Play 2 Learn Day Nursery

The Haven 2000 Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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219187 Unique Reference Number 21 November 2006 Inspection date Susan Marriott Inspector

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78 Clapham Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK41 7PN Setting Address

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01234 353566 Telephone number barkerhvn@aol.com E-mail The Haven 2000 Nursery LTD Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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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 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?

The Haven 2000 Nursery opened in August 2000. It operates from a Victorian three-storey house situated close to the town centre of Bedford. It serves Bedford and the wider neighbouring areas.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 56 children from six weeks to eight-years-old on roll. Of these, 21 receive funding for nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting is able to support children who have learning difficulties and disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery opens five days a week all year round, except for one week at Christmas. Nursery opening times are from 07.30 to 18.00. The setting also offers holiday care for five to eight-year-old children and this provision is open daily from 08.00 to 18.00 during each school break.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are 11 staff who work with the children, and of these, 10 have recognised early years qualifications. The setting 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 satisfactory. Children stay healthy because staff follow generally effective health and hygiene policies and procedures. Sick children are excluded from the provision to minimise the spread of infection and the premises are maintained in a properly clean state. Tables are regularly sprayed with anti-bacterial spray to prevent cross-contamination and the setting now encourages staff to use anti-bacterial gel on their hands to limit the spread of infection. Visitors and parents are asked to wear blue overshoes when walking through the nursery to limit cross-contamination. However, staff and children walk in and out of the nursery and garden with outdoor shoes on which compromises the benefits of using overshoes. Children wash their hands before eating foods and staff always remind children to wash their hands after visiting the toilet. However, some staff tend to instruct rather than explain, which limits children's learning about reducing

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Helping children to be healthy

the spread of germs. Staff tend to access tissues and pass them to the child when needed or wipe the child's nose for them without comment. This does not encourage the children to become independent in recognising their personal needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children receive appropriate treatment in minor medical emergency because staff hold suitable first aid qualifications and the first aid boxes are accessible. However, the contents are not checked regularly and some dressings exceed the 'use by' date. This means that dressings cannot be guaranteed sterile and presents the potential risk of cross-contamination. Permission to act in an emergency situation is gained on the registration form but does not clearly relate to the seeking of medical advice or treatment. Staff conscientiously record accidents and include the relevant details. There are clear procedures in place for administering medication to children but some staff are careless in their implementation of these. For example, bottles of pain relief syrup are not put back into the named boxes, compromising the labelling system. Staff do not accurately monitor the temperature of the fridge to ensure that milk and some food items are

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from a healthy diet where all snacks and meals are nutritious and prepared on site. Meal times are being used to good effect as a learning time for most children, promoting social skills and some independence. Older children help themselves to cutlery and pour their own drinks. They are beginning to learn to serve themselves with part of the meal, such as the mashed potato. Children learn good health habits as they are encouraged to brush their teeth after eating lunch, but staff do not always use the opportunity to discuss dental health. Children do not become thirsty whilst playing because they can ask for a drink at any time and can freely access their own named drink container. Unfortunately, some staff do not always notice occasions when one child drinks from another's cup, presenting the potential for the spread of germs.

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Helping children to be healthy

All the children enjoy frequent daily access to the safely enclosed garden for recreational play and fresh air. Structured activities enable them to develop control of their bodies and improve their physical skills through a generally appropriate level of challenge. For example, the children practise their hand-eye coordination as they throw large balls through plastic hoops held by staff. Children also enjoy free play and have access to a range of wheeled toys, a safely netted trampoline and large climbing equipment.

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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. Staff give good priority to the security of the premises and the front door is monitored by closed circuit television. Staff monitor visitors to the setting and the record of visitors provides space for recording the actual purpose of the visit to the premises. Staff record fire evacuation procedures and carry out drills with suitable frequency to ensure the safety of the children. Relevant risk assessments are completed for specific activities and staff complete an annual risk evaluation on the occasion of insurance renewal. Sensible measures are in place to protect children's safety, for example, there are stair gates on the stairwells and all electrical sockets are covered. Children learn to keep themselves safe in the setting because staff give good explanations as to why, for example, it is wise to hold the handrail when climbing the stairs. However, occasional lapses in supervision in the garden, potentially compromise children's

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

safety. For example, children climb the branches of a shrub in the hedging.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are warmly welcomed and well cared for in a pleasant, suitably safe and secure indoor and outdoor environment. At the time of inspection, the nursery was being attractively re-decorated to improve the environment for children. The younger children are accommodated in rooms dedicated to the various age groups. The pre-school space is creatively divided into different areas for activities relating to the six areas of learning. Displays of children's work enhance the environment and reinforce and consolidate topical learning. Resources are generally adequate and accessible. However, some staff do not provide suitable play materials for very young children. For example, children pick up pine cones and dry pasta from the collage box and place these items in their mouths, unnoticed by staff.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is adequately safeguarded because they are protected by informed adults who understand current child protection policies and procedures in line with those of the Local Safeguarding Children Board. However, the brief child protection policy does not include a procedure to be followed in the event of allegation of abuse being made against a staff member.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children of all ages settle quickly into the provision and enjoy themselves in this welcoming place to play and learn. In the baby room, the staff give the children lots of attention and cuddles and make sure that the children are always their first priority. Older children actively participate in a suitable range of play activities and clearly enjoy the friendly atmosphere. They are making sound progress in learning, leisure and personal development because staff continue to develop their understanding of good quality childcare practice. Most staff provide positive role models for children and give sensitive support to the children. They demonstrate a genuine affection for children and clearly enjoy their company. Staff follow children to the activities which engage their interest and provide increasingly effective support to draw the learning from play. This promotes positive outcomes for children. However, on occasions, some staff

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

are insufficiently prepared and organised to promote children's learning. For example, when children come into their rooms from outside play, there is little to play with. Toys and play materials are not set out attractively for the children and the contents of a dressing up box are hastily tipped onto the floor. Consequently, the children show more interest in their visitor than in play. The staff are beginning to use the 'Birth to three matters' framework to guide their practice with children under three years old and link the aspects and components to the planning for older children. However, some staff busy themselves with completing their written observations instead of interacting with the children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

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

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. The staff have an increasing knowledge of the Foundation Stage and as a result, children are making suitable progress towards the early learning goals. Staff in the pre-school room work well as a team to prepare toys and equipment in advance and achieve a good balance between adult-led and child-initiated activities. Planning continues to evolve and staff are committed to reviewing and evaluating their work to achieve the best possible results for the children. Plans identify the learning intentions clearly. The staff have ownership of their planning system and are experimenting to ensure that their planning system is supporting their teaching in a manageable format. This underpins the improving quality of the learning programme and is beginning to provide a clear focus to secure and progress children's learning. The observation-based assessments are designed to enable

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children's progress through the stepping stones to be tracked. However, the staff team have yet to get to grips with regularly updating entries. Therefore, planning is not reliably based upon what children know and can do.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All six areas of learning are covered through the daily activities, but variable quality of teaching potentially limits children's learning. A short Italian lesson, encourages children's listening, concentration and memory skills. A staff member asks the children to name parts of the body in Italian, as she points to them and asks if the children can recall what Italian children say to their parents in the morning and at night. However, the staff member lacks experience and there are no visual aids to hold the children's attention. Some children begin to fidget and roll about on the floor, which distracts those children showing interest in the session. An experienced staff member has good strategies for re-gaining control of the group and steps in to take charge of the whole group. She asks the children how they might feel if they were knocked over and how they know when people are sad. Children are reminded about good manners and courtesy

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they help to tidy the toys which are strewn all over the floor.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The staff show the children how to take a vote to decide which story to read and there is some very good practical counting and comparison of the totals, showing how children's mathematical development is promoted through the daily activities. Staff tell the story of the Naughty Lion, explaining how books work. Staff talk about the spine of the book giving it its strength and holding the book up just like the spine in the human back. A display of children's recent work about 'measuring', shows that they used their hands to measure themselves against the fence and compared their heights. Children explore and investigate through planned activities and use information technology. They talk about their lives and share their experiences of family life. Children explore a variety of media through art and craft activities and enjoy planned musical and dance activities during the week.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children from the local community are warmly welcomed and included in all activities. Children develop their understanding and appreciation of others through simple activities that promote a greater awareness of the wider world. Toys, books and equipment reflect positive images. Some activities are planned to highlight festivals and themes around the world such as Ramadan and Diwali. These increase children's awareness of other cultures and help the children to begin to develop a positive attitude to others.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children who have varying needs receive suitable support. Children who may have learning difficulties receive appropriate intervention and referrals to suitable professionals outside 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. However, the policy to support individual needs does not fully meet requirements because it uses outdated terminology. Most staff praise children frequently, ensuring that they develop confidence and self-esteem and understand when they have done well. However, a few staff lack the appropriate knowledge, experience and skills to manage the challenging behaviour of some children, intervening with variable levels of effectiveness. This lack of consistency sends mixed messages to some children and results in some instances of poor behaviour. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff continue to strive to develop a positive partnership with parents to support children’s progress in learning. The setting is now aware of new legislation issued October 2005, regarding the complaints process. The nursery provides lots of information in the entrance area for parents including general care and educational literature. Staff support the settling-in process with a settling-in diary. Staff are developing ways of sharing information about the children who receive nursery education. Parents are able to see their child's records and may contribute to them. This two-way sharing benefits the child and enhances their learning. The partnership with parents and carers of children who receive nursery education is satisfactory.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The nursery is conscientiously operated as a family business with different family members bringing their individual strengths to the management team. Staff are positively encouraged to access both internal and external training courses to extend their skills, knowledge and understanding of quality childcare. The nursery is a training and assessment centre for nursery nursing qualifications and any unqualified staff are obliged to work towards a qualification as a condition of employment. This commitment to continuous improvement promotes generally positive outcomes for children. However, the management team have not managed to sustain their usual monitoring of the provision over recent months, the implementation of policies and procedures has lapsed and this has unfortunately contributed to compromised standards of care. For example, room registers are not consistently updated to reflect the number of children

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the nursery education is satisfactory. The early years teacher has an excellent knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage guidance and has the requisite skills and experience to do her job well. However, she has recently returned to her post after an extended period of absence and has yet to settle into her role and fully implement her programme for improvement. She prioritises the needs and welfare of the children, whilst ensuring that the day runs smoothly and is mostly well-organised. The young staff team respond positively to her guidance and are not afraid to experiment and try alternative ways of achieving their aims, although they have yet to develop positive ways of monitoring and evaluating the provision effectively. Planning and assessment systems continue to evolve, thereby increasingly securing and progressing children's learning. Lots of continuous and recent training continues

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Organisation

to extend staff skills and knowledge which contributes to positive outcomes for children. Most documentation is clear and generally accessible. Taken overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, four recommendations were raised to improve the quality and standards of care. These concerned further development of the child protection procedures, the review and evaluation of procedures and development, children's access to a range of toys and play

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Improvements 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 materials during time allocated for non-structured activities and a review of safety measures on the top floor.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Safety measures have all been properly addressed. Stair gates are fitted securely, the fire extinguisher is secured to the wall bracket and cleaning materials are not left within reach of children, and consequently, this action has improved the safety of children. However, the child protection policy is rather brief and requires further work, following this inspection. Limited progress has been made in the review and evaluation of procedures and children's access to a range of toys and play materials remains to be addressed following the re-decoration work. The provision has made somewhat limited progress in addressing the recommendations made at the last inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection of nursery education, four key issues were raised. These included reviewing the presentation of written plans and organisation of activities; improvements to the observations and assessments; the improvement of opportunities for children to explore the written word and opportunities for the children to take part in regular physical activities. Plans now clarify what the children are expected to do and learn, although the use of assessment to inform planning remains an issue following this inspection. The organisation has improved to enable children to explore practical activities which involve basic addition and subtraction, design technology and shape recognition. Some labelling is now provided to enable children to explore the written word around the nursery and to use it purposefully in play situations. Children do take part in regular physical activities to improve their skills. The actions taken have satisfactorily

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Improvements since the last inspection

improved the provision for nursery education.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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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 the first aid boxes are suitably stocked, that items are checked frequently and replaced as necessary. Ensure that written parental permission is requested, at the time of the placement, to the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment in the future

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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 that good practice is adhered to in relation to health and hygiene (this refers to the appropriate storage of all medication and control of fridge temperatures in line with Environmental Health guidelines) • ensure that children can play safely outside through a combination of supervision and protection from hazards and that all activities and play materials are appropriate for the ages and individual developmental stages of the children • ensure that the child protection policy contains a procedure to be followed in the event of allegation of abuse being made against a member of staff or volunteer • update the written statement about special needs which is consistent with current legislation and guidance and includes both special educational needs and disabilities

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The quality and standards of the care

• improve and monitor the daily practice to ensure that staff consistently implement the nursery's policies and procedures.

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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 staff knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage • continue to develop planning systems to secure an improved programme of learning for children • ensure that the assessment records are regularly updated and use this information to inform the next steps in children's learning.

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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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