St Helens Playgroup

St Helens Playgroup

Unique reference number (URN): 251649 Address: St Helen's Church, St Helen's Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 2LS Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 23/07/1999 Registers: EYR Registered person: St Helens Playgroup Committee

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children often demonstrate their motivation to learn and achieve. For instance, when attempting to copy and write their name, they persevere until they accomplish it.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learning experiences, such as circle times and small communication-group activities, support children's attention and listening skills. This helps children focus better and maximise their learning and development and prepare them for school.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children have the space within a supportive environment to practise new skills they have learned and approach new tasks in their own way. For example, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), create role-play scenarios around their love of babies. They show how they are developing confidence and independence to lead their own learning, as they set up resources and engage in imaginary play.

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Achievement Expected standard

All children, including those with SEND are achieving well from their starting points. Children are making significant progress in their communication and language development. Children show confidence in using mathematical vocabulary when counting numbers they see in their environments.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders have high expectations to help children establish daily routines and develop positive behaviours and attitudes to learning. Leaders generally communicate this vision well to staff. For example, staff understand the importance of providing visual prompts. They introduce 'now and next' boards, to help children understand and manage daily routines, such as handwashing. This means all children, particularly those speaking English as an additional language, are becoming increasingly independent in attending to their personal care needs.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children develop caring attachments to staff with an extremely effective key-person system. Tailored settling-in processes, help children develop routines and positive habits. For example, staff adapt environments and resources to meet the individual needs and interests of children. This promotes children's punctuality and attendance at the playgroup. It also promotes positive attitudes to learning as they look forward to playing an exploring with familiar and fun activities they love.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff quickly address incidents of unacceptable behaviour to ensure children's wellbeing. However, occasionally, there are inconsistencies in staff practice to fully promote positive behaviours expected from children. For example, at times when children raise their voices to talk over their peers, staff do not always remind them that it is polite to wait their turn to speak. This can reduce children's progress to fully understand the needs of others and learn to regulate their emotions effectively.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders and staff get to know children and their families in advance of starting. This helps them identify and plan support to help children maintain good health and wellbeing. For example, children take part in daily tooth brushing. This helps to improve the oral health of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. All children are becoming increasingly competent as staff model fun brushing techniques, making the process enjoyable and easy to follow.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff interactions are typically positive and responsive, fostering a calm environment with clear expectations through consistent praise and gentle guidance. Children benefit from lots of physical exercise outdoors.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children are learning to make healthy food choices as staff provide healthy snacks. Mealtimes are very sociable and organised. Staff typically promote children's good manners and social skills. However, occasionally, when children forget to say, 'Please' and 'thank you', staff do not consistently promote these manners to help them fully understand polite behaviours expected of them.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children learn to risk access environments as staff remind them of safety procedures, such as reminding them that only one child is allowed on the trampoline at one time. Staff encourage outdoor play to promote children's self-regulation skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders are dedicated to ensuring there is a high ratio of qualified staff to children. This means staff know the children extremely well. The curriculum is successfully built on children's interests, and seasonal topics. Children are enthusiastic to join in, and they typically make plenty of progress in all areas of learning and development.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders sensitively identify gaps in children's life experiences and provide enriching experiences such as theatre trips. Leaders organise enhanced staff ratios for trips. This ensures all children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities can attend.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff role model clear pronunciation and add vocabulary to discussions, to build on what children already know. For example, children enjoy discussions and activities that spark curiosity about the environment and the importance of protecting it. Staff verbally introduce new words, such as, 'Earth' and 'recycling', to help children develop new language and vocabulary. However, staff do not always make full use of available visual word prompts to enhance children's recall and consolidation of new words. Consequently, children's potential learning outcomes are reduced, particularly for those with barriers to learning, such as speaking English as an additional language, or for more able learners.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Every child receives the care they need within an inclusive environment. Staff effectively seek and value parental views from the start. Staff effectively consider this information alongside regular assessments of children's progress, to offer learning opportunities to support children's next steps in learning. This ensures all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing, make the best possible progress from their starting points. Any early interventions, such as speech and language support, are actioned straight away. This includes listening to views from any external professionals already working with the child. This collaborative approach means children are receiving the right support at the right time, so they are fully prepared for progressing to school.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff typically support children's communication and language skills very well. They use Makaton and visual supports to help all children understand and express themselves. This impacts greatly on children's ability to understand and prepare for transitions smoothly, such as getting ready to play outside or prepare for snack time. Where children need assessments, this is organised to ensure educational plans are in place and any extra funding is accessed before children start school. This makes a significant contribution to help individual children achieve their best possible outcomes, beyond their time at nursery.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have made the required improvements since the last inspection. They have provided Ofsted with the necessary information about all committee members so that the required suitability checks can be completed. Additionally, leaders have created robust recruitment policies and procedures that are being meticulously followed. This shows leaders dedication to maintain children's ongoing safety and wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders describe the benefit of outdoor play in promoting children's self-regulation. When children are overwhelmed at drop offs, leaders express that children may manage their emotions and feelings more effectively, if outdoor play was offered earlier by staff. This demonstrates how leaders are reflecting on staff practice and identifying areas for improvement. Leaders explain imminent plans to provide more detailed observations of staff practice, including specific feedback, to raise teaching quality to an even higher level.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff report excellent wellbeing and express how training builds their confidence to deliver high-quality care and education.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parent partnership is of paramount importance. Parents compliment the ongoing and excellent communication they receive from staff, including regular assessments about their children's progress. They report how this helps them to further support their children's learning and development at home. This contributes to improve the outcomes for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children happily enter the playgroup and quickly hang up their belongings, showing a keenness to explore the well-resourced and stimulating environments on offer. Leaders and staff create a supportive environment that encourages regular attendance and helps children transition smoothly. For example, bespoke settling-in processes and a robust key- person system, means staff get to know children before they start. Staff use information gathered from parents and children, such as their likes and dislikes, to promote their overall wellbeing and happiness at the playgroup. For example, staff specifically offer activities around individual children's interests to ease transitions. When new children start, they immediately feel safe to explore the resources that are familiar and appealing to them.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Overall, children benefit from high-quality teaching which covers all 7 areas of learning. The well-rounded curriculum is typically ambitious, and flexible to support all children's learning, development and wellbeing. Generally, children make plenty of progress in their communication and language development, and this is commonly advocated in parent feedback. Staff adapt teaching strategies, such, as using Makaton and visual 'now and next' boards. These ensure all children, including those with barriers to learning, such as English as and additional language, can effectively communicate their needs, wants and wishes. Children develop a love of books and reading, enhanced with trips to the local community library.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Staff are skilled at supporting children to understand the routines of the day. This is evident when children move calmly between activities throughout the playgroup. Children are becoming increasingly independent in self-care routines. For instance, children regularly initiate washing their hands before eating, without prompts from staff. Generally, children are learning to play cooperatively with one another. Staff encourage children to use strategies, such as sand timers, to help them to negotiate turn-taking and reduce conflict over popular toys.

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Next steps

Leaders should help staff to adapt the quality of their teaching to ensure all areas of children's learning is suitably challenged and consistently extends and enhances their speech and language development. Leaders should provide a consistent teaching approach to further develop children's understanding of expected behaviours and to support self-regulation.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, parents, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator, children and committee members during the inspection.

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Address:

St Helen's Church St Helen's Street Ipswich Suffolk IP4 2LS

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: St Helens Playgroup Committee

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 12:00

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Age range of children at the time of inspection

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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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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