Tarka Tots Nursery

Tarka Tots Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Tarka Tots Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY309995 Inspection date 27 March 2006 Inspector Valerie Button

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Tarka Tots Nursery

Setting Address Sure Start Childrens Centre, Victoria Park, Bideford, North Devon, EX39 2QS Telephone number 01237425752

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E-mail

Registered person Tarka Tots Ltd Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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E-mail

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?

Tarka Tots Nursery was registered in 2005. It operates from a purpose built Sure Start building in Bideford. The nursery is registered to care for 30 children, aged from birth to 5 years old. It opens, Monday to Friday, from 08.00 to 18.00, all year round. There are 7 staff, including the manager, working with the children; all but 1 have early years qualifications appropriate to their posts. There are 3 ancillary staff employed to support the child care staff.

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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 A total of 56 children are currently attending, 17 of the children are in receipt of funding for their nursery education and 3 of these are being monitored for special needs. There are no children currently attending who speak English as an additional language. The nursery works in close partnership with Sure Start, local social services and home start services, with the aim of supporting local families.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children benefit from being cared for by staff who have a good understanding of the nursery's health and hygiene policies. They follow good practice when changing nappies and in toilet training children. Children are kept safe from infection as staff diligently monitor toilet areas, cleaning them as necessary, throughout the day. Children's health is safeguarded by staff who hold current first aid certificates, complete suitable accident and medication records and take note of information about children's health and dietary needs. Permission is in place for staff to seek advice and treatment in an emergency situation. Older children are becoming independent in self-care skills, for example, washing their hands after visiting the toilet and messy play activities. They comment, for example, on the importance of using soap for hand washing. Children know that they must put their coats on when playing outside in the rain.

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Helping children to be healthy

They enjoy exercise and time spent in the fresh air. Use of large play equipment, such as the 'play loft' and wheeled toys, helps to develop physical skills. Children benefit from moving to music and these sessions are enthusiastically led. Children are gaining competence in using a range of tools, such as cutlery, glue spreaders and paint brushes to develop small muscle control. Children have a healthy diet at the nursery. A hot meal is served at lunch time and children enjoy fruit at snack times. Fresh drinking water is set out for use in every room, but this is not easily accessible to the children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children benefit from being cared for in high quality, purpose built, premises. Children are cared for in three separate rooms: one for babies, one for two to three-year-olds and another for three to five-year-olds. At certain periods of the day, for example, at meal times, children meet together. Easy access to well fitted and well organised toilet and nappy changing rooms support children and staff in care routines. There are good play spaces available to children, both indoors and out, though use of the room for the

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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 older children is not maximised. Work on the outside facilities continues to develop, for example, with a sensory area of wood, scented plants and a water feature recently completed, and a soft play surface in place, ready for climbing and balancing apparatus. The nursery has followed a policy of ensuring that resources purchased to set up the nursery are of high quality, thus, for example, children benefit from using a good range of high quality chairs, as well as play resources, such as wooden bricks. Children mostly have easy access to play materials, but some areas of the older children's resources, such as those for role play, are less well organised. Children benefit from a good range of safety measures, for example, external gates and doors are fully secured and an intercom system enables staff to carefully monitor

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

access to the premises. Regular risk assessments ensure that the premises and equipment are safe for children's use. Staff diligently supervise the children to ensure their safety. Good systems are in place to ensure that staff vetting procedures are completed. Children are carefully supervised. Senior staff have a very good understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child. All staff are required to undertake child protection training. The presence of other professionals, such as health visitors and social workers, on the Sure Start premises further supports the nursery in protecting children from possible abuse or neglect.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Younger children achieve well due good understanding and implementation of the early year's guidance, the Birth to three matters framework. A good environment is planned and provided to support young children's care and learning, for example, through use of the outside area or adult led 'pretend play' sessions when two-year-olds learn about 'people who help us', such as firemen or nurses, through their play. Good use is made of high quality play resources, as well as empty cardboard boxes. Children enjoy singing and action rhymes, listening to well led story sessions and exploring a variety of media, such as sand or 'mark makers'. The deputy manager plays a key role in developing good practice in working with the under three-year-olds. All children benefit from caring relationships with staff, who are sensitive to their needs, interested in them and offer lots of praise and encouragement. Children are learning to play well together, to share and be

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

thoughtful of each other. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and children's learning is satisfactory. Children follow a planned curriculum, with the aim of covering all areas of learning. Useful observations of children's learning and attainment are regularly undertaken. These demonstrate the children's progress, but it is not clear how these observational records are consistently used to plan the next steps in children's learning. Targets for children to achieve are identified, but these are not specific enough to be

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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 measurable. Overall, plans fail to take account of the fact that children attend varying numbers of sessions. They lack adaptations for children at different stages of development. Adult led activities, such as those which encourage children to recognise their names, are enjoyed. However, some children are well able to recognise their own name as well as those of the other children. Such activities are insufficiently extended for older, more able children. Similarly, activities to encourage children to write letters or to count and recognise numbers are not always well matched to what they already know, understand and can do. Children enjoy taking part in activities. They cooperate and behave well throughout. They are able to play independently, taking responsibility for their own learning, as

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

well as interacting well with adults and children. There have been some uncertainties about how the nursery will work in partnership with a teacher, employed by Sure Start. This has resulted in staff being unclear about their roles and responsibilities in delivering the curriculum. Children and staff have, so far, been unable to derive maximum benefit from working with the additional support available to them. Some areas of the room, such as the 'creative table' are well established to encourage good use of resources. However, books are stored away from the carpet area, role play resources are not effectively stored and presented and there is no clear area of the room available for the use of these. Some areas of the room have a rather lacklustre appearance, with displays often looking rather 'tired'. Staff fail to make good use of surfaces and display boards to stimulate children's learning, for example, about the current weather topic.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children have good relationships with staff and each other. The nursery ensures that it has good information about children's individual needs, in order to support these effectively. The nursery has a clear policy of inclusion: monitoring and supporting both children and families with special needs, for example, children who are late in toilet training or those who sometimes find it difficult to behave appropriately. Children benefit from staff's liaison with outside agencies, such as health visitors or social workers. Overall, children behave well, in response to the good, calm role models presented by staff. Children are able to concentrate appropriately to complete tasks, such as bead threading or creative work and take turns when playing board games. Older children respond willingly to simple instructions, for example, when tidying up or being asked to partake in an adult led activity. They are begining to

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Helping children make a positive contribution

show care and consideration for each other from an early age, for example, offering a cuddle to a child in distress. The nursery fosters children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. The partnership with parents is good and this supports the children's welfare and learning. Parents praise the relaxed, friendly approach of the staff, their levels of interest in the children's wellbeing and their support in settling children into the nursery. A comprehensive form, which parents are asked to complete on enrolling their child, helps staff to support individual children's needs and preferences in their

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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 care routines. Parents of the younger children receive a 'diary' each day in which staff give information on the child's day and encourage parents to give them information from home. Information for parents is on display at the nursery and there are regular newsletters to inform parents. Older children receive ongoing information about their children's progress and short 'reports' are planned to be given to parents at the end of every term.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The nursery meets the needs of the children for whom it provides. Robust recruitment and vetting systems are in place for all newly appointed staff. The staff team is suitable and well qualified. They have worked hard to establish this new nursery and ensure that it has high quality resources. There is a clear staff structure and effective systems to deputise. Children's welfare, development and progress is supported by a good staff team and by well maintained documentation to underpin their care and learning. Leadership and management of the nursery education is good. Commitment to further training and professional development of the staff team is clear, and there is a clear vision for the education to be provided in the nursery. There have been some initial uncertainties regarding the outside support that the nursery receives because it is based in a Children's Centre. It is taking some time for new initiatives to be

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Organisation

established and to clarify the various roles and responsibilities in terms of delivering the nursery curriculum. However, many of these issues are outside of the nursery's control, for example, the times when teacher support is available to the nursery.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted since registration. 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

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 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 that children have easy access to drinking water throughout the day

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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 use of the room to provide good areas for role play and to relax and enjoy books; use display areas to stimulate children's learning • ensure that staff and children derive maximum benefit from liaising and working with the support staff available to them • reinforce the link between assessment of the children's progress and attainment and curriculum plans, so that adaptations are included for children who attend varying numbers of sessions, as well as those who learn more quickly or more slowly.

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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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