/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of First Steps Community Playgoup,
Killen, Co Tyrone
(DE Number: 2AB-0293)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
January 2004

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Name of pre-school centre: / First Steps Community Playgroup
Address: / 1 Munie Road
CASTLEDERG
BT81 7QJ
Management Type: / Voluntary
Date of inspection: / 27 January 2004
Date of previous inspection: / 23 March 2000

1.Details of Children

Total number of children: / am session / pm session
  • attending the pre-school centre
/ 24 / 18
  • in their immediate pre-school year
/ 24
  • funded by Department of Education
/ 24
  • qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 & 2
/ 1
  • with a statement of SEN*
/ 0
  • without a statement but receiving therapy or support from other professionals for SEN
/ 2
  • 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
/ 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 / 9
Staff holding recognised childcare qualifications / 8
New appointments within previous 12 months / 3
Number of: ***
Students / 1
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
2.5 hours / 2 hours / 187

4.Parental Questionnaires

Number issued to parents:

/ 23
Percentage returned: / 69.6%
Number of written comments: / 6

INTRODUCTION

1.The playgroup is accommodated within the First Steps Children’s Centre in the village of Killen. The children come from a wide surrounding rural area: some of the children attend the day care facility after their pre-school session ends.

2.In their response to the inspection questionnaire, nearly all the parents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the centre’s provision. An issue raised through the parents’ comments has been shared with the staff and is addressed in paragraph 13 of the report.

THE QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROVISION

3.There is a warm, caring atmosphere in the centre; relationships between the staff and the children are very good. The children are friendly and respond well to the staff’s expectations of appropriate behaviour. The playroom is bright and colourful and is enhanced by the use of posters, photographs, stimulating interest areas and displays of the children’s art work.

4.The communication with parents is very good; parents’ meetings, monthly newsletters and a lending library are designed to encourage the parents to play a full role in the education of their children. The staff report that the parents are invited into the centre three times during the year to discuss their children's progress.

5.The centre has recently reviewed their written policy on child protection. The parents are given information about the centre’s policy and procedures. The staff now need to clarify some of their procedures and develop a suitable format for recording matters of concern.

6.The staff work well as a team to compile detailed written planning, designed to foster the children’s all-round development. Themes are used effectively to provide stimulating and varied learning experiences throughout the year. The short-term planning identifies clearly the learning to be promoted from the various play activities and is reflected in the playroom practice. Observations of the children’s individual responses and interests are carefully noted by the staff and used to guide future work.

7.The daily timetable provides suitable opportunities for the children to make choices, explore freely the full range of activities and develop their play. The informal snack is used successfully to foster the children’s independence, and early mathematical and conversational skills. The staff should review the organisation and planning of their energetic play session in order to ensure a smoother flow to the daily programme and promote more interest and challenge in the activities.

8.The staff are caring and supportive; their sustained involvement in the activities fosters successfully the children's settled and productive play. Some of the staff participate particularly skilfully in the activities and encourage the children to observe and to think.

9.The centre’s educational programme is broad and balanced and offers good opportunities for learning in most areas of the pre-school curriculum. The points which follow illustrate specific aspects of the programme.

  • The careful attention given to promoting the children’s personal, social and emotional development is evident in their abilities to choose freely from the activities and to play with concentration. There are many instances of good co-operative play when the children share materials agreeably and help one another.
  • There are daily opportunities for outdoor play which help the children to gain some appropriate physical skills and to use a variety of equipment with confidence. Many of the children are acquiring good manipulative skills using a wide variety of small tools.
  • During the inspection, some of the most concentrated play was observed in the creative art area as the children used a wide range of materials to express their own ideas. There are regular opportunities for singing and music-making; the children are acquiring an extensive repertoire of rhymes and songs which they clearly enjoy.
  • The centre incorporates a wide range of good quality books into many areas of play: the stimulating displays are further enhanced by the addition of a range of personalised books made by the staff and the children. The group story is read with enthusiasm and engages the children's attention. The children are introduced to text incidentally through the many captions displayed around the room and by the appropriate use of their printed names on arrival and during snack. Some of the children display an early interest in marking and writing as they explore a wide variety of writing tools and paper.
  • The staff frequently use appropriate mathematical language as an integral part of the play and of the daily routines, and, as a result, promote the children's interest in counting, pattern, size, shape, and weight.
  • There are many excellent opportunities for the children to learn about the living environment, explore materials and form ideas about how things work. On the day of the inspection, the staff and the children made effective use of the frosty weather conditions to freeze water overnight. The children have daily opportunities to learn about living things by caring for the centre’s pets, observing the regular visitors to the bird table and growing a wide range of seeds and spring bulbs. The children’s experiences are extended usefully by members of the local community who visit the centre, including, for example, a nurse, and by visits to places of interest, such as Gortin Glen.

10.The staff operate a key-worker system. They regularly monitor the children’s responses to the play activities and record relevant and accurate information. They are beginning to link the assessment information to their planning in order to meet the differing needs of some of the children.

11.Valuable links have been established with a neighbouring pre-school centre and many of the local primary schools. Transition records are completed for all the primary schools to which the children transfer. The staff report that they value the support they receive through the good links established with the centre’s social worker and health visitor.

12.The centre is well-organised and managed effectively. The acting-leader brings a high level of skill and enthusiasm to her work; she promotes a strong sense of team-work among her hard-working and dedicated colleagues. The staff display much commitment to the centre and to the children’s welfare. They value the support of the centre’s co-ordinator and the management committee in promoting their continuing professional development. The centre’s early years specialist highlights relevant areas for action and the staff value her guidance.

13.The quality of the accommodation is very good. The centre is attractive and well maintained. There are appropriate plans to develop further the outdoor play area. The centre is presently installing a system to provide secure access control to their premises. The quality and range of the resources are good. Many areas of play are enhanced by the addition of authentic equipment and materials.

14.The strengths of the centre include:

  • the warm, caring atmosphere and the very good relationships between the staff and the children;
  • the strong links and good communication with parents and the local community;
  • the detailed planning and the relevant observations of the children’s play;
  • the stimulating range of activities throughout the year, the interesting displays and the good or very good opportunities for learning in nearly all areas of the pre-school curriculum;
  • the many instances when the children display sustained interest and co-operative play;
  • the staff’s sustained involvement in the play;
  • the effective leadership and the enthusiastic team approach.

15.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.

APPENDIX

HEALTH AND SAFETY

The steel support poles for the sheltered canopy, sited in the middle of the outdoor play area, pose a potential hazard for the children during energetic activity.

1

 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2004

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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: