment procedures to ensure staff's suitability. Staff and students have an appropriate induction to the setting. Staff receive regular supervision but there is no ongoing support for staff to discuss safeguarding issues or receive coaching to further develop their practice. Staff have access to training, which generally develops their individual practice. They do not always evaluate their service effectively to identify solutions to make ongoing improvements. However, management monitors children's

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provision requires improvement

overall progress well. As a result, they have identified the need for more support for boys' literacy development and have secured relevant training for staff.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 127047 Local authority Kent Inspection number 840601 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 51 Name of provider Bright Sparks Pre School Committee Date of previous inspection 4 April 2011 Telephone number 07711814900

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Setting details

Bright Sparks Pre-School is a privately owned setting in Swanley, Kent. It registered in 1995 and operates a breakfast club, pre-school, afterschool club and holiday club. The pre-school runs daily from 9.15am-11.45am with a lunch club and afternoon sessions until 3pm on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. The provider employs 15 members of staff, 13 of whom hold relevant early years qualifications. The supervisors hold early years foundation degrees. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four.

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Setting details

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

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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