/ Providing Inspection Services for

Department of Education

Department for Employment and Learning

Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Trinity Park Pre-School Nursery,
Magheralin, Co Armagh
(DE Number: 5CA-0520)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
October 2005

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Name of pre-school centre: / Trinity Park Pre-School Nursery
Address: / 20 Trinity Park
Magheralin, Craigavon
Co Armagh BT67 0AP
Management Type: / Private
Date of inspection: / 5 October 2005
Date of previous inspection:

1.Details of Children

Total number of children: / am session / pm session
  • attending the pre-school centre
/ 34
  • in their immediate pre-school year
/ 23
  • funded by Department of Education
/ 9
  • qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 & 2
/ 1
  • with a statement of SEN*
/ -
  • without a statement but receiving therapy or support from other professionals for SEN
/ -
  • with English as an additional language
/ -
  • who left in previous school year to attend reception provision within a primary school
/ 18
Attendance:
  • percentage attendance** of funded children for the previous school year
/ 95%

*Special Educational Needs

**Calculated from the date when the intake was complete

2.Details of Staff

Number of: /

Full-time

/ Part-time
Staff, including leader / 2 / 1
Staff holding recognised childcare qualifications / 3
New appointments within previous 12 months / 1
Number of: ***
Students / 0
Trainees / 0

*** Total placements since September of current year

3.Details of Sessions

Duration of morning session / Duration of afternoon session / Number of days open in previous year
5 hours / - / 188

4.Parental Questionnaires

Number issued to parents:

/ 26
Percentage returned: / 69.2%
Number of written comments: / 10

INTRODUCTION

1.Trinity Park Pre-school Nursery is located in the centre of Magheralin. The children come mainly from the village and surrounding area.

2.In their response to the inspection questionnaire, nearly all of the parents were satisfied or very satisfied with all aspects of the centre’s provision. A small number of the parents indicated that they were unsure of the procedures the centre used to deal with child protection matters.

The Quality of the Educational Provision

3.There is a friendly, caring atmosphere in the centre; relationships at all levels are very good. The playroom is attractively presented with displays of the children’s work and topical interest areas. The children are settled and well-behaved.

4.The staff have established some good links with the parents and have plans to develop these further. There are opportunities for informal meetings with the parents at the beginning and end of each day; the staff plan to provide more formal opportunities to meet with the parents and discuss their children’s progress at regular intervals throughout the year.

5.The centre has a written policy on child protection and the staff are aware of appropriate procedures to safeguard the welfare of the children. Additional information about the centre’s procedures should be included in the child protection policy and shared with the parents.

6.The quality of the planning is good; it outlines a broad and balanced curriculum for the children, designed to foster their all-round development. Themes and topics are incorporated skilfully to provide varied and interesting learning experiences for the children. Observations of the children’s individual responses are noted by the staff and used to guide future work.

7.The daily timetable is well-organised and provides a good balance of free play and activities organised by the staff. The children’s snack-time provides a relaxed setting, promoting the children’s independence, and social and conversational skills. Appropriate time is given to story and physical play sessions.

8.The quality of the staff’s involvement and interaction with the children is consistently of a high standard. The staff often spend sustained periods with groups and individuals promoting the children’s language and thinking.

9.The centre’s educational programme provides good opportunities for learning across the pre-school curriculum. The points which follow illustrate specific aspects of the programme.

  • Particular attention is given to promoting the children’s personal, social and emotional development, and, as a result, many of the children appear well-settled and are able to engage in purposeful and productive play.
  • There are daily opportunities for the children to participate in physical play sessions. The careful arrangement of activities, and the teaching of safe play, help the children to gain appropriate physical skills and to use a variety of equipment and tools with confidence.
  • The children’s abilities to express their ideas creatively are developed effectively through the use of a wide range of materials which the children are encouraged to explore freely; some of the children have begun to make representations of people and objects in their surroundings.
  • The staff make good use of opportunities to develop the children’s conversational skills and use appropriate questions to help extend and develop language and learning. There is strong encouragement for the children to develop an interest in books; they browse in the book area and stories are read to the children at their request. The children are introduced to text informally through captions written on their pictures and printed text displayed around the room.
  • Appropriate aspects of early mathematical learning are incorporated incidentally into the play and necessary routines. Stories, songs and rhymes are often used effectively as a starting point for learning about number.
  • There are good opportunities provided for the children to explore materials and to observe changes that occur naturally in the environment and plant life. More attention needs to be given to developing the children’s technological skills.
  • The staff make good use of visitors to the centre to enhance the children’s experiences. Seasonal and environmental topics are incorporated well into the programme and are used to extend the children’s knowledge of, and interest in, the world around them.

10.The staff operate a key-worker system and regularly monitor and record appropriate observations of the children’s responses to play. The outcomes of their observations are used in planning activities to meet the needs of individuals and groups.

11.The centre has established some useful links with the local primary schools. Transition records are completed for all the primary schools to which the children transfer.

12.The centre currently does not have a written policy for special educational needs, however, the staff make good efforts to identify and address the learning difficulties experienced by some children and liaise closely with the parents regarding support programmes.

13.The Leader manages the centre efficiently and is a good role-model for the staff. The staff work well as a team; they are enthusiastic and hard-working, and all contribute to the effective operation of the centre. There is evidence that the support provided by the Early Years Specialist is having a positive effect on the quality of the pre-school provision. The Leader reports that throughout the year a number of children transfer to reception provision in the local primary schools.

14.The quality of the accommodation is satisfactory. The staff make good use of the available space; however, storage space within the centre is limited. The centre has an adequate supply of resources which the staff present in a thoughtful manner. Many authentic and natural items and materials are used to enhance the play experiences for the children.

15.The strengths of the centre include:

  • the very positive ethos that promotes a settled, caring atmosphere and good relationships at all levels;
  • the many examples of good quality interaction between the staff and the children;
  • the thoughtful organisation of the daily timetable that provides lengthy periods of uninterrupted play;
  • the appropriate methods of planning and assessment;
  • the good opportunities for learning in all areas of the curriculum; and
  • the effective leadership and the hard-working staff who work well as a team.

16.There are strengths in all aspects of the educational and pastoral provision in this pre-school centre. The needs of the children are being met effectively.

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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2005

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.

Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection Services Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor, CoDownBT197PR. A copy is also available on the DE website: