Birch Hill Preschool

Inspection of Birch Hill Preschool Birch Hill Recreation Ground, Ringmead, BRACKNELL, Berkshire RG12 7AQ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

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The provision requires improvement

Overall, children are happy and settled at the pre-school. Most children settle well on arrival and quickly become involved in the interesting range of activities. Some children play quite happily without adult support. However, some children spend time wandering around and are not engaged purposefully. On occasions, staff only give children attention when they become upset. They provide children with comfort and reassurance at these times to help them settle again. The very young children do not have a good range of age-appropriate toys and activities to promote their learning and development securely. Although staff generally have good intentions for children's learning and development and want them to progress well, their teaching is variable and not consistent enough.

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The provision requires improvement

Children develop some skills and knowledge that prepare them for their future learning. They become familiar with numbers and count during play and activities, for example in the role-play shop and café. Children enjoy listening to stories and singing songs and rhymes, which promotes their communication and language development. Children learn about programmable toys and learn how to work these. For example, a group of children took turns to press the buttons to move a robotic toy to each other. Children mostly behave appropriately and they develop suitable levels of confidence and self-esteem. However, some do not fully develop awareness about how their behaviour may impact on others. Children do not consistently learn about taking care of themselves, such as learning to use tissues at appropriate times.

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need to do better?

n Changes to the committee have not been notified to Ofsted as required, which is an offence. As a result, Ofsted has not been able to complete the required checks to verify the committee member's suitability. However, Disclosure and Barring Service checks have either been completed or are in process of being completed for the members of the committee. In addition, the committee members do not have any unsupervised access to children. n The manager has some processes to help monitor the quality of staff practice. She provides support to the staff team, including through regular supervision meetings. The manager considers staff's well-being sensitively and promotes this well. However, the monitoring and support are not fully effective in identifying and addressing weaknesses in practice to ensure children receive consistently good-quality interactions and support in their learning from staff. n Staff plan and provide interesting activities. For example, children played with

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need to do better?

real fruit and vegetables and some staff encouraged them to count these. Children enjoy a well-equipped outdoor area with a range of interesting resources and activities. For instance, they explored toy animals frozen in ice

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need to do better?

21 January 2020 and energetically took part in an obstacle course, learning to manage steps and balance along a beam. Some staff demonstrate a secure understanding of the learning intentions of the activities. However, they do not consistently provide teaching to support the identified learning intentions or challenge children effectively. In addition, staff do not fully consider the very young children's learning needs to provide more age-appropriate and suitable activities and resources. Older children have access to a good range of suitable toys and equipment, many of which are well considered for their potential learning experiences. n At times, staff do not fully consider ways to teach children about caring for themselves, for example learning about using tissues when needed. However, staff do promote good hygiene at key times, for instance ensuring children wash their hands before eating. In addition, staff help children learn about some areas

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need to do better?

of safety, including online safety, through age-appropriate books and discussions. Sometimes, staff do not respond quickly to children's changing behaviours to help guide them more effectively in understanding how their behaviour may impact on others. n Parents speak positively about the staff team and their children's experiences at the pre-school. They talk about the 'friendly staff' and say that their children are making progress in their development, for example in their language skills. Parents comment that their children are happy at the pre-school and enjoy their time there. n Staff work in partnership with outside professionals and agencies well to promote children's care and learning needs. They show understanding of appropriate strategies so support children who may need extra help, for example those who are learning English as an additional language. Overall, staff have a secure awareness of safeguarding procedures. However, not all staff have a

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need to do better?

confident understanding about the role of the local safeguarding partners and their multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. This does not have a significant impact as staff have access to relevant information if they should need to refer any concerns outside of the pre-school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know and understand their responsibilities to protect children's welfare. They have a current understanding of wider safeguarding matters, including those relating to cultural practices, radicalisation and extreme views and beliefs. They know how to recognise the possible signs and symptoms that would be of concern. Staff understand what they would do within the pre-school, for example reporting their concerns about either children or adults to the designated safeguarding lead staff member. However, some are not fully clear about the roles within the local safeguarding partners.

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Due date

monitor the quality of education, including through effective staff supervision, to precisely identify and address weaknesses in teaching and practice, to ensure children make good progress 24/03/2020

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Due date

gain a secure understanding of responsibilities to notify Ofsted of changes to the committee, and provide this information promptly to enable their suitability to be checked. 14/02/2020

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should:

n review and improve all staff's knowledge of the local safeguarding partners and their multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to help them gain a clearer understanding, for example about the role of the local authority designated officer n organise the learning environment to support children's needs effectively, in particular regard to promoting children's understanding of how to take care of themselves and being aware of their own and others' needs n review the provision for younger children to ensure they have sufficient access to age-appropriate and suitable resources and activities that support their learning effectively.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY549862 Local authority Bracknell Forest Inspection number 10130816 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Sessional day care Age range of children 1 to 4 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 54 Name of registered person Birch Hill Pre School Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 07547794849 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Birch Hill Preschool registered in 2017 after moving to new premises. It has been in operation for more than 30 years and is located in the Birch Hill area of Bracknell, Berkshire. The pre-school is open from 8.30am to 3.45pm, Monday to Friday, during term time only. There are nine members of staff who work with the children. Of these, one has qualified teacher status and four hold early years qualifications at level 3. The pre-school receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector observed children's play, activities and routines, and their interactions with staff and each other. n A learning walk was completed with the manager to discuss the learning intentions of the curriculum, including some of the activities and resources available on the day. n A joint observation of an activity was completed with the manager and the quality of teaching and impact for children were jointly evaluated. n The inspector held discussions with staff and interacted with children, and a meeting was completed with the manager. The inspector spoke to available parents and carers to gain their views and opinions about the pre-school. n A sample of documentation was reviewed, including some policies and evidence of staff's suitability.

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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

21 January 2020 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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