Offley Preschool

Offley Preschool School Lane, Offley, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 3AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27 September 2016 3 December 2015

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Requires Improvement

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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 Good 2

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This provision is good

 The committee and the manager have successfully made significant improvements since their previous inspection. Staff make good use of their detailed observations and assessments to identify children's precise next steps in learning. The manager regularly observes staff practice. This helps to inform the robust arrangements for staff supervision and continues to improve the quality of teaching.  Staff are very good role models. Their calm tone of voice and the use of a broad range of activities helps children to understand how to manage their own behaviour and make friends. Children enjoy close relationships with each other and their key persons, who help them to feel settled and secure. Children choose to hold hands with their key person while participating in action songs.  Staff plan stimulating activities to promote children's individual developmental needs and respond very well to their curiosity. Children explore the texture of different shaped

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This provision is good

ice blocks mixed with sand. They make predictions about which blocks are heavy and which are light. Children are fascinated as they discover how to make the ice melt by holding small pieces in their hands.  All staff give a high priority to promoting children's communication and language development. They model effective listening skills and help children to learn the correct pronunciation of words.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Staff are yet to establish highly effective partnerships with other providers that children attend.  Partnership working with parents is not fully effective in promoting their children's learning at home.

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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

 strengthen the partnership with other providers where children attend so that more- precise information about children's next steps in learning is shared to support their continuity of learning and development  extend the good range of information given to parents about how to support children's learning and development at home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager and the chairperson of the committee. She looked at relevant documentation, such as the pre-school's self-evaluation process and evidence of the suitability of committee members and staff.  The inspector spoke to a selection of parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

The committee and well-qualified staff team works very closely together, complementing each other's practice. Their dedication fully supports the accurate self-evaluation of the pre-school and continues to improve the quality of the provision. They actively seek and respond to the views of parents, children and staff. The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff know how to promptly meet children's needs in the event of a child protection concern. Vigorous recruitment and induction procedures help to ensure that staff are suitable for their role. Staff have good opportunities for regular training. This has a positive impact on children attending the pre-school. The manager thoroughly monitors children's progress, including specific groups of children. Swift action is taken to address any gaps in children's learning. Parents appreciate how staff keep them updated about their children's progress. They describe the staff as fantastic.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

All children enjoy their play in this welcoming and vibrant pre-school. They engage in activities with motivation and confidence. Staff promote children's understanding of the world well. During a nature walk, children collect natural objects, listen for sounds and experience the wind blowing their hair. Visits to people in the community, such as residents of local sheltered housing and elderly people help them to understand about others. Children develop good control and coordination of their hands. They balance a marble coated with paint on a teaspoon and transfer it to a tray. Children carefully rotate the tray to create patterns on the leaves they collected during their nature walk. Children demonstrate perseverance to solve mathematical problems. They work out which shaped toy key fits the corresponding numbered door and build complex three-dimensional structures.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Strong links with the host and local schools help children to make a seamless move on to school when the time comes. Children demonstrate a real sense of responsibility for their environment. They eagerly help to tidy away the organised and wide range of good quality toys and activities that they have been playing with. Children independently manage their own personal needs and demonstrate a clear awareness of how to keep themselves safe. Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. Children thoroughly enjoy climbing over and under large equipment in the inviting outdoor area and rolling down small hills in the playing field of the host school.

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Outcomes for children are good

Children are making good progress in their learning given their starting points. The arrangement and organisation of grouptime is a positive experience for all. Staff promote children's literacy development well. They introduce them to letters and sounds in a fun and engaging way. Children develop a real love of books. Their attention is immediately captured by staff's enthusiastic storytelling. They have immense fun joining in with actions and repeated refrains. These skills help to prepare them well for their next stage of learning and the eventual move on to school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 146753 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 1034499 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 9 Name of registered person Offley Preschool Group Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 3 December 2015 Telephone number 01462 768 606 or 07759 783269

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reference number

Offley Preschool was registered in 2007. It employs four members of childcare staff. All hold appropriate qualifications, including one with qualified teacher status. The pre-school opens on Monday from 8.50am until midday. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the pre-school opens from 8.50am until 3pm with an optional lunch club until 1pm on each of these days. The pre-school operates during term time only. It provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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reference number

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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reference number

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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reference number

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reference number

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

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