Providing Inspection Services for
The Education and Training Inspectorate -
Promoting Improvement
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Inspection of Little Friends Playgroup,
Omagh, Co Tyrone
(DE Number: 2AB-0295)
A Report by the Education and Training Inspectorate
January 2005
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
Name of pre-school centre: Little Friends Playgroup
Address:
Management Type:
Strathroy Community Centre
Strathroy
OMAGH
BT79 7XE
Voluntary
Date of inspection:
Date of previous inspection:
1.
26 January 2005
20 January 2000
Details of Children
Total number of children:
am
session

attending the pre-school centre
26

in their immediate pre-school year
17

funded by Department of Education
17

qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 & 2
6


with a statement of SEN*
without a statement but receiving therapy or
support from other professionals for SEN
0
with English as an additional language
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
0
0
90%
* Special Educational Needs
** Calculated from the date when the intake was complete
pm
session
2.
Details of Staff
Number of:
Full-time
Staff, including leader
4
Staff holding recognised childcare qualifications
4
New appointments within previous 12 months
0
Part-time
Number of: ***
Students
2
Trainees
0
*** Total placements since September of current year
3.
Details of Sessions
Duration of morning
session
Duration of afternoon
session
2¾ hours
4.
188
Parental Questionnaires
Number issued to parents:
Percentage returned:
Number of written comments:
Number of days open
in previous year
26
88.5%
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INTRODUCTION
1.
Little Friends Pre-school Playgroup is
accommodated in Strathroy Community Centre. The
children come from a wide surrounding area.
2.
In their response to the inspection questionnaire,
the parents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the
centre’s provision.
THE QUALITY
PROVISION
OF
THE
EDUCATIONAL
3.
The centre has a happy, relaxed and caring
atmosphere.
The environment is attractive and
stimulating. The rooms are thoughtfully arranged with
distinct areas for aspects of play; good use is made of the
children’s art work and photographs to create colourful
displays around the centre. The staff provide a secure,
supportive environment which helps the children grow in
confidence and independence. The children are very
settled and well behaved; they are encouraged to play
amicably and to help one another.
4.
The communication with parents is good. A
variety of appropriate methods is used to encourage the
parents to play a full role in the education of their
children.
1
5.
The centre has a suitable written policy on child
protection. The staff have discussed and developed
appropriate procedures to safeguard the welfare of the
children. The parents are given information about the
centre’s policy and procedures.
The staff have
appropriately identified the need to update their training
on child protection issues.
6.
The planning outlines a broad, balanced
programme for the children, designed to foster their allround development. A good range of themes and topics
is incorporated skilfully to develop stimulating and
varied learning experiences for the children. The
planning identifies aspects of learning which the staff
intend to promote through the various play activities and
is effective in guiding the staff in their day-to-day work
with the children. The staff should continue to develop
their planning in order to take more account of the
specific needs and interests of the children.
7.
The daily timetable is well planned to support the
children’s freely chosen play and to promote settled and
concentrated activity. The children’s snack time is
organised informally and provides good opportunities for
the children to develop independence and to acquire
early mathematical and conversational skills. The
children have regular opportunities for physical play,
rhymes and songs and a group story session.
2
8.
The sustained support provided by the staff
results in quality interaction between the staff and the
children; they are constantly encouraging the children to
observe and to think, to investigate and make choices;
they engage the children in valuable discussions about
their play and their experiences.
9.
The centre’s educational programme is broad and
balanced and offers good opportunities for learning in all
the 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 the children’s
development of independence and responsibility.
They are confident and well motivated; they
show a good understanding of the necessary rules
and routines and a high level of involvement in
their play;

there are regular opportunities for the children to
participate in energetic and challenging physical
play. Many of the children are acquiring good
manipulative skills using small tools such as
scissors and pencils;

the wide range of creative activities provided
encourages the children to experiment with
different materials and tools. The quality of the
children’s pictures and models is of a high
standard and the children’s work is carefully
3
displayed and labelled. There are frequent
opportunities for informal singing and music
making; the children have acquired a good
repertoire of rhymes and songs which they
clearly enjoy;

the staff make good use of the play opportunities
to develop the children’s conversational skills
and use appropriate questions to extend their
language and learning. The children show a love
of books and stories; there are good opportunities
in areas of imaginative play for the children to
experiment with mark-making and writing;

there is effective promotion of early
mathematical ideas in many areas of play. Early
scientific concepts are developed through sand,
water and block play and through the exploration
of items in the very exciting investigative area.
Good use is made of seasonal and environmental
topics to extend the children’s knowledge of, and
interest in, the world around them. The staff
make good use of a range of visitors to the centre
throughout the year to enhance the children’s
experiences.
10.
The staff operate a key-worker system and
observe regularly the children’s responses to play. These
observations build into individual records which are used
to inform the parents of their children’s progress.
Information on the children’s progress is shared with the
primary schools to which they will transfer. The staff
4
should continue to develop their confidence and skill in
monitoring and recording the children’s progress in order
to identify more clearly the achievements of each child,
and to link the information effectively to the staff’s
planning.
11.
The staff are alert to the needs of some children
for additional support. They provide valuable support
for these children and liaise with the parents and other
professionals. The staff should develop further their
expertise in order to ensure that the targets set as part of
individual plans are appropriate to the children’s stage of
development.
12.
The leader has worked in the centre for many
years. She manages the centre very effectively and
brings a high level of skill and enthusiasm to her work.
She promotes a strong sense of teamwork. The staff
have implemented many improvements in the provision
and should now start to consider ways of introducing
more structured self-evaluation to give a focus for their
continued development. The staff value the support
provided by the management committee, and the advice
and guidance offered by the centre's early years
specialist.
13.
The centre is accommodated on the first floor of
the Community Centre.
The quality of the
accommodation is good. The centre is bright and well
maintained and there is ample space to provide a good
5
range of activities. Although there is no outdoor play
area, the children have access to a large downstairs hall
for physical play. The centre has a good supply of
quality resources.
14.
The strengths of the centre include the:

very positive ethos which promotes the children’s
confidence, independence and self esteem;

attractive and stimulating learning environment
and the smooth and effective organisation of the
session;

friendly, well-behaved children and the excellent
relationships at all levels;

many instances of concentrated, purposeful play;

quality of the staff’s interactions with the
children ;

very good opportunities for learning in all areas
of the pre-school curriculum;

effective leadership and the
enthusiasm of the team.
dedication and
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 very
effectively.
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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2005
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