Skylarks Community Pre-School

Skylarks Community Pre-School Village Centre, Horsham RH12 3LY

p.1

Inspection date 3 May 2019 Previous inspection date Not applicable

p.1

This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Not applicable Effectiveness of leadership and management Good 2 Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2 Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2 Outcomes for children Good 2

p.1

This provision is good

n Partnerships with parents are good. Staff support children and their families effectively to enable children to move on to their next stage in learning, including school. They provide guidance and suggestions for learning at home, such as a book-lending service and resources to support children's speech and language skills. Parents comment that they fully value this assistance, which helps them to extend their children's knowledge and development. n Staff are skilful at supporting and extending children's chosen play. For example, when children show a great interest in splashing in puddles, staff empty a large tray of resources to enable children to jump with great excitement and exuberance in the water. n Children enjoy each other's company and develop good friendships. They exhibit the trusting bonds they have with staff as they actively involve them in their play and seek them out for guidance and reassurance. Children show concern for those younger than

p.1

This provision is good

themselves and help them to learn the routines of the pre-school. n Children enjoy their time at the pre-school and make good progress in their learning. They thoroughly enjoy making cupcakes in the mud kitchen, working together to decide when to add water to their mixture. They show great skill as they negotiate their ride-on toys in the outdoor area, manoeuvring around other children and resources with care. n Staff do not consistently use their effective teaching skills to provide children with high- quality learning experiences during routine times of the day, such as snack times. n Circle times, when staff bring all of the children together, are sometimes too large for all children to remain focused and the activities undertaken at these times are not always meaningful.

p.1

What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

p.2

What the setting needs to do to improve further

n make the most of routine times of the day, such as snack times, to provide children with consistent teaching and learning experiences throughout the sessions n review and revise circle times to ensure that group sizes are not too large and that the activities at these times are meaningful.

p.2

What the setting needs to do to improve further

n The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector viewed written documentation and held discussions with the manager and staff regarding children's progress. n The inspector sampled the setting's policies and procedures. n The inspector spoke with parents and children to gain their views. n The inspector discussed the setting's action plans for improvement with the manager.

p.2

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

The manager offers effective support to the staff to enable them to continually improve their knowledge and skills. She helps staff to identify further training opportunities that will also support children's individual needs. For example, following appraisals, a staff member attended a course in sign language, which has enabled children to communicate with staff more effectively. Staff readily seek parents' and children's views to help guide the improvements they make. For instance, following parents' feedback, they now provide children with certificates to share their successes at pre-school. Parents are also now able to share their child's achievements from home using a form available on the parents' noticeboard. Safeguarding is effective. Staff know the procedures to follow if they have any child protection concerns about a child's welfare and are secure in their knowledge of the signs of possible abuse. The manager ensures that the setting policies

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and procedures reflect current government guidelines and that staff adhere to these. Staff risk assess the pre-school environment and outings effectively to ensure that children play and learn in safe surroundings.

p.3

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff plan the learning environment effectively to enable children to independently access activities and resources that cover all areas of learning. The indoor area, although a large space, is divided effectively to allow for cosy areas, quieter sections and those for children to be more physically active. Staff successfully observe, assess and plan for children's development and the manager monitors this system to ensure its effectiveness and to seek further support from other professionals if required. This enables all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make good progress in their learning from their individual starting points. Staff use additional funding successfully to build on children's interests while incorporating their learning needs, such as purchasing resources to extend social skills.

p.3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Children gain good levels of independence and confidence. They get themselves ready for outdoor play and understand that they need boots on to splash in the water. Children behave well and staff are skilled in helping children to resolve minor conflicts. This helps them to be aware of the impact of their actions on others and how to manage their own behaviour. Staff support children's awareness of their immediate community and the wider world. They undertake walks in the village to buy stamps and post letters and visit the sensory room at the local leisure centre.

p.3

Outcomes for children are good

Children learn how to conduct experiments to prove their theories. They make boats from different materials, including paper and sponges, and then test to see if they float or sink. Children develop effective small-muscle skills, for instance when they use pipettes to drop food colouring into cornflour to explore the colour changes. They gain secure mathematical knowledge and demonstrate this as they recognise the numbers written on the dinosaur eggs. They then count out the corresponding number of baby dinosaurs to place inside the egg.

p.3

Setting details

Unique reference number EY543204 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 10103557 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

p.4

Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Sessional day care Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 66 Name of registered person Skylarks Community Pre-School CIO

p.4

reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07825603601

p.4

reference number

Skylarks Community Pre-School opened in 2017. It operates from a village centre in Broadbridge Heath, West Sussex. The setting opens from 9am to 12.30pm on Monday and Friday, 9am to 3.30pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and 9am to 11.30am on Wednesday, during school term times. The setting employs eight staff. The manager has an early years qualification at level 3. One member of staff has early years teacher status. There are four staff with a qualification at level 3.

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.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.

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 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.5

reference number

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 monthly newsletter for more information and updates: www.ofsted.gov.uk/user .

p.5

reference number

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

p.5