Brookland Infant and Nursery School

Inspection report for early years provision

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101263 Unique Reference Number 19 May 2006 Inspection date Jennifer Read Inspector

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Integrated Type of inspection Childminding Type of care

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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.

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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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder has been registered since 1999 and may provide care for four children under eight years at any one time. She currently cares for six children under five years on a part-time basis. Of these, two children receive funding for nursery education two days a week and on a Thursday morning. She cares for one child under eight years before and after school. Additional care is provided for three children over eight years before or after school during school terms. The childminder walks to local schools and playgroups to take and collect children. The childminder is a member of the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Childminding Network.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder lives with her husband and three children of four, seven and nine years in the village of Woodmancote on the outskirts of Cheltenham. The whole of the house is used for childminding. The main areas used for play are the playroom, living room, office and kitchen. Upstairs bedrooms are used for sleeping. There is an enclosed rear and side aspect garden with

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

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. grass and decking areas for outside play. The childminder holds the Developing Childminding Practice and Extending Childminding Practice qualifications. She is currently working towards the National Vocational Qualification in Early Years at Level 3 qualification.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are developing a good understanding of healthy living. Well-planned activities, good example, clear discussion and explanation mean children are learning how to look after their bodies. They know why they use sun cream in warm weather and wear coats and wellington boots in the winter. They are developing a secure knowledge of healthy eating habits through eating a balanced diet, drinking water regularly and exploring healthy foods through practical themed activities. For example, children grow and eat cress, and they help to cut up and make fruit salad. Children talk about the healthy food posters, discuss eating five fruits and vegetables a day and eagerly make pictures of their five favourite fruits and vegetables to display in the room. Children enjoy their food because they sit together for mealtimes and take an active part. They help to prepare meals, lay the table and collect food provided by their parents from

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have a sound understanding of their personal care and describe knowingly how washing their hands before eating, after using the toilet and outside play prevents the spread of germs and infection, such as 'dirty, germs, get poorly'. They know the routines to take off their coats and shoes on entry to the house and help to clean the table after sticking and gluing activities. Children play in a warm, clean home where the clear, detailed health and safety policy, together with the childminder's extensive knowledge and experience, ensure children are very well protected from infection. Professional understanding of the administration of medication and first aid, providing parents with a copy on completion and carrying a travel first aid kit when on outings mean children receive appropriate treatment for minor injuries to promote their healthcare needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy daily fresh air and a broad range of outdoor toys and activities, for instance, different swings for the older and younger children, small slide, football nets, picnics in the garden and park and outings to the forest to collect leaves, stones and conkers. Young babies and children are also given the opportunity to have fresh air and explore the outdoor environment as the childminder places a number of toys on a blanket for them. Children enjoy plenty of opportunities to develop muscle control and co-ordination as they use the swings, learn to use bats and balls and kick the football. They excitedly explore moving in different ways at the soft play centre as they adventure down the different slides, travel across the rope bridges and wade through the ball ponds. Babies learn to crawl and walk as they pull themselves up against the furniture and confidently use the available space.

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Helping children to be healthy

The childminder is perceptive and spontaneously supports children's healthy emotional well-being. She encourages children to develop independence and actively helps them to make healthy choices. She provides warmth and closeness through cuddles and regular encouragement,

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Helping children to be healthy

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. and sensitively reassures older children through careful negotiation. As a result, children feel secure and have a strong bond with the childminder.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children's safety and security is given high priority by the implementation of the detailed health and safety policies and procedures, daily safety checks and rigorous risk assessments every eight weeks. These ensure hazards to children are effectively minimised. Children proudly wear their identity wristbands every day with the childminder's telephone number on the inside. They know the purpose of wearing it and know whom they can speak to if they become lost. Well-thought through plans are in place for the safe collection of children, and spontaneous checking of children when sleeping ensures they are safe and well protected. Children display a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They clearly describe action to take in an emergency and know they must play with small pieces at the table in case the younger children swallow or choke on them. The children develop their understanding of road safety

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

well through daily walks to and from school. Children automatically stop at the kerb and look for cars before crossing the road. The childminder successfully reduces hazards for children by avoiding the busy roads and walking the quieter route to school.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children play in a bright, spacious setting where emphasis is given to making sure the play area is welcoming for children to aid their enjoyment and development. Posters, photographs and children's pictures decorate the doors to ensure children play in an inviting environment. The children use space purposefully as they access the comprehensive range of toys and play materials freely for themselves. These are stored invitingly in low-level drawers and in storage boxes on the floor. Children are well protected from abuse and neglect. The childminder displays a good awareness of the signs and indicators of abuse and describes with clarity the procedures to follow with any concerns to promote children's welfare.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy and settled because the childminder is welcoming and gives lots of attention, praise and encouragement. They benefit from a very good relationship with the childminder, which increases their well-being and sense of trust. The childminder has good awareness of children's individual needs and implements the Birth to three matters framework successfully to plan and assess children's learning. As a result, children are progressing well, play well together and take part in a broad range of quality experiences and interesting activities to support and encourage their interests and development. For instance, children enjoy painting, printing with various fruit and vegetables, music and singing familiar songs and rhymes, using tools with the play dough and pouring, filling and experimenting with the sand and water. Play is child-centred where the childminder skilfully encourages children's ideas and is intuitive of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

when to join in their play, question and provide appropriate support to extend their play further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The younger children show interest in the toys and respond positively when older children show them how to press the buttons to move the train and listen to the different sounds. They

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

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. improve co-ordination as they move the beads along the frame and investigate the various toys as they crawl around the room. Regular visits to the soft play centre, drop-in groups and play parks help broaden children's experiences and enable them to play alongside other children in group situations. Children explore their senses, investigate objects that feel, smell, and sound different through experimenting with household items and walk in the woods to collect leaves, pinecones, twigs and other natural objects.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and children's learning is good. Children are jovial, motivated and engaged in a wide range of activities indoors and outdoors which provide good levels of challenge to enhance their learning. As a result, children are making good progress and have a positive attitude to learning. The childminder has received basic training on the Foundation Stage. However, she demonstrates a sound knowledge of how young children learn and progress and has a clear understanding of children's needs. Assessment is thorough and the information gained is used effectively to guide planning. Planning covers the six areas of learning appropriately and clearly shows daily learning objectives linked closely to the stepping stones and children's next steps. However, some aspects of communication, language and literacy do not feature consistently in the programme of activities. The childminder uses monitoring

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

procedures well to evaluate and improve the quality of nursery education and takes appropriate steps to address areas for improvement.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children play a dynamic role in their learning. They initiate their own play, offer their ideas to the planning and respond well to realistic challenge to enhance their interests and development. They readily make three-dimensional models using the recyclable materials on offer and most concentrate and persevere well to complete tasks, while the younger children require some additional support to extend their ideas and retain their interest. Children are confident, play well on their own or with each other and join in with singing the friendship song in the car. They have a secure awareness of right and wrong and show a good respect for others. Children that are more able show good levels of independence as they use the Sellotape dispenser to affix their model and attach pieces of paper together. They use scissors with increasing skill to cut out their pictures, put on and take off their coats and shoes and use the mouse with growing

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

control to operate programs on the computer, while other children do this with support of the childminder.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's speaking and listening skills are developing well. They readily make valuable contributions to discussion and happily listen to each other as they recall activities they have taken part in or talk about what they are doing, for example, 'I need paper to make my man', 'he's got a big head, eyes, big mouth', 'I tell you about it'. The childminder asks questions, which encourage the children to think and introduces them to new words such as 'Eiffel Tower'. Children have access to a good range of books. They enthusiastically choose their favourite stories, listen intently and excitedly recall parts of the story. Opportunity to write for a purpose in their play, make marks to represent their name on their pictures and to link sounds and letters is not actively encouraged. Most children count confidently and recognise numerals as they play snakes and ladders and use positional language to find objects during the treasure

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

hunt. Children gain good awareness of a sense of time. A child exclaims, 'you timed us' sharing when they used tongs to pick up items on a tray comparing times of who could do it the quickest.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

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. Children enjoy planting sunflower seeds and carrots and find out how often they need to water the seeds to help make them grow, 'they're not growing yet' a child observes when going out into the garden. Children explore colour in water and investigate how it changes when using their homemade thermometer. They show interest in information and communication technology and complete a simple program on the computer. Children show curiosity in how things work as they observe how programmable toys operate, pressing the buttons on the Roma to see which direction it will move. Children comment and ask questions freely about the local environment and natural world. They enjoy using money to purchase stamps at the post office

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to send their letters, and enthusiastically make visits to the local shops and woods to talk about and collect natural objects.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are valued as individuals and included. Those from different backgrounds and with identified needs are warmly welcomed. The childminder has a sound understanding of observing and monitoring children's needs and demonstrates adequate knowledge of the Special Needs Code of Practice. Children are respectful of each other and learn what is right and wrong. They receive frequent praise and encouragement to value their achievements and promote their self-esteem. As a result, children behave appropriately, take turns and share resources with their friends. Children learn the consequences of their actions and begin to manage their own behaviour with growing control because the childminder uses negotiation and questioning successfully. Children develop positive attitudes to others through stimulating activities and access to play foods, musical instruments, story sacks and bi-lingual books. They begin to

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Helping children make a positive contribution

appreciate the customs and cultures of others through celebrating festivals and making Mexican Yam pictures, cooking Welsh cake and learning about the English and Irish St George's and St David's days. The childminder fosters children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The quality of the partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. Children benefit from the good relationships and detailed, informative contact between their parents and the childminder. Parents share information about their children's needs informally and through individual daily diaries. Parents receive a comprehensive range of information about the day-to-day organisation of the setting, the Foundation Stage and how it is implemented. This enables parents to be involved in their children's learning both at the setting and at home. The detailed and well-presented prospectus and policy document keeps parents well informed. Parents value the informative termly progress records and high quality information about the stepping stones and their child's progress against these. This enables parents to contribute fully to their child's assessments and actively support their child's learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The quality of leadership and management of the nursery education is outstanding. The childminder is dynamic, highly committed, enthusiastic and provides high quality childcare and education. She has a strong focus on the professional development of children and a sound knowledge of children's individual needs. She is highly motivated to attend childcare conferences,

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Organisation

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. meetings and additional training to keep her knowledge of good quality care up-to-date. As a result, children are happy and making very good progress. Children benefit from the childminder's clear vision to enhance their learning. She implements effective systems to monitor and evaluate the nursery education and ensure outcomes for children are extremely positive. For example, monitoring her own training needs, implementing parent and child questionnaires and completing eight weekly childminding network-monitoring visits positively highlight and address any issues, which lead to robust improvements. As a result, the range and quality of activities and experiences are of a consistently high standard and provide good challenge to

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Organisation

Documentation and records are accurate, clear and maintained to a high standard. The childminder has a sound awareness of the well-written policies and procedures and implements them successfully. Each child has an individual record for attendance, accidents and medication and a named folder for child record forms, written agreements with parents and written parental permissions. These are stored securely in a lockable filing cabinet in the office. Children benefit from the well-organised setting and opportunity to be autonomous in their play and learning. Consequently, children are confident, settled and enjoy their time with the childminder. The childminder meets the needs of the range of children who attend.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The last inspection recommended the childminder increased knowledge of the Standard to inform Ofsted of any serious injury or death.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The childminder displays a sound understanding of the circumstances to notify Ofsted to protect children's health care needs.

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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

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 good.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND 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.

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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): • extend knowledge of the Code of Practice for the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs.

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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): • increase further the opportunities for children to write for a purpose and link sounds and letters.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the 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.

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