Sunshine Corner Day Nursery

Sunshine Corner Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

p.1

Sunshine Corner Day Nursery

251800 Unique Reference Number 17 October 2006 Inspection date Emma Bright Inspector

p.1

Sunshine Corner Day Nursery

Abundant Life Church, Back Street, Lakenheath, Brandon, Suffolk, IP27 9HF

p.1

E-mail

Sunshine Corner Day Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

p.1

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

p.1

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.

p.2

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

p.2

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.

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.2

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.

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Sunshine Corner Day Nursery is managed by a voluntary management committee, made up of church members. It opened in 1999 and operates from the Abundant Life Church in the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk. A maximum of 32 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open five days a week from 08:00 to 16:00 all year round, with the exception of public holidays. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 52 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 23 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the local area and surrounding villages. The nursery currently supports a small number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities.

p.2

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 employs four staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is currently working towards a qualification.

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children effectively learn about personal hygiene through regular routines such as washing their hands before eating or after using the toilet; they know that they need to wash their hands when they have ‘a cough and a sneeze because of the germs on their hands’. Staff act as good role models, wiping down surfaces before serving food and after children have eaten to help children to stay healthy. All children learn about leading a healthy lifestyle through everyday, practical experiences. They run around and exert themselves outdoors in all kinds of weather and learn the importance of regular fresh air and exercise. Children develop good physical coordination as they pedal their tricycles or push themselves along on scooters. They competently climb large apparatus and enjoy going down the slide on their tummies. This helps them to develop good muscle control, feel relaxed and develop a sense of overall well-being.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

Children learn about healthy eating through direct experiences, such as growing food or cooking, and their nutritional needs are very well met. They help themselves to fresh drinking water when they need it so that they are well hydrated. Staff have a good understanding of childhood nutrition and ensure children are well nourished. For example, children help themselves to a very good selection of healthy snacks laid out ‘buffet’ style and enthusiastically tuck in to pieces of carrot, apple, cucumber and breadsticks. They are beginning to make connections about healthy food being ‘good for you’ and discuss with staff their favourite healthy choices.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

If the children become unwell or have an accident whilst they are in the care of nursery, clear, up-to-date records are in place to make sure that appropriate care is given. Staff follow procedures effectively to make sure that parents are well informed about accidents or any medication that their child receives. All staff hold current first aid certificates so that they know what to do in the event of an accident or emergency. However, there is no written consent for emergency medical treatment, which affects children’s health in an emergency.

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children move around safely under the constant supervision of the staff; they learn how to keep themselves safe when using scissors or riding their tricycles outdoors because staff gently remind them to be careful. Children's safety is enhanced by good security procedures to restrict access to the setting and prevent them from leaving the premises unaccompanied. Risk assessments and daily checks by staff further promote children’s safety. Thorough safety policies and procedures are clearly implemented by staff to ensure children's safety, including regular fire drills to help children know what to do in the case of an emergency evacuation of the premises.

p.3

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 All children play with an excellent range of good quality, accessible and safe resources and equipment. The low-level accessible storage of equipment significantly enhances the children’s development; they engage in purposeful activity, as they safely choose items themselves to promote their independence. Resources have been carefully selected to support children’s play. They are cleaned and checked regularly to ensure that they remain safe and in good condition.

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children’s welfare is safeguarded and promoted by staff who have a very good understanding of the setting’s child protection procedures, which are in line with those set out by the Local Safeguarding Children Board. They attend regular training in child protection to ensure their knowledge is up-to-date and a designated person ensures that any concerns are dealt with effectively, so that children’s best interests are maintained.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children’s experiences are significantly enhanced by the skilful interaction of staff who enjoy working with them and use their excellent understanding of child development to support children’s learning. The team use the ‘Birth to three matters’ framework as a reference tool to assess the progress of younger children and to create an environment where they thrive. Children acquire new knowledge and skills because staff gently encourage them to participate in activities, using good questioning skills to help children think and develop their language.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children arrive happy and with eager anticipation at the setting. They relish their time in the highly stimulating and very well resourced environment, which puts them first. Children play effectively on their own or with others and form strong friendships with their peers. Close and caring relationships throughout the setting increase children’s sense of trust and self-esteem. Children demonstrate great pride in their achievements and announce excitedly “I made a circle and a star. Look this is my purple one!” Staff are sensitive to children's needs and interact with them at a very high level to extend their learning and play; they listen and respond to children's comments and ideas, treating what they say with respect. This contributes significantly to the children's sense of belonging and continuously develops their confidence and self-esteem.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are highly independent and confident, readily directing their own learning; they busy themselves, selecting additional resources to support their play from the superb range available to them. Children sustain attention for long periods of time as they become engrossed in their self-chosen tasks. For example, children take their ‘babies’ from the ‘home’ corner and give them a bath in the water tray. They gently wash the doll’s hair, saying “Close your eyes so the water doesn’t get in them”.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children benefit from the staff's very good knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum and know how the activities they provide contribute to children’s progress. They plan meaningful, practical activities that capture children’s interests and encourage them to explore. A flexible approach to this planning means that the balance between adult and child-led activities allows children to learn at their own pace. Staff are perceptive to children’s interests and make effective use of questions to

p.4

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 challenge their thinking and language skills. Children respond positively to this challenge and enjoy demonstrating what they know with great enthusiasm. Good systems to observe, monitor and record children’s achievements ensure that staff build on what children already know and they plan experiences that help children take the next step in their learning. As a result children are making good progress towards the early learning goals.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children explore their creativity in art and craft, thoroughly enjoying ‘icing’ their ‘cakes’ with shaving foam. They excitedly create ‘twirly swirls’, squirting paint onto paper placed in a salad spinner and delight in the patterns it makes, remarking “Oh look! It’s mixed them all up”. Children enjoy singing familiar songs, some singing confidently and loudly on their own to the group, who applaud to acknowledge their achievement. Children interact confidently with others, taking turns in conversation and enjoy listening to and using spoken language in their play. They chat happily together and become involved in lots of discussion with staff about what they are doing as they tackle their activities. Staff use good questioning skills to encourage children to demonstrate what they know and extend their thinking. Children enjoy lots of activities to promote their small skills. For example, they use cheese graters, scissors and small

p.5

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

hammers with increasing control and this helps to develop their muscles and encourage good hand and eye coordination. Children use marks readily to represent their ideas; they ‘write’ notes to take home and shopping lists in the role play area. Children recognise their own name and some older children are beginning to form recognisable letters to write their own name.

p.5

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are highly independent; they concentrate and sustain attention in tasks that stimulate them. Their behaviour is very good and they take turns, such as when negotiating for resources, readily sharing them with others. Children are developing a good understanding of numbers, counting and calculation. They use number in a meaningful context and understand that numbers represent sets of objects and written numerals. For example, they count how many puzzle pieces and correctly identify the corresponding numeral. Children know how old they are and demonstrate on their fingers how old they will be next. They develop mathematical ideas as they ‘price’ goods in a shopping activity and charge two pounds for an apple. Children find out about and observe living things; Charlie the giant land snail is a source of fascination for all children. They talk knowledgeably about what he needs to help him grow and be healthy.

p.5

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children know that his favourite food is cucumber and cuttlefish helps his shell to grow strong. They also know “he can’t eat pizza because he hasn’t got any teeth”.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children benefit from the setting’s strong emphasis of working with parents and carers. Thorough settling-in procedures that are based around their individual needs help to support children in the transition between home and the setting. Parents speak highly of the setting and staff; they receive clear and detailed information about the setting so they know about activities and events, and have daily opportunities to discuss their child with staff. This helps children to settle quickly and ensures their individual needs continue to be met. All documentation is in place to share information with parents and carers, however the group has not yet responded to changes in legislation regarding the recording of any complaints that parents might raise in the future.

p.5

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 Children show a strong sense of belonging as they greet staff and each other upon arrival at the nursery each morning. They readily share experiences with adults, who encourage children to respect each other’s needs and to use conventions such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Staff act as good role models, using positive language to reinforce the rules of the setting and as a result children work harmoniously together. In addition, children’s self-esteem is further enhanced through helper awards. They receive these awards for listening well, helping another person or tidying up, and they applaud each other to acknowledge their success and celebrate their achievement.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. They work together co-operatively during group activities and learn to care for others through activities, such as participating in fundraising events and send letters, photographs and presents to their friends in India. Children learn about the world they live in: they look at books and take part in a range of cultural and religious celebrations to help them develop positive attitudes towards diversity. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities benefit from staff’s experience and caring support, which enables them to participate at their own pace. Staff actively work with parents, carers and other agencies to support the children's needs and this ensures that they are fully included in the life of the setting.

p.6

Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children in receipt of early education is good. Parents receive clear information about nursery activities so that they can support their child’s learning at home. Children’s records are available to parents on a regular basis and they meet regularly with their child's key worker to ensure that they know how their child is progressing and developing. However, parents have less information on the Foundation Stage, which means they are not always aware of how activities help children learn and make progress towards the early learning goals.

p.6

Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit from a well prepared environment that promotes positive outcomes for all children and enables them to make decisions and pursue their own interests. This contributes to their enjoyment at the setting. Children are happy and confident because staff develop warm and affectionate relationships with them. Rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that adults are suitable and have appropriate skills and knowledge to work with children. The induction procedure and detailed operational plan, with up-to-date information for staff, makes sure that all members of the team are secure in their knowledge of their roles and responsibilities. Over half of the staff team hold early years qualifications and appraisals identify areas for professional development to further improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the needs of the children.

p.6

Organisation

Staff work well together and demonstrate great enthusiasm for creating a learning environment that stimulates and interests all children. Policies, records and procedures are clear and comprehensive, underpinning the good practice in promoting positive outcomes for children. Staff regularly attend a range of training opportunities, which means that children benefit from practices which are in line with current ideas and legislation. Good settling-in procedures ensure

p.6

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 that parents feel secure in the care their child receives and this means children settle readily and become confident members of the nursery.

p.6

Organisation

The leadership and management of children in receipt of funding for early education is good. Systems are in place to look at the effectiveness of the provision and through this evaluative practice the staff team continue to enhance children’s experiences at the setting. The manager is committed to continually developing the setting's practice to ensure that all children have access to good quality learning experiences. Staff ensure that all parents have regular opportunities to discuss how their child is progressing through parents' meetings and written information. Children benefit from the staff's knowledge and understanding of how children learn and their ongoing commitment to further training to update their knowledge and practice. Staff work very well together as a team and demonstrate great enthusiasm for creating a learning environment that promotes positive outcomes for children. Overall children's needs

p.7

Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, the provider agreed to improve the complaints procedure and child protection policy and keep a record of visitors. The complaints procedure has been updated; however, following changes in legislation the procedure is in need of further updating to improve information for parents. This has been raised as a recommendation at this inspection. The child protection policy has been updated and a visitors record is now kept, which improves children's safety and ensures they are protected.

p.7

Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection, the provider agreed to improve ways that children may use name cards. Children now use their name cards in a variety of everyday activities, such as self-registration and this means they have good opportunities to recognise their name.

p.7

Complaints since the last inspection

Since 1 April 2004 there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

p.7

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.

p.7

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.7

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.

p.7

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

p.7

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND 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

p.7

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): • obtain written permission from parents to seek emergency medical advice or treatment • develop knowledge and understanding of the changes in regulations with regard to keeping a complaints log and ensuring that it is available on request.

p.8

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): • ensure that parents are provided with further information on the Foundation Stage so that they know how activities help children learn and make progress towards the early learning goals.

p.8

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

p.8

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

p.8