Nursery Education Inspection Report

SPIRE PRE-SCHOOL

Inspection Number: 1112696

 

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INSPECTION OF NURSERY EDUCATION
INSPECTION REPORT

Name of setting: Spire Pre-School
Setting number: 512356
Address: The Church Centre
  Belmont Road
  Uckfield
  East Sussex
   
Postcode: TN22 1BP
Person responsible for the day-to-day management of the setting: Penny Rowden
Position: Committee Chair
Name of Inspector: Christine Ponsford
RgNI's Registration number: 25947
Date(s) of inspection: 13/07/98 and 14/07/98
Inspection number: 1112696

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.


NURSERY EDUCATION INSPECTION REPORT

ABOUT THE INSPECTION

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.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTING

 

The Spire Pre-school is situated in a church hall in the small town of Uckfield and has been open since 1970. It is managed by a committee of parents and carers as a registered charity and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. The pre-school is open every morning during term-time for pre-school learning activities between 9.30 and 12.15 and then lunchtime supervision only is offered for a further hour.

Currently there are 46 children on the roll who are aged between two and a half and five years who come from a cross section of the local community, with a maximum of 30 attending each morning. This term there are 18 four-year-olds on the register of whom 15 have funded places under the government scheme for nursery education and most attend every morning. None of the four-year-olds funded through this scheme have identified special educational needs and all of the children speak English as their first language.

There are two supervisors and six assistant staff (working with the funded four-year-olds) whose main contracts are for attendance on alternate days in two separate teams, but there are overlaps of assistant staff across the days when the number of children rises above 24, (usually in the spring and summer terms), and when cover is needed for staff holidays and sickness.

1.MAIN FINDINGS OF THE INSPECTION

The strengths and weaknesses of the educational provision provided

The Spire Pre-school provides a purposeful, well-ordered and caring environment in which children are well stimulated and enjoy learning. Most children are likely to achieve the desirable learning outcomes in all six areas of the curriculum by the time they reach the age of five years old. The programme for language and literature contains some weaknesses but is satisfactory overall. The programmes for the other five areas are good with no significant weaknesses.

Personal and social development is given high priority within the pre-school and the children's behaviour and relationships are very good. They are taught to say "sorry" when they misbehave and one four-year-old took the initiative to apologise to another after a private squabble. Levels of concentration are particularly good when children listen to music and stories.

Effective provision is made for children to develop their skills in language, although overall, language and literacy have some minor weaknesses. They are encouraged to talk about their experiences and express their ideas at circle-time and in small group situations and they listen well to each other. They are introduced to a wide vocabulary through many carefully planned activities and stories. There are also ample opportunities for children to enjoy books, but insufficient emphasis is given to developing children's writing.

The programme for mathematics is very strong with particularly good use being made of practical situations, such as finding and testing out objects which will roll, to develop mathematical ideas, problem solving and vocabulary.

Knowledge and understanding of the world is another area of many strengths. Children are given some excellent opportunities to learn through experiments and experiences, for instance in sand and water play using a good range of equipment and in well planned cookery activities through which children learn effectively about the properties and uses of various items and how they can be changed. A minor weakness in this area of the curriculum is the lack of any electronic technology for the children to use to support some aspects of their learning.

Good provision is made for the children to develop a wide range of physical skills. They move confidently to music, have plenty of opportunities to practice manipulative skills and effective use is made of space and equipment both indoors and in the playground.

Creative development is another area of many strengths with a good balance of activities in which children are able to express their own ideas and those in which the experience is prescribed.

Overall the quality of teaching is very good and many examples were noted of careful planning and excellent questioning to stimulate the children's thinking. The importance of careful staff liaison is recognised and is currently working well. Together staff possess many complementary talents and are providing an exciting and effective programme of activities across much of the curriculum. The children's progress is assessed daily during small group time and collated by key workers onto comprehensive record sheets and used effectively to draw up a play plan for each child. Overall the learning resources and accommodation are appropriate and well used. The children are given equal opportunities to promote their learning.

The partnership between staff and parents and carers is very strong with good opportunities for them to be involved in all aspects of the running of the group and as much of their children's learning as they want to be.

The four key issues for action raised at the last OFSTED inspection have all been addressed effectively through much hard work by the staff and with the support of the management team. These were concerned with planning for continuity in the learning programme, developing strategies to create a calmer environment for learning, improving the use of the book-corner and extending the range of opportunities for children to develop physical skills. Planning is now well documented and co-ordinated, children's behaviour is excellent and they listen to and value each other's opinions, the book-corner is well used at small group time and an appropriate variety of physical play is a daily feature of the programme.

2.KEY ISSUES FOR ACTION

In order to improve the quality and standards of the educational provision, the setting should:

Introduce daily activities to encourage the recognition of letters by shape and sound. Increase opportunities for children to associate sounds with patterns in rhymes, with syllables and with words and letters. Encourage those who are ready to extend their writing activities beyond their own names. Show them how to form letters correctly and to write the words they choose to record their ideas, experiences and drawings.

Increase opportunities for children to make appropriate use of technology to support their learning, for example, by using telephones to encourage conversation; calculators to practise number recognition and checking simple calculations; and using tape recorders directly in a variety of ways.

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.


3.SUMMARY OF JUDGEMENTS

A. QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL PROVISION

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

B. CHILDREN'S SPIRITUAL, MORAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IS FOSTERED APPROPRIATELY.
C. PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING THE ACTION PLAN IS GOOD
D. OUTCOME AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE INSPECTION

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.

 


4.CONTENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

The strengths and weaknesses of personal and social development

The programme for personal and social development is a strong feature of the pre-school and no weaknesses were noted. The children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well. There is a clear policy for managing behaviour which is applied consistently. A good example is set by the staff who are calm, fair and encouraging. The children respond with confidence and good behaviour. They have good relationships with the staff and are friendly towards each other and learn tolerance and understanding of individual differences. One pair showed independence and initiative when they sorted out a squabble themselves by shaking hands and agreeing to be friends again. There were many examples of concentration and perseverance in individual and group activities. All the children sat quietly and listened together to classical music on one occasion and went through all the actions at the end of an action-song in complete silence. They treat books and equipment with care and help to tidy up. They take part in activities relating to their own religious and cultural events such as Christmas and Mother's Day and this year have also learnt about some aspects of the French and Chinese cultures.

The strengths and weaknesses of language and literacy

This is an area of many strengths and some weaknesses. There are many effective opportunities for children to practise and develop their language skills in a variety of ways. They participate well in action-songs and rhymes and at story times. They are encouraged to talk about their experiences and many express themselves confidently in front of the whole group, whilst others are able to do so in smaller groups. Some well planned activities involving role-play and hand-puppets provide children with excellent opportunities to talk about new ideas and make up their own stories.

The daily opportunity for each child to select a book to take home and look at with a parent or carer, together with frequent small group sessions and regular visits to the local library encourage them all to enjoy using books and learn some of the skills needed for reading. Children's name-cards are used in a variety of practical situations and they soon learn to recognise their own and to write it on their work, but are not shown how to form the letters correctly at the pre-school and so some are getting used to writing them wrongly. There is an attractive wall hanging with a labelled pocket containing each letter of the alphabet and there are some labels naming familiar objects around the rooms, but the attention of the children is only rarely drawn to these items. They are not able to recognise the letters of the alphabet by shape and sound. They also have insufficient practice at associating sounds with patterns in rhymes, with syllables, or with words and letters. They do not write any words or letters other than their own names.

The strengths and weaknesses of mathematics

A wide range of useful activities is provided to stimulate the children's understanding of mathematics and no weaknesses were noted in this area of the curriculum. The staff exploit the use of appropriate mathematical language well in many situations from cookery to card games. Children have good opportunities to recognise and recreate mathematical patterns with beads and families of plastic animals. The latter, as well as everyday objects such as mugs and buttons, are also well used for comparing, sorting, matching, ordering, sequencing, counting, weighing and simple addition and subtraction.

A good variety of songs, stories, games and rhymes involving numbers and counting feature frequently in the programme and children also show competence in recognition and use of numbers up to ten in their worksheets.

The strengths and weaknesses of knowledge and understanding of the world

The provision for developing children's knowledge and understanding of the world is good overall with just one area of weakness noted. Children have rich opportunities to talk about events in their lives at circle-time when news of a kitten was followed up by many contributions about pets and even a wasps nest. Outings, such as a farm visit, followed up by reference to a display of photographs, are well used to find out about the environment and children grow a variety of plants and have made booklets showing progress from seed to flower.

There were some particularly good examples of questioning why things happen and how things work in relation to small group activities: "Why do we need to wash our hands before cooking?", "What makes sailing boats go along?" and "Where does the wool come from?"

Free use of varied "junk" materials and many planned craft activities give plenty of opportunities for children to practise the skills of cutting, joining, folding and building for different purposes.

The weakness in this programme centres on the lack of opportunity for children to use any modern technological items to support their learning.

The strengths and weaknesses of physical development

Opportunities for children's physical development across a wide range of small and large movements are well provided. Children respond with enthusiasm to music and movement sessions which stimulate them to move confidently and imaginatively. Large equipment indoors and smaller equipment and wheeled vehicles outside are used competently during free play. Planned small group activities are also a daily and effective feature of the programme, outside whenever possible, including games involving the use of balls, beanbags, hoops and hopping to develop increasing skill and control. Fine co-ordination is successfully promoted through many craft and construction activities. No weaknesses were noted.

The strengths and weaknesses of creative development

Creative development is another area of strength with no weaknesses noted. Children have excellent opportunities to explore and respond to sound, particularly music. They listen and dance to a variety of music tapes and use musical instruments with good control. There are many worthwhile situations in which they express their own creativity and explore colour, texture, form and dimension with paint, dough and craft materials. Provision for imaginative role-play is also well stimulated by a selection of dressing-up clothes and props and adaptation of the hom-corner into other settings such as shop or travel agent.

5.PLANNING OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

The strengths and weaknesses of the overall planning of the educational programme

Much hard work goes into the careful planning of the educational programme. This is very worthwhile and its effectiveness is evident in the high quality of the learning experiences given to the children and their positive responses to them. Planning effectively promotes children's achievement of the desirable learning outcomes. Long-term plans are based on a two year rolling curriculum model and related to a different theme for every six weeks. The two supervisors are responsible for the outline plans for each term and each member of staff makes detailed plans for specific small group activities for which she is responsible each day. These plans show clearly what the children should be learning from each activity and how the staff are to be deployed. Many are of very good quality and list details of the key questions and words to be used in relation to each activity. Brief individual play plans are also prepared for each child. All six areas of the curriculum are included in the plans at every stage and appropriate priority is given to personal and social development, to mathematics and to most aspects of the development of language and literature, but insufficient attention is paid to the sounds and recognition of words and letters and to early writing skills.

6.QUALITY OF TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

The strengths and weaknesses of teaching and assessment

Overall the quality of teaching is very good and sometimes excellent. Staff promote a stimulating environment for learning and enable children to meet the desirable learning outcomes. Between them the staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of all six areas of the curriculum. (The minor weakness in the area of knowledge and understanding of the world and some of those in relation to the programme for language and literacy are due to deliberate policy decisions rather than lack of knowledge.) Resources are generally good and well used. The staff are deployed effectively and interact well with the children. They give clear instructions. One excellent example of this was the reinforcement of verbal instructions and demonstrations during the cookery activity through a well prepared recipe card with a written list of ingredients, simple instructions and accompanying pictures. Staff also use careful and effective questioning to encourage children's reasoning and provide a programme which gives a good balance of teacher-directed and child-initiated activities.

The pre-school takes care to address the individual needs of each child. They are divided into groups of five or six according to age and ability for three different activities each day. During this time the staff member in charge of each activity records the children's progress. These records are collated by the key workers, transferred to individual record sheets and used to inform play plans. Thus children are appropriately grouped to maximise their learning, their progress is monitored and records are used to good effect.

Staff also monitor their own effectiveness and progress by evaluating the activities they lead at the end of the session and by completing a self-appraisal sheet once a year as part of the supervision process. The pre-school encourages and funds staff to take appropriate training and qualifications.

The strengths and weaknesses of equality of access and opportunity

Planning and practice ensure that boys and girls have access to the same activities including language, literature and mathematics. All are treated with respect according to their individual needs. There are currently no children funded under the national scheme for four-year-olds with identified special educational needs, but the pre-school has regard to the Code of Practice for such children and uses a special needs assistant and liaison with parents and carers and other specialists as appropriate. The use of individual play plans would also address the needs of children learning English as an additional language should this be required.

The strengths and weaknesses of the learning resources and accommodation

The pre-school has a good range of resources to cater for all areas of the curriculum apart from a lack of any modern technological devices for the children to use directly to support their learning. Otherwise the resources they possess are of good quality and would be sufficient and appropriate for all children, including those with special educational needs or any learning English as an additional language. Resources are used very well to stimulate learning in all areas of the curriculum apart from those designed to promote the recognition of letters and simple words which are under-utilised.

The indoor accommodation comprises one large hall and two other rooms all of which are attractively arranged and well used to maximise opportunities for learning. Outdoors is a large tarmac area separated from the car-park by temporary fencing and used for physical activities requiring plenty of space.

7.PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS AND CARERS

The strengths and weaknesses of the partnership with parents and carers

Relationships between parents and carers and the staff of the pre-school are very strong and helps to promote the desirable learning outcomes for the children. A welcoming and informative brochure gives parents and carers clear information about all six areas of the curriculum and stresses the importance of their involvement in their children's education. It explains the key worker system and the need for parents and carers to inform staff of their children's development at home so that their individual needs can be met. Children's progress can be discussed at any time and the complete records are passed on at the end of the year. Parents and carers have opportunities to be involved in many aspects of the pre-school by serving on the committee, helping on a rota basis, with fundraising and by joining in outings and special events. They are kept up-to-date through the notice-board and a newsletter each half-term.

8.IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTION PLAN

Implementation of action plan

Key issues for action arising from the previous OFSTED inspection required the pre-school to co-ordinate their planning and organisation to provide continuity in the educational programme and consistent expectations for behaviour; to devise strategies to promote a quieter and more orderly environment for learning; to enable children to make better use of the book-corner and spend time choosing books to take home; and finally to extend the range of opportunities for children to develop physical skills.

The first issue relating to continuity and consistency is particularly important as the supervisors and many of the staff work only on alternate days. This has been successfully resolved through the adoption of a common curriculum plan based on a two-year rolling model, by holding regular combined staff planning meetings, by arranging overlaps of assistant staff across the days whenever possible, sharing a daily diary, and by devising and applying consistently a common policy to promote appropriate behaviour. Activities on different days now reinforce common themes across the curriculum and children have a clear understanding of how they are expected to behave and are responding well.

The second issue requiring the creation of a more orderly learning environment has also been addressed successfully through the firm and consistent approach to behavioural expectations. Children are able to have fun but respond well when staff intervene if noise levels rise during free-play time. During whole and small group activity times the children concentrate and listen well to the staff and to each other, putting their hands up and waiting for their turns before speaking.

Good progress has also been made concerning the use of the book-corner. Variations in timetabling were tried out and now a library time, when children have time to choose a book to take home, is incorporated into the daily programme as one of the small group activities and stories relating to the themed activities are often read in small groups too. Hence all children now have frequent opportunities to enjoy books and to participate in small group discussions about the stories they choose.

Finally, the requirement to extend opportunities for physical development has resulted in more effective use of the wide range of equipment, with daily structured sessions for the small groups indoors and out.

As good progress has been made in all the areas requiring action arising from the last inspection, none of the previous key issues for action are repeated in the recommendations of this report.