/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Chuckles Playgroup
Newtownards, Co Down
(DE Number: 4AB-0174)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
June 2004

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Name of pre-school centre: / Chuckles Playgroup
Address: / The Pavilion
Londonderry Park
Portaferry Road
NEWTOWNARDS,
Co Down
BT23 2AJ
Management Type: / Voluntary
Date of inspection: / 1 June 2004
Date of previous inspection: / 19 April 1999

1. Details of Children

Total number of children: / am session / pm session
·  attending the pre-school centre / 29
·  in their immediate pre-school year / 17
·  funded by Department of Education / 17
·  qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 & 2 / 2
·  with a statement of SEN* / 0
·  without a statement but receiving therapy or support from other professionals for SEN / 0
·  with English as an additional language / 0
·  who left in previous school year to attend reception provision within a primary school / 0
Attendance:
·  percentage attendance** of funded children for the previous school year / 90%

* 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 / 3
Staff holding recognised childcare qualifications / 3
New appointments within previous 12 months / 0

Two mothers now help out on a regular basis in addition to the three members of staff.

Number of: ***
Students / 1
Trainees / -

*** 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
3 ¼ hours / N/A / 188

4. Parental Questionnaires

Number issued to parents:

/ 17
Percentage returned: / 82.4%
Number of written comments: / 8

INTRODUCTION

1. Chuckles Playgroup is accommodated in a sports pavilion in Londonderry Park. The children come mainly from a wide area.

2. In their response to the inspection questionnaire, the parents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the centre's provision.

THE QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROVISION

3. There is a settled, caring atmosphere; relationships between the staff and the children are very good. The staff provide a secure, supportive environment which helps the children grow in confidence and independence. The children's behaviour is good and they relate well to one another; some firm friendships are developing.

4. The centre has an effective programme of liaison with parents; there are meetings and written information to guide parents before their children start attending the centre; appropriate settling-in procedures are operated. The links which have been established with the parents should now be strengthened to include more information on the pre-school programme and to encourage them to play a partnership role in the education of their children.

5. The centre has a written policy on child protection; some additional details about the centre's procedures should now be included and shared with the parents. The staff understand the policy and there is good evidence that they implement it in their day-to-day work with the children.

6. The staff work closely on planning and evaluating the educational programme. Useful short-term planning is compiled consistently and the use of themes is effective in introducing a variety of interesting activities and topics throughout the year. The staff have identified the extension of their planning methods as an area for further development. As part of this development, they should clarify how the activities provide increased challenge and progression over the year and take account of the children's differing needs.

7. The session is well managed and creates long periods of uninterrupted play during which the children have adequate time to make choices and explore fully the full range of activities. The children's snack, and other necessary routines, are organised informally and operate efficiently.

8. The quality of the staff's involvement and interaction with the children is generally of a high standard. Most of the staff spend sustained periods with groups and individuals, promoting the children's language and thinking and participating skilfully in the play.

9. The centre's programme promotes effectively the children's personal, social and emotional development. The range of activities provided offers good opportunities for learning in nearly all aspects of the pre-school curriculum. The points, which follow, illustrate specific aspects of the programme:

·  The children are well motivated and show a good level of involvement in their activities. During the inspection, there were many instances of good co-operative play when the children shared materials agreeably and took account of the ideas and wishes of others.

·  There are regular opportunities for the children to develop confidence and agility in their use of large and small equipment. Many of the children are acquiring good manipulative skills using small tools such as scissors and pencils.

·  The children's abilities to express their ideas creatively are developed effectively through the use of a wide range of materials which they are encouraged to explore freely. Some children are beginning to make representations of people and objects in their surroundings. The children have regular opportunities to listen to music and sing.

·  The children's language development is promoted successfully through the good use of books and imaginative opportunities for the children to experiment with marking and writing. On many occasions, the staff make good use of the play opportunities to develop the children's conversational skills and use appropriate questions to extend and develop language and learning.

·  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.

·  Early scientific ideas are developed through play with sand and water, and through more structured activities such as making dough and melting chocolate. Early technological ideas are developed through the use of a range of constructional and creative materials.

·  There are good opportunities for the children to learn about the living environment by growing seeds and bulbs and caring for the regular visitors to the bird table. Ideas about the different jobs people do have been incorporated into aspects of the play.

·  The staff operate a key-worker system and observe regularly the children's responses to play. Close links are maintained with the parents and information on the children's progress and needs is shared through written reports and individual meetings. Some further development is needed to highlight more clearly the children's progress and to link the information effectively to the staff's planning.

·  The children transfer to a large number of different primary schools. The centre has established some informal links with one local primary school. The staff should now seek ways of strengthening the links with primary schools in order to share information about the children's progress.

13. The staff display much commitment to the centre and to the children's welfare. There is a developing sense of team spirit: the staff have implemented many improvements in the provision and display a willingness to develop their practice further. The staff value the support provided by the management committee, and the well-focused guidance and support provided by the early years specialist.

14. The quality of the accommodation is good. The staff work hard to make imaginative use of the equipment and all available space. The children's toilets are located outside the playroom; this requires a member of staff to accompany the children. The centre has access to a small enclosed outdoor play area.

15. The centre has a good supply of resources, which the staff present in a thoughtful and stimulating manner. The addition of some authentic items and natural materials enhances the play experiences for the children.

16. The strengths of the centre include the:

·  positive ethos which promotes the children's confidence and self-esteem;

·  good organisation of the daily timetable and routines;

·  many examples of the staff's skilful interaction with the children to promote learning;

·  variety and quality of the learning experiences that lead to purposeful and sustained play;

·  good provision made in nearly all aspects of the pre-school curriculum;

·  good quality of the accommodation and the attractively presented learning environment;

·  developing sense of team spirit among the dedicated staff and the valuable support provided by the centre's early years specialist.

17. There are major strengths in nearly 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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ã CROWN COPYRIGHT 2004

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: www.deni.gov.uk