Stainsby Neighbourhood Nursery

Stainsby

Inspection report for early years provision

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Stainsby

Unique Reference Number EY272716 Inspection date 29 June 2006 Inspector Jane Pamela Berry

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Stainsby

Setting Address Stainsby Road, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS5 4JS

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Stainsby

Telephone number 01642 354300 E-mail alt no 01642 354302 Registered person Middlesbrough Surestart Business Team Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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Stainsby

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 satisfactory. 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?

Sure Start, West Middlesbrough Centre, Stainsby Road Neighbourhood Nursery was registered in February 2004. It operates from a fully refurbished section of Whinney Banks Primary School. A wide range of services are provided, including full day care for a maximum of 60 children. The nursery operates Monday to Friday between 07.45 and 18.00 for 51 weeks of the year. There are four main play rooms and children are cared for in three groups

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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 of similar age and ability. The playrooms have their own toilet and changing area. There are also kitchens, a laundry and a purposely designed sensory garden/outdoor play area. Other facilities for families include a breakfast club, a café, access to work programmes, health, a baby clinic, education, family support, a toy library, playgroup network including a resource shop and various training and development opportunities. Crèche facilities are provided by outside agencies on site in order to facilitate courses. There are currently 89 children on roll at the nursery. Of these, 12 children receive nursery education. The service offers support to children with disabilities and for those who speak English as an additional language. Eleven members of staff who work directly with the children in the nursery have early year’s qualifications. The

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

setting receives the support of a part time advisory teacher. This inspection was part of the national pilot of children's centre inspections. It was carried out by a team comprising of a Team Manager and two Childcare Inspectors.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children's physical development is satisfactorily supported with opportunities to play each day in the attractive outdoor area. They use a variety of equipment such as scooters, trikes, wheelbarrows and sand, however, there are too few opportunities for them to develop their skills in climbing, scrambling, sliding and swinging. Children move around freely and safely and show respect for each other's personal space, for example, when sitting on the mat at circle time. They manipulate tools, such as knives and forks, pens and pencils with increasing control. Children rest and are active according to their individual needs. There are good levels of hygiene maintained throughout the nursery. All of the nursery rooms are kept meticulously clean. Toys and equipment, including those in the toy library are washed regularly to prevent the spread of infection. The effective use of a sick children’s policy and accident and medication procedures enables

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Helping children to be healthy

children’s health needs to be satisfactorily met. However, medication records are not consistently countersigned by parents to acknowledge the entry and written consent has not been obtained from parents for the application of sun cream and baby lotion. Children are beginning to learn the importance of good hygiene through the daily routines. Staff set a good example as they use protective clothing whilst changing nappies. This prevents the spread of infection. Older children know when and why they need to wash their hands and follow good hygiene routines, however, staff do not ensure that the babies hands are washed before eating. This means good hygiene is not fully supported in this instance. The cook and staff work together to ensure children's special dietary needs are met. A satisfactory menu is in place and meals are appropriately balanced. Children receive drinks at snack and meal times, and older children can freely access drinking

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 water throughout the day. This means that their personal independence is promoted.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children move around the nursery freely, safely and confidently. They easily access a good range of safe, developmentally appropriate furniture and equipment which is readily available to them on arrival. Resources are well organised. They are stored in good quality furniture at child height to encourage independent access. Children are cared for in a clean and welcoming environment which is brightly decorated with children's art work. Adult to child ratios are well maintained. The security of the premises is good and risk assessments are carried out regularly. Potential risks are identified and minimised to ensure children remain safe both indoors and outside. Appropriate emergency evacuation procedures are in place and these are practised regularly to keep children safe in the event of an emergency, and to raise their awareness of what to do should an incident occur. Clear local safeguarding children board, child protection procedures are in place and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

staff have a good understanding of their role and responsibilities. They are confident to carry out their duties in the event of a concern. All the relevant documentation is securely in place, resulting in the welfare of children being fully protected.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. All children enjoy their time at the setting. There are clear settling in procedures in place, which include gaining information from parents about their child's routines and care. Children arrive happy and eager to participate, and the younger children are making good progress. From an early age babies show a keen interest in books and handle them well, for example, they turn the book so that they can look the pictures the right way round. Older children that attend for wrap around sessions are integrated well into the pre-school room and are keen to join in the activities. Close and caring relationships with staff increase the children's sense of trust, and help them to develop a strong sense of self. Children are developing good relationships with each other and their communication skills are well supported through good adult to child interactions. Children move around the rooms freely. They are involved in both adult directed

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

activities and self initiated play. Staff successfully plan to support children in their earliest years, using the Birth to three matters framework and take into account the child's individual interests. They know the children well, for example, their favourite toys and their likes and dislikes. They are interested in what children do and say, and become actively involved in their play. As a result children are interested, motivated and their all round development is promoted. Nursery Education.

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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 The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory and children are making steady progress towards the early learning goals. Staff have a sound understanding of the Foundation Stage and use their knowledge to deliver an appropriate curriculum which covers all the areas of learning. As a result, children are engaged, motivated and interested. This is sustained well throughout the sessions. Detailed assessments are made of each child's learning and these inform future planning to ensure appropriate challenges for individual children are provided. Time is organised effectively with a balance of adult and child initiated activities allowing children sufficient time to pursue their own interests. The qualified teacher input is currently underdeveloped as the teacher spends her time in an advisory capacity across multiple settings. Direct

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

involvement with the children is therefore limited. Although some links have been forged between the neighbourhood nursery and the school nursery on site, staff are not working together sufficiently to ensure continuity in curriculum planning for the children who attend both settings. Children are developing good independence. They confidently choose which resources and activities they wish to play with and they use the bathroom independently. They concentrate well during circle time and when completing tasks, such as pattern making with beads. Reading skills are developing as children thoroughly enjoy a wide range of books and they are often found sitting on the comfortable seating re-telling stories to themselves, for example 'Peace at last'. Most children know the sound of the initial letter of their name, whilst the more able children quickly pick out different letter sounds when discussing the days of the week.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Although the mark making area is used successfully, there is little opportunity for children to attempt writing for different purposes in other activity areas. Children are beginning to count securely in most activities, for example, as they count how many children are in the line and when singing songs, such as 'Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer'. They represent numbers correctly with fingers and the more able children are developing skills for calculating. Children learn about planting flowers and growing vegetables. They look with great interest at the patterns that the worms have made in the wormery. They design and construct models purposefully, as they make cars and the letters of their name with stickle bricks. Their skills in operating a computer are developing well as they use the mouse skilfully to select different programmes. Although some activities are provided to raise children's awareness of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the world in which they live there is little opportunity for them to discover their local community through planned outings and excursions. Children have a good repertoire of songs and join in enthusiastically, some are confident enough to make up songs and sing to the rest of the group. They use their imagination well in role play, as they pretend to be fire fighters extinguishing fires. Some of the children are involved in caring for the 'poorly puppets' as they pretend to be a doctor or a nurse.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children are happy and settled. They are welcomed by staff and the childcare rooms are set up for their arrival. There is a clear equal opportunities policy in place. Activities are undertaken and a good range of resources are available reflecting culture, race and disability. This helps increase children's awareness of diversity and

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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 assists them to develop a positive attitude to others. Therefore children's spiritual moral, social and cultural development is fostered. There is a key worker system in place and children's records contain clear information about their individual needs. The nursery has a special needs statement in place and the named coordinator accesses relevant training. Staff work well with other agencies and seek advice in order to offer good support to children with special needs. They are currently developing their skills in using sign language to ensure all children are fully included. There is a clear behaviour management policy in place. Staff support children well, they give good explanations and have high expectations for behaviour. Children recognise the boundaries in place and quickly respond to requests from staff, for

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Helping children make a positive contribution

example, as they tidy up when asked. They receive lots of praise for positive behaviour which helps to develop their confidence and self-esteem. Partnership with parents is satisfactory. Children benefit from the two way verbal sharing of information about their needs and daily routines. Parent’s information is displayed on a notice board, they receive a nursery brochure, regular newsletters and have opportunities to attend an open day once a year. However, although information about topics and the areas of learning are displayed prominently in the nursery, parents do not receive written information about their children's learning or about babies’ routines, or food intake throughout the day. This impacts on the care of the children, particularly when staff are busy and do not always have the time to speak with all of the parents during busy times of the day.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children enjoy their time at the setting, which contributes to them being happy and settled. They are able to move around confidently and independently within the indoor environment and outside at designated playtimes. There is a key worker system in place and children are grouped appropriately. The adult to child ratios are above those required, resulting in high levels of support being provided for all children. Staff retention is good, and consequently the children feel secure. Leadership and management of the nursery education satisfactorily promotes children's learning. There is a clear staff appraisal system in place and satisfactory arrangements are made for monitoring the nursery education. There are effective systems for the verbal sharing of information with parents about the service and their child's activities, although written information is currently not provided on the

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Organisation

curriculum. The impact of services on children’s learning is monitored through the close evaluation of their developmental progress using the 'Flying Start 2' assessment framework. This clearly benefits the children and their families. The required documents are available and are stored confidentially. Detailed policies and procedures are in place. They are shared well with staff to appropriately promote the welfare, care and learning of the children. There are clear recruitment and vetting procedures in place and all staff have

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 experience and hold an early year's qualification. However, a standard has not been fully met, in that one of the supervisors has not attained a Level 3 qualification. This means that suitably qualified staff are unable to provide appropriate cover in the absence of the manager. The manager actively seeks training opportunities for staff and promotes their attendance on courses. The knowledge gained by staff is used to further support children's care and welfare. Most staff have recently completed first aid training, but this does not meet the current requirements. However, measures have been taken to provide named staff that are able to respond to children in the event of an accident. Overall the provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend. Additional services

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Organisation

The provision of additional services is strong and is continuing to grow and to develop. Parents and the wider community are given a range of opportunities to help them to extend their skills as the parents and carers of young children. They are developing confidence in this important role and widening their experiences in leisure, career and personal development. The impact of the additional services on people’s lives is shown by the increasing number of parents who get involved in training programmes, become volunteers or gain employment. This makes a valuable economic contribution to the wider community. The centre is successful in encouraging parents and others from the surrounding area to gain from the centre as a community. Professional expertise is drawn upon in order to offer advice and support to parents, for example the staff from the Cleveland Unit and the Hearing Impaired Teaching Service support families with children with a disability. The work with families

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Organisation

identified also benefit from the support of inclusion workers where these needs are identified. The family support team also works very effectively with families at times of need and they are highly skilled at directing parents to services according to individual need, such as housing or social services. The confidence and skills parents develop through the work of the centre have made an impact on their children becoming more confident learners, examples of this include children and their parents working together on the following courses; ‘Making a Difference’ which helps parents to prepare their children for nursery, Boosting Language Auditory Skills and Talking (BLAST) and the Supporting Positive Action and Reciprocal Communication (SPARC) which are both language promotion programmes. Children and parents also learn about healthy eating through the kids in the kitchen sessions. The centre enables adults to meet with one another, and to access a number of

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Organisation

professionals and advisers from many agencies including the health service, the employment service and community development. Evaluations are carried out for services to ensure that adults and children are getting what they want and that families needs are prioritised accordingly. Satisfaction surveys show that those using the services find them extremely useful, especially advice and support for health and welfare issues. This is progressing well, however communication is not effective enough. This is evident, as due to the numerous changes in the management structure stakeholder meetings are not seen as a priority due to time constraints. Communication is, therefore not as effective as expected or was previously experienced.

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Communication with parents is an area identified for further improvement. Parents do, however, benefit greatly from the many services available. They know what is available and are encouraged to spread the word throughout the community. This helps to ensure the hard to reach communities are informed of services, and that they learn from positive experiences of people in their own communities. Further work has been identified in engaging the families who need the services the most. Consultation with parents ensures that they have a say in what is provided through the parents forum and it is evident how they are encouraged to drive the process forward in line with the Sure Start philosophy.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the provider agreed to ensure that all information about children is shared effectively between the nursery and parents. The provider has made satisfactory progress on this issue, as information is now prominently displayed outside of the nursery rooms. Children benefit from the improved communication regarding the activities, although, this continues to be an area identified for further improvement.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted 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 satisfactory. 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 there is one member of staff with a recognised current first aid certificate on the premises or on outings, which is consistent with the guidance issued to local authorities by the Secretary of State

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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 • ensure all supervisors hold a level 3 qualification appropriate for the care and development of children • ensure medication records are signed by parents, to acknowledge the entry and that written consent is obtained for any creams or lotions administered • ensure a record is kept of babies' food intake and provide written information about children's learning for parents to read (also applies to nursery education.)

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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): • provide more opportunities for children to develop their skills in climbing, scrambling, sliding and swinging • extend the opportunities for children to attempt writing for different purposes in all activity areas • provide opportunities for children to visit the locality, in order for them to learn about their environment.

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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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