Orchard House Nursery

Orchard House Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Orchard House Nursery

EY273551 Unique Reference Number 26 September 2006 Inspection date Christine Holmes Inspector

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Orchard House Nursery

Orchard Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7RE Setting Address

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Orchard House Nursery

01827 67888 Telephone number orchard_house.nursery@tesco.net E-mail Susan Lesley Carr Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Orchard House 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

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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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Orchard House Nursery opened in February 2004. It operates from a converted coach house and is situated in the town centre of Tamworth. The nursery serves the town and surrounding locality. A maximum of 40 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each week day from 07:30 until 18:00. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 61 children on the register. Of these, 11 children receive funding for nursery education. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and/ or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 13 members of staff. All of whom, with the exception of one, have early years qualifications to NVQ levels 2 and 3. The setting receives support from a mentor teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. In general children's health is supported well. Staff are very well informed about health care issues such as protecting children's skin in the sun. They ensure children do not go outdoors during the peak hot periods of the day and they ensure children have sunhats and sun cream to protect them in the sun. These steps protect children's good health in hot weather. Nearly all staff are trained in first aid, and medication and accident procedures are fully detailed. This helps to ensure appropriate action is taken to care for children who become ill or sustain injury. The nursery implements a robust policy regarding children who are ill which helps protect others from illness and infection. Staff wear disposable gloves and aprons for nappy changing, and cleaning procedures ensure all equipment and all areas of the premises are clean. This contributes to minimising cross infection and protecting children’s good health. All children learn to wash

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Helping children to be healthy

their hands before eating and after using the toilet, but not enough emphasis is given to ensuring children understand why such routines are important to their good health.

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Helping children to be healthy

The nursery works well in partnership with parents to meet children's individual dietary needs and they provide parents with information about healthy eating for children, weaning and breastfeeding. Children are well nourished and are developing good appetites. Their food is cooked in the nursery kitchen using fresh produce, some of which is grown in the nursery garden. This contributes to children developing a healthy lifestyle. Children receive drinks throughout the day, although they do not always have independent access to drinks in warm weather and after outdoor play.

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Helping children to be healthy

All children, with the exception of babies, have daily access to outdoor play in fine weather. They benefit from fresh air and they develop their physical skills as they jump, ride wheeled toys, climb on the climbing frame. Children also go on walks to the local shops, have great fun bouncing on the bouncy castle and take part in activities such as sponsored walks. These types of activities help children to develop their physical skills and a sense of well-being. However, children's ability to run around is limited as the outdoor space is small and staff are sometimes over anxious about children’s safety and restrict their activities rather than helping children to learn how to play safely.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. In most instances children are cared for in a very secure environment. There is a very effective system for monitoring access to the main entrance of the building. The outdoor play area is fully enclosed providing a safe area for children to play.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

However, security of the building is undermined at times because a fire door leading to a private car park is left open in warm weather.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are developing some sense of danger and knowledge of how to protect themselves from harm. They take part in practising to evacuate the building in an emergency and the Zebra

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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 crossing in the outdoor play area is used to increase children’s knowledge of road safety. Staff supervise children closely and undertake daily checks for hazards in the children’s play areas. This helps to minimise accidental injury to children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The nursery has sufficient space and a broad range of safe and developmentally appropriate play resources. However, space and resources are not organised to enable children to initiate their own play or follow their own interests. Most equipment such as the indoor climbing frame, craft resources and imaginative play are stored away. This does not ensure children have an accessible stimulating environment. Sufficient and suitable equipment is available in the nursery to meet the children's needs, but staff are not always vigilant enough to ensure the equipment they use, such as high chairs, are suitable for the age of child they are caring for.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have sufficient understanding and knowledge of signs and symptoms that may alert them to child abuse. Some staff have attended child protection training and all staff are familiar with the written child protection procedures to follow in the event there is concern for a child's welfare. This ensures children's welfare is safeguarded.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is inadequate. There are significant differences between the quality of interactions and experiences offered to children in the baby room and those provided for older children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Babies are happy and settled because staff are welcoming, caring and give them lots of attention. This increases their well-being and sense of trust. They are progressing well because staff have a strong understanding of child development and spend their time interacting with the children. The 'Birth to three matters' framework is used effectively and good emphasis is given to sensory play. Paint, water, bubbles, jelly play, cream and 'gloop' are used regularly to encourage babies to explore and experiment. Staff have a clear understanding of each child's next steps in learning and babies’ progress is celebrated and shared with parents.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Older children in the nursery are provided with a selection of activities throughout the day. They have regular story and singing time and take part in activities such as colouring, painting, playing with small world toys, interactive toys and jigsaws. Outdoors they play on wheeled toys and climb on the climbing frame. However, children make few choices and decisions as the environment is too adult directed. For example, in the creative area children are generally required to sit with their keyworker at the table, unable to move freely to other activities. They are unable to play freely with resources such as sand, water and paint as these are only put out approximately once a week. Consequently, children are not always interested or engaged in play. This significantly hinders children's enjoyment, development and independence.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

At times children enjoy warm interaction with staff that listen to them, provide comfort and spend time playing with them. However, a significant proportion of staff interact poorly with children and demonstrate a lack of warmth and caring towards them. At times some staff show a lack of interest and do not handle children with sufficient consideration. This compromises children's well-being and self-esteem.

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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 Nursery Education

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is inadequate. Staff have an incomplete knowledge understanding of the Foundation Stage. Planning does not sufficiently cover the six areas of learning and activities are provided without a clear understanding about what children can gain from them or how they can be adapted to suit children of different ages and abilities. As a result, staff interactions often fail to challenge children to think and to learn new skills and ideas. Achievement records are kept but they are not completed regularly to reflect the progress children have made and the information gained is not used when planning activities. This significantly hinders staff's ability to ensure activities are well matched to children's ability and stage of development. There is a limited range of teaching methods in place. Staff at times supervise and direct children rather than promoting learning. Resources are not used effectively

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to support children's learning. The environment lacks stimulation and there is too little for children to investigate. Consequently children are not achieving as much as they could.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children mostly enjoy the activities on offer. They have great fun making sounds with the musical instruments, they are eager to be the one chosen to play on the computer and they show interest and suitable levels of concentration when playing matching games. However, children's personal independence is hindered. Overall staff in the nursery do too much for the children. For instance, at dinner staff serve dinner, collect cutlery and clear plates away. At snack time they give out the biscuits and pour the drinks. This significantly limits the development of children's independence. Furthermore, children are not able to choose the direction of their play. They are unable to move around the open plan area freely and are unable to access most resources independently. This restricts their ability to initiate and develop their own play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy talking and initiating conversations with their friends and adults. They listen well, enjoy stories and respond well to questions. They are able to recall past events and say what they are doing. However, these skills are not extended. For instance children are not encouraged to speculate about events, such as when they found a spider in the garden, or to reflect on activities such as making paper hats. Children's interest and opportunities to recognise that print carries meaning, that letters have sounds, or to write for a purpose are insufficiently promoted.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's interest in counting and numbers is not sufficiently promoted. Children are able to count items, recognise some numerals and use numbers to describe quality and they use mathematical language such as big and small. However, staff do not seize opportunities to increase this understanding. They do not include children in the everyday purposeful use of number. For instance, children are not involved in activities such as counting how many children are present, if there are enough toys for everyone outdoors or if there are enough biscuits or plates for snack.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children take part in a number of activities that help them to find out about their community and living things. They see butterflies and spiders in the garden; they grow strawberries, green beans and sun flowers. They take part in activities such as the 'mini beast road show' and the 'Big Toddle' around Tamworth Park. However with an absence of adult investigative behaviour and a lack of open-ended questions that encourage children to seek explanations, the learning

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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 potential of these opportunities are not realised. Children construct using resources such as wooden bricks, but they have far too few opportunities to experiment assembling and joining using different tools and techniques for their own purpose.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have great fun making sounds with musical instruments. They have benefited from listening to musicians using instruments such as the accordion. However, children have minimal opportunities to develop their creativity and imagination because they do not have access to the necessary materials and resources.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is inadequate. Topics such as 'feelings' help children recognise and explore their emotions. Children enjoy positive relationships with each other. They are encouraged to share and take turns which helps them to work and play harmoniously. Some staff develop warm relationships with children and provide them with ongoing praise and encouragement. However, at times the quality of some adult interaction is not sufficient to ensure children are valued and respected. At times children's behaviour is overly compliant following direction with little understanding for the reason. Children make too few choices and decisions in the overly adult directed environment. Consequently, children's self-esteem and confidence is not always fully supported or safeguarded. Therefore children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is not fostered at all times.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There is a suitable range of resources to promote positive images of different cultures, gender and disability and various festivals are celebrated. Children take part in topics such as 'where we live' and have visits from the local emergency services. This helps them to develop their knowledge of the wider world and raise their awareness of diversity. The setting's policies promote inclusion for all children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's individual needs and routines are discussed with parents. Babies familiar routines are followed which contributes to them settling and receiving continuity of care between home and nursery. Staff complete daily diary sheets for younger children which keep parents informed of their child's well-being. Parents are encouraged to make comments and suggestions about the provision and their opinions are valued. They receive some information relating to how the setting operates in the nurseries welcome pack and information is displayed throughout the nursery. However, the complete range of written policies and procedures are not on display or easily accessible for parents. This does not ensure parents are kept fully informed of how the nursery operates.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents of children who receive nursery education is satisfactory. Written information about the curriculum is available on display boards in the nursery and regular newsletters keep parents informed about current topics and activities. This enables parents to be involved in their own child's learning. Parents are invited to attend open evenings at the nursery and they receive written progress reports when their child leaves the nursery to go to school. This helps to keep parents informed of their child’s progress.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is inadequate. Overall children's needs are not met. Staff, space and resources are not effectively organised to provide children with a stimulating and accessible environment. There are satisfactory recruitment procedures which help to ensure staff are appropriately vetted and there is a suitable level of qualified staff who work with the children. However, not all staff carry out all their responsibilities effectively. Consequently, children's care, welfare and development are not fully supported.

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Organisation

All required documentation is in place and all records are stored confidentially. Policies and procedures are effectively implemented to support children's good health and mostly implemented effectively to keep children safe.

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Organisation

The quality of leadership and management of the nursery education is inadequate. Although the owner of the nursery is in the process of recruiting a qualified teacher to deliver the nursery education she has not ensured that current staff working with children have sufficient understanding and knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum. Consequently the quality of teaching is inadequate and children are not making as much progress as they could. The owner of the nursery has also not acted upon advice recently given by the mentor teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership regarding making resources and play materials more accessible to children. Consequently possible improvements for children's learning have not been made. There is presently no effective system in place to monitor or evaluate the quality of the nursery education. As a result weaknesses are widespread and severe

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Organisation

across several significant aspects of the curriculum.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the nursery agreed to improve a number of policies and procedures. These included the lost child policy, the child protection policy and the medication and accident policies.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The lost child procedure is now fully in place to guide staff to act appropriately in the event of a child becoming lost. This helps to ensure children's welfare is protected. All requirements for medication and accident recording are now in place which ensures children's good health is protected. A procedure is now in place in the event of a complaint being made against a member of staff. This helps to ensure staff act accordingly in the event of an allegation of abuse being made against a member of staff. Currently this procedure is placed in the nurseries complaint policy but still needs to be moved to the child protection policy.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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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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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

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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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care, the registered person must take the following actions: • provide an action plan detailing how you will ensure all staff interact with children in a way to ensure they feel valued and respected • provide an action plan detailing how space and resources are effectively organised to provide children with a stimulating and accessable environment. These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education, the registered person must take the following actions: • provide an action plan detailing how staff's knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum will be improved • provide an action plan detailing how planning will effectively ensure the breadth of the Foundation Stage curriculum is provided with appropriate challenges for all children • provide an action plan detailing how the systems of observations and assessments will inform planning for children's next steps in learning (this also applies to care) • provide an action plan demonstrating how the nursery provision will be rigorously monitored and evaluated. These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice. The Department for Education and Skills and the local authority have been informed.

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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

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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