Cuddles Day Nursery

Cuddles Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Cuddles Day Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY312028 Inspection date 03 March 2006 Inspector Ros Church

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Cuddles Day Nursery

Setting Address 404 Mansfield Road, Mapperley Park, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG5 2EJ Telephone number 0115 9607217 E-mail victoria.ball3@ntlworld.com Registered person Victoria Jane Ball Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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Cuddles Day Nursery

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Cuddles Day Nursery opened in 2005. It is situated on the main Mansfield Road, close to Nottingham city centre and operates from a converted residential dwelling. Children are cared for in four group rooms depending upon their age and developmental stage. Children have access to the ground floor, with sleep and toilet facilities provided within this area. An enclosed outdoor play area consisting of both grass and hard surface is situated to the rear of the property.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The nursery opens Monday to Friday throughout the year from 07:30 to 18:00, closing only for bank holidays. A maximum of 30 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 38 children from 10 months to 8 years on roll. Of these, 8 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery supports children with special educational needs, and children who speak English as an additional language. There are nine staff who work with the children. Of these, eight of the staff including the proprietor/manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The nursery receives support from the Nottingham City Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are cared for in clean and well-maintained premises. Their good health is promoted by staff who effectively follow the provision's health and hygiene procedures. For example, there are clear procedures for nappy changing, and for dealing with sick or injured children, so helping minimise the risks of cross-infection. Children learn about good hygiene because the staff have a sound understanding of keeping children healthy. For example, younger children are encouraged to wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, whilst the older children are being helped to understand about germs and taking responsibility for their own health. Babies and children enjoy daily opportunities for outdoor play to develop general physical skills, and they learn the need for fresh air for their health. Children use either the enclosed hard surface or grassed area depending on the activity and the

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Helping children to be healthy

weather. They play actively using the climbing apparatus, bikes and hoops, or enjoy chasing one another around the grassed area. Children have their health and dietary needs met because staff work well with the parents. They enjoy a healthy, varied diet and are well nourished. Through planned activities children learn the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and are willing to try a broad range of new tastes. Mealtimes are social occasions when children sit together to enjoy their food and each other's company. All children are able to help themselves to drinks as they require from their individual labelled bottles. Babies and young children's emotional well-being, growth and development are promoted through the close warm and supportive relationships they form with the staff that care for them. They feel safe to express their feelings in the supportive environment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a bright, welcoming, safe and secure environment where

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 they are able to feel settled and comfortable. Children are grouped in rooms according to their age and ability, with additional rooms for meals and sleeping arrangements. The space is used well to allow children to play, eat and rest safely depending on their individual needs. Children's art work is displayed around the nursery, which makes the environment attractive and helps children to feel valued. Children use a range of suitable and safe toys and equipment which are appropriate for their stage of development. Most resources within the under three's rooms are organised well and stored either on low shelves or in containers to enable young children to access easily and begin to make choices within their play. However, some equipment within the over three's room is not well organised, this means that children

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

are not always able to make independent choices and extend their play. Children are kept safe on the premises and on outings as staff take steps to minimise accidents through close supervision and regular risk assessments. They are kept safe in the event of a fire because staff are familiar with procedures. Appropriate fire safety equipment is in place and practises are carried out on a regular basis to ensure children are familiar with the evacuation plan. Access to the nursery is closely monitored, ensuring only known adults are allowed entry, and that children are safe at arrival and collection times. Children are protected within the nursery as staff have a sound understanding of their role within child protection. However, the procedure does not include all relevant information to ensure the appropriate steps are taken in the event of concerns.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy and well settled enjoying warm and close relationships with their carers. Regular discussions with parents ensures that young children experience and benefit from familiar home routines for eating and sleeping helping them to feel safe and secure. The care, learning and play experiences for children in the nursery are varied and interesting. The staff use the 'Birth to three matters' framework to provide a broad and balanced programme of activities for babies and young children. Babies enjoy using a range of play materials and musical toys and are learning to explore their environment with their senses. Young toddlers persevere with trying new skills such as walking and show curiosity in playing with materials such as water, paints, sand and pasta. Older two and three-year-olds continue to learn and develop persevering with puzzles and enjoying painting and sticking activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Nursery Education. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff are generally familiar with aspects of learning identified in the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage and are developing their understanding of how children learn through practical play activities. Long-term planning linked to particular themes helps provide children with a variety of activities providing generally balanced coverage across the areas of learning. Staff observe and record their assessments of children's development, but as yet these do not clearly track children's progress through the stepping stones towards the early learning goals. Therefore short-term planning does not clearly link

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 with children's individual stage of development and provide sufficient challenge and stimulation to promote progress to the next stage of learning. Children are confident within the group and show positive attitudes towards learning. They learn to make good relationships with one another, with some children having made special friends within the group. Their language is developing well, and many children are confident communicators. Children enjoy joining in with singing and listening to stories in a group, however, books are not well organised to enable children to easily access the range available. Children have generally good opportunities to recognise their own names, such as when finding their place mats at lunch time. Children are beginning to use mathematical language during play and are

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

supported by staff when developing their understanding of numbers up to ten. Children begin to learn about the world around them as they participate in topics such as 'minibeasts'. They learn about living things such as snails and worms, they observe them in the garden area, finding out where they live and how they move. They learn about their local environment when visiting facilities like the supermarket and post office. Children use a range of construction toys to build and create. A range of activities are provided to develop hand-eye co-ordination and enable the children to become competent in using scissors and pencils. They begin to explore their creativity when handling a range of different textures which they use for collage, making musical instruments and other objects such as skittles. Children enjoy taking part in simple pretend play such as dressing up. However, at present they have limited opportunities to freely access a wide range of well organised resources to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

help them purposefully extend their own imaginative and creative ideas.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children have positive and enjoyable experiences within the nursery. They behave well and learn to work harmoniously together. The staff use positive, sensitive strategies for managing behaviour and are good role models. This helps children learn to understand behaviour boundaries, and builds their self-esteem and confidence. Children learn to work well together by sharing and taking turns with activities and equipment. Their individuality is recognised and valued by the staff, and a sense of belonging is encouraged. For example, children's work is displayed so that they feel appreciated. Positive relationships develop with staff, parents and children. Staff promote an inclusive environment, for example, staff use signs and symbols in everyday situations to aid communication. Children become aware of their own and other cultures through participating in a variety of activities which are linked

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Helping children make a positive contribution

to festivals such as Christmas, Diwali and Chinese New Year. A range of resources including books, dressing-up clothes and dolls are available that promote positive images of culture, ethnicity, gender and disability. Effective systems are in place to support children with identified special needs. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children are cared for by staff who work with parents to meet individual needs and ensure they are fully included in the provision. Staff have regular meetings with the parents to ensure children's individual care needs and routines are met. All children

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 gain from the good relationships and the informal contact between their parents and staff. Parents of younger children and babies are provided with daily diaries to keep them informed of their child's care and the activities they have been involved in during the day. Parents are kept well informed about staffing, routines and activities through written information including newsletters. The partnership with parents and carers of children who receive nursery education is satisfactory. Parents have access to information on themes and activities children are involved in, enabling them to link this with home. However, information is not provided on the Foundation Stage, this means parents are not fully aware of the curriculum their child follows. Parents receive regular reports from staff daily and through open evenings about how their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

child is progressing. Some information is gained about individual children's development when they start the nursery.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children are contented in the relaxed environment and develop settled relationships and interest in their activities. They are grouped in rooms according to their age and ability, where space is used well to meet their individual needs. Children's safety and well-being are maintained as effective recruitment and vetting procedures ensure they are well-cared for and protected by staff. Most staff hold relevant childcare qualifications. Clear and supportive induction processes help staff settle into the nursery and to understand the policies and procedures. Appropriate arrangements are in place to ensure sufficient staff work with the children and that unexpected absences are covered. Most policies and procedures are clear and contain the relevant information, however, the complaints procedure is not in line with recent current guidance and is not available to the parents. All records for the safe and

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Organisation

efficient management of the setting are in place and stored confidentially. The leadership and management of the nursery education is satisfactory. Staff within the pre-school room work well together as a team and plan an interesting range of activities. The manager and staff are committed to continue improving the care and education for children. They work well with external agencies, such as the Early Years and Childcare Partnership, to identify strengths and areas for improvement. However, the setting does not yet clearly monitor how well children are making progress towards the early learning goals. As a result children are not consistently challenged to achieve their full potential. Overall the needs of the range of the children are met.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted since the last inspection.

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure the child protection and complaints procedures are updated to include current practice and that these are available to parents.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • develop assessments and observations to clearly link to the stepping stones of children's learning, ensuring that these are used to inform planning of activities so that these are well matched to individual learning needs and ensure challenge to all children • develop activities provided with additional resources to provide stimulation and further challenge for individual children, with reference to role play, investigation and exploration, creative play and books (also applies to care) • develop information for parents with reference to the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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