Review 2009
| The Pre-School has remained busy over the last year. Parents Parents continue to indicate they are happy with the care and education we provide. As part of the Wales PPA Quality Assurance Programme we sent questionnaires to parents and collated their answers as follows: Parents are satisfied and happy with the information they receive about the setting. Parents are satisfied and happy with the settling in routines. Parents are satisfied and happy with the information they receive about their child and would welcome even more! Parents enjoy seeing the ‘work’ the children bring home daily. Parents have commented on the warm, friendly atmosphere apparent in the setting. Parents have commented on the wide range of activities offered to their children. Informal daily feedback from parents has also been incorporated into our routines. Children The children appear happy during their nursery day. From talking to them and observing their behaviour it is apparent that they enjoy: playing outside being involved in routine daily tasks which they think of as ‘helping’ Staff A number of staff members have now completed a further childcare qualification and are able to take on more responsibilty. Congratulations to Miss Carla and Miss Tracy for gaining the Level 4 qualification; Mr Ben, Mr Matt and Miss Hayley for gaining Level 3; and Miss Becky and Miss Kelly for gaining Level 2. All staff members have received formal training in childcare and either hold, or are working towards, a childcare qualification. Staff have attended courses on First Aid, Child Protection and Food Safety, and have accessed training on developing children’s experiences. I have continued with a programme of annual appraisal and individual reviews. In addition, trainees on NVQ programmes receive regular visits from their assessors. I have also held staff meetings to discuss supervision, planning issues, record keeping and reporting to parents. Staff feedback has been incorporated into long term planning and into daily routines. I have implemented wage rises beyond the minimum wage thresholds for the second successive year maintaining differentiation levels so individual staff members remain secure in the knowledge that they are valued within the setting. My opinion of the current staff team is that they are Brilliant. Their committment, professionalism and genuine affection for the children they care for could not be bettered. Activities The Foundation Phase is now being implemented throughout Conwy. We have received visits from liason staff in the Conwy Early Years Centre, Llandudno. We have also received resources designed to extend the depth of activities offered to the children. Different methods of recording the children’s experiences have been introduced. We continue to use the outdoors as an extension of the classroom and we have made regular trips out into the community. Wet weather clothing distributed by the Centre has been well used and the camera provided has ensured the activities are well documented and displayed for parents to see. Reflective practice, observations of the children’s involvement in activities and the children’s own opinions of their activities and routines gained through discussion have also influenced our planning for the year. Constraints Experienced staff leaving to take maternity leave has an unsettling effect on the Pre-School but is obviously inavoidable. There is usually at least one member of staff on leave. In spite of this we feel we have consolidated our Keyworker practices over the year - regular observations and assessments on all the children have been recorded and information provided for parents. The Baby Suite staff team has worked well together. Unfortunately over the year there have been some staff health issues but the challenges imposed by these have been successfully overcome by other staff members taking on different roles and responsibilities The Baby Suite registration of 20 baby places rather than 21 imposes quite significant financial constraints upon us. The 1:3 staff to children ratio means a significant reduction to our available income and impacts on our financial status and our staffing potential. It does also mean we have had to turn parents away over the year. Targets for 2009 – 2010 to continually update the website to continue to hold regular staff meetings to gather feedback from staff and inform them of current developments to provide opportunities for frequent reviews of performance to continue to seek out relevant training for all staff members to monitor the service we provide through continuous evaluation |
