Yellow Dot Nursery

Yellow Dot Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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EY320254 Unique Reference Number 04 July 2006 Inspection date Loraine Wardlaw Inspector

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Yellow Dot Nursery, North Baddesley, Southampton, Hampshire, SO52 9DT

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Setting Address

02380 739988 Telephone number hello@yellowdotnursery.co.uk E-mail Yellow Dot Limited Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Setting Address

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 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?

Yellow Dot Nursery is one of five early years settings run by Yellow Dot Limited. It opened in 2006 and operates from a purpose built, single storey building. It is situated in the residential area of North Baddesley, Southampton. Children attend from the surrounding areas. The nursery is registered to care for 52 children from four months five years and there are currently 86 children on roll, seven of whom are funded for nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports a few children with English as an additional language and children with learning difficulties. The provision is open from 07:45 to 18:00, five days a week, for 51 weeks per year. The owner employs 16 staff including the manger and group manager to work with the children and manage the setting. Of these, 13 are qualified in early years and two are working towards a qualification. The nursery receives support from the Local Authority.

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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 good. Babies and children experience good physical play opportunities; staff make very good use of the outdoor environment to ensure that all children and babies gain plenty of fresh air and exercise. For example, babies are encouraged to crawl up and over the small soft play shapes in the play room or crawl/walk to their low chairs and sit, at snack time. Non mobile babies are put on their tummies, sympathetically by staff, with toys in view to encourage their movements. Babies happily sit outside in the shade on a blanket and staff regularly take them in the double buggies for walks in the local environment. There are opportunities for children to develop their large muscle skills when climbing on the small slide apparatus, on push and pull toys and sit and ride but there are fewer opportunities for the older more able children to balance, climb and peddle. The children have good opportunities to develop their fine motor skills; older

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Helping children to be healthy

children and toddlers confidently use the spoons to serve their dinner, younger children and babies are positively supported by the adults to use a knife, fork or spoon to feed themselves. They use scissors and regularly use pencils and other art tools. The very clean and pristine environment has a positive effect on children's health. Excellent cleaning rotas are in place which staff successfully adhere to, which means that opportunities for cross infection are minimal. Staff are well trained in nappy changing to ensure it has a positive impact on children's health. Children are learning about personal hygiene; they wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating their dinner, but not before snack time. Older children independently use the bathroom and blow their noses using tissues. All children are well protected in the sun because staff are careful to apply sun cream and insist that they wear their hats. All children

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Helping children to be healthy

enjoy a healthy, nutritious, hot meal at midday, selecting the food themselves which effectively promotes good eating habits. Babies physical needs are very well catered for by staff; individual sleep routines are successfully maintained and good wholesome food is puréed or chopped according to the babies preference. Snacks consist of fresh or dried fruit and plain biscuits which the children happily choose themselves. Water is on offer during the social snack time and throughout the day; staff ensure babies have plenty to drink in hot weather. There are good systems in place to ensure that children with specific dietary requirements are not at risk from an allergic reaction. Good recording in the accident and medication book means that children's health is well protected, but the setting does not request emergency treatment consent from parents. Babies enjoy loving cuddles as they are being bottle fed and regularly

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Helping children to be healthy

throughout the day by the enthusiastic staff. Toddlers and older children build excellent relationships with the staff and toddlers, especially, separate from their main carer swiftly and with ease because staff are skilled in their practice.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. The purpose built nursery is extremely well designed, welcoming to children and families and a has an open, home from home feel. The very well presented rooms are spacious, softly decorated with high quality toys, equipment and a beautiful, integrated fish tank in the foyer which children are immediately attracted to. Parents are able to stay as long as they like on arrival and enjoy informal chats with the manager or staff when handing over the children. All parents sign their children in and out of the building and a daily attendance register is also taken by the staff in each room, to ensure an accurate record is maintained which impacts on children's safety. The high quality, safe resources and furniture are set out in each room in low-level storage units or boxes, to encourage independence. Staff carry out morning and

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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 evening risk assessments on their rooms which is differentiated across the age groups. Children are very safe and secure because staff are vigilant and observant in their work and management carry out extensive, regular written risk assessments on specific pieces of equipment, an area or specific trips. For example, the outside steps, play tent, tunnels and swimming lessons, have written risk assessments. A foolproof system is in place at the front door to ensure that the setting does not have any unwelcome visitors or that children only leave the premises with a known adult. Comprehensive checking procedures are in place to ensure that the cleanliness, the safety of the premises, equipment and resources are of the highest standard. Staff are very knowledgeable about the fire procedure which is clearly displayed in the foyer to ensure children

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

remain safe in the event of an emergency. Children and babies themselves are learning about how to keep safe because staff use many opportunities to re-enforce safety. Such as when a child makes a seaside lotto game, he is confidently able to tell the adult that if he did not put on sun cream he would burn his arms. Also, the baby who enthusiastically wishes to grab his peer is strongly encouraged by all staff in the baby room to be gentle and vocalise 'Ahh'. Children are positively and sympathetically encouraged by the skilled staff to learn that their actions could lead to injury such as when a toddler throws sand or a kindergarten child leans on a plastic box. Children are very well protected from possible abuse because staff have an exceptionally clear understanding of child protection procedures. This is backed up by good policies, training and an effective induction system.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Babies are very happy, secure and are cared for by skilled, enthusiastic staff who are very sensitive to their needs. They enjoy excellent, stimulating routines where lots of sensory activities are on offer to them. For example, they tentatively explore ice cubes on a large tray, touch and feel paint or gloop with their hands or explore the objects in the treasure basket and textured ribbons. Babies become excited as they get ready for their regular walk; they eagerly vocalise and point when they see the familiar birds or dogs at the park, because staff are excellent at modelling language to encourage babies to communicate. Babies enjoy listening to staff singing in the baby room, focusing on the adults sat on the floor with them and smiling. Some babies join in with the actions, such as 'wind the bobbin up' and staff are quick to repeat the song when the baby vocalises and shows immense enjoyment at their personal achievement. Excellent

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

attention is given to babies by the staff, often on a one to one basis; for example one child enjoys his favourite book attempting to say words and 'meows' when stroking the cat picture, another looks in the mirror with an adult who names the other babies, while two children attempt the inset puzzles. One child is highly successful at the puzzles and clearly loves all the praise and clapping she receives from the adults. Staff pay very good attention to the Birth to three matters framework which weaves through their practice promoting excellent outcomes for babies.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Toddlers enjoy similar, worthwhile, practical play experiences as the babies and the older children. They eagerly explore the sand with a good variety of toys; pouring the sand onto their hands and letting it trickle through their fingers or pour it into a mould. Staff pay very good attention to promoting children's communication skills by carefully joining in the play and modelling language. For example, a staff member states 'I will play with the big, red spoon'. Children freely paint at the easel, enjoy making marks and use glue to collage fish for the wall frieze. Staff skilfully allow the children to experiment with the glue and paint; toddlers often paint and glue on the same piece of paper oblivious of one another just enjoying the creative experience. Toddlers enthusiastically take part in the lovely, whole group 'hello' song, waving

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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 eagerly, smiling and saying hello to their friends. Children respond to the story 'rainbow fish' by enthusiastically pointing to the frieze on the wall and the fish in the tank in the foyer. However, when the story is read to them children lose interest because it is pitched too high for their developmental level.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. In a short time staff have implemented good teaching systems to ensure that children progress successfully through the stepping stones to the Early Learning goals. The learning environment is well set up with practical play activities for children to select either independently or with adult support. The main staff member with the funded children has a good knowledge of the Foundation Stage and facilitates learning well during whole group teaching and with individual children. However, cover staff are not as familiar with the curriculum. Plans cover the six areas of learning, different aspects and indicates the learning intention of activities linked to the stepping stones but do not cover differentiation for children of different abilities. However, because the setting currently has a small group of children and staff get to know children well they can pitch their practice to the different levels

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

of the children. For example, a small group of children make patterns with beads; some are encouraged to count the number on their string, the more able child is able to say who had the most on their string. Good, clear, progressive assessment records are kept of children's progress, but they are not wholly backed up by staff observations and examples of children's work. On some occasions teaching is not appropriate to the child's developmental level such as when children learn the letter sounds and names or when an activity is not presented to them in a practical way. For example, learning to name a three dimensional pyramid shape in a workbook.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making good progress in their communication skills because staff are skilled at asking good, open ended questions. For example, they eagerly talk about the horses in the next door field, talk about what they can see and predict where the horses are going. They engage easily in conversations with their peers and with the adults. Children recall, during whole group time, what they use water for; to drink, for plants, for the shower. They enjoy looking at books independently and are good listeners at whole group story time. Children practise emergent writing at set times in their yellow books and incidentally at the writing table. Children are learning to recognise numerals and can count confidently; they have a good awareness of number problems because staff promote counting well. For example, a child is sympathetically encouraged to get two aprons to take to the transition room and when he

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

takes three the adult goes through the activity step by step so the child fully understands the meaning of two. Children are able to recognise two dimensional shapes such as circle and use mathematical language in their play. They enjoy exploring paint and colour using a variety of painting techniques such as marble painting, tea bag painting; they can freely choose to paint at the easel. They collage with sand and build with recyclable materials using a variety of collage materials such as pencil sharpener shavings. Children have opportunities to use the computer and are becoming confident users of the mouse. They learn about time when they confidently sing the days of the week song and discuss what day it was yesterday with the adult. Children enjoy using their senses and expressing their ideas using a wide range of materials such as when they feel shaving foam on the table, make lemonade, fruit salad or chocolate nests.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children benefit from the staff's good understanding of equal opportunities; they value and respect each child as an individual. Each child’s specific needs are discussed on entry to 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 nursery and records made to ensure everyone is aware of their needs. Children have access to a suitable range of resources and activities which reflect diversity and acknowledges cultural differences. All children behave extremely well and some work harmoniously together especially in the kindergarten when tidying up and learning to take turns. For example, a three-year-old says to his peer who wishes to have one of the trucks 'we have to share' and so he hands a truck over to him. Staff are excellent role models for children by being calm, patient and offer very good, clear guidance on right and wrong. They successfully promote kindness and good manners in children; such as when a three-year-old makes room for his friend at the sand tray. Children enjoy lots of praise and encouragement from the staff, especially in the baby room

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Helping children make a positive contribution

which helps them develop self esteem and a sense of achievement. Babies and children build very positive relationships with the staff who are friendly, enthusiastic and loving towards them. All children are busy and well motivated by the exciting activities on offer to them. Children's personal independence is successfully promoted when they freely access the snack table in the kindergarten, pour their own drinks or when they serve their own hot dinner. Children with learning difficulties are successfully supported by staff who effectively liaise with their parents and other professionals to ensure their needs are wholly met. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents receive a user friendly, succinct and very attractively presented handbook which covers the settings ethos, aims and learning objectives. However, specific information on the Foundation Stage curriculum is not available to parents of kindergarten children and although parents are aware of the activities they undertake, they are not fully aware of what they will learn from the activities. Encouraging kindergarten parents to link the children's learning to their home environment and work together on 'the next steps' is very informal. Photos of children learning through play are displayed for parents to see which clearly link to the Birth to three matters framework and Foundation Stage curriculum. Parents form strong relationships with the caring staff and are well informed about their children's developmental progress through regular, informative written reports and regular

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Helping children make a positive contribution

chats with the staff. Babies and toddler's continuity of care is successfully enhanced by the use of blues folders which extensively records and files the children's daily activities and care routines. Parents talk highly and knowingly about the setting and feel at ease with staff who have a relaxed 'open door' policy. Parents receive regular newsletters and are invited to social events such as a 'cream tea' in the summer. Policies and procedures are available for parents to view and management have a clear and up-to-date complaints procedure which includes a complaints log.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are secure and very happy; they clearly benefit from well chosen practitioners who are enthusiastic and proud to work in such an inviting, attractive and well organised environment. Ratios are effectively adhered to which ensures children have good supervision and a good induction system is implemented by management which positively impacts on the children's care. Records are up to date, most of the required documentation is in place and all paperwork is available for inspection. Staff are well qualified and attend occasional short courses to update their knowledge and skills. They work very well as a team and have a professional approach to their work which successfully impacts on the children. Good written policies and procedures underpin practice including a recruitment and vetting procedure, which ensures that only very suitable staff are employed to work with the children. Every aspect of the provision is closely

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Organisation

monitored and records kept by management, called key performance indicators, to ensure there

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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 are high standards of care in the nursery. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The owner and management team, have clearly defined roles, are very highly motivated practitioners and have a good vision for the future of the nursery. All staff work together to plan and evaluate the curriculum, and the setting is monitored by it's sister nursery to ensure that good nursery education practice is maintained. All staff have regular appraisals and have good opportunities to develop their knowledge. The setting has positive links with the local authority and acts upon any advice given to improve practice.

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure all children wash their hands prior to eating and emergency treatment consent is requested from parents • increase opportunities for children to climb, balance and use wheeled toys, particularly focusing on challenge for the more able child • evaluate whole group times in the toddler room and adapt to ensure it is pitched at the correct level for children's development and maintains their interest

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • develop curriculum planning further to ensure that it covers children of different abilities, that it is understood and implemented successfully by temporary staff and assessment records are backed up with evidence

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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 • evaluate the teaching of letters, sounds and solid shapes to ensure it is developmentally appropriate to children and focus more on rhyme and alliteration activities • enhance partnership with parents further by sharing Foundation stage plans with parents, offer information on the Foundation Stage curriculum and formally encourage parents to link the learning to their home environment

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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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