/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Cloughmills Playgroup,
Ballymena, Co Antrim
(DE Number: 3BB-0360)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
June 2001

Introduction

1.Cloughmills Playgroup is a pre-school centre under voluntary management. At the time of the inspection, a total of 25 children attended the centre; 20 were in their pre-school year.

2.The inspection is part of a programme to ensure that appropriate standards of education are provided in centres receiving funding as part of the Government’s expansion of pre-school education.

The Quality of the Educational Provision

3.The centre is located in a large room in the youth wing of Cloughmills Primary School. The accommodation is shared with other community groups and this requires the staff to set up and clear away equipment most days. The staff work hard to create and prepare an attractive learning environment which is organised into clearly defined areas for play. Good use is made of the children’s art work and photographs to enhance the environment. There is a friendly caring atmosphere in the centre; relationships between the staff and the children are good. The children are well-behaved; they relate well to one another and co-operate readily with the centre’s necessary rules and routines.

4.The staff use a variety of methods to keep parents informed about the programme on offer including a regular newsletter and ‘prompt sheet’. In addition to the informal meetings which occur at the beginning and end of the day, the parents are invited into the centre twice a year to discuss their children’s progress. Parents are encouraged to play an active role in the education of their children by reading stories, helping on trips and sharing their particular talents. The inspection provided opportunities for the parents to express their views about the centre. Almost all of those who responded were satisfied or very satisfied with most aspects of the centre’s provision.

5.The centre has a written policy on child protection which is shared with the parents. The staff are aware of the procedures necessary to implement the policy and safeguard the welfare of the children.

6.The staff have made a useful start to planning the educational programme using suitable themes to introduce a variety of interesting experiences and activities throughout the year. Currently, the reference to the learning which the staff intend to promote is not sufficiently detailed to guide them effectively in their day-to-day work with the children. Further development is needed in order to identify the learning to be promoted in all aspects of play, to take account of the children’s differing needs, and to outline progression in the use of resources throughout the year. More detailed evaluations of the activities are required in order to inform future planning.

7.The daily timetable provides a suitable period of uninterrupted play during which the children choose freely from the range of activities. The organisation ensures that there is a suitable balance between free play and activities organised by the staff. The children’s snack is organised informally and provides opportunities for the children to develop their social skills and independence. More could be done at this time to develop the children’s conversational skills. The children have daily opportunities for physical play in the large hall within the primary school. Outdoor play is available weather permits; as the area is not secure, this activity requires high levels of supervision.

8.The staff are successful in encouraging the children to play in a settled manner. During the inspection there were occasions when the staff participated sensitively in the activities to extend the play. At other times, however, they missed valuable opportunities to develop ideas and foster learning. The staff need to develop greater skill in recognising the potential of all the materials, and in using effective strategies, in order to promote fully the children’s language and learning.

9.The centre’s programme promotes effectively the children’s personal, social and emotional development. The range of activities provided offers satisfactory opportunities for learning in most of the other areas of the pre-school curriculum. The points which follow illustrate specific aspects of the programme.

  • The children are well settled and many display high levels of concentration in their play, these features were particularly evident during play with the blocks, the sand, and craft material. The majority of the children are well-motivated, co-operate well with one another and interact confidently with the adults.
  • The children’s abilities to control small tools such as scissors and pencils are developed effectively. There are daily opportunities for the children to develop some physical skills through energetic play in the school hall. The staff also provide organised games and play outdoors.
  • The wide range of creative activities provided encourages the children to explore with different materials and tools; some children have begun to make representations of people and objects in their surroundings. The staff value the children’s creative work and there are many examples on display. The centre has recently acquired a new range of musical instruments. The staff need to plan more effectively the use of percussion instruments in order to ensure the children’s musical awareness is developed steadily over the year.
  • An appropriate selection of books is available in the book area. Stories are read imaginatively to the whole group and to individual children at their request. More needs to be done to incorporate books into other areas of play to help support learning. Some of the children show an awareness of individual letters as they attempt to write their name.
  • The staff need to exploit more effectively the informal opportunities provided by the everyday routines, and arising naturally from the children’s play, in order to promote a wider range of mathematical ideas.
  • A range of activities provides suitable experiences in science and technology and there are some good opportunities for the children to explore materials, observe changes and form ideas about how things work. Throughout the year good use is made of the indoor garden to observe seasonal changes.
  • The children’s experiences are extended usefully by visitors to the centre and visits to places of interest. The centre is actively involved in Eco Schools Project; this provides valuable opportunities for the children to learn about and care for the environment.

10.The staff are developing an appropriate method of assessment and have begun to compile records of the children’s achievements based on observations of their responses to play. In addition to the informal daily contact, the staff have met individually with the parents to share the information they have gained. The information is also used to inform the planning and provision of some resources.

11.The centre has established useful links with the local primary schools in order to help the children make a smooth transition to year1. There is effective liaison and supportive links with other professionals.

12.Although the staff team is recently established, there is a strong sense of shared purpose. The leader is enthusiastic and committed to the development of the centre and recognises that improvements are needed in aspects of the educational provision. She is a good role model for the other staff who are hard working and keen to extend their own expertise. The leader acknowledges the support offered by the committee and the centre’s early years specialist.

13.The quality of the accommodation is satisfactory; the centre is well maintained. Good use is made of the space available to arrange activities attractively. Storage space and outdoor facilities are limited.

14.The centre has a satisfactory range of good quality resources. Additional resources are needed to ensure progression in all areas of play. Currently the range of resources available in the home area is not sufficient to develop the children’s imaginative play.

15.The strengths of the centre include:

  • the happy, friendly atmosphere and the good relationships between the staff and the children;
  • the attractively presented learning environment;
  • the thoughtful organisation of the daily timetable;
  • the children’s good behaviour and the many examples of settled and concentrated play;
  • the valuable links established with the local primary schools;
  • the conscientious and hard-working staff.

16.The inspection has identified some areas which require action. In addressing the most important areas, the centre needs to:

  • develop the written planning further in order to help the staff to exploit fully the learning potential of all the activities and to ensure that the programme progresses appropriately over the year;
  • ensure that the quality of the staff’s interaction with the children is more consistently of a high standard.

17.Overall, the quality of the educational provision in this pre-school centre is satisfactory but improvements are needed in the areas identified if the needs of the children are to be met fully. The staff should draw up a plan to address these areas. The Department’s Inspectorate will monitor the progress being made.

APPENDIX

HEALTH AND SAFETY

  • During the physical play session the partition door between the upper and lower hall was not secure.

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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2001

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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: