Littlebourne Ladybirds Pre-School

Littlebourne Ladybirds Pre-School School Grounds, Church Road, Littlebourne, Canterbury, Kent, CT3 1XS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 6 January 2016 8 February 2012

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This inspection: Good 2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1

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This provision is good

 Children enjoy interesting activities in a highly stimulating environment. They make good progress in their learning from their starting points.  The manager is committed to providing a high quality provision. She uses good self- evaluation and monitoring processes to gather the views of staff and parents. For example, questionnaires and staff meetings help identify areas for further improvement.  Staff have a good partnership with parents. They regularly exchange information about children's learning and care. This helps ensure parents are aware of their child's development and creates good opportunities for home learning.  The excellent well-established key-person system enables children to settle extremely quickly and make secure attachments.  The manager and staff have an effective partnership with the local school. Children benefit from access to some parts of the school, such as the hall, library and grounds.

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This provision is good

This enables children to become familiar with the environment as they prepare for the move to school.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Staff do not always make the best use of experiences and opportunities to help all children learn about people's differences, such as home languages.  On occasions, staff do not always consider all children's abilities or personalities when grouping them together, to help them all fully participate in the learning.

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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

 continue to strengthen the promotion of diversity to increase children's awareness of different languages and cultures much further  evaluate and revise the occasional groupings of children to enable their full participation in some planned activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and the quality of teaching inside and in the outside play area.  The inspector held a meeting and completed a joint observation with the manager of the pre-school.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including children's development records, the self-evaluation form, and key policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the parents' views through discussions.  The inspector spoke to members of staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

Safeguarding is effective. The manager and staff have a good knowledge of how to identify and report child protection concerns. The manager uses robust recruitment procedures to help safeguard children and ensure suitable people work with children. She makes effective use of individual meetings and training with staff to encourage their professional development. She regularly tracks children's progress to identify any gaps in learning and provides extra support where necessary to improve outcomes. Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents speak highly of the pre-school. They value the friendly and caring staff team and the effective exchange of information and support, such as ideas for consistent behaviour management. The manager focuses well on expanding staff knowledge and skills.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff make regular observations and accurate assessments of children's progress. They use this information to identify and plan for children's individual next steps in their learning. Staff extend children's learning well through activities. They listen carefully to children and help them develop their ideas, new vocabulary and thinking skills. For example, as children learn about pirate ships, the staff skilfully build their vocabulary as they sing rhyming songs. Children develop mathematical skills, for instance, as they use tape measures to see how far they can push a pushchair. Staff work closely with other professionals to support children who have special educational needs.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

The outdoor learning areas are a particular strength of the pre-school. Children have many excellent opportunities to develop their physical skills and learn about the world around them. For example, children learn how to use hockey sticks safely and notice wildlife as they walk around the nature areas. Children enjoy choosing from an extremely nutritious selection of foods and drinks at the snack bar. They develop an exceptional understanding of healthy foods as, for example, they grow their own fruits and vegetables to eat. Children quickly learn to be independent, such as buttering their toast and pouring drinks. They build extremely strong bonds with the staff. Children are highly emotionally secure and this supports them as they move between the pre-school rooms and on to school. Staff provide highly appropriate behaviour guidance and praise.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children make good progress from their individual starting points. They gain the necessary skills that help prepare them for school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 127346 Local authority Kent Inspection number 825413 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 43 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider Littlebourne Ladybirds Playgroup Date of previous inspection 8 February 2012 Telephone number 01227 722 955

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Setting details

Littlebourne Ladybirds Pre-School registered in 1996 and operates in the grounds of Littlebourne Primary School, in the village of Littlebourne, Kent. It is open during term time only each weekday from 9am to 3pm, except for Tuesday when it operates from 9am to 12 noon. The pre-school employs 10 members of staff; of these one holds a foundation degree and six have early years qualifications at level 3. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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

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Setting details

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