Alconbury Community Pre-School

Alconbury Community Pre- School The Memorial Hall, School Lane, Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 4EQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 3 May 2018 27 November 2014

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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

 Staff work well together as a team. The well-qualified manager leads the team with enthusiasm and dedication. The team is well supported by the committee.  Children are deeply engaged in purposeful play. They are curious, active learners who make their own choices about what they do and with what they play. Children make good progress.  Staff have strong links with the local school and have built good working relationships with the teachers. Children have many opportunities to visit the school, and teachers meet children in the pre-school. This helps children to be emotionally prepared for the move to school.  Children build strong relationships with staff who are good role models. Staff are consistent in their behavioural expectations and praise children's efforts and achievements. This helps children to build good levels of self-esteem.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 The arrangements in place to review the progress made by different groups of children are not sufficiently embedded to help leaders to identify all potential gaps in learning.  Staff do not always support children's emerging interest in numbers as well as possible.

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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

 enhance the arrangements to assess the progress made across different groups of children  provide more opportunities for older children to extend their understanding and recognition of numbers.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector spoke with staff and children during the inspection.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the pre-school manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the pre-school manager and the provider. She looked at relevant documentation and evidence of the suitability of committee members and staff working in the pre-school.  The inspector spoke to some parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

Parents are very positive about the pre-school. They feel they are welcome and well informed about their child's day and the progress they make. The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff confidently fulfil their role to protect children from harm. They know what to do should they have any concerns about a child's welfare. The committee implements robust procedures to ensure suitability checks are promptly completed for committee members. The manager gathers the views of staff, parents and children to help her to evaluate the pre-school. She has implemented regular arrangements to support and coach staff on an individual and team basis. Staff are committed to continually develop their skills and knowledge, and are supported to gain appropriate professional qualifications. They attend training and conduct online research, sharing what they learn with each other. They use what they learn to develop the learning

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

environment, particularly outdoors, which is rich in print and offers a wide range of stimulating learning experiences.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff know children very well. They regularly observe children as they play and assess their progress. They plan activities to support children's emerging interests and individual stage of development. Staff place high importance on developing children's communication and language development. Children join in enthusiastically with songs and anticipate the words in stories they know well. Staff create a relaxed atmosphere where children are confident to talk and share their ideas. Children make links between favourite stories and hands-on learning experiences. For instance, they ask if the caterpillars in the pre-school are 'fat' now they are 'making their cocoons'.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Children have good opportunities to learn about the wider world. For instance, they learn about democracy when they conduct their own election to determine which book will be read at story time. They visit the polling station with staff on local council election day. Children help staff to plant and tend to flowers in the garden. They know that when the butterflies come out of their cocoons they will enjoy nectar from the flowers. Children imaginatively develop physical games outside. They pretend to be horses and choose the 'largest' hoop to take turns to jump through. This helps them to develop good spatial awareness.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children make good progress given their starting points and capabilities. Children are confident and build good independence in play. Children show a developing awareness of the sounds that letters represent when they learn about the letter of the week. They are beginning to write their names and show a real interest in books, stories and rhymes. Children show respect for each other and for the environment. They are beginning to form strong peer friendships. Children gain key skills to support the move to school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY251575 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 1104041 Type of provision Full-time 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 20 Number of children on roll 28 Name of registered person Alconbury Community Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 27 November 2014

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Telephone number

Alconbury Community Pre-School registered in 2003 and is committee run. The committee employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one holds a qualification at level 2. The manager holds an appropriate qualification at level 5. The pre-school opens from Monday to Friday, during school term time. Sessions are from 9am to 3pm. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Telephone 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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Telephone 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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Telephone number

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Telephone number

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Telephone 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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