Lindens Pre-School Group

Lindens Pre-School Group 39 Highdown Avenue, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 1QL

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20 April 2018 17 November 2015

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Inadequate 4

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

p.1

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate 4

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Children's welfare and safety are compromised. The manager has not ensured that all staff have the required checks, or kept a record of these, to verify their suitability to work with children. This is also a breach of the Childcare Register.  Although the manager supports the professional development of her staff well, she does not set precise targets to help staff raise their practice to the highest level. For example, occasionally staff miss opportunities to extend children's learning fully.  Self-evaluation is not used effectively to identify and address the breach in welfare requirements.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 The manager and staff work well with parents. They successfully encourage regular two-way communication about children's learning and value parents' contributions.  Staff promote children's learning well and plan precise next steps that support further progress. They work well with other professionals to help provide consistent support for children who have special educational needs. All children make good progress from their developmental starting points.  Staff are caring and supportive. They spend plenty of time joining in with children's play and build strong bonds with them. Children feel settled and secure, and are enthusiastic about their time spent at the setting.

p.1

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:

p.2

Due Date

 ensure an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check is obtained for every person aged 16 years and over who works directly with children and that records are kept of the relevant Disclosure and Barring Service numbers and dates obtained. 04/06/2018

p.2

Due Date

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

p.2

Due Date

 provide staff with highly tailored individual support to help further develop their skills in fully extending children's learning  make greater use of self-evaluation to help identify where there are breaches of legal requirements.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed teaching practices and the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector held discussions with the manager, staff, children and parents.  The inspector read some of the pre-school's documentation, including the safeguarding policy and procedures.  The inspector sampled children's development information and records.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager and discussed children's play, learning and progress.

p.2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is ineffective. The manager has not ensured that all staff have completed suitability checks and she has not maintained a record of the Disclosure and Barring Service numbers and dates obtained, as required. This compromises children's safety. Staff have attended safeguarding training and have an up-to-date understanding of how to deal with any child protection concerns. Overall, the manager works well with her well- qualified staff team and offers them good guidance, support and further training to help improve teaching. Together, they have recently developed the way they plan for children's learning. For example, they now use a more spontaneous and flexible system that responds more closely to children's interests. However, although the manager has incorporated regular supervision meetings, she does not observe staff practice regularly to help precisely identify how she can develop their good skills further. Although self-

p.3

Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

evaluation is not fully effective, the manager reflects closely on the quality of resources available. She has recently added new role-play equipment to further support children's imaginary play.

p.3

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

The manager and staff assess children's learning closely and monitor the progress of all children, including specific groups, to help close any development gaps. They know the children well and provide a stimulating and challenging learning environment. For example, children learn about the life cycle of frogs and enthusiastically observe real tadpoles in a tank. Staff then build on children's understanding further, such as by introducing factual books and setting up a water tray with linked resources. Staff support children's communication skills very well. They encourage plenty of conversation about children's interests, home lives and views. Staff show a genuine interest in what children say and actively promote their ideas and opinions. Staff are experienced, thoughtful and skilful teachers.

p.3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The weakness in safeguarding means that staff suitability and therefore children's safety and welfare cannot be assured. Staff effectively support children's positive behaviour and consistently remind them of their expectations. Children behave well and are considerate of others. They make positive friendships and happily ask others to join in with their play, such as when playing 'families' in the home corner. Children enjoy regular exercise in the well-resourced garden and show good balance and coordination as they complete challenging obstacle courses. They confidently discuss their favourite healthy food during mealtimes and know the benefits of eating well.

p.3

Outcomes for children are good

Children develop a positive attitude towards their learning and are willing to give things a go. They are well motivated and show good concentration. For example, children carefully build with magnetic blocks, creating complex structures. Children are very independent and confidently make choices in their play, moving freely between indoors and outdoors. They develop strong mathematics skills and confidently count the eight legs on a spider, talking about how it is more than the six on an ant. Children enjoy imaginary play and quickly learn the skills they need for the next stage in their learning and for school.

p.3

Setting details

Unique reference number 113578 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 1126626 Type of provision Sessional 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 52 Number of children on roll 39 Name of registered person Wendy, Violet Ann Tovey

p.5

reference number

Date of previous inspection 17 November 2015 Telephone number 01903 268919

p.5

reference number

Lindens Pre-School Group registered in 1979. It is open during school term times only, on Monday to Friday from 8.45am to 3pm. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four years. There are seven members of staff, four of whom hold relevant qualifications between level 2 and level 3.

p.5

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.

p.5

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.

p.5

reference number

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.6

reference number

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our website for news, information and updates at www.ofsted.gov.uk/user.

p.6

reference number

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

p.6