Ysgol Gynradd Abersoch

Jitterbugs Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Jitterbugs Day Nursery

400096 Unique Reference Number 22 November 2006 Inspection date Elizabeth Patricia Edmond Inspector

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Jitterbugs Day Nursery

5 & 7 Trinity Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 2TD Setting Address

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Jitterbugs Day Nursery

01723 370977 Telephone number www.jitterbugs@btconnect E-mail Linda Wood Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Jitterbugs 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Jitterbugs Day Nursery opened in 1999. It operates from a three storey town terraced building situated on the south side of Scarborough. The ground and first floors are used for the nursery provision. There are 2 enclosed areas at the rear of the property for outdoor play and learning. The nursery serves the local and surrounding areas. Children attend for a variety of part time sessions or for full days. The nursery is open Monday to Friday throughout the year except for bank holidays and a full week at Christmas. Opening times are 08.00 until 17.45.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 86 children on the register aged from three months to five years old. The nursery is registered to provide funded nursery education to those children of eligible age. There are currently 22 children in receipt of such funding. There are a small number of children who have attending who have additional learning needs or English as additional language. The nursery receives support from the local authority in respect of the care and the educational

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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 programme. The nursery has also completed 2 levels of the local authority's quality assurance scheme and is now working towards their gold award.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are 14 staff employed to work with the children. Of these the majority have relevant childcare qualifications and experience; the remaining few are working towards this level. Additional staff are employed for cooking duties.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. The children are cared for in a very clean environment when they develop a very high level of independence and understanding in relation to their personal hygiene and other cleanliness issues. Even the youngest toddlers confidently remember to wash their hands before snack as soon as their name is sung. Additionally, the children learn about keeping their environment and equipment clean. The toddlers have fun helping to wash their own cups after snack and the older children capably help to wipe the tables after lunch or wash their art equipment. This excellent approach means that the children benefit from the full breadth of play and learning opportunities. For example, they are able to enjoy helping to care for the rabbits and searching for insects in the garden because they know they have to wash the germs off their hands afterwards.

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Helping children to be healthy

The children's health and overall demeanour benefits enormously from the healthy meals cooked on site using fresh ingredients. Fish dishes are made using only the freshest ingredients. They relish the home made curry and rice and they talk confidently about how they need to eat all their dinner to be strong and healthy. The children learn to make healthy choices in their diet. They enjoy the daily portions of fresh fruit and vegetables for their meals and snacks and this contributes significantly to their recommended five portions a day. Indeed, children who attend the nursery full time easily meet this recommendation and they talk about their favourite fruits as they have their snack. The babies have their emotional and nutritional needs met; they enjoy being held closely whilst being fed and they sleep well because they are happy and satisfied.

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Helping children to be healthy

The children develop an excellent approach to being active indoors and out. The pre-school children and the toddlers rush to find a nursery coat when it is announced that their outdoor areas are ‘open for business.’ They enjoy the wheeled toys and the slide and they learn to negotiate the steps to the different levels with ease. The babies use the outdoors as a group everyday whilst the pre-school children have their circle time before lunch. Indoors, the babies enjoy their developing mobility; they proudly pull themselves up and climb on the sturdy furniture and they and dance excitedly to the music as they see themselves in the mirror. The toddlers are excited when they hear the staff mention the parachute. They then have great fun flapping the parachute up and down and running underneath it. The programme for music and movement further promotes the pre-school children's physical development.

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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 outstanding. The children are able to play freely in the indoor and outdoor environment because the staff have an excellent understanding of how to identify risk and minimise this in relation to the ages of the children without inhibiting their explorative and physical play. For example, the older children enjoy the freedom of the different levels of the outdoor area and use good quality child sized gardening equipment and tools for their construction. This means that they learn to keep themselves safe in the outdoor environment. Activities and carefully planned projects help the children to learn about the wider aspects of safety. The garden is easily divided by gates so that the toddlers can also play freely and develop their important physical skills; they are then escorted more closely when they want to dig in the garden or feed the rabbits. This means that all children learn how to manage appropriate risks in a supervised environment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The children have an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe in an emergency. Because they are included in the regular fire drills; the older children are able to recount how they have to leave the building quickly and walk carefully together to the assembly point.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The children access the exceptional range of interesting and sturdy resources which are all in good safe condition. A rolling programme of maintenance means that this is consistently of a very high standard. The low level storage means that children have easy and safe access to everything that they need. The children are very well protected and their welfare thoroughly safeguarded. This is due to the higher levels of child protection training that key staff have attended and their significant confidence in working with other agencies where relevant. All relevant policies and guidance are on hand, kept updated and shared fully with parents at the outset of care arrangements.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. The babies, toddlers and pre-school children arrive very happily at the nursery and they settle quickly at their chosen activities. Stimulated by the rich nursery environment, indoors and out, they all remain enthusiastic and motivated throughout their day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The young children develop excellent language skills due to the staff's clear, consistent and purposeful attempts to engage the children in conversation about what they are doing, what they can see or what they think. The persistent use of interesting rhymes and songs throughout the day further promotes the children's understanding and increases their vocabulary considerably. A similarly focused approach to early mathematical issues means that the youngest toddlers begin to understand about patterns, processes and number as they prepare for their snack.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The regular access, by all the children, to the wonderfully stimulating outdoor area, engages and interests them fully in their surroundings throughout the year. The babies are fascinated by the rabbits and enjoy watching the older children as they explore. The more mobile children enjoy digging in the garden as they search for insects, sweeping the leaves or playing in the shop.

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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 There is a clear focused emphasis on all aspects of the children's independence throughout the nursery. Consequently they become exceptionally skilled, for example, in deciding where they would like play, making choices about what they need to wear for outdoor play and putting their own coat on.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. The vibrant, stimulating indoor and outdoor environment and the enthusiastic, motivated staff create an exciting environment where children flourish. They make excellent progress because the staff plan and provide a broad range of good quality learning opportunities which the children access freely, with great enthusiasm and delight. This includes an excellent balance of quality free play and purposeful group time. The systems for planning and evaluating the educational programme are clear and comprehensive. This ensures that the curriculum offered covers all areas of learning consistently and thoroughly. The staff use relevant and detailed observations of the children's play to plan the next stage for their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The staff are enthusiastic and tireless in their interactions with the children; they use conversational questioning techniques with great success to establish what the children already know and to further support their learning. For example, when checking the register to see how many place settings they need for lunch, the staff establish that the more able children know what the digits '2' and '1' mean when written together. They then challenge them think how many place settings they would need if their friend was not absent from nursery that day. '22!' the children respond eagerly.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children become exceptionally confident learners. Their excellent behaviour has a significantly positive impact on all areas of their learning. They relish the learning opportunities both in their free play and they concentrate very well at group time. They demonstrate a very high level of cooperative play and learning; they support each other effectively as they help their friends to complete more difficult games on the computer or discuss each other's names on their pictures. Further encouraged by staff, the older children explain to their friends which icon to click on to play again.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Because of the wealth of opportunities to develop their early writing skills, the children have an excellent understanding of how print is used in everyday situations to carry meaning. For example, they use the clip boards in the outdoor play shop for making their list or for labelling and pricing the toys for sale. They recognise familiar words in print; the older and more able children confidently label their own work. The children enjoy books and stories and demonstrate considerable knowledge about the associated structures and terminology. They listen with great interest at group time or individually and make sensible predictions about what might happen next. The children confidently demonstrate this skill and knowledge as they use well known story lines alongside familiar experiences in their role play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children's mathematical development is extremely good. They easily recognise familiar numbers, count exceptionally well and are encouraged to solve problems in their regular routines. For example, they work out how many plates they need for the 21 children, or how to measure the rain fall. The more able children can explain clearly how the rain water gauge comes apart

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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 to reveal the markings inside and they confidently count how many millimetres of rain are in the container. Indeed, the children demonstrate a very high level of curiosity and intrigue as they investigate the plant and insect life in the garden. They also record their findings in different and meaningful ways; they help to complete the weather chart and they refer confidently to the associated 'outdoor clothing' guide as they prepare themselves for the garden. The children use information technology with swiftly increasing confidence to support their learning in other areas. The younger children enjoy matching colours or shapes on their favourite computer game. Older and more able children read the written prompts on the screen and can choose the 'yes' or 'no' icon when asked, for example, if they want to play again. They

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

manipulate the mouse with increasing accuracy.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children are wonderfully creative. They freely access the broad range of art and craft materials and express themselves fully in various ways. They enjoy learning different paint techniques and develop excellent cutting and joining skills as they work in the art room and in the mark making area. Opportunities for children to construct in practical and creative ways are exceptional. They discuss their plans in detail with each other at the construction carpet. The outdoor construction area provides wonderful opportunities to design and create on a larger scale using natural materials. The children are exceptionally expressive and often very dramatic in their role play. The use of play dough and the running water in the home corner add a significant touch of realism to their play. The children have great fun with music. They are inspired by the interesting display of real and toy musical instruments and spontaneously

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

improvise their own song and dance performances. Sometimes this turns into a game of musical statues; children and adults alike are invited to play. The garden provides excellent opportunities for the children to express themselves in quieter, more reflective ways. Their role play, art work and explorative play can be very different in the outdoor environment.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. The staff get to know the children very well and help them to develop a strong sense of self. The staff use the babies' names consistently as part of routines, such as snack or singing, and they beam with joy as they hear their name to get ready for snack. The resources, activities and the staff's innovative approach ensures that children's individual care and learning needs are successfully included in all aspects of nursery life; proactive measures to help those who speak English as an additional language are particularly successful. The children appreciate and thoroughly enjoy the diverse nature of our society.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The children are relaxed, extraordinarily confident and behave exceptionally well. The older children are kind and considerate to their friends and they share and take turns with the minimum of adult support. Table manners are valued very highly. The toddlers put their hands together to say grace at lunch time and the older children enjoy a chat over their lunch and remember to say 'thank you' as their friends serve them their meal. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is outstanding; relationships are warm and friendly yet very professional. A high level of information is shared in written and verbal form and the settling in policy works exceptionally well in practice. This promotes a consistent and coordinated

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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 approach to the children's care, and in turn, influences the children's behaviour, development and overall well-being. The young children develop warm and trusting three-way relationships with their parents and their familiar staff member; they all happily snuggle with either adult as their care and development is discussed. Facilities for confidential discussion are also very good. All records about the children's care and development are fully shared with parents on a regular basis. Parents and carers comment how their involvement in the assessment process and their contribution to their children's profile folders has given them a wonderful insight into their children's lives as they develop. Information for each parent on how children use schemas in their independent learning styles further enhances this aspect of the provision. The successful

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Helping children make a positive contribution

book share scheme operated for the pre-school children promotes a highly coordinated approach to developing the children's enjoyment of books and stories. The nursery draws on parents' particular areas of specialist knowledge to provide the children with increased interest in the environment. There is an excellent range of general information on all aspects of children's care and development as well as important nursery business which parents can access freely. The system for dealing with issues raised by parents is very effective.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The leadership and management of the provision is outstanding. Management and key staff have a clear, shared vision and the skills and knowledge of how to provide the highest quality care and education for young children. The approach to their continued development is excellent. They use various systems to continually monitor and evaluate their practice; they correctly identify their own minor weakness and execute effective plans to remedy the situation. For example, they have managed temporary periods of staff change very well and have identified that a 'paired' key worker system involving the new staff, now in place, will further benefit the children. The careful evaluation of this period of change has resulted in a very high level of one to one support for the youngest children during what could have been a difficult time of change.

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Organisation

Advice from the local education authority on the educational programme are considered and creatively executed. For example, the repositioning of some activities has enabled children to use the play dough in the home area further enhancing the programme for creative development. A similarly enthusiastic approach to the inspection process further contributes to the nursery’s continued development. The thorough system for staff appraisal ensures that children benefit from increased skills and knowledge. Staff are exceptionally motivated and are constant and consistent in their interaction with the children throughout the day. They attend cheerfully and tirelessly to the children's care and learning needs.

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Organisation

The children are exceptionally confident in the well organised and purposeful nursery routines. All the children happily tidy up ready for lunch or snack; the babies are excited as they hear their names sung to wash their hands ready for snack and the older children independently busy themselves with their chores in preparation for story time. This is due to the firm focus on developing the children's self-esteem and the very high expectation of what children can achieve.

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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 The staff are vigilant recording all aspects of the children's care and development. They also ensure that all records, such as medication or development are appropriately shared with parents. The range of written information is clear and comprehensive. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection it was suggested that the provision further develop key staff's knowledge and understanding of child protection issues. They have now a rolling programme of training, at various levels, now ensures that the staff are exceptionally confident in this matter.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection of the funded nursery provision, the group was asked to consider the development of opportunities for parents to contribute to their children's education. In answer to this, management drew up a comprehensive action plan which was successfully implemented and referred to as a key strength under 'Positive Contribution.'

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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. 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the care

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of care are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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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 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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