Tiddlywinks Nursery School Ltd

Tiddlywinks Nursery School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Tiddlywinks Nursery School

Unique Reference Number EY319256 Inspection date 08 September 2006 Inspector Mandy Black

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Tiddlywinks Nursery School

Setting Address 99 Square Street, Ramsbottom, Bury, Lancashire, BL0 9AZ

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E-mail

Registered person Mitchell & Mihel Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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?

Tiddlywinks Nursery School is privately owned and has been registered since February 2006, but was previously registered on the same premises under the name of ABC Nursery. It is located in two adjacent buildings in the Ramsbottom area of Bury. The nursery accommodation consists of four rooms for the children, each with their own toilets, main kitchen and office. There is an adjoining enclosed outdoor play area and a car park.

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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 The nursery serves children from the local community. There are currently 54 children on roll, of whom six are in receipt of nursery education funding. There are no children currently attending who have learning difficulties or disabilities, and none who speak English as an additional language. There are 14 members of staff employed at the nursery, 12 of whom are appropriately qualified. Opening times are from 07.30 to 18.30 from Monday to Friday. The nursery receives support from the local authority and is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children have regular sessions each day to be active and enjoy fresh air. They use equipment such as the slide and climbing frame, they run around freely in the car park, with the gates securely locked, and really enjoy riding fast on their wheeled toys, down an incline. Younger children are able to benefit positively from fresh air as they are taken outdoors to sit and play under the shade of a large umbrella to shield them from the sun. Hats and sun-protection creams are used frequently to ensure children are appropriately protected. Staff are very secure about procedures for recording accidents and administration of medication, and children are always well taken care of, comforted and reassured when they have an accident. However, sometimes accidents are not recorded, which has a potential negative impact on children's well-being and results in parents not being informed.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are well protected from infection and are actively supported to stay healthy because staff observe good nappy changing procedures. They regularly use antibacterial spray on chairs and tables before children eat their meals, and the mops and cleaning cloths are colour-coded to avoid cross-contamination. Children are usually well supported by staff, and learn about basic health and hygiene practices as they wash their hands during the nursery day. For example, staff encourage independence and gently remind children to use the soap, get a paper towel and put it in the bin afterwards. However, children under three years do not always wash their hands, or have them washed for them, prior to eating, which presents a risk to their health, although they do use freshly laundered, separate face cloths to wash their face and hands after meals. Children are provided with nourishing and wholesome food. The four-week menu

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Helping children to be healthy

shows a variety of nutritionally balanced meals and snacks, which include fresh ingredients and plenty of fruit and vegetables. This effectively promotes children's good health and supports the development of good eating habits. All children are able to access drinks of water and confidently help themselves; children over two years pour their own from a jug on the table, and feeder cups are regularly available to children under two years.

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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 satisfactory. Children are suitably protected because staff feel reasonably secure about child protection issues. They are very clear about the designated person to talk to within the nursery, who is very knowledgeable, and they know that records of existing injuries should be kept to protect themselves as well as the children. Children are cared for in a nursery environment that is mostly warm and welcoming. Refurbishment is almost complete, it is well decorated, maintained, and brand new equipment has been purchased. The nursery is enhanced with attractive displays, photos, labelling and clear areas for different types of play. All of this successfully contributes to a bright and colourful, stimulating environment for children. The outdoor car park area does pose some potential risk to children due to the uneven surfaces, hazardous equipment, such as a large trailer, and a lack of fencing in some

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

areas. Staff have good systems in place to ensure all toys and resources remain safe and suitable as well as clean and hygienic for the children to play with. They are in excellent condition, very accessible and presented invitingly to children at their level. Good attention is paid to ensuring children's safety. For example, by keeping doors locked, shutting gates after use, keeping hot drinks away from the children and using a password system if others are collecting the children. Although off-site outings do not take place frequently, children are kept safe because staff ensure they plan well and consider all potential issues as they complete an outings form.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children develop confidence and self-esteem, and are clearly establishing positive and rewarding relationships with staff. For example, children under two years are very content and secure in their calm environment, they are extremely relaxed and at ease with staff and regularly hold up their arms to be cuddled. They absolutely love the singing session as they sing and move along rhythmically to 'If you're happy and you know it'. Children over two years are very confident and demonstrate good vocabulary as they tell the inspector about the dinosaurs they are playing with, and correctly name the colours of the crayons. The older children are very talkative and happy, lively and very enthusiastic in all they do. For example, they draw around each other with chalks outdoors and play pass the parcel, excitedly completing forfeits, such as touching their nose with their tongue.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The youngest children learn effectively through their senses and particularly enjoy tactile experiences such as shaving foam, water, pasta and exploring their very interesting treasure basket. Children aged over two years enjoy drawing and show good concentration as they spend time selecting different pencils and trying out various techniques such as circles, lines and dots. They become bored whilst waiting for their snack to be prepared because of an inappropriate choice of story book,

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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 which does not interest them or capture their attention. Outdoors, they use their initiative well and make good use of rocks and stones outdoors as they fill and empty their diggers and trucks. Children join in with games such as 'Toni says' and enthusiastically name and point to body parts upon request. The youngest children show great pleasure and experiment freely with paint using their fingers and printing with small bricks. Staff are beginning to use the Birth to three framework to help them plan appropriate activities for younger children. However, children's portfolios, which contain art work and general observations, do not link to children's progress within the different aspects. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. The senior staff member working

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

with the children demonstrates a sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage and is clearly familiar with the stepping stones, whilst her assistant is new to the group and is still becoming familiar with the curriculum. Therefore, the senior staff member takes responsibility for all the planning of activities, which includes a daily focussed activity, which she evaluates to assess whether children achieve the learning objective. Although the planning of activities links to different bands of the stepping stones over time, they do not show how staff plan to include differentiation and ensure that all individual children make satisfactory progress. Staff produce factual written reports at the end of term for parents to explain children's achievements but it is not clear what the children's starting points are and this makes it difficult to see the progress they are making towards the early learning goals. The room is well arranged to include all

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

areas of play, and plenty of labelling, numbers, friezes, displays and nicely presented children's art work promotes a stimulating learning environment. The easily accessible, labelled equipment helps children to be able to see what is available, which promotes free choice. However, sessions do include more adult-directed activities such as baking, number work, and circle time, which provide insufficient opportunities for children to make their own decisions in their play. Staff explain activities well and this ensures children are very clear about what is expected of them. For example, a staff member explains all about the equipment used for baking, such as a sieve and weighing scales. Staff implement their behaviour policy well and deal with plenty of challenging behaviour in a calm and mainly effective way. They continually promote sharing, and respect for the feelings of others as they tell children, 'That's not very kind to hurt your friends'. The

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

organisation of the session impacts negatively on children's behaviour at times, in particular, whilst they are waiting for the next activity or for their meals. Children show high levels of independence throughout all they do. They separate easily from their parents and cheerfully say goodbye to them as they arrive at nursery, they approach staff and their friends and begin playing immediately. Children very confidently stand up for their own rights and loudly make their views known, for example, as they announce 'It's my turn to mix the cake now'. Children clearly know about the rules for safety within the nursery, as they walk in single file down the stairs, holding carefully on to the handrail. They manage developmentally appropriate tasks easily, such as using the bathroom independently, washing and

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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 drying their hands themselves, pouring their own drinks and using a face cloth to wipe their own faces. Children use complex sentences as they tell others their news at circle time. They talk about the books they will need when they go to school and their school uniform. Children are enjoying an increasing range of books, they sit very attentively and listen with great interest to stories chosen by themselves and staff. They recognise the numeral six on the weighing scales as they measure ingredients for baking, and describe a number one as 'straight down'. Children take part in a group counting activity and show an interest in different number problems by counting small models of vehicles, by adding and taking some away. Whilst appropriate for some children, others become bored after a while, making it difficult to assess the progress of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

individual children. There are a general lack of opportunities for children to practise counting in their routine, daily activities. For example, staff do not encourage children to count each other, the number of plates or calculate the number of slices needed as they eat their cake after lunch. Children talk about what they see as they all take turns in adding ingredients and stirring the cake mixture. They show curiosity, observe and manipulate objects as they compare items in the treasure basket with interest and discuss what they are for. Children learn effectively about animals as they help to care for the nursery rabbit, clean out the hutch and feed it. They move around enthusiastically in a range of ways as they run around freely outdoors, hop together and take large and small steps in pursuit of a staff member. As they carefully manoeuvre bikes and wheeled toys, they adjust their speed and direction very well to avoid others. They are not able to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

effectively develop climbing and balancing skills because the equipment is small and not sufficiently challenging for older and more able children. Children show some awareness of healthy eating as they tell staff that sugar is bad for your teeth when they are baking. They are clearly very familiar with, and regularly choose and identify particular colours in their play. Children really enjoy the freedom of being able to move to music as they dance with great excitement as part of their party games.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Photographs of themselves at play, and displays of their art work promotes a strong sense of belonging for children of all ages. Children proudly show their pictures of a bus with tin foil wheels on the nursery wall. Staff support the development of children's self-assurance by providing them with plenty of affection, cuddles and kind words. Staff have established very successful relationships with parents which enables them to effectively meet individual children’s needs. There is a good two-way sharing of information and daily dairies are kept for all children under three years, containing details of meals, sleeps and nappy changes. Partnership with parents in regard to nursery education is satisfactory. They receive detailed information about the curriculum that is provided for their children in the prospectus, as well as the attractively presented notice board and leaflets given to

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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 them by nursery staff. Parents know they can access their children's development files, but they are not sufficiently involved in the process of identifying children's starting points and sharing information about children's achievements at home. This means that it is not clear to parents how much progress their children are making towards the early learning goals. Children are appropriately supported to understand responsible behaviour because staff work to their policy, by calmly implementing suitable behaviour management strategies at all times. However, at times, the organisation of the nursery routines for children aged over two does have a negative impact on their behaviour. This is because children become bored, restless and disruptive when they are waiting for activities or meals because they are provided with very little to do, or have to wait for

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Helping children make a positive contribution

unreasonable lengths of time. Staff are good at promoting positive relationships as they encourage children to include everyone in their play. Children are very good at tidying away toys and show that this is clearly a regular routine for them. The child-centred environment effectively supports children to make choices and develop independence, although this mostly applies to children under three years, as older children are engaged in a high level of adult-directed activity. Children are becoming aware of the wider society. For example, older children learn successfully about cultural and religious festivals as part of their education curriculum, and there are plenty of displays and posters showing diversity, as well as some good resources owned. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that children are extremely well protected and cared for by staff who have a knowledge and understanding of child development. The nursery owners pay excellent attention to vetting procedures and carry out thorough and detailed checks with their new staff members. Children are cared for by a high level of qualified staff and they all hold a current first aid certificate, which exceeds minimum requirements and protects children. Clear induction procedures ensure that all staff are fully informed about all aspects of the nursery as well as the policies and procedures. Staff are well organised and are given designated responsibility for important practical tasks within the nursery, such as ensuring soap dispensers are full and paper towels are available, which is beneficial to all children and staff. Children are cared for in small groups and are appropriately supported by their

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Organisation

key-carer, which positively contributes to their care and well-being. However, the organisation of some aspects of the nursery session does impact negatively on children's behaviour. Ratios of adults to children are always very well met and good arrangements are in place to cover staff breaks. Documentation is well organised, up to date and fully meets registration requirements although it is not currently securely locked away. Most policies and procedures work in practice to promote outcomes for children; they are currently being updated, in

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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 liaison with staff and the new operations manager, to ensure that they accurately reflect their working practice. The leadership and management of the nursery is satisfactory. Staff are well supported by the owners to attend relevant training to assist them in their work, and appraisals highlight weaknesses in their knowledge. Only one staff member working with children receiving nursery education funding is sufficiently confident and familiar with the foundation stage, which impacts negatively on children's learning. Overall the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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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 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 that documentation includes a record of all accidents, and improve hand washing practices for children prior to mealtimes • develop the children's outdoor area so that it is safe, secure and well maintained • develop planning and activities for young children, in line with the aspects and

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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 approach described in the Birth to three matters framework • improve the organisation of nursery routines in order to minimise negative behaviour • ensure that all documentation is kept securely on the premises.

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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): • extend opportunities for children to count and to learn about simple number problems in their everyday activities • support children’s physical development through access to sufficiently challenging equipment to promote their climbing and balancing skills • develop systems of planning to highlight differentiation for more and less able children, and assessment to show children's starting points and how individual children are making progress towards the early learning goals • promote the involvement of parents in helping to identify children's starting points and sharing children's progress and achievements at home • support staff to develop their knowledge and understanding of the foundation stage of learning.

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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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