St Williams Pre-School

St Williams Pre-School St Williams Church Hall, Walderslade Village, Chatham, Kent, ME5 9LR

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22 May 2018 2 June 2015

p.1

3

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

p.1

3

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

p.1

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

 The manager does not always ensure that staff are effectively deployed to supervise children. Consequently, children sometimes do not receive sufficient support from staff to manage their behaviour or ensure their individual needs are fully met.  Occasionally, some staff do not give enough consideration to ways in which they can further support young children's emerging speech and language skills.  The manager does not routinely gain and consider the views of parents and children to help her evaluate the pre-school and make plans for improvement.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 The manager works hard with the pre-school supervisor to lead and support a well- qualified and enthusiastic staff team. Regular monitoring helps them to recognise ways to motivate and support staff to increase their confidence and enhance their roles.  Children form emotional attachments with the staff. They enjoy the staff's company and are eager for them to join in their play. Overall, children who are new to the pre-school are content and settle quickly.  Staff monitor and track children's development effectivity, and they recognise children's achievements well. They consider and plan purposeful experiences to help support children to explore their own ideas and interests. Children are confident, imaginative and make good progress in their learning.

p.1

What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

p.2

Due Date

 improve staff deployment to ensure that this consistently meets the needs of the children. 25/06/2018

p.2

Due Date

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

p.2

Due Date

 ensure all staff consistently provide opportunities for children to develop their speaking and language skills further  improve the self-evaluation process to include the views and suggestions from parents and children.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed interactions between the staff and children during a play session and planned activities.  The inspector spoke to the manager at different times throughout the inspection, to discuss practice and to invite her to complete a joint observation.  The inspector spoke to parents and children about aspects of the pre-school and considered their views.  The inspector spoke to staff and looked at developmental records for individual children.  The inspector looked at a range of documentation, including the pre-school's policies and staff's records.

p.2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. The manager ensures staff have an understanding of their role and the processes and procedures to follow in regards to safeguarding. Staff know the children well and are confident in recognising and recording concerns, such as changes to children's behaviour. The manager is well aware of her responsibilities and she works hard to keep children safe. However, staff are not consistently deployed to meet all children's care needs. The manager and staff carry out some self-evaluation. The manager supports staff to attend training opportunities, which helps them implement positive changes to practice. For example, knowledge gained from training has led staff to review routines. They now provide an earlier snack time, which has helped the youngest children to settle into the daily routine more quickly.

p.3

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Overall, staff have a good understanding of how children learn and their positive interactions in children's play help children to practise developing skills. For example, staff use simple questions to encourage children to think about how they could measure a tower of bricks. Using their emerging mathematical skills, children use rulers to measure the height. They recognise and count the numbers on the ruler and comment that if they add 'one more' the tower would be the same height as the ruler. Staff regularly share ongoing information about children's progress with parents and other professionals. They work closely with others to identify targets to support children's progression.

p.3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Staff maintain a safe and welcoming environment. They organise the stimulating resources effectively to ensure children can make their own choices and lead their own play. Overall, children behave and cooperate well with their friends. However, staff are not effectively deployed, especially when children freely move between the inside and outside environments and at lunch time. For example, at times, only one member of staff was deployed outside, who was unable to see children in all areas. This effected how some children behaved, as play became quite boisterous and some children became upset, without staff being aware that support or intervention was needed during all disputes.

p.3

Outcomes for children are good

Children progress well in relation to their starting points. They are keen learners who practise their emerging skills in their play. For example, children show developing physical skills and coordination as they use a spade to shovel sand into a jug. With emerging accuracy, they pour the sand into the small hole at the top of a cone. Later, children use these skills to enhance their independence as they pour their own drinks at snack time.

p.3

Setting details

Unique reference number 103853 Local authority Medway Towns Inspection number 1088943 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 65 Name of registered person Anouska Riley

p.4

reference number

Date of previous inspection 2 June 2015 Telephone number 07967442825

p.4

reference number

St Williams Pre-School registered in 1998. The pre-school opens on Monday and Thursday from 9am until midday, and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am until 3.30pm. It operates term time only. The pre-school receives funding for children aged two, three and four years to provide free early years education. The pre-school employs nine members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above.

p.4

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.4

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.4

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.5

reference number

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

p.5

reference number

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

p.5