Stratton Playgroup

Inspection of Stratton Playgroup New Road, Stratton, Bude, Cornwall EX23 9AP

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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 confident in this nurturing playgroup. Staff support children to feel welcome and secure. Children explore a wide variety of activities that enable them to make good progress in their learning and development. Staff are confident in the curriculum and use their observations of children and knowledge of their interests to adapt activities to each child. For example, children have shown an interest in insects. Subsequently, staff created an activity exploring toy insects with magnifying glasses where children built their knowledge of insect body parts and of how magnifying glasses work.

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The provision is good

Indoors, staff guide children to develop confidence in mathematics, particularly counting and number. Children confidently count the number of children present. Later, children vote for which fruit to include in their group snack, and they count the total number of votes. They develop knowledge of concepts such as 'more than' and 'less of'.

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The provision is good

Children are kind and behave well. They show an understanding of how their behaviour impacts on others. During an activity of moulding dough into crowns, older children happily share sculpting tools and kindly explain to each other how to do things, such as rolling and cutting. Younger children develop turn-taking skills as they enjoy a role-play game, pretending to take dolls on an aeroplane.

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The provision is good

Children enjoy lots of opportunities to develop confidence in their physical skills. Staff help older children to play a team game to kick and throw a ball. Staff support children to develop their awareness of road safety as they 'drive' their ride-on vehicles on a road circuit in the playground. They negotiate a pedestrian crossing, stop signs and other obstacles.

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need to do better?

n Managers have created a strong team of staff, and staff are confident in their roles and enjoy coming to work. Staff feel well supported and have lots of opportunities to continue their professional development. Staff regularly attend training courses relevant to the needs of the children in their care. For example, staff recently took a course about effective interactions. This guided them to build children's communication development even further. However, indoors, older children sometimes lack direction from staff and form small groups that become noisy. Staff do not always act quickly to engage these children. The resulting high energy level prevents children from developing deeper levels of concentration to build on their learning and development even more. n Children have a great time outdoors. Younger children play cooperatively, cleaning a toy tractor with wet cloths, for example. They develop their balance

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need to do better?

3 May 2023 and core strength while climbing over large tyres and balance posts. Staff support children to explore and be creative in the sandpit, building towers with building blocks. Most children spend the majority of the session outdoors. However, managers and staff do not extend these children's learning even further outdoors to cover the full curriculum, with particular regard to mathematics and literacy. n Indoors, staff support children to develop literacy skills using a variety of activities, including developing the hand strength and ability to cut using scissors and exploring making marks. For example, they draw and colour in the King's crown and paint the flag of the United Kingdom. Children have access to a library corner that is well stocked with interesting books, and there is a lending library available for children to take books home to read with their parents. However, staff do not read to children often to extend their imaginations and

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need to do better?

explore events beyond their own experiences. n Managers and staff are confident in what they want children to learn and why. Managers have ensured there is a strong focus on language and communication in the curriculum, and children make good progress in this aspect of their learning. Children confidently use sign language to communicate. To further support children's development, staff share the signing word of the week with parents. This week, the word is 'king' in celebration of the Coronation, and parents use this sign at home. n Managers and staff have fostered strong relationships with parents. Parents feed back that they are happy with the good progress children make. They feel well supported by staff, and communication is strong. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve good outcomes. Parents of children with SEND comment that their children are happy and confident to

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need to do better?

attend the playgroup and that they make good progress in their social and communication skills. n Staff guide children to explore and understand their emotions. Children new to the setting are well supported to be comfortable and happy and develop confidence in their new surroundings. Children know their opinions matter. For example, democracy is evident in daily practice as children have opportunities to make group and individual choices throughout the day.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a good understanding of child protection. They recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse, are confident in the procedures to follow and know who to contact to ensure children are safe. Staff are aware of the steps they must take if they are concerned about the conduct of other staff members. Managers have thorough policies and procedures in place and provide staff with high-quality training in safeguarding. Managers conduct regular risk assessments of the premises to ensure that children are safe from harm.

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should:

n enhance the support for older children to help them to concentrate more, become more deeply involved and extend their learning further n ensure that children who prefer to play outdoors experience the breadth of the curriculum, particularly mathematics and literacy n increase opportunities for children to read books and listen to stories to help them develop their imaginations to explore people, places, times and events beyond their own experiences.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 102959 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 10285709 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 23 Number of children on roll 36

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Name of registered person

Stratton Pre School Playgroup (Bude) Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 01288 356135 Date of previous inspection 16 October 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Stratton Playgroup opened in 1983. It operates from its own premises in the grounds of Stratton Primary School in Bude, Cornwall. The playgroup is open Monday to Friday, from 8.15am until 3.30pm, during term time. Including the manager, there are eight staff employed to work with the children. Of these, one holds a qualification at level 6, one holds a qualification at level 5, five hold qualifications at level 3 and one member of staff is unqualified. The playgroup receives early education funding to provide free places for children aged two, three and four years.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The inspector observed the quality of the curriculum during activities and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n The inspector spoke with the staff and children during the inspection. n The inspector read feedback from parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation and evidence of the suitability of staff working in the playgroup. n The manager led the inspector on a learning walk and discussed how she delivers the curriculum.

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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

3 May 2023 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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