Hunsdon House Garden SchoolOfsted inspection, 9 May 2006

Hunsdon House Nursery School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Hunsdon House Nursery School

Unique Reference Number EY316340 Inspection date 09 May 2006 Inspector Jill Milton

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Hunsdon House Nursery School

Setting Address 12 - 14 Osler Road, Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 9BJ

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E-mail

Registered person Helle Helga Angeleri 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Hunsdon House Nursery School was first established as a privately owned nursery school in 1923. It has been registered under new ownership since December 2005. The nursery is situated in Headington, on the outskirts of the city of Oxford and it serves the local community. The nursery occupies two rooms on the ground floor of a detached property and there is access to a surrounding garden. The nursery opens for 37 weeks a year and up to 40 children, between the ages of 2

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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 years 6 months and 5 years, may attend at any one time. There are currently 44 children on roll and of these 32 receive nursery education funding. The nursery offers up to 8 sessions a week, with morning sessions from 09.00 to 12.00 and afternoon sessions on 3 days from 12.00 to 14.30. The nursery supports a small number of children with different linguistic backgrounds. Six members of staff work with the children and they have a range of qualifications in education. Two members of staff are currently completing early years training courses. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are learning about healthy eating when they talk to staff about their snacks. Most like to eat portions of fresh fruit and healthy alternatives like raisins. Children quench their thirst during the day and can request fresh drinking water at any time. Staff help to keep children healthy by having regard to their food allergies and they seek professional advice on how to address special needs. Children play in a clean environment where staff monitor areas and maintain good hygiene routines. Children show a good awareness of how to keep themselves healthy as they independently wash their hands before eating, or fetch a tissue to use when they have a cold. Staff ensure they maintain up-to-date first aid qualifications to attend to the children's needs. They report any accidents to parents; though do not obtain a parental signature in the accident book to acknowledge this.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have a good balance during the sessions between rest and energetic play. They can choose to play quieter games or relax on a comfortable sofa in the book corner. Indoors children are learning to climb, balance and manoeuvre wooden toys. Children show patience and concentration as they use a trolley to move wooden bricks. These opportunities to participate in energetic play indoors are particularly useful when poor weather prevents outdoor play. When in the garden children have ample space to enjoy fresh air and exercise. Climbing equipment of different types provides the children with challenges to their physical skills and ways to explore their own boundaries. They have effective opportunities to develop strength and co-ordination.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children play in a stimulating but homely nursery. They can move freely and independently between the two large play rooms and make choices. The nursery is a visually attractive place with examples of children's work, photographs and displays to engage conversation and interest. The environment is warm with lots of natural light and views of the attractive garden for the children to enjoy. Resources are plentiful and present children with effective challenges to all areas of their

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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 development. The children play with many wooden toys and they use natural materials like sand, fir cones and clay. Children play safely since the staff monitor access to the premises and the condition of equipment. Children are developing an awareness of safety for themselves and staff discuss issues with them, for example how to move chairs safely. Children are becoming familiar with how to evacuate the nursery in an emergency. Staff monitor the children present each day; though do not currently record actual times of arrival and departure. Staff keep children safe by checking that adults working at the setting are suitable to do so. The staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities in child protection. They have a procedure in place to address concerns regarding the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their play at the nursery and they quickly settle when they arrive. Staff interact very well with the children and gently encourage them and ask questions about what they are doing. Children under three years are fully involved in the full range of activities. The children are split into two groups for snack time and when singing or having a story. This ensures the younger ones have time to become confident in a smaller group and staff do not expect them to sit for quite so long. Staff meet the younger children's needs well though they are not yet familiar with Birth to Three matters framework to support development of those under three. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are making successful progress towards the early learning goals. The staff organise the environment and routine of the sessions to provide children with opportunities for exploring and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

learning. The children are learning effective social skills and they freely mix between the rooms of the nursery. They are becoming confident at managing tasks for themselves, for example with visits to the toilet or managing a lunch box. Children frequently play together in co-operative games, both indoors and in the garden. Children and staff share many conversations and particularly good help is on offer to children's language development. Speaking and listening skills are good as children concentrate on shared stories and take turns to speak in a group. Children use mark making as they play imaginatively in a home corner where they make post-it notes of items for 'shopping'. The children are developing real enjoyment in looking at the varied range of attractive books. Children are aware that some books are useful for information and a large world atlas provides lots of fun for finding pictures of animals

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

in different countries. Children use many resources that help to promote their early understanding of mathematics. They count, sort and make patterns from good quality wooden equipment. Children who are learning quickly have chance to progress with mathematics as puzzles become more complex. They often count objects during play

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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 and a game with zoo animals encourages them to sort into groups. Children are learning a lot about the world around them. They explore nature in the garden area and take an active role in tasks like planting sunflower seeds. They demonstrate their awareness of everyday events as they play with a garage or in the home corner. They are familiar with how to build using a variety of construction bricks and woodwork is a set activity in an afternoon session. Children use their imaginations freely when making up stories with their friends. They also enjoy expressing their ideas using a varied range of art materials. The staff change the resources each day for creative work so the children experience different media and techniques. They discover that painting with watercolours and a fine brush

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

produces different results on the paper. Some art work is adult-directed but there is a good balance for the children to be able to express their own ideas too. Staff plan the curriculum effectively using a mix of their own goals and those of the Foundation Stage. The daily activities provide children with a good variety of opportunities to progress in all six areas of learning. Staff record progress towards the early learning goals using simple tick sheets, though the method of recording does not truly reflect the depth of knowledge the staff have about the children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children behave well at nursery and they are learning to be part of a sociable group. The staff act as good role-models in the calm way they speak to the children. They have high expectations for good behaviour from the children who respond well, for example by taking turns or being polite. Staff talk to children about their behaviour and have simple discussions to encourage the children to think about the effects of their actions on others. All children receive a warm welcome from the caring staff. A number of children using different languages attend the nursery and staff provide good support to them, involving all children in the full range of activities. Children experience staff talking and singing in different languages. Children celebrate a range of festivals through the year. They are learning about events in the Christian calendar and when children of different faiths attend the nursery, staff welcome parents in to share their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

experiences. The children play with resources and see pictures around the nursery that give them positive images of people from different cultures and backgrounds. The staff create a peaceful atmosphere in the nursery and children enjoy relaxing guitar music during singing time or calming background music as they play. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the children is fostered. The staff welcome and support children with special needs to the nursery though none are currently attending. The partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents speak highly of the care and education their children receive at the nursery. They have good relationships with the friendly staff and share in conversations about the children's development. The head teacher is keen to share her ideas about young children's education and staff recommend helpful books to parents. Though most valuable interactions take

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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 place through conversations, the parents do have opportunities to attend more formal evenings to discuss the children's progress.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The nursery is well organised and run by an experienced and capable team of adults. The children benefit from the caring approach of the adults and the good relationships that are built with families. The leadership and management of the nursery are good. Staff have strong and clear support in their work from the head of the nursery. The team meet regularly to discuss their setting and they reflect on their practise in order to bring about improvements. Staff are clear about their daily roles and responsibilities. Some of the team of staff are currently undertaking training in early years to add to their professional development and bring benefits to the team. All regulatory documents are in place and confidential information is stored securely. There are strong systems in place for the recruitment of new staff to ensure they are suitable to work with young children. The nursery meets the needs of the range of

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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

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that parental signatures are obtained to acknowledge they are informed about children's accidents • improve registration documents to record children's times of arrival and departure

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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): • explore different ways of recording children's progress

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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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