The strengths
and weaknesses of personal and social development
The area of personal and social development is a strength of the centre, and
the children's spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is fostered
appropriately.
The children are well behaved, confident and well mannered they discuss right
and wrong behaviour such as taking turns, being kind and sharing. At snack time,
during music and movement sessions and whilst using the computer, the children
work well together in groups and share the equipment. The children are
encouraged to treat living things, property and their environment with care and
concern. They water the plants, grow carrot tops and help tidy away the
equipment after use.
Staff plan excellent activities which heighten the children's awareness of
living in a multi-cultural world. They have recently looked at the lives of
people from countries such as Egypt, Africa and France and have recorded their
findings. The children and staff make good use of the multi-cultural resources
around the centre, such as musical instruments, dressing-up clothes, dolls and
books. The children are encouraged to express their feelings in different ways
such as role-play activities, art and craft, and music and movement; they show
joy and excitement when they have a birthday cake at snack time and sorrow when
their doll became ill in the hospital role-play area.
The children have good concentration and perseverance skills which are
displayed whilst taking part in activities such as construction play, drawing
activities and sewing. The resources are well labelled and easily accessed by
the children; this effectively encourages the children to select a resource or
activity, use their initiative and work independently.
Children's personal independence is fostered throughout the daily programme.
The children can dress themselves, wash their hands and are able to use the
toilets.
The impact of this programme is evident in all other areas of the curriculum
.
The strengths
and weaknesses of language and literacy
The programme for language and literacy is strong and is evident in all six
areas of learning.
The children listen attentively to songs and stories at news time and respond
to simple instructions. They talk confidently about visits to the Library, going
to the Dinosaur exhibition at the Museum and visits to the aquarium. The staff
provide many, worthwhile opportunities for the children to make up their own
stories, express thoughts and explore meanings. Role-play areas have been
effectively developed into newsagent's a cinema, a hospital, a post office and a
bank and all support portrays the children's learning.
The book corner is warm, inviting and comfortable. There is a good selection
of children's books which portray positive images of people. The children point
to the text showing an awareness that it reads from left to right and top to
bottom. They turn the pages correctly and are encouraged to put the books away
after use.
Well-labelled displays, individual children's work, coat pegs and name labels
are effectively used to assist the children in recognising their own names and
some familiar words. The children recognise letters of the alphabet by shape and
sound, using resources such as the computer's keyboard and programmes,
worksheets, alphabet-tables and mobiles to assist them.
The children clap out syllables of their names and words, listen to poetry
and have many good opportunities for emergent writing and recording their
observations. They can write their own names and use upper and lower case
letters appropriately.
The strengths
and weaknesses of mathematics
The programme for mathematics is strong and is evident in all six areas of
the curriculum.
The children use and understand mathematical words such as huge, medium,
bigger, how-many and triangle. They re-create and recognise mathematical
patterns whilst using pattern boards, peg boards and worksheets.
Throughout the day, the children have many, good opportunities to compare,
sort, match, order, sequence and count. They count cups at snack time, compare
weights, sequence Russian dolls and pegs, match pegs and bricks, and count at
every opportunity.
Number songs such " 5 little ducks", " 1,2, buckle my shoe" and " 5 speckled
frogs" stories such as "6 dinner Sid" and " How many frogs", and games such as
dominoes and hopscotch are used effectively to promote number. The children can
recognise and use numbers up to 10 and beyond, and use additional resources such
as number bats, cash registers and money effectively.
Throughout the day the staff provide many, worthwhile, problem-solving
activities which effectively encourage the children to record numbers and solve
problems. They weigh ingredients, anticipate how many more objects are required
to make a set, and calculate the volume of water in containers.
The strengths
and weaknesses of knowledge and understanding of the world
The programme for knowledge and understanding of the world is strong.
During discussion time, the children talk confidently about their families,
about wearing a nappy when they were babies and visits to the Library with their
parents. The nursery has invited people who serve the community, such as Police,
and Fire Officers, and there also been visits to a local farm.
The staff plan a variety of worthwhile activities to look at rivers, trees
and mini-beasts. The children have looked at life cycles and have grown plants
and seeds, recording their observations in both written and pictorial form.
Visits to local rivers and an aquarium, and addressing topics such as
camouflage, hibernation and planets successfully assist the children in looking
closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change. The staff provide
interesting activities, displays and interest tables which effectively encourage
the children to question why things happen and how things work.
The children have many, good opportunities to select materials. They can cut,
join, build and fold skillfully using scissors,dough cutters, jigsaws, card,
construction materials and sewing materials. The children and staff make good
use of the resources such as computers, a globe, cash registers, scales and
mirrors in support of their learning.
The strengths
and weaknesses of physical development
The programme for children's physical development is good.
The children move confidently, imaginatively, with coordination and spacial
awareness when taking part in activities such as keep fit, music and movement,
croquet, dragon dancing and circle games. They use a good selection of large and
small equipment such as bicycles, slides, tyre swings, trampoline, bats, balls,
bean bags and barrels with increasing skills.
The children climb and balance with skill. They confidently climb the
climbing frame and climbing towers, and balance on beams, suspended ladders and
on one leg.
The children handle tools such as a computer mouse, hammers and chopsticks,
with care and can use materials such as Octons and Lego, and malleable materials
such as dough, clay and bulb fibre.
There are no weaknesses in this area.
The strengths
and weaknesses of creative development
The area of creative development is good.
The children explore sound using musical instruments, clapping rhythmically
and playing sound-lotto games. The displays of children's individual work, the
nursery's plans and photographic evidence show that the children have many, good
opportunities to explore colour, texture, shape, space and form in two and three
dimensions.
The staff provide good, sensory-play activities. The children play listening
games and take part in observational art and model making. They cook and use a
variety of collage materials. The children are developing excellent listening
and observational skills, and during role-play activities they confidently play
out familiar situations.
A good range of interesting materials is offered to the children. They bake,
sew, play music, paint and make models.
No weaknesses are apparent in this area..
The strengths
and weaknesses of the overall planning of the educational programme
Planning is good.
The staff use topic planners, lesson plans and have long, medium and
short-term. They plan effectively, and all six areas of learning are addressed.
Priority is given to personal and social development, language and, literacy and
mathematics; many, well-planned activities and routines encourage the children
to behave well, work independently and in groups, recognise letters of the
alphabet by shape and sound, and recognise and use numbers.
Planning highlights the learning outcomes, and effectively highlights Daily
planning sheets are also available to parents, staff deployment and how
childrens will be grouped.
The strengths
and weaknesses of teaching and assessment
The quality of teaching is excellent and promotes the desirable outcomes.
Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the desirable outcomes for
all six areas of learning and are well organised. They have their own areas of
responsibility and work well together, both as a team and individually. They
interact well with the children and ask many, good, open-ended questions and
encourage the children to think.
Throughout the day the children work in free-choice groups, age-ability
groups, mixed-ability groups and also on a one-to-one basis. There is a good mix
of teacher-directed activities, such as music, reading and sewing, and
child-initiated activities such as painting and using the computer.
The staff assess the children effectively, and the assessment records are
manageable and effective. The staff meet regularly to plan. The owner
effectively monitors teaching, assessment and planning and shares her findings
at curriculum meetings. The staff also have the opportunity to attend relevant
courses.
The strengths
and weaknesses of equality of access and opportunity
Boys and girls are treated fairly and equally. The extrovert child is
directed and the more introverted child is encouraged. Teaching is good and
promotes equal opportunities. There is a child with special educational needs
and a child who is bi-lingual. Teaching meets the needs of both of these
children, staff work closely with the children to ensure language development.
They clear explanations and plan a good variety of activities which effectively
encourage the children to express themselves.
There is a special educational needs policy and an equal opportunities policy
in place, both are effective.
The strengths
and weaknesses of the learning resources and accommodation
The resources promote positive images of people, are in good condition, well
labelled and are easily accessed by the children and staff. There are many, good
learning resources for all six areas of learning which support all the children,
including those with special educational needs and for whom English is a second
language.
The accommodation comprises of four rooms, staff room, kitchen, toilets,
studio, office, reading room and a large grassed and paved outdoor play area.
The rooms are well laid out and the resources are easily accessed by the
children which enables the children to select a resource or activity and work
independently. There is sufficient space for the numbers of children attending
the setting and the rooms are divided into appropriate areas of learning. Both
are used effectively.
The strengths
and weaknesses of the partnership with parents and carers
The partnership with parents and carers is strong.
The parents receive a parental involvement policy, regular newsletters and
are given a copy of the Nursery's curriculum. There is also an informative
access to the curriculum policy and informative notice board displaying daily
and forthcoming events. They are invited to attend regular parent meetings,
parent chat sessions and are kept fully informed about their children's progress
and attainment. Parents also are encouraged to contribute to their child's
assessments and share observations of their child's learning at home. They are
invited to social events, fun days and concerts.
Implementation
of action plan
The setting has made good progress in implementing the action plan. The
previous inspection required the setting to address one key issue which related
to assessment.
Key Issue 1
"To further develop existing systems of assessment to include ways of
recording children's progress in creative development and knowledge and
understanding of the world".
Progress is good.
The assessment records used now, fully encompass all six areas of learning
and are used effectively and monitored regularly.
