St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St Francis Pre-School The Vicarage, Galahad Avenue, ROCHESTER, Kent ME2 2YS

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Inspection date 29 November 2018 Previous inspection date 14 July 2016

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Previous inspection: Good 2 Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate 4 Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate 4 Outcomes for children Inadequate 4

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This provision is inadequate

n Staff do not have a suitable understanding of their roles and responsibilities in regards to safeguarding children. They have a minimal knowledge of current guidance and the processes to follow. Staff fail to identify all potential hazards or act swiftly to minimise risk to children. This has a significant impact on children's safety. n Staff do not consistently manage children's behaviour well enough. Children are not given sufficient opportunities to learn how to manage their own behaviour. Therefore, children do not behave well or develop skills to enable them to deal with situations in positive ways. n Insufficient procedures mean that staff do not deal with all accidents appropriately. This compromises children's safety. n The management team does not maintain written records of complaints received and/or all incidents that occur. Therefore, it is unable to demonstrate how these were effectively acted on.

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This provision is inadequate

n The programme for support and professional development is not effectively implemented to help raise the quality of teaching and improve staff practice. n The quality of teaching is poor. Staff do not ensure children have daily opportunities to play and learn outside. They fail to provide children with the challenge needed for them to make the progress of which they are capable. n The manager does not consistently identify or monitor gaps in the progress between groups of children so that steps can be taken to close them more rapidly. n The management team does not use self evaluation effectively to help it identify areas for improvement and swiftly make positive changes.

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It has the following strengths

n Older children show independence as they wash hands and pour drinks at snack time.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure all staff have a full and thorough understanding of all safeguarding matters and are alert to their roles and responsibilities 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

improve the risk assessment process to ensure all risks to children's safety are effectively minimised 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

ensure strategies to manage children's behaviour are embedded in practice and used consistently by staff 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

ensure secure procedures for dealing with all accidents are embedded in practice, especially in regards to ensuring written records are maintained and parents are informed as soon as possible 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

implement effective procedures for dealing with concerns, complaints and serious incidents that occur, especially in regards to ensuring written records of the concerns and any following outcomes are maintained 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

implement appropriate arrangements for the supervision of staff to provide appropriate support and coaching, to raise the quality of teaching and improve outcomes for children 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

provide children with daily opportunities to access outdoor activities 31/01/2019

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

improve the quality of teaching to ensure interactions are tailored to meet children's individual learning needs and that activities offer suitable challenge to help each child make good progress in all areas of learning. 31/01/2019

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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

n implement fully robust systems for tracking children's overall progression and the progress made by different groups of children n improve the self-evaluation process to include parents' views and effectively identify areas for improvement.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

Inspection activities n The inspector observed interactions between the staff and children during play activities. n The inspector viewed a range of developmental records and spoke to key staff about children's progression. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector talked to parents and children and considered their views. n This inspection was carried out following the risk assessment process.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is ineffective. The management team does not maintain a safe environment for children or ensure staff have a sufficient understanding of their responsibilities in protecting children. This places children at significant risk. For example, staff have a limited understanding of safeguarding legislation, such as the 'Prevent' duty guidance, and they fail to recognise situations which could be safeguarding concerns. Risk assessment processes are ineffective. Staff fail to recognise dangers in the environment, such as large mushrooms growing in the children's outside play space. The manager comments she is 'unsure' if they are dangerous. The management team does not sufficiently monitor the accidents that occur in the pre- school. Therefore, it has not acted appropriately to reduce the risk of these re-occurring. For example, records show some children have had a large number of similar accidents,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

such as 'head bangs', within a short period of time. Staff do not consistently recognise or act appropriately when children are hurt. For example, staff offer reassurance when a child bumps their head. The child sits holding their head as staff move on and make no attempt to administer first aid or record the incident. On occasions when written records have been completed, these are insufficient. For example, there are no records to highlight if parents are informed of every accident. The management team is not meeting the requirement to maintain written records of any complaints and their outcome. For example, it is unable to relay clearly how concerns raised by parents have been dealt with. It is also uncertain if parents have been informed of all incidents in the pre-school. The management team does complete some evaluation of practice and has recognised some areas for development. However, it does not consider parents' views to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

help inform improvement plans. Self-evaluation processes are not effective in helping the management team to recognise the significant weaknesses in practice. The management team does not give staff effective support and mentoring to help them become confident in their roles. Staff do attend some training courses but these have not had a significant impact on improving outcomes for children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

Staff complete observations of children's achievements. They have some understanding of children's individual abilities. However, they do not use this information well enough to build on children's skills or to extend their learning as much as they can. For example, staff miss opportunities to extend children's interest in binoculars. They name them for the children and recognise when the children start to look through them. However, they offer no further interactions to enhance the children's curiosity and exploration. Therefore, children drop the binoculars and move on quickly. Staff provide some activities of interest which children enjoy. For example, children use textured rollers to paint on paper stuck to the wall. However, group activities are not well planned and staff do not effectively consider the different ages and abilities of the children present. Therefore, children become disengaged and the manager has to intervene to encourage

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

staff to find all children appropriate activities. The management team does not ensure that staff meet the requirement to enable children to have access to outside play opportunities daily. Staff comment that there is 'no reason' why children are not outside. Although the manager uses an appropriate system to monitor children's progress, this is not robust enough to ensure that children's development is being effectively tracked. She does not consider different groups of children within the setting to ensure she is sufficiently recognising the gaps in children's progression.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The significant weaknesses in leadership and management mean children's care and well-being needs are not met. The management team fails to provide a safe environment for children to play and learn. Risk assessments are not robust and staff do not act appropriately to minimise hazards. For example, after physical play children run around the hall in their socks. Staff fail to recognise the risk of children slipping and a number of children fall. Staff are not confident in dealing with the children's behaviour. At times, children's poor and overly boisterous behaviour leads to a chaotic and disorderly environment. Often children behave inappropriately and staff struggle to cope. For example, children throw toys and resources around the hall, such as plates from the home corner and play binoculars. Some staff do not react to this behaviour and other staff comment 'no throwing'. When children continue with this behaviour, staff simply

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

pick up the resources. Overall, children show little self-control in their play. Staff do not give children suitable opportunities to develop an understanding of appropriate behaviour. For example, as children snatch and take toys from other children, staff simply say 'share'. When children do not respond or come when called, staff give up and move on. Staff provide a range of healthy and nutritious snacks for children.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Children acquire some skills that help to prepare them for the next stage in their learning. For example, children take time to link toys together. They show pride as they use their communication skills to tell their friends they have made a circle. However, gaps in staff's understanding of how to support individual children and poor interactions and teaching have a negative impact on the progress children make. This means that not all children are effectively supported to make good or better progress.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 103842 Local authority Medway Inspection number 10085780 Type of provision Full day care

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register

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Day care type

Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 33 Name of registered person St Francis Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 14 July 2016 Telephone number 01634 301188

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reference number

St Francis Pre-School registered in 1996 and is based Strood, Kent. The pre-school is open each weekday from 8.30am to 3pm, during term time only. There are nine staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications, including two staff who hold a level 3 qualification. The pre-school is in receipt of funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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.ofsted.gov.uk . 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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