Dickory Dock Nursery

Dickory Dock Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Dickory Dock Nursery

EY260159 Unique Reference Number 05 December 2006 Inspection date Yvonne Victoria Facey Inspector

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Dickory Dock Nursery

St. Thomas More Church, Margetson Crescent, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S5 9NB

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E-mail

Dickory Dock Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Dickory Dock Nursery opened in 1996. The nursery is managed by a Board of Directors which includes parent representatives. It operates from St Thomas More's Church Hall, which is situated in the Parson Cross area of Sheffield and provides a service for local families.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery has sole use of a designated room within the premises and there is also access to the main hall with adjoining kitchen and toilet facilities. There is an enclosed outdoor play space.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is registered to provide full day care for up to 20 children aged between two years and five years and is open between 08.00 and 17.00 every weekday. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 30 children on roll, of whom 27 are in receipt of nursery

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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 education funding. There are six children with learning difficulties and disabilities and no children at present with English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A team of 10 staff work with the children. There are seven staff who hold early years qualifications and three are working towards this. The setting receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children's physical development is supported well, with opportunities to have physical exercise each day which contributes to keeping themselves healthy. Children confidently use a variety of large and small equipment. They enjoy a balanced range of indoor and outdoor activities that develop their large and fine motor skills, for example, running, riding bikes and balancing on beams, drawing and painting. Children show an awareness of space, moving carefully around others and obstacles. Consequently, they confidently coordinate their movements, balance and clearly have control of their bodies.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are kept safe from the spread of infection as staff implement appropriate hygiene procedures to ensure that they are cared for in a suitably clean and hygienic environment. There is a clear sickness policy, which ensures children who have an infectious disease do not attend. Good systems are in place for recording accidents and administering medication which ensure children's health needs are met at all times.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's dietary requirements are recorded to ensure staff can meet children's individual dietary needs. Staff provide suitable opportunities for children to talk about healthy eating and are offered healthy snacks. However, at the time of the inspection, children were not offered healthy choices. Meal times are sociable and children enjoy simple discussions as they eat. Opportunities are missed to develop children's independence when making decisions of when to have snack and to help themselves freely. Children are becoming confident in self-care skills as they wash their hands before meals and after handling pets.

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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 safe and welcoming environment where risks are limited through good safety and security measures. The premises are welcoming and attractively presented to the children. It is well organised and children move around freely and safely, independently accessing activities. Children use a wide range of good quality and safe resources that are appropriate for their ages and abilities.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are carefully supervised and there is an appropriate procedure to follow in the event of a child being lost or not collected. Parents are met at the main door and staff ensure that visitors to the setting are monitored to ensure children’s safety. Sound arrangements are in place for persons that have not been vetted, ensuring they do not have sole charge of children.

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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 Risk assessments are completed regularly and daily safety checks are made. For example, building work was being completed at the time of the inspection and staff made continuous risk assessments throughout the day to ensure children were not put at risk.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are taking responsibility for keeping themselves safe as staff gently remind and give them opportunities to think why situations that may not be safe. For example, a staff member reminds a child to be careful when moving around the nursery and asks him, ‘why do you think it might not be safe to do that?’ to which he replies, 'I might fall over'. Children also have opportunities to learn about their own safety through topics and experiences, such as the green cross code. Children learn what is expected if they must leave the building in an emergency, as they are involved in regular fire drills.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have a good knowledge of child protection procedures to ensure children are protected from harm and neglect. They fully understand the correct procedures to follow for reporting any concerns and have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. As a result, children’s safety and welfare is promoted.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children benefit from the clear daily routines enabling them to participate in a broad range of activities throughout the day. They are interested and eager and quickly become involved in the interesting and stimulating range of activities provided. Staff use ‘Birth to three matters’ framework well to ensure that children's individual needs are met and their progress is monitored. Children are very happy at the setting and enjoy their time there. They benefit from strong relationships with staff, who are very interested in the children, and respond to them giving lots of praise and encouragement. As a result, children's confidence and self-esteem are developing well. Children have good relationships with each other and their communication skills are well supported through good adult-to-child interactions.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. The well-organised staff team have a good understanding of their role in providing children with well planned activities and experiences. Staff's good knowledge of the Foundation Stage ensures that children are making good progress in all areas of their development. There is a clear system in place for observation and assessment of children’s achievements. Planning is effective and includes all the stepping stones and children’s next steps in learning is clearly identified, although systems for evaluating planning are not comprehensive. Overall, children are provided with challenging activities and are engrossed in their play. However, older children are not presented with enough challenge throughout the whole session and, as a result, become disruptive at times.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy books and listen carefully as staff read stories to them and often sit and look at books alone. They have good opportunities to practise their writing skills. For example, they make their own books and give them titles such as 'a book about nothing', 'the giraffe' and 'the snail and the dinosaur'. They use pencils with accuracy as they draw very detailed pictures of people and more able children are able to write their own name. Children are confident

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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 speakers and use language effectively to explain what they are doing. Children are developing a good understanding of how to care for living things. They enjoy helping to care for ‘Wombat’ the hamster; they fill his bowl with food and explain that he needs water to drink and he likes soft fur to sleep on, like a pillow. Children explore their technology skills as they successfully use computer with increasing confidence and skill. Their knowledge and understanding of the wider world is developed through activities covering festivals from other countries. They excitedly share news from home and other personal experiences. For example, a child shows her new school jumper to the group and another child tells them of his time in the park.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing their imagination and creativity through exploring with paint, colour and texture. They enjoy role-play and develop a good imagination through a wide range of role-play opportunities. For example, they pretend to be Father Christmas, leave food for Rudolph the reindeer and cook their Christmas dinner. They take turns and share, cooperating well, and have formed very good relationships with staff and their peers. Children successfully use size language in their play, for example big and little. They can competently count to nine and beyond and more able children can recognise numbers. Children enjoy number games and are able to sort and match confidently. For instance, most children count the spots on the dice as they play the spider game and they match and sort figures into colours.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children benefit from staff's commitment to equal opportunities and inclusion. This means that all children are made to feel welcome and their individual needs are taken into account. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities are very well supported. Staff work closely with other agencies and parents to ensure their individual needs are well met. Staff and all children use Makaton signing so all children are able to communicate within the group. A range of multi-cultural resources are available to support children's understanding of the wider world. Children generally behave well and they are learning to treat each other with respect. They understand right from wrong because staff explain to them about acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Consistent rules are established and staff promote positive behaviour through the frequent use of praise and encouragement. Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is good. There are established and trusting relationships between staff and parents. Parents feel supported and informed about their children's care and progress. Staff inform parents regularly about their children's achievements and their next goal with a written report which parents can contribute to. Parents know their children's key worker and are comfortable approaching them with any issues or information. They can access assessment files on their children at any time. There is basic information shared with parents about the Foundation Stage and the stepping stones.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The operational plan works very well in practice. Comprehensive policies and procedures are successfully implemented. The setting is effectively organised and there are good procedures in place for recruitment to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. The staff make good use of space and other resources so that children are well cared for and supported during their time at the nursery. Child-adult ratios and staff deployment contribute to children’s safety and enjoyment. Staff consistently interact with children to give them effective support and encouragement, which helps them feel secure and confident. Staff appraisals inform the management of staff skills and areas for improvements and training required to enhance the service provided. For example, they have completed ‘Birth to three matters’, food hygiene, health and safety and child protection training, since the last inspection.

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Organisation

The quality of leadership and management is good. The manager and staff work very well together as a team and they are committed to improving their setting. Staff are actively encouraged to attend training courses and this enhances the care they provide for the children. There are regular opportunities to meet with the staff and contribute their ideas. There are good systems in place for monitoring the quality of teaching and the progress children are making towards the early learning goals.

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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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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the nursery were asked to review and amend policies and procedures which have been addressed satisfactorily to ensure children’s welfare is safeguarded.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection 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 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 good.

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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

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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): • review snack times and introduce ways of helping children develop their independence.

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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 information given to parents regarding the Foundation Stage • consider reviewing the evaluation of the planning system and provide sufficient challenge for more able children.

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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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