/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Slievegallion Pre-school Playgroup, Desertmartin, Co Londonderry
(DE Number: 3AB-0138)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
June 2004

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Name of pre-school centre: / Slievegallion Pre-School Playgroup
Address: / 62B Longfield Road
Desertmartin
MAGHERAFELT
Co Londonderry
Management Type: / Voluntary
Date of inspection: / 1 June 2004
Date of previous inspection: / 5 June 1999

1.Details of Children

Total number of children: / am session / pm session
  • attending the pre-school centre
/ 24
  • in their immediate pre-school year
/ 13
  • funded by Department of Education
/ 11
  • qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 & 2
/ 0
  • 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
/ 1
Attendance:
  • percentage attendance** of funded children for the previous school year
/ 98%

*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
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
3 hrs / - / 188

4.Parental Questionnaires

Number issued to parents:

/ 26
Percentage returned: / 61.57
Number of written comments: / 16

INTRODUCTION

1.Slievegallion Pre-school Playgroup is situated in an attractive rural location on the outskirts of Desertmartin. The children come mainly from the village and the surrounding area.

2.In their response to the inspection questionnaire the parents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the centre’s provision. Many included written comments praising the work of the staff and the positive ethos within the centre.

The Quality of the Educational Provision

3.There is a happy, family atmosphere; relationships at all levels are excellent. The staff display respect for the children’s ideas and foster their confidence and self-esteem. The children are friendly, well behaved and play co-operatively with one another. The playroom is bright and stimulating; very good use is made of a wide range of the children’s art work to create colourful and imaginative displays around the playroom.

4.The communication with parents is very good. The staff value the support given by the parents through sharing their talents and skills, and seek their views about the centre’s provision through questionnaires. In addition to the daily informal meetings, the parents are invited into the centre three times during the year to discuss their children’s progress with the staff.

5.The centre has a suitable written policy on child protection which is implemented by the staff and shared with the parents.

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 during the week and is reflected in the playroom practice. As the staff continue to develop the planning, they should focus more closely on how the activities provide increased challenge and progression over the year.

7.The daily timetable is well planned to provide a good balance of free play and activities organised by the staff. The snack time is organised informally and there are good opportunities for the children to develop independence, and to acquire conversational skills. Appropriate time is given to an enjoyable group story and energetic play. The outdoor play session is planned and managed very effectively to promote a wide range of learning.

8.The warm, enthusiastic and sustained involvement of the staff with the children is a key strength of the centre. The staff’s involvement in the play activities is sensitive and purposeful; it promotes effectively the children’s development and fosters positive attitudes to learning. The staff constantly offer praise and encouragement and build appropriately on the children’s ideas to promote language and learning.

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

  • The children appear happy and play co-operatively; a few early friendships are beginning to develop. They are well motivated and show a good level of involvement in their activities. They make confident choices, display independence and are learning to look after the playroom environment.
  • The centre has a secure and thoughtfully organised outdoor play area. The children enjoy thoroughly the outdoor play session and have very good opportunities to develop a range of physical skills and gain confidence in their use of equipment. Many of the children are acquiring good manipulative skills using a wide variety of small tools.
  • 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. Many are beginning to make representations of people and objects in their surroundings. There are daily opportunities for informal singing; the children have acquired an extensive repertoire of rhymes and songs which they clearly enjoy. A selection of musical instruments provides opportunities for informal music sessions and for exploring the sounds made by the various instruments.
  • The stimulating environment within the playroom provides rich opportunities for the development of the children’s language. The staff make good use of all the play activities and routines to introduce new vocabulary and to develop the children’s talking and listening skills. There is strong encouragement for the children to develop an interest in books and stories. Clear and relevant captions displayed prominently around the playroom introduce the children to meaningful written text; many of the children are able to recognise their own written names. There are very good opportunities for the children to experiment with writing and drawing; some of the children are attempting to write their names independently.
  • There is very good promotion of early mathematical ideas through the daily routine events and through a range of play activities. During the inspection, the staff and the children frequently used appropriate mathematical language as an integral part of the play. The children are gaining appropriate ideas associated with informal counting, and with size, shape and time.
  • The promotion of early science is one of the centre’s strengths. The staff provide an interesting range of natural materials and living things for the children to observe and investigate; they promote effectively the children’s curiosity in the world around them. The children’s experiences are extended usefully by the many visitors to the centre and by visits to places of interest. There are good opportunities for the children to design and build using a wide variety of constructional equipment.

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. The staff should continue to develop this aspect of their work.

11.Valuable links have been established with the local primary schools. The staff report that they value the support they receive through the good links established with the centre’s social worker.

12.The centre is very well organised and managed effectively. The leader has given long service to the centre: she is dedicated and hard-working and promotes a strong sense of teamwork among her enthusiastic colleagues. The staff display much commitment to providing a high quality of care and education for the children. Since the last inspection, the many strengths have been sustained successfully and further improvements made. The staff value the involvement of the early years specialist and the support provided by the management committee.

13.The quality of the accommodation is satisfactory. The centre is bright and well maintained; good use is made of all available space. The management committee and staff are presently seeking funding to purchase a new mobile building and to develop an outdoor sensory garden. The centre has an adequate supply of good quality resources which the staff present in a thoughtful and stimulating manner.

14.The strengths of the centre include the:

  • very positive ethos which promotes the children’s confidence, independence and self-esteem;
  • friendly, well-behaved children and the excellent relationships at all levels;
  • effective communication with, and involvement of, the parents;
  • children’s motivation, enjoyment and involvement in their activities;
  • staff’s sustained involvement in the play and their responsiveness to the children’s needs;
  • stimulating range of activities throughout the year, the interesting displays and the good or very good opportunities for learning in all areas of the pre-school curriculum;
  • dedicated leadership and the enthusiastic team approach throughout the centre.

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.

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 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: