Dragonflies Preschool

Dragonflies Preschool St. Marys Catholic Primary School, Lyme Road, AXMINSTER, Devon, EX13 5BE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 6 February 2018 Not applicable

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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 management team supports the professional development of staff well. For example, staff have completed training that helps them promote children's understanding of letters and sounds more effectively in play.  Staff build close bonds with all children and help them feel emotionally secure in the pre-school. Staff support children who have special educational needs (SEN) very well and help all children make positive achievements.  Children behave very well. Staff work well to support children to develop good self- esteem and confidence. For instance, children benefit from frequent praise and encouragement for their efforts and achievements in play.  Staff form positive partnerships with parents. Staff recognise the importance of parents' involvement in their children's learning and encourage this well to provide continuity. Parents say staff are caring and supportive, and their children have fun at pre-school.

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This provision is good

 Staff are qualified and experienced. They plan an exciting range of activities that motivates children to learn. Children enjoy their play and make good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Although staff make initial links with other settings children attend, they do not continue to pursue these partnerships sufficiently to share information about children's development and provide a continuous approach for their care and learning needs.  At times, the organisation of some group times and daily routines does not fully support children's learning and interrupts their enjoyment and involvement in play.

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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 ways of sharing information and building partnerships with other settings children attend, to develop a more consistent approach to supporting children's care and learning needs  review the organisation of group activities and daily routines to fully support children's learning and minimise interruptions to their interest in play.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's interactions in play indoors and outdoors.  The inspector viewed documentation, such as operational policies, procedures and required records, including those for staff suitability.  The inspector took into account the written and spoken views of parents.  The inspector undertook a joint observation of an activity with the play leader and discussed children's learning and development with her.  The inspector had discussions with the manager about the pre-school self-evaluation and how they continue to make improvements.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

Safeguarding is effective. The management team and staff keep their knowledge of safeguarding issues up to date and are clear about their responsibilities to protect children's welfare. The management team follows a robust recruitment and induction process and continues to assess staff suitability. Staff monitor and support children's achievements regularly in liaison with parents. For instance, staff share their termly assessments of children's progress and provide ideas and activities for parents to share and support children's individual next steps of development effectively. The management team and staff are committed to making continual improvements and regularly evaluate their practice and identify where they need to develop this further. For example, they identified a need to develop children's physical abilities and now provide more focused activities to support their control and coordination of movements.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff get to know children well and understand their specific needs and abilities. They encourage children's early literacy skills effectively. For example, older children listen well to a favourite story and remember the rhyming words, such as 'rub a dub dub'. Younger children start to join in with repeated refrains, such as 'splish, splash, splosh'. Staff help children develop good listening and remembering skills. For instance, children listen attentively when staff shake a musical shaker quietly, loudly, slowly or fast and make good attempts to copy these actions. Staff actively support children's exploration of colour and texture and their understanding of the world. For instance, children examined a tray of ice and worked out how to break this up with a toy hammer. They became absorbed mixing different colour paints into the melting ice and told staff 'it is very cold'.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Staff support children's physical fitness well. For example, children have fun jumping from hoop to hoop or swinging across the monkey bars of an obstacle course. Staff encourage children's socialisation skills and interaction with their community well. For example, children like going with staff to a local care home and enjoy joining in with songs and a story with the residents. Staff actively promote children's awareness of keeping safe and people who help us. For instance, children visited a fire station with staff where they saw inside a fire engine and tried on the firefighters' helmets.

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Outcomes for children are good

Children gain the confidence and independence to prepare them well for their future learning at school. For instance, older children start to do up the zips and buttons on their jackets, and younger children learn how to peel an orange or banana at snack time. Children develop their creative and problem-solving skills well. For example, they cut and stick materials such as cardboard tubes and egg boxes together to make their models. They tell staff they have made 'a boat to go on water'. Children work out how to use the sticky tape cutter safely and know they have to be careful of the sharp edge.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY496057 Local authority Devon Inspection number 1034963 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 24 Number of children on roll 38 Name of registered person Dragonflies Pre-School CIO

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01297 639329

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reference number

Dragonflies Preschool registered in 2015. This committee-run pre-school operates from a classroom within St Marys Catholic Primary School, situated in Axminster, Devon. The pre- school offers care for children on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8.55am until 3.25pm and on Fridays from 8.55am until 12.55pm, term time only. There are seven members of staff employed, five of whom hold childcare qualifications at level 3 and one holds a level 2 qualification. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education places 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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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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