Kingston St Mary Pre- School

Kingston St Mary Pre- School Greenway, Kingston St. Mary, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 8JH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27 February 2018 19 May 2015

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3

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Good 2

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

 The provider has not notified Ofsted of changes to the committee within required timescales. Some committee members have not completed the correct process to provide Ofsted with the information to complete all necessary suitability checks.  Although staff assess children's achievements, they do not monitor these as well as possible to support children's ongoing progress more precisely in all areas of learning.  Staff sometimes miss opportunities to encourage children to recognise and match numbers to quantity and develop their mathematical awareness further.  The manager does not ensure that staff work closely with other settings children attend, to share information and provide a more consistent approach to their care and learning.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff are caring and provide children with a welcoming approach. Children settle easily, feel secure in their care and gain a positive sense of emotional well-being.  Children enjoy their play and make good progress. Staff plan a broad range of interesting activities that motivates children's learning well.  Staff receive good support to develop their professional knowledge. For example, they research childcare issues, such as early writing skills and outdoor play, which help them understand more about ways to support children's overall development.  Staff promote children's good health and physical fitness effectively. They provide frequent opportunities for children to be energetic outdoors.

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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

 provide Ofsted with the required information to enable the necessary suitability checks to be carried out on all members of the management committee. 27/03/2018

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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

 develop systems for monitoring children's achievements further, to consistently assess and monitor their ongoing progress more precisely in all areas of their learning  provide more opportunities for children to recognise and use numerals in their activities, to develop their mathematical awareness further  liaise more regularly with other settings children attend to provide a consistent approach for their care and learning needs.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's interactions indoors and outdoors, and discussed their current learning needs with key-person staff.  The inspector viewed documentation, such as operational policies, procedures and required records for suitability, including qualification and insurance certificates.  The inspector undertook a joint observation of an activity with the manager and discussed children's learning and development.  The inspector took into account the spoken views of parents.  The inspector had discussions with the management team and reviewed the pre- school's evaluation systems and ongoing improvements with the manager.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. The manager and staff understand their responsibilities to protect children's welfare and demonstrate a suitable knowledge of safeguarding issues. However, the provider has not promptly notified or provided Ofsted with sufficient details of the committee members to complete all necessary suitability checks. The impact on children is limited as committee members do not work directly with them. The manager involves staff well to evaluate practice and make ongoing improvements. This has led them to extend the outdoor play area to provide more learning opportunities for children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff get to know children's individual ways of learning and support these well in their play. For instance, they recognise that some boys focus more in their learning after exercise and give them time to run around outdoors, before coming in to play. Staff encourage children's imagination well. For example, children have fun dressing up as firefighters or police officers. They tell staff they will put the 'bad guys' away and make notes on their writing pads. Staff support children's understanding of the world effectively. For example, children concentrate well to mix lard and bird seed together, to make a bird feeder. They tell staff they have seen a 'black bird' and look on the internet for other birds they might see outdoors. Staff promote children's language skills very well. For instance, older children tell staff they added 'cream of tartar' to their play dough mixture. They say that cooking oil is a 'liquid' and not a 'solid'.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Some weaknesses within leadership and management mean that support for all aspects of children's welfare is not consistently good. However, staff actively encourage children to learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, children handle tools, such as scissors and knives, carefully. They tell staff that boiling water might burn them. Staff act as positive role models and support children well to be considerate of others and understand their feelings. For instance, children see another is upset and find a paintbrush for them to join in painting water patterns on the outdoor blackboard. Staff promote children's physical skills effectively. For example, older children have great fun running round and chasing each other in the garden. They pretend to be 'monster bears' and growl loudly saying they are going to catch their friends with a 'bear hug'. Younger children learn to balance carefully across the stepping logs.

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Outcomes for children are good

Children are motivated learners. They gain confidence, independence and good social skills to help them with their future learning. For example, older children think about how to resolve simple practical problems, such as how to break up some ice. They try doing this with their hands and say 'it is cold and slippy', and suggest pouring water on the ice to melt it instead. Younger children pour their own drinks, learn to undo their lunchbox packaging and show great pride when putting their wellingtons on themselves.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY413524 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 1094436 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 20 Number of children on roll 26 Name of registered person Kingston St Mary Pre School Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 19 May 2015 Telephone number 01823 452319

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reference number

Kingston St Mary Pre-School registered at its present location in 2010. This committee-run pre-school is situated in the grounds of Kingston St Mary Primary School, Kingston St Mary, Somerset. The pre-school opens on Monday from 10.45am until 3pm and on Tuesday to Friday from 8.45am until 3pm, during term time only. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early years education for children aged two, three and four years. There are five staff employed. The manager holds early years professional status, the deputy holds an early years qualification at level 6, two staff hold early years qualifications at level 3 and one holds a qualification at level 2.

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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

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