Collingwood Under Fives Pre-school

Inspection of Collingwood Under Fives Pre-school Collingwood Road, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 5YJ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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The provision is good

Children are happy and eager to come to the pre-school. They are welcomed by warm and friendly staff. Children know the routine well and quickly settle to play with their friends and interact with staff. They choose their own play from the wide variety of well-prepared activities. They are engaged and enthusiastic in their learning. Children form good relationships with staff and demonstrate they feel emotionally secure. Their behaviour is good, and they take turns and play cooperatively with each other.

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The provision is good

As they play, children are very well supported by staff who listen and interact with them. For example, as children enjoy pretend play on 'Santa's sleigh', staff interact effectively with them to support and extend their imagination and language skills. Children's achievements are celebrated as staff attractively display children's artwork and pictures. This helps to promote their confidence and self-esteem.

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The provision is good

Children benefit from a very well-resourced garden area and have a wide range of opportunities to be physically active. Staff teach children how to develop healthy lifestyles. For example, they learn about dental hygiene and healthy food choices. There are high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress.

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need to do better?

n Staff are committed to help every child to make good progress. They know their key children very well. They set challenging, yet achievable, next steps in learning. The manager monitors children's progress to ensure that any gaps are identified and addressed. This helps children to develop the skills they need for the next stage in their learning, including school. n Staff teach children well through their interactions with them. They take opportunities to support children's learning as they play. For example, as children use chalks to draw pictures of their families on the outside paving stones, staff encourage them to count the people. They challenge them to add more people and count to higher numbers. n Children's literacy skills are well supported. During circle time, children listen to stories, learn letter sounds and join in with songs and rhymes. However, staff expect all children to participate in these large-group activities. This results in

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need to do better?

some children not engaging effectively in their learning. n Children are learning to manage risks and are developing an understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For example, they help staff to complete the daily risk assessment of the outside area. They inform their friends if the resources are safe to use. n The manager and staff work effectively with other professionals to support

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need to do better?

5 December 2019 children's learning. Staff skilfully support children with SEND. They provide them with individual learning opportunities that meet their needs and support them in achieving well. n Robust recruitment procedures help to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. Staff turnover is low. The manager monitors staff's practice through regular staff supervision sessions. However, she does not use the supervision system to its full extent in order to precisely identify ways to raise the quality of staff's teaching even further. n Parents and staff develop extremely strong relationships. Staff provide parents with consistent information about children's development and how to support children's next steps at home. Parents are highly complimentary about the pre- school and say that staff 'go above and beyond' and are 'so dedicated in ensuring the very best for the children'. n Children are encouraged to bring in items from home to show and talk about

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need to do better?

during circle time. They excitedly rush up to the front, eager to tell their friends about what they have brought in. This helps to develop their language skills, as well as helping to support their confidence and self-esteem. n The manager has a clear vision and is dedicated to providing a high-quality provision. She continually looks for ways to make improvements. For instance, she has initiated networking sessions with other local settings to share good practice and further improve the quality of the provision.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager and staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. They regularly complete child protection training to stay up to date with safeguarding procedures. Staff have a secure knowledge of the signs and behaviours that could indicate children may be at risk of harm and know the procedure to follow to report a concern. They are aware of the procedure to follow if they have a concern about another member of staff.

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should:

n build on the strategies used to plan group activities so that all children have further opportunities to be highly challenged and engaged in their learning n strengthen the supervision of staff to precisely identify their professional development needs and raise the quality of teaching to an even higher level.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 508760 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10062926 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care Age range of children 2 to 4 Total number of places 21 Number of children on roll 46

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Name of registered person

Collingwood Under Fives Pre-School Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 07855 885484 Date of previous inspection 21 September 2015

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Information about this early years setting

Collingwood Under Fives Pre-school registered in 1999. The pre-school employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold early years qualifications at level 3, one holds an early years qualification at level 2, and one holds qualified teacher status. The pre-school opens from Monday to Friday during term time only. Sessions are from 8.45am until 11.45am, and 12.30pm until 3.30pm. The lunch club is open between 11.45am and 12.30pm. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector observed all areas of the pre-school that the children have access to. n The inspector and the manager completed a learning walk and a joint observation. They evaluated the observation together. n The inspector held discussions with the staff, manager and parents at appropriate times throughout the inspection. n The inspector engaged with children during the inspection. n The inspector looked at a sample of relevant documents, including evidence of staff's qualifications and their suitability to work with children.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

5 December 2019 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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