Inspection Number: 1110374
| Name of setting: | Framfield Playgroup |
| Setting number: | 517981 |
| Address: | The Memorial Hall |
| The Street | |
| Framfield | |
| Uckfield | |
| East Sussex | |
| Postcode: | TN22 5RS |
| Person responsible for the day-to-day management of the setting: | Mrs. Pamela Nicholson |
| Position: | Supervisor |
| Name of Inspector: | Mrs. Caroline Bishop |
| RgNI's Registration number: | 28367 |
| Date(s) of inspection: | 13 & 15 May 1998 |
| Inspection number: | 1110374 |
The inspection took place as part of a national programme of inspection of the educational provision for four year olds. It was commissioned by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), a department of central government.
The purpose of the inspection is to identify strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the Desirable Outcomes for children's learning on entering compulsory education, (ie by the age of five). It is also to ensure parents and the public that nursery education funded by the state is of an acceptable quality. The inspection report must be made available to all parents.
If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.
Framfield playgroup has been established for over 25 years. It is situated in the Memorial Hall of a small village in rural surroundings. The hall is next to the village primary school with which there are good, supportive links. The group is registered as a community-run charity and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. The setting is open from 9.00a.m. until 11.30a.m. three sessions a week, for about 38 weeks a year. Children range from two-and-a-half to four years old. There are 13 children on the roll, of whom three are receiving funding. Only 12 children attend any one session. There are at present no children with special educational needs or children who do not speak English as their first language. Two members of staff work with all the children, and they both have relevant, recent training. Children at the playgroup come from the village and the surrounding rural area. Parents are involved through an elected management committee which runs the group and organises fund-raising events. The setting has access to the adjoining school playground and recreation ground for outdoor play.
The strengths and weaknesses of the educational provision provided
Framfield playgroup provides a very happy and caring atmosphere, where staff gently steer children through well planned activities towards the desirable learning outcomes. Most children are likely to achieve appropriately in the six areas of learning by the time they are five, although the programmes for language and literacy and creative development need to be extended. Personal and social development is a strong feature of the group, and children behave very well; showing care and consideration for others and for their surroundings, and they are developing personal independence. There are, however, few opportunities for children to find out about and understand other cultures and beliefs. Children are developing very good listening and talking skills, particularly through the discussion and story times, and have opportunities to explore with writing and drawing. However, children do not have enough experience of associating sounds with letters, syllables, words, and patterns in rhymes. The programme for maths is good, covering a broad range of mathematics ideas including shape, position, number and comparison of measures, and setting out specific intentions for children's learning in planned activities each session. High priority is given to extending children's use of mathematical language during practical activities, and staff take the opportunities which arise in everyday situations to encourage children to think about, discuss and solve simple mathematical problems. Well planned activities encourage children to explore their environment and find out about their families, where they live, and features of the natural world. There are fewer opportunities for children to investigate features of the man-made world and use technological equipment. There is a satisfactory range of well planned activities to encourage children to move with greater control and co-ordination, using a range of small and large equipment to help them develop confidence and cope with physical challenges. Children also use tools, construction equipment and malleable materials confidently and imaginatively. Children show good imaginative skills and are given freedom to express their own ideas in creative activities. Staff encourage them to use their senses in planned and everyday activities, and they have access to a good range of resources and activities. However, the programme for creative development does not allow enough opportunities for children to respond to music. There are some opportunities for children to make things using simple tools, and a there is good range of imaginative resources to choose from. A good system of planning has been devised and developed during the last year. Planning sheets are used to show clearly what staff are intending children to learn from activities and how staff and children will be organised. The sheets are also used to evaluate children's responses and propose how their learning can be extended in future activities. Planning is well balanced across all areas of learning, with appropriate emphasis given to personal and social development, mathematics and language and literacy, although children do not at present have sufficient, regular opportunities to explore sounds and letters.In order to improve the quality and standards of the educational provision, the setting should:
Extend the assessment system so that it provides regular assessments of individuals' progress and attainment in each of the six learning areas.The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues or points for development detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents, and to the Local Education Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection.
| Personal and social development | Promotes the desirable outcomes |
| Language and literacy | Promotes the desirable outcomes: has minor weaknesses |
| Mathematics | Promotes the desirable outcomes |
| Knowledge and understanding of the world | Promotes the desirable outcomes |
| Physical development | Promotes the desirable outcomes |
| Creative development | Promotes the desirable outcomes: has minor weaknesses |
Taken overall, the quality and standards of the educational provision are acceptable in promoting the desirable outcomes for children's learning. The action plan should show how the provider will address the key issues or points for development within 12 months of the inspection.
It is recommended that the next inspection occurs within two to four years.
The strengths and weaknesses of personal and social development
This setting has a gentle atmosphere in which children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered appropriately. Staff help children to build their self-confidence and self-respect. They listen to children and respond to them calmly and gently. Children take turns to take on responsibilities such as handing out biscuits. Staff help them to develop their understanding of good and bad behaviour; explaining gently but firmly why some behaviour is not acceptable, encouraging good manners and independence, and helping children learn to share and take turns. Children play well together and independently. Children show good relationships with the staff and with each other, and are encouraged to treat the environment, the setting's resources and each other with care and concern. They have a little experience of people of other cultures through books and stories, and celebrate some cultural and religious events such as Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day. There is a lack of resources to help children build knowledge and understanding of people from other cultures or beliefs. Children show a range of feelings in role-play and during the regular story sessions. They concentrate well in staff-directed and independent activities, and are encouraged to persevere and complete difficult activities such as puzzles. They are able to select activities and resources during most of the session, and the setting has a good range of resources to support all the areas of learning. Children are generally encouraged to do things for themselves; they move around the activities freely and confidently, and are encouraged to develop their independence when dressing for activities, using the lavatories, or washing their hands before eating.The strengths and weaknesses of language and literacy
The programme for language and literacy is generally good. Children are encouraged to listen carefully during stories and at times while staff are explaining something, and they listen well most of the time. The timetable allows for discussion time during each session, when children talk about past experiences, their families or other news. All children are included in these discussions and most are keen to participate. Staff use discussion time and story time well to encourage children to learn more vocabulary and explore the meanings of words. The setting's plans often include opportunities to extend children's vocabulary. Children use a variety of resources imaginatively, when taking part in role-play, for example, and in free choice activities. Children sometimes re-enact stories; they use a discussion about a book on trucks as the basis for a role-play game using a pedal car and tools, for example. There is an attractive book corner available each session, which is well used by the children and contains a good variety of books, except for books reflecting a wider cultural community. Children are encouraged to choose a library book to take home, and during the summer term older children visit the junior school next door for a story each week. When telling stories, staff often focus children’s attention on words on the page. Children find their coats on named pegs, all their work is named, and they find their name cards when they come in. Displays are also labelled with children's names and familiar words. The setting has resources to help children recognise letters of the alphabet by shape and sound, but staff lack confidence in using them and children do not have enough opportunities to explore the link between letters, syllables, words and patterns in rhymes. Children are encouraged to practice independent writing regularly in free play, using a variety of resources such as a graph paper, forms and different sorts of envelopes.The strengths and weaknesses of mathematics
The staff have made good progress in the action plan for mathematics, which is now a strong area for the setting. Staff encourage children to use mathematical vocabulary in a variety of free-play activities; they encourage them to count objects, recognise colours and discuss size, shape and position. Children do not yet, however, have enough experience of recognising and making mathematical patterns, and staff need to introduce them into the plans. Number puzzles are regularly available, and staff give children good support in small groups, helping them to find the next piece or number, match colours and numbers, or recognise and name shapes. Children are familiar with number songs and rhymes, which are often performed after registration as part of the morning routine. Children are regularly helped to recognise and use numbers; one child counts the others at registration, for example, and then another is asked to find a number on the number line, and children count the empty cups and find out how many there would be if one more were added. Cooking activities are used to help children find out about weight, matching weights to a recipe and comparing the weights of a given volume of each ingredient. Other activities are also used to help children compare size and weight, such as feeling objects in a bag and deciding which is smallest, biggest, heaviest, etc.The strengths and weaknesses of knowledge and understanding of the world
Children are given a variety of opportunities to explore their environment. Registration time is used for talking about past events in children's lives, their families and their news. All children are encouraged to join in the discussions, and most of them are keen to contribute. Children have talked about the places where they live through a topic focusing on homes. They talked about their routes to school and found them on a local map. Children have many opportunities to discover features of living things; they have grown seeds and bulbs, for example, discussed the conditions needed for plants to grow and discovered where shoots and roots come from and go to. They have also discovered how to care for animals, with visits from pets and outings to a local farm. These activities were well planned, and staff helped children to compare features of animals, comparing the colouring and coat of different guinea-pigs and dogs, for example. Staff encourage children to think and ask questions, and to record some of their observations in their craft work. Children do not have as many opportunities to explore aspects of the man-made world. Children use a variety of materials and tools in craft activities, and have some opportunities for model making, both in free activities and in planned sessions such as, for example, making a toy village or making a post box and parcels. Use of technology is an area for development; the setting has toy telephones, but children need access to more equipment which will support their learning and help them to understand the role of technology in the world.The strengths and weaknesses of physical development
Children take part in regular, planned sessions to encourage physical development. Physical activities are well organised, and children take turns on the equipment with appropriate support and intervention from staff. Indoor and outdoor physical activities are available during most of the year, and the group has access to the school playground and equipment as well as its own resources. Children move freely around the setting, responding confidently to a range of physical activities such as dressing-up, cutting and handling dough. They use tools, such as dough cutters, brushes and pencils, well. The setting has a range of construction equipment and puzzles which children use confidently and imaginatively. The setting has access to a slide, beams, a tunnel, skittles, bats and balls, hoops and bean-bags, some of which are borrowed from the school next door. There are also planned sessions which encourage children to move with increasing control, for example, stretching, being tall and thin, making broad or wide movements, and jumping or running.The strengths and weaknesses of creative development
Staff take opportunities in everyday activities to encourage children to listen to and recognise sounds: when walking over to the local school for a story, for example, the teacher asked the children to identify the sound of a lawn mower, and asked them what they could smell. Children also use tape recorders for sound recognition games and are encouraged to experiment with making sounds, using the corrugations around a paper plate, for example. However, they need more experience of listening to and responding to different kinds of music. Children use a variety of resources in creative activities; when making a face during an activity about texture and the senses, for example, they used a variety of cloth, sand paper, leaves, corks, shells, feathers and rice. Staff used the activity to focus children's attention on the smell, feel and look of the materials, and encouraged children to express their ideas, as they always do when the children are working creatively. Children have regular access to tools for painting, craft work and working with dough. This good variety of tools and materials stimulates children's interest, and they have made a number of group projects, such as a model village made out of boxes.The strengths and weaknesses of the overall planning of the educational programme
Planning of the educational programme has been substantially developed in the last year and is now good. There is a written curriculum which explains how the group works towards the desirable learning outcomes in each of the six areas of learning. The setting publishes for parents a half-termly summary of the themes and activities to be covered each week. The medium-term plans cover a month, and consist essentially of a summary of the learning intentions for each area and for each topic. Weekly plans are also produced, showing the resources and activities for the week, balanced appropriately across all six areas and giving regular and appropriate attention to personal and social development, mathematics and most areas of language and literacy. One focus activity is planned in detail each day, and these plans show learning intentions for the children, the proposed groupings and how staff can encourage children towards specific learning achievements. Staff evaluate the sessions, comment on children's learning and write suggestions for future activities to build on children's knowledge and understanding. This is a systematic approach to planning and evaluation, and staff use it effectively.The strengths and weaknesses of teaching and assessment
The quality of teaching is good, and the plans and evaluations produced by the staff show that they have a sound knowledge and understanding of the desirable outcomes in the six areas of learning. They work directly with the children most of the time, working well together as a team and deploying themselves effectively. They make good use of the space, setting out clearly defined areas for role-play and messy activities, for example. Staff interact very well with children, listening and responding to their comments, questions and views, and looking out for teaching opportunities. Registration time is used well to explain to children what is happening during the day, and staff explain well during the sessions, encouraging children to express their ideas and to think about the activities, ideas and materials they are working with. Children are grouped appropriately for the activities, and groupings are recorded on planning sheets. Staff assess children's responses to planned activities and identify what children have learnt, and use this information to encourage further progress in learning. Individual observations are kept on the older children in some areas of learning, but a new system for recording children's progress towards all the desirable outcomes is not yet in use. Staff are in regular contact with the county early years worker for the rural areas, the reception teacher from the primary school next door and the pre-school learning alliance development worker. These contacts are used to provide advice and guidance. The group has a very supportive committee which meets regularly and effectively monitors the quality and development of teaching.The strengths and weaknesses of equality of access and opportunity
The setting has a written policy for promoting equal opportunities, and staff are careful to ensure that boys and girls have equal access to the setting’s resources and activities. There is an appropriate, written special educational needs policy in place, and the setting has devised a new assessment system which, when it is in use, will ensure that children with special educational needs are identified and supported. Staff plan the educational programme carefully, taking into account children’s different ages and abilities. Teaching would meet the need of children with English as an additional language.The strengths and weaknesses of the learning resources and accommodation
The premises are spacious and organised well into separate areas. The group uses the school playground next door and the local recreation ground for its outside activities. The setting has enough good quality equipment and apparatus, apart from resources reflecting other cultures. Staff make good use of the resources to promote learning in all the six areas, and the resources are suitable for all children, including those with special educational needs or English as an additional language. Staff need to make better use of available resources to encourage children to recognise and link sounds and letters, and give children more opportunities to respond to music. There is limited scope for displays, as the hall has to be cleared quickly after each session, but staff set out mini-displays and provide interesting areas to encourage children to work towards the desirable outcomes.The strengths and weaknesses of the partnership with parents and carers
The partnership with parents and carers is good. The setting provides an attractive and informative booklet for parents and carers which sets out clearly the aims of the group, and explains its teaching programme and how it relates to the desirable learning outcomes in the six areas of learning. Parents and carers also receive regular news letters with useful information on future events, and they are given written details of the theme for the next few weeks and the activities planned for each week. Parents and carers are welcome to stay as long as they like to settle their children, and can be included in the parent rota to help occasionally for all or part of the sessions. Staff are welcoming and encourage parents and carers to look at their children's work and take it home. They share information informally about the children at these times, and bring parents and carers up to date with any information they may need about their child's behaviour or learning in the session. These informal discussions also allow parents and carers to share observations of their children's learning at home, and staff are keen to have these contributions.Implementation of action plan
Staff are making good progress in implementing the action plan which was drawn up in response to the key issues arising in the last inspection.