Help Please !

[Guest]

We are in a multi use building .It is 'managed' very poorly by church trustees. We are next to a school but we are privately run and not actually on the school site. We have various problems - lack of cleaning, lack of understanding of need for space to be stimulating to a child , lack of maintenance , temperature in winter brrrrrrrrrr ! The school are aware of the problems we are experiencing and have kindly offered to support us at a meeting with the managing trustees of our building. One of the school governors has been very helpful and supportive and has managed to get a meeting set up to discuss our issues. He has asked us to provide him with evidence of what is considered suitable for a pre-school eg- space for displays, suitable toilets , environment . I have searched the EYFS welfare requirements and its all a bit non specific . Ive got some specific things from the Health and Safety Executive Site ref temp> Anyone think of anywhere 'official' I could get some info about what a setting should be providing the children in terms of their environment ???????

[HappyMaz]

I feel your pain!

 

Do you have RAG ratings in your Local Authority? Or evidence from visits from LA advisory/support workers so that you could show them what your action plan for improvement is? EYQUISP maybe?

 

We used ECERS which provided a useful framework, and helped me to demonstrate to staff and parents why I was concentrating on certain areas of provision - if you had something similar in your area this would be useful because it provides the theoretical background about what good practice looks like, and how the right environment supports this.

 

Good luck - I hope things change for you.

[milo1]

We are in a multi use building .It is 'managed' very poorly by church trustees. We are next to a school but we are privately run and not actually on the school site. We have various problems - lack of cleaning, lack of understanding of need for space to be stimulating to a child , lack of maintenance , temperature in winter brrrrrrrrrr ! The school are aware of the problems we are experiencing and have kindly offered to support us at a meeting with the managing trustees of our building. One of the school governors has been very helpful and supportive and has managed to get a meeting set up to discuss our issues. He has asked us to provide him with evidence of what is considered suitable for a pre-school eg- space for displays, suitable toilets , environment . I have searched the EYFS welfare requirements and its all a bit non specific . Ive got some specific things from the Health and Safety Executive Site ref temp> Anyone think of anywhere 'official' I could get some info about what a setting should be providing the children in terms of their environment ???????

 

Evidence of what is considered to be suitable for a pre-school

space for displays- consider wall space children's creative work, photos, etc, lobby space promotes partnership with parents - notice board/information, newsletters, opening times, setting policies/procedures, Ofsted registration certificate-required to be displayed, insurance certificate, etc.

suitable toilets-the welfare requirements state that there is 1 toilet to every 10 children, consider space required to accomodate toilet training, use and access to pottys, nappy changing arrangements if needed, how this will be managed to for privacy.

environment - statuatory guidance in the welfare req's gives infomration about how much space is needed per child, depednign on age and adult to child ratios. The environment needs to be planned for to include the current 6 areas of learning, arranged for children to access resources and equipment easily-promoting their independence skills, supporting them to make choices about what they wish to do.

As you are aware the Health and Safety executive give guidance on appropriate room temps. I would be recording and monitoring temperature of rooms, keeping a detailed record to assess the situation, following that undertaking a risk assessment to idenitfy what the possible risks to children and adults are if temps drop too low. Then it will be a case of using your own judgement to wether you can stay open or not, especially during this very cold weather. Or if you require additional heating arrangements ,you will have evidence from your monitoring and risk asssessment to support any proposals being put forward to the church.

You could look to possible solutions and add to your risk assesmsent too, if needing additonal heating what type, how will these be positioned, where, do you need fire guards, what are the cost implications? Perhaps an increase in the amount of physical activiites for children, provide warm drinks, hot meals, request parents ensure their child has extra clothing to wear. Ae there any spare outdoor clothingavailablee.g. hats, mittens, scarves warm coats. Perhaps there are spare and extra clothing to lend any children who need additional layers etc. Remind staff to wrap up too. You may need to devise /review policy/procedure to include relvant changes /any adaptations you may make to support the times when temperatures are low? How are parents being informed about changes in temperaures? what your position is what action the pre-school are taking to address any issues?

 

I think you have to be very specific and assess clearly the needs and requirements of the pre-school in all areas.

It would be worth contacting your development officer, advisory teacher and any other local development team officers you can gain support from to guide you and share advice.

Hope this helps to give some food for thought.

I really hope you get the support you need and some positive results to finding solutions.