Little Bears Forest Pre School

Little Bears Forest Pre School Langstone Church, Shore Avenue, Southsea, PO4 8NB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28 February 2018 Not applicable

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3

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2

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3

Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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

 The manager does not thoroughly check the suitability of new staff, in particular for those who have existing Disclosure and Barring Service checks from their past employers. She does not implement effective procedures to ensure the completion of existing checks in a timely manner.  Staff assessments and tracking of children's development are not consistent enough to fully identify their next steps in learning. Information from parents is not always used effectively to ensure all children make good progress.  The manager identifies training and professional opportunities for staff, sometimes this is not always tailored as well as possible to help raise the quality of teaching further.  At times, staff do not organise some daily routines well enough. As a result, children sometimes lose focus and concentration, such as when sitting for an extended time.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are enthusiastic and motivated in their learning. Staff provide a stimulating, calm and warm environment for them. Children's emotional well-being is strong.  Children have great opportunities to learn outside and be active in the garden. For example, they explore the properties of ice found in the garden and work together in the mud kitchen to make 'snow soup'.  Children enjoy being energetic and develop their physical skills effectively. For example, specialist coaches regularly attend to hold sports based activities.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and the Childcare Register the provider must:

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Due Date

 improve recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure the timely completion of robust checks on all new staff members. 01/04/2018

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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

 ensure all staff are consistent in their assessments of children, and make better use of the information gained from parents when children start, to monitor their ongoing development  help staff further to access training and professional development opportunities that target their individual needs and help them to improve the overall quality of teaching  review and improve parts of the daily routine to ensure that young children are not sitting for extended periods of time.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed practice and staff interactions with children and assessed the impact of these on their learning.  The inspector explored the arrangements for safeguarding children. She also completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held discussions with the manager and the other members of staff to discuss areas of leadership and management, including supervision and support arrangements, and the use of the self-evaluation process.  The inspector spoke with parents and took account of their views and comments.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including suitability checks of staff who work directly with children and children's developmental records of progress.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. Staff have a good knowledge of how to identify signs and symptoms of abuse. They have robust systems to record and report child protection concerns, if these arise. However, the provider has not completed a Disclosure and Barring Service check for a new member of staff. She has accepted a check completed by another provider. However, she has obtained references and followed other safe recruiting procedures. The manager also ensures that this member of staff is never left unsupervised with children. Therefore, the impact on children's welfare is not significant. The manager supports staff well during individual supervisions and team meetings, and actively reviews the quality of provision. Although, staff undertake some training this is not fully tailored to raise the quality of teaching further.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Staff provide a broad variety of learning experiences for the children throughout the day. However, the manager and staff do not consistently monitor children's learning and development, to ensure that good progress is ongoing. Staff support children's communication and language development well. For example, they completed training in sign language, which they use to help all children communicate, in particular those with special educational needs or those learning English. This helps all children to communicate with each other and to understand routines and make choices. Staff encourage children to be independent from a young age. For example, all children attempt to dress themselves for their outside play, including putting on their coats and gloves.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

All children are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff raise children's sense of self-esteem, for instance, by praising their good behaviour and achievements. They develop positive relationships with them. Staff help children to understand how to keep themselves safe. For example, when teaching them how to safely climb trees in the garden. Staff establish effective partnerships. They build links with the local community, other professionals and early years settings that children attend to promote continuity for children's learning and well-being. Parents’ report that they get good support and regular progress information from their children's key person. Although the manager has not completed all checks for a new staff member, children's well-being is not compromised.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Overall, all children, including those in receipt of additional funding, make appropriate progress in their development, gaining the skills they need for the next stage of their learning. Children have a wide range of opportunities to enhance their early investigating skills, such as when they explore which materials react positively to magnets. However, the organisation of some parts of the daily routine means children at times sit for quite a time, leading to some losing interest in the activity.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY493734 Local authority Portsmouth Inspection number 1030023 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 50 Name of registered person Little Bears Forest Preschool Ltd

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07544 112 751

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reference number

Little Bears Forest Pre School registered in 2015. It is located in Southsea, Portsmouth. The Pre School opens for 38 weeks of the year from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday. There is also a holiday club that runs for three weeks during the school summer holiday. There are nine staff working with the children, six of whom have early years qualifications at level 2 and above, including one with a level 5 qualification and one with a level 6 qualification. The provider receives funding for free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

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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

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

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