Castle Top Private Day Nursery

Castle Top Private Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Castle Top Private Day Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY312095 Inspection date 03 July 2006 Inspector Ann Law

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Castle Top Private Day Nursery

Setting Address Castle Top Buildings, Manchester Road, Mossley, OL5 9BL

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Castle Top Private Day Nursery

Telephone number 01457 833 322 E-mail castletopprivatenursery@hotmail.com Registered person Tiny Treasures Ltd Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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Castle Top Private Day 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 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?

Castle Top Private Day Nursery was registered to the present owners in 2002 and operates from a single storey building in Mossley, near Ashton-Under-Lyne. A maximum of 60 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 07.30 to 18.00 for 51 weeks of the year, excluding bank holidays. All children share access to a fully enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 70 children aged from four months to under five years on roll. Of

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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 these, 28 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The nursery employs 16 childcare staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications and three members of staff are working towards a qualification. The nursery operates within Quality Standards for Early Years Settings, an endorsed quality assurance scheme and they hold an Investors in People award.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a clean setting where there are many procedures in place for hygiene. Staff follow these procedures when serving meals; they ensure that tables are wiped before children sit down and they wear gloves before handling the food. However, children do not always wash their hands prior to eating and the storage of some of the children's dummies is unhygienic. Nappy changing procedures are displayed in each of the changing areas and all of the necessary requisites are easily to hand, but some staff do not follow the procedures and fail to clean the changing mat in between changes to prevent cross-contamination. Consequently, children's health is compromised by these omissions. The nursery provides children with three meals per day and snacks. These are on a rolling menu which evidences that although much of the food is processed, children do have fresh fruit and vegetables on a regular basis. Staff provide age-appropriate

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Helping children to be healthy

support and supervision for children when eating their meals. As a result, babies and toddlers are encouraged to feed themselves using fingers and spoons and to try out their developing skills with cutlery. Older children increase their fine motor skills when they independently peel small oranges and split them into segments before eating them. Children are sometimes provided with a sheet of kitchen roll to eat their meals from instead of plates. This is not ideal for the younger children as they screw it up and it disintegrates when orange juice is spilt on it, neither does it fully promote children's social skills and good table manners. Staff are vigilant in hot weather and constantly encourage children to drink water throughout the day. They ensure that all children are wearing hats and have had sun cream applied before playing in the outdoor area. This prevents children from dehydrating and protects their physical

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Helping children to be healthy

well-being. Children enjoy physical activity in the outdoor area. They competently pedal bikes and negotiate the space well, avoiding large equipment and they are able to stop before running into their friends. Children use the climbing frames to develop their gross motor skills in climbing and sliding. Staff use a parachute in organised physical games. The children play cooperatively with the parachute and use large arm movements to lift the parachute 'high up to the sky' and to shake it 'very fast'. They squeal with delight as they hide under it and staff make a mushroom over them.

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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

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a mainly safe indoor and outdoor environment where risk assessments have identified and minimised most risks. However, hazards were identified at this inspection which include brambles in the outdoor area and trailing wires in the Busy Bees room. These pose a risk to children's safety. A wide range of toys and resources are successfully organised on low level storage from which children can safely select them. Although good security measures are in place at the entrance to the setting to prevent unwanted access to the premises, visitors are not always recorded and this compromises their safety in emergency evacuations. Staff pay good attention to helping children learn how to keep themselves safe and they use activities to talk to children about safety. For example, a pretend birthday cake formed part of an activity and staff maximised this opportunity by reminding

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

children that they must not touch candles when they are lit or they might get burnt and they must not play with knives because they are sharp and they might cut themselves. As a result, children are becoming aware of cause and effect. Children are learning the procedures for the emergency evacuation of the building, because staff regularly practice the procedure with them as part of their good attention to fire safety and protecting children. Children's welfare is promoted appropriately; sufficient staff hold a first aid qualification and a sound understanding is held of their roles and responsibilities within the local authority procedures to safeguard children. Accidents are managed appropriately and the records are shared with parents to facilitate the continuity of care for children. However, children's full names and the dates of the accidents are not always sufficiently recorded.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Younger children have access to a range of sensory activities, including flour, play dough, sand, water and paint. The children delight in investigating the paint, rubbing their hands in it and squelching it between their fingers. Children make connections in their learning and use a toy car to make tyre tracks along the paper exploring a pattern of movement. Staff have provided bread trays in the outdoor area. The good use of non-specific play materials, such as these, allow children to initiate their own play in various directions. Today the trays encouraged children's imagination as they turned the trays into an aeroplane to 'fly away on holiday'. Babies in the Tip Toes room have their individual sleep patterns recognised and sleep when they need to, promoting their emotional and physical well-being. Parents are provided with detailed daily logs recording their feeds, nappies, sleeps and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

activities, which is essential information for continuity and consistency of care. However, the key worker system is not fully effective in allowing children to form a secure relationship with a special person during personal care routines. Although babies in Tip Toes experience a sense of closeness when being fed and changed,

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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 there is little interaction between staff and children in the Tiny Tots and Busy Bees rooms at nappy changing and sleep time to provide children with a sense of security and belonging. Children under three years have records of achievement which are linked to the Birth to three matters framework. However, some of these have little or no entries in them, which make it difficult for staff to plan activities that meet the individual needs of the children. Consequently, there are significant differences between the quality of care offered to children under three years and of that provided for older children. Nursery education The quality of teaching and of children's learning is good. Children are making solid progress towards the early learning goals because staff have a sound knowledge of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the Foundation Stage and plan activities based on all of the areas of learning. Although the plans have learning intentions identified, these are general because staff are not using the stepping stones to plan for individual children's learning. As a result, there is no system in place to ensure that all the stepping stones will be covered sufficiently over time. Staff undertake planned observations of children's learning and they also have procedures for spontaneous observations. Write-on and wipe-off boards are strategically placed around the setting for staff to use to make quick on-the-spot observations of children's learning that takes place in the areas of continuous provision, such as role play, construction and information communication technology. Systems are in place to identify and record children's next steps for learning in their records of achievement, however, staff are not effectively using this

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to inform the future planning. Children are learning respect for each other as they take turns to speak at circle time. They actively listen to their friends retelling the events of the weekend and when the children have had their turn they experience a sense of pride because everyone listened to them. Children use props to bring stories to life and they animatedly tell the story of 'Zoe and the dragon' to each other, using a play-tray garden and finger puppets. They maintain good levels of attention and interest when describing the main events of the story and the characters, and using the puppets to play out the story. They eagerly take part in story time and listen with increasing attention and recall, predicting the story of 'Mrs Honey's hat'. Children competently join in the repeated refrain of, 'but Mrs Honey didn't notice'. Staff skilfully introduce maths into all areas of the provision and encourage children to count at story time, for example,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

counting the legs on the spider in Mrs Honey's hat and guessing the age of a member of staff. The children imaginatively guess 89, 76 or four. Children use size and positional language in context in their play, for example, moving their puppets 'up' and 'down' the wooden steps and describing the parachute as 'enormous'. Children demonstrate a good sense of time and place when they remember and talk about significant events that have happened to them, such as a visit to 'big school' and 'when I went under the water in my bath'. They show an interest in why things happen and how things work when they try to scoop up flour and cornflakes in a sieve and observe the flour falling through the holes and the cornflakes remaining in the sieve. Children develop good hand to eye coordination when they pour water from one container to another in the water tray. They have many opportunities to develop their fine motor skills in the nursery, however, the equipment for gross motor

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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 development is limited to climbing, sliding, pushing, pulling and ball games. There are no opportunities for children to scramble, swing or construct with large materials. Although the indoor setting is attractively presented for children, the outdoor area lacks natural materials to encourage children's learning and understanding of nature and to stimulate their senses in the outdoors. Children enthusiastically take part in song time and join in with familiar songs, such as 'Five little men in a flying saucer'. They show an interest in number problems as they confidently work out how many men are left when 'one man flew away'. Children express their emotions through facial expressions, conveying the fear that they feel when they see the spider in Mrs Honey's hat. They use their imagination well in imitative play as they 'do the washing

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

up and put the babies to bed' in the home corner. Children use scissors to represent candles in the birthday cake that they make from play dough, recognising that the upturned scissors do have characteristics in common with candles.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. The nursery is very inclusive and ensures that children with specific needs are well supported. Staff have received specialist training to ensure that children's individual needs are met, allowing them to take part in all aspects of nursery life. Professionals from external agencies are welcomed into the nursery to work alongside staff in a coordinated way and individual action plans are in place for children who need additional help. Children are becoming aware of wider society through a good range of toys and resources which depict differences in a positive manner. Staff use skills from their own cultures to extend children's learning, for example, making samosas out of play dough with the children. Relationships between the children are good and they are learning agreed codes of behaviour. Staff set clear boundaries which they consistently apply. For example, behaviour, such as hurting each other is swiftly stopped and clear explanations are

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Helping children make a positive contribution

given as to why this is unacceptable. This effective behaviour management helps children to learn right from wrong and to understand the consequences of their actions. Staff give children gentle reminders to help them learn respect for each other and encourage them to share toys in the home corner. Children use negotiation skills and competently work out how many eggs they can have each. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered. Parents are welcomed into the nursery by an informative entrance area, with a wide variety of information displayed regarding the provision. Detailed information regarding the service provided for parents is presented on the notice board, in a brochure and in regular newsletters keeping them up to date with new developments. The partnership with parents in relation to nursery education is good. Children's individual records of achievement are compiled providing parents with a clear picture

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Helping children make a positive contribution

of their child's progress through the stepping stones towards the early learning goals. Parents are informed about the Foundation Stage through the achievement books and they are encouraged to be involved in their child's learning. For example, children take part in the Oxford Reading Tree and take books and worksheets home to share with parents, extending and enhancing the learning that takes place in the

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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 provision.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The organisation of most of the base rooms allow children to initiate their own play and learning. In particular, the Busy Bees and the Little Learners rooms are presented in clearly defined areas for play which encourage children to follow their own lead in play. There are many written procedures in place in the nursery, however, management need to ensure that staff are fully implementing these to protect the health, safety and well-being of all of the children who attend. All of the required documentation and policies and procedures are in place and are mostly well organised. There are minor amendments necessary to the recording of complaints and the confidentiality of medication records to ensure that they are fully compliant with the requirements of the National Standards for full day care. Leadership and management of the nursery are good. There are clear procedures for

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Organisation

induction and supervision to ensure that staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities within the nursery. They receive support and advice from the local authority Foundation Stage consultant to monitor the quality of the provision of nursery education. Management identify their areas for improvement as part of their commitment to maintaining a quality assurance award and have already identified the need to improve the outdoor area. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the nursery was asked to make improvements to the child protection policy, the attendance register and the complaints record. The child protection policy now contains procedures to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse being made against a member of staff. The clocking-in system records the hours of staff attendance, including their arrival and departure times in the nursery and staff deployment is shown on a wall planner in the staff room. The complaint record shows the type of action taken in response to any complaints received, but still does not include details of the action taken. These measures have improved the organisation of the provision.

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Complaints since the last inspection

A concern was raised against National Standard 1: Suitable Person and National Standard 2: Organisation relating to the levels of qualified staff. The concerns were originally shared with another agency. We asked the provider to investigate and report back to Ofsted. The provider submitted a report which was reviewed and Ofsted is satisfied with the investigation response. The provider continues to be registered with 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 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • fully implement the hygiene procedures in the nursery, in particular the procedures for hand washing before meals, cleaning nappy changing mats in between changes and ensure the hygienic storage of dummies • improve the experiences of personal care, such as nappy changing and sleep times, for young children to ensure that interaction takes place between staff and children, providing all the children with a sense of closeness and belonging.

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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): • improve the use of the outdoor environment to stimulate children's interest in the natural world and enable them to use their senses more in the outdoors • review the records of children's progress to clearly identify their next steps in learning and use the information to effectively inform the planning for individual children's future learning through the stepping stones towards the early learning goals.

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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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