Crossways Playgroup

Crossways Playgroup Crossways Village Hall, Moigne Combe Road, Crossways, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8JA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12 June 2017 8 December 2016

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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

 The monitoring of staff performance is not successfully addressing the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. For example, leaders have some discussions with staff about their practice but these do not sufficiently focus on aspects that need improving. As a result, teaching is not consistently good and does not ensure all children are make the progress they are capable of.  Staff management of children's behaviour is inconsistent. This leads to children being given mixed messages and many do not understand what is expected of them. This is particularly evident with the two-year-old's.  Staff take up opportunities to attend training. However, some staff are not using what they have learned to improve their practice.  While staff build sound relationships with parents they are not successfully engaging all parents in supporting their children's learning.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are confident to separate from their parents and carers and settle quickly into their chosen activities.  Children have good opportunities to learn about the natural world. They plant and care for fruit and vegetables and enjoy eating some of their produce at snack time.  Older children show consideration to others. For example, when they notice a friend is sad they go over to them and try to cheer them up.

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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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Due Date

 improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by implementing the effective monitoring of staff performance, support and professional development 17/07/2017

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Due Date

 make sure staff adopt a consistent approach to the management of children’s behaviour taking into account their age and stage of development. This is particularly relevant for the two-year-old children 17/07/2017

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Due Date

 devise effective systems to monitor and evaluate the provision to ensure all children receive the support they need. This is particularly relevant with the younger children. 17/07/2017

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Due Date

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

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Due Date

 support all parents to be involved in their children’s learning and to share their achievements from home so that the setting has a full picture of the progress they are making.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager and talked about the findings.  The inspector completed observations in the playroom and the garden and spoke to staff and children at appropriate times.  The inspector spoke to parents to gain their views.  The inspector reviewed documentation such as children's learning records, staff records and planning.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager to discuss self-evaluation and how they monitor staff performance.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Management and staff work together as a team. While they reflect on how the week has gone, they are not successful in identifying what they need to do next to improve provision. As a result, leaders do not provide effective enough coaching to ensure the quality of teaching is good and staff manage children's behaviour consistently. At times, there is a high ratio of staff to children which enables them to give one-to-one support. However at other times, children are not sufficiently engaged in activities to support their learning and their behaviour deteriorates rapidly. Safeguarding is effective. Staff have a sound knowledge of child protection procedures and what to do if concerned about a child's welfare. They work with other agencies to support families in times of need.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Staff understanding of effective teaching methods varies. More experienced staff use questioning well to encourage children to learn. For example, a member of staff works closely with the children looking at mini beasts. She notices one of the woodlouse has babies and shows the children. They talk about the differences of the insects such as their legs and compare a millipede and a woodlouse. However, other staff do not interact with children sufficiently and do not help them to learn as much as they can. On these occasions, children lose interest in what they are doing and run off. When this happens staff call out simply telling the children not to run and fail to help them to learn how to keep themselves safe. Staff observe children in their play and assess what they know and can do. However, not all staff are kept informed about what children need to learn next because systems to share this information are underdeveloped. As a result, activities do

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

not always provide children with the challenge they need.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Children show good levels of confidence. They make choices about what they want to play with and are able to access resources easily. Staff do not take sufficient account of the needs of all of the children when planning activities. For example, while older children are keen to actively participate in story time their learning is affected by the younger children who are not sufficiently supported by staff to sit and listen

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Children are learning some skills that will support them when they go to school. For example, older children independently choose where to learn when some choose to stay in the playroom to enjoy craft activities and others choose to look for insects in the outside area. However, younger children are not given consistent support to understand what is expected of them. This impacts on their learning and the learning of others.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 139331 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 1099980 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 21 Name of registered person Crossways Playgroup Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 8 December 2016 Telephone number 01305 853466

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reference number

Crossways Playgroup registered in 1993. It operates from Crossways, near Dorchester, in Dorset. The playgroup operates on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am to 3pm, on Tuesdays from 9am to 12pm, and on Wednesdays from 9am to 1pm and 1pm to 3pm. It operates during school term time only. A team of three staff consistently work at the setting, two of whom hold appropriate childcare qualifications at level 3. Another staff member works occasionally when required and is qualified to level 3. The playgroup receives funding to provide free early years education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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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