Parklands Private Day Nursery Lydiate

Parklands Private Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Parklands Private Day Nursery

EY333142 Unique Reference Number 12 December 2006 Inspection date Frank William Kelly Inspector

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Parklands Private Day Nursery

Parklands Private Day Nursery, Moss Lane, Lydiate, Liverpool, L31 4DB Setting Address

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Parklands Private Day Nursery

0151 531 6776 Telephone number val@parklandsnursery.com E-mail Parklands Private Day Nursery Ltd Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Parklands Private Day Nursery

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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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 satisfactory. At the time of the inspection there were no children in receipt of nursery education. Ofsted judges that the provider remains suitable to provide nursery education.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Parklands Private Day Nursery has been registered since 2006 and is one of two settings operated by an organisation. The nursery operates from detached premises, which has four playrooms and is situated in the Lydiate area of Merseyside. All the children have access to a fully enclosed garden.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery may care for 36 children at any one time. There are currently 18 children on roll aged from seven months to three years. The setting cares for a number of children who have additional needs. There are no children on roll who receive funding for nursery education. The nursery operates each weekday from 08.00 to 18.00, 51 weeks of the year.

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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 setting employs seven staff. All staff including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children's health and well-being is effectively promoted in this clean and well organised setting. Staff implement the good hygiene procedures with efficiency and consistency. For example, staff wear red aprons whilst changing children and white aprons, when preparing or serving food. Policies and procedures regarding sick children, reporting notifiable diseases and incidences of food poisoning are detailed and clearly known by staff, thus, further reducing the risk of infection for the children.

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Helping children to be healthy

A well stocked first aid box is easily accessible from all play rooms and three staff hold up to date first aid certificates, which means that suitable arrangements are in place to treat minor injuries. Accident and administration of medication procedures are very good and further contribute to the protection of children. For example, the medication administration form includes details of any previous dosage and when it has been administered.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are learning about good personal hygiene as staff encourage and prompt them during their daily routines. Two-year-olds are clearly familiar with the procedures after visiting the toilet and eagerly go to the sinks to wash their hands and seek the paper towels to dry their hands. However, staff do not always check that the paper towel dispenser has been replenished. With gentle prompting some children can discuss germs and how they might get into their tummies. Babies and younger children receive a clean flannel with which staff help them to wash their faces and hands, thus, keeping them clean and comfortable throughout their day.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy regular opportunities for physical play both indoors and out. Babies have many opportunities to explore their environment and are supported well by the staff. For example, staff support babies to stand and practise their stepping motions, thus, developing muscle tone and strength. The toys and resources available interest the children and are arranged so that the children are encouraged to crawl and stretch to reach them. Toddlers have good space to move and staff provide push and pull toys that help them to move easily and develop coordination skills as they manoeuvre around obstacles, such as furniture and toys. Older children enjoy riding on wheeled toys and have access to equipment, such as the large climbing frame or balancing along the line of stepping logs. Other planned activities include regular access to mark making tools, tactile resources, such as dough and collage materials, and sessions

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Helping children to be healthy

Suitable arrangements for attending to children's individual dietary needs are in place and implemented well in practice. The staff are familiar with the children's individual needs and preferences. Preparation of babies formula fully reflects recent advice received from the environmental health officer. Meals and snacks are prepared daily in the premises and consideration is given to the quality of any commercially prepared products in relation to their salt, sugar and fat contents. Staff clearly understand the children's differing needs and serve

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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 the meals in an appropriate consistency for the age and developmental stage of the children. For example, during the inspection, babies received a pulsed version of the spaghetti bolognaise, whilst toddlers had meals that retained more texture but the spaghetti was well chopped, thus, enabling the children to succeed in keeping it on their spoons, whilst feeding themselves. Regular drinks are provided throughout the day and all children have access to drinks in their playrooms.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a modern, safe, secure environment that is welcoming and well presented. The play areas provide good natural light and furniture is organised for freedom of movement. Children play with a wide range of good quality, safe and suitable toys and resources. Staff creatively organise the equipment and space, providing interesting areas of play for children to freely and safely access. Rest and relaxation areas enable children to sit in comfort and all furniture is child size to promote their independence.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff supervise the children closely and monitor the access to the premises with efficiency. All visitors including parents are required to sign in and out and staff ensure that the entrance is fully secured after anyone leaves. Good safety arrangements are in place and policies and procedures are fully understood by staff. Regular risk assessments of the premises on a daily basis and monitoring and maintenance of toys and resources are completed to identify any hazards and minimise accidental injury to children. The children's welfare is further safeguarded as staff frequently practise the fire evacuation procedure, thus, helping the children to become aware of what to do in the event of an emergency. Policies relating to sleeping babies are in place and followed well in practice by the staff. This includes regular checks and maintaining written records to share with parents.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is a clear child protection policy and a designated person responsible for child protection who has recently updated their training. Parents are informed of the procedures before children are cared for and requested to keep the nursery informed of any accidents that have happened whilst not at nursery. Some of the staff have completed relevant training and all staff are able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the steps they need to take and the procedures to follow to safeguard children. The policies and procedures reflect those of the Local Safeguarding Children Board.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. All children receive good levels of praise and encouragement from all staff, which successfully fosters their confidence and self-esteem. Younger children are developing confidence to explore their environment and experiment with toys and resources as captures their imagination. For example, a toddler enjoys trying to fit together a metal whisk and spiral egg cup. Much investigation takes place as she tries to press both ends of the whisk into the egg cup opening. Children have good freedom of movement and get to mix with other children as staff open the connecting door between the babies and toddlers' room. Some babies are fascinated by the

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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 comings and goings of the older children and watch with interest to what is happening around them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff are warm and sensitive to the children's needs; they know the children well and readily identify when they want a rest or their nappy changing. Children in return are content and secure with their special worker. Good communication is maintained at all times even when staff are on the opposite side of the room, as staff call and talk to the children about what they are doing or what they are playing with. Toddlers seek and take comfort from the staff when they are unsure of visitors. They soon gain confidence to carry on with their play, secure in the knowledge that they are safe as staff stay close by to reassure the children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff have a good understanding of the 'Birth to three matters' framework; good practice is observed in their day to day routines, such as talking to the children whilst changing them, using mirrors to help them gain a sense of themselves and displaying photographs of the children in their playrooms to help them feel valued. Planning systems are in place that includes specific activities for individual children to help them progress their development at their level. Good use is made of the 'all about me' books to help staff gain an insight at what stage of development the children have reached when they first start at nursery. However, there are some inconsistencies within the setting how the planning of the curriculum is implemented. Some staff have not planned for the month of December; choosing to focus on the activities linked to the Christmas celebrations but not linking them formally to the children's development

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they have done during previous months. This means that opportunities to extend the children's experiences may be missed.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Older children confidently chat about what they are doing, such as which book they are looking at. They enjoy sitting and looking at books and stories with adults. Staff help them to understand that print carries meaning by discussing the text in the book, and encouraging the children to handle the books with care. Children understand there is a sequence as they turn the pages and talk about the images that they see.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. At present the setting is not providing nursery education as there is no demand from the children currently on roll. That said, the staff have created, in anticipation, a lively and pleasant learning environment for the children. Wall displays are rich in print, images and numerals. Toys and equipment are organised into specific continuous areas of play and stored in low level units that are clearly labelled with both pictures and printed labels, to help children locate, select and return resources independently. These areas of play have been carefully thought out and well resourced. For example, the mark making area includes a range of pens, pencils and crayons. It is complimented by a range of paper, diaries, note pads and other materials, such as printing blocks for children to explore and develop their early writing skills. Writing materials and tools are threaded through the other

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

areas, for example, pads and pens are included in the 'office' and 'role play' areas.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Suitable planning systems have been prepared following a thematic approach, such as 'all about me', with the activities planned to link both to the six areas of learning and the stepping stones as detailed in the 'Curriculum Guidance For the Foundation Stage'. Evaluation and monitoring

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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 systems have been prepared and provide the staff with a suitable means by which to evaluate the individual child's developmental needs and plan future activities to help them progress. The setting will be recording children's progress in the local authority 'plotting progress' booklets and records of children's work and achievements will be retained in an individual portfolio.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are treated with equal concern and their individual needs are well met. This is because staff obtain and record relevant information from parents, which is used to plan the care for the children. On a daily basis, children play with a satisfactory selection of good quality resources and look at books and enjoy stories that reflect the diversity within today's society. The setting has suitable procedures in place to ensure that all children integrate and are supported and valued. These systems aim to enable staff to be able to work closely with parents and other relevant parties, ensuring that appropriate action can be taken to promote the welfare and development of any children with additional needs.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. This is a very caring setting and staff manage the children's behaviour well and give good consideration to the children's stage of development and maturity. For example, staff recognise that toddlers are not developmentally ready to share, however, they continue to encourage children to take turns but make sure that there is sufficient materials, such as crayons to enable the children to play alongside one another. Older children are encouraged to take turns turning the pages of the Christmas story. Praise and encouragements are consistent and staff create a very positive environment, supporting the children in a calm and caring manner. They act as good role models, showing respect and consideration for the individual children and each other and encourage the children to help look after their toys and environment.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Overall, the partnership with parents is good. There are good systems for sharing information about the individual child's needs, likes and wishes. Children benefit from the close relationship staff have with parents. Parents are relaxed and chatty when leaving and collecting their children and much information is shared both verbally and in the form of written daily diaries. All parents are informed of the learning programmes be it linked to the Foundation Stage or the 'Birth to three matters' framework. With regards to Nursery Education partnership with parents is satisfactory; suitable systems have been developed with a view to enable parents to contribute to their children's learning and development. However, at present no funded nursery education is being provided, therefore, it is not possible to make an informed judgement on how effectively this will be implemented in practice.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. There is good organisation at this setting. The secure recruitment and selection procedure means that the adults employed, have completed appropriate vetting procedures and have the required skills and experience to care for children. Children have very good adult support as

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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 key worker systems have been successfully established and staff ratios exceed the minimum requirements. The children are confident, secure and at ease within the nursery.

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Organisation

Very good policies and procedures have been developed, and are shared with the staff team through excellent induction procedures, which contribute greatly to the overall consistency and quality of care that the children receive. Most regulatory documentation is in place as required, including a detailed complaints procedure, however, little consideration has been given to how information about any concerns received, would be shared with parents without compromising confidentiality.

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Organisation

The management have a commitment to improvement, training and the professional development of staff, which successfully contributes to the quality of the children's care, learning and play. With regards to nursery education the leadership and management is satisfactory. They have prepared and established suitable systems for the implementation of the nursery education programme. However, at present there is no way of evaluating how successfully these will be monitored in practice.

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Organisation

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

Since registration 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. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaint 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 satisfactory. At the time of the inspection there were no children in receipt of nursery education. Ofsted judges that the provider remains suitable to provide nursery education.

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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):

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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 • revise the complaints procedure to include a system for sharing appropriate information about any concerns received • ensure that the planning is consistently applied at all times (also applies to nursery education).

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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): • make improvements as indicated in the care education section above.

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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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