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Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Ready Teddies Group Services
Playgroup, Aldergrove, Co Antrim
(DE Number: 3AB-0352)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
May 2002
INTRODUCTION
1.
Ready Teddies Group Services Playgroup is a
pre-school centre under voluntary management. At the
time of the inspection, a total of 24 children attended the
centre; all 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. Ten of the centre’s
pre-school places are funded through the expansion
programme.
3.
The inspection provided opportunities for the
parents to express their views about the centre. Nearly
all of those who responded were satisfied or very
satisfied with all aspects of the centre’s provision. A few
parents included written comments praising the work of
the centre.
THE QUALITY
PROVISION
OF
THE
EDUCATIONAL
4.
The centre’s ethos contributes effectively to the
children’s development. Relationships between the
children and the staff are good; the staff provide a secure
and supportive environment in which the children can
explore and experiment freely. The children are settled,
appear happy and are well behaved. The playroom is
bright and interesting; the staff have created inviting and
stimulating areas for play.
1
5.
The centre is developing a programme of liaison
with the parents. There are meetings and written
information to guide parents before their children start
attending the centre. Appropriate settling-in procedures
are operated. A parents’ notice board, booklet and open
evening are designed to inform the parents about the preschool programme and to encourage them to play a
partnership role in the education of their children. The
parents are invited into the centre to discuss their
children’s progress and development with the staff;
written reports are provided.
6.
The centre has a suitable written policy on child
protection. The staff are aware of some of the
procedures to be followed to safeguard the welfare of the
children. The centre recognises this as an area for
continued staff development and training.
7.
The staff work hard to plan the educational
programme. The planning outlines a broad, balanced
programme for the children, designed to foster their allround development. It identifies clearly those aspects of
learning which the staff intend to promote through the
various play activities. Observations of the children’s
individual responses and interests are carefully noted by
the staff and used to guide future work.
2
8.
The daily timetable provides a suitable period of
uninterrupted play during which the children explore
materials and develop their ideas. The snack is operated
informally and operates efficiently. The children benefit
from the opportunity for physical play and group
activities involving stories, music and singing. The staff
should review the organisation at the end of the session
in order to provide more opportunities for informal
contact with parents.
9.
The staff spend sustained periods with groups
and individuals, promoting the children’s language and
thinking, and often participating skilfully in the play.
The staff give the children continuous support during the
play; their involvement is sensitive and purposeful.
10.
The centre’s programme promotes very
effectively the children’s all-round development. The
range of activities provides good opportunities for
learning in all areas of the pre-school curriculum. The
promotion of language and literacy is a particular
strength. The points which follow illustrate specific
aspects of the programme.
11.
The attention given to promoting the children’s
personal, social and emotional development is evident in
the many instances of good co-operative play when the
children share materials agreeably, and in the children’s
abilities to sustain high levels of concentration. The
children are encouraged to respect their environment and
to show consideration to others.
3
12.
When the weather permits, the children have
access to an outdoor area and there are opportunities to
gain confidence and agility in the use of fixed
equipment. The staff report that they also use an indoor
hall to develop the physical play programme. There are
many good opportunities for the children to develop fine
manipulative skills using small equipment and tools. On
the day of the inspection, there was concentrated play at
the woodwork activity as the children hammered nails,
and in the house area as the children cut up vegetables.
13.
The children’s abilities to express their ideas
creatively are developed through the use of a range of
materials. The children make good use of scrap
materials to create detailed and imaginative models.
Many of the children make representations of people and
objects in their surroundings. The use of home-made
instruments is promoting early ideas of rhythm and pitch.
The children engage in group singing which they clearly
enjoy.
14.
The promotion of language and literacy is a
strength of the centre. There is strong encouragement
for the children to develop an interest in books; they pay
close attention during story sessions and browse
frequently in the book corner or explore an information
book during their play. The provision of a range of
paper and writing tools in the playroom generates a high
4
level of interest in experimental marking. Most children
recognise their names and many are beginning to form
letters. On the day of the inspection, the children made
good use of the notepad in the ‘farm shop’ to ‘write’
shopping lists and take orders.
15.
The staff encourage the children to count, match,
make comparisons and recognise shapes as they use a
range of materials and equipment during play. The
children sort as they tidy equipment, explore early
concepts of capacity as they fill a variety of containers at
the water tray, and copy patterns at a shape activity.
16.
There are good opportunities for the children to
explore materials and to form ideas about how things
work. The provision of vegetables in the home area, and
the other opportunities to investigate the texture and
smell of fruit, promote effectively the children’s
observational skills and an awareness of their senses.
Good use is made of seasonal topics to extend the
children’s knowledge of, and interest in, the world
around them. The children’s experiences are extended
usefully by members of the local community who visit
the centre, and by trips to the zoo and the library.
17.
The staff regularly monitor and record the
progress made by each child; they use the outcomes of
their observations in planning activities to reflect the
interests of individuals and groups. They are building up
profiles of the children’s achievements. The staff need
5
to do more to ensure that adequate information is
recorded about each child’s progress and that key areas
of development are monitored closely. They have
highlighted this matter as an area for further staff
training.
18.
The centre has begun to establish links with the
local primary school. Where possible, these links should
be extended to help the children transfer smoothly into
the year 1 class.
19.
The centre is well managed and there is effective
leadership. The leader provides a good role-model for
her hard-working staff. The regular weekly meetings
ensure that all staff participate in planning and
evaluating the work. The manager and leader share a
clear vision for the future development of the centre.
They value the support given by the management
committee and the appropriate advice given by the early
years specialist.
20.
The quality of the accommodation is satisfactory.
Good use is made of the available space within the
playroom to create appropriate areas for different types
of play. There are some shortcomings due to the
location of the toilets which are positioned in an entrance
area. There is a development plan to construct new
purpose-built premises. The staff make good use of their
resources to support the implementation of a broad
programme of play. The addition of a wide range of
authentic items from home, and natural materials,
enhances the play experiences for the children.
6
21.
The strengths of the centre include:

the broad range of activities which promote
learning in all areas of the pre-school
curriculum;

the children’s good behaviour and the
relationships between the staff and the
children;

the many instances of concentrated and
purposeful play;

the staff’s involvement and interaction with
the children;

the progress made in developing thoughtful
and detailed planning;

the effective management and leadership and
the hard-working staff.
22.
Overall, the quality of the educational provision
is good; the needs of the children are being well met.
The staff should plan to address the few matters which
require attention.
7
 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2002
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, Co Down BT19 7PR. A copy
is also available on the DE website:
www.deni.gov.uk