Well Place Day Nursery Ltd

Well Place Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Well Place Day Nursery

EY260557 Unique Reference Number 02 October 2006 Inspection date Joanne Wade Barnett Inspector

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Well Place Day Nursery

Penshurst, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 8BH Setting Address

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E-mail

Well Place Day Nursery Limited 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 satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Well place Day Nursery opened in 2003. The nursery is set in a rural location, in the grounds of Penshurst Place, near Tunbridge Wells. The nursery consists of two floors, offering baby care and pre-school care for children. A maximum of 44 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:00 until 18:00 for 50 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area, as well as regular use of the rural setting surrounding the nursery.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 52 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. Of these, 12 children receive funding for early education. Children come from a wide catchment area of the surrounding villages. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and also support children who speak English as an additional language

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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 nursery employs 10 members of staff, including the manager who holds an appropriate early years qualifications.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The group receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children learn about personal hygiene through the daily routine; for example, children automatically wash their hands before snack and after using the toilet. In addition, the spread of infection is minimised because staff remind children to use a tissue to wipe their nose. Staff endeavour to sustain satisfactory levels of hygiene through the daily routine; for example, they wear gloves for nappy changing and clean tables before meals and snack time. A sufficient number of staff have up-to-date first aid training and there is an easily accessible first aid box in each room. There is a medication policy, accident/incident and medication records and parent's permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment. As a result, staff are able to act in the best interest of a child should they require medical attention. However, not all the required information is gathered or appropriately recorded.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children learn about the importance of keeping their bodies healthy through the daily routine, whereby they enjoy balanced and nutritious meals and snacks of fresh fruit, raisins and vegetables. Children have free access to fresh drinking water as each child brings their own individual water beaker, helping to keep their bodies hydrated.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children develop a positive attitude to physical exercise as they enjoy regular opportunities to play outdoors, weather permitting, participating in rigorous physical activities. For example riding bikes and playing ball games. Access to new climbing apparatus contribute to the development of gross motor skills and supports children as they develop their spatial awareness, whereby they climb up, over, through and around different equipment outdoors.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are able to play with a range of toys and resources that promote most areas of learning and are cleaned to a satisfactory standard because a toy cleaning rota has recently been introduced. The premises are safe. Systems for the arrival and collection of children are good because staff ensure that children are collected by authorised adults, for example, an intercom system is used to monitor the arrival and collection of children. Fire detection equipment is accessible, the fire evacuation plan is displayed, exits are clearly labelled and fire drills are carried out periodically and take into account the patterns of attendance of children and staff. Consequently, children are able to leave the building safely in the event of an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Generally health and safety is satisfactory as basic risk assessments are undertaken, signed and dated by staff on a regular basis. However, hazards that are a potential risk have not been

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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 identified such as the storage of folded tables, stacked chairs, unused fireguards and poor storage facilities compromise children's safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

A sound knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and recent training contributes to safeguarding children. However, the policy documentation is out of date and in the process of being reviewed to include current changes and reflect local child protection procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The environment is carefully prepared and well-organised, as a result, children settle quickly and are keen to embark on a broad range of exciting and interesting activities that encourage and promote most areas of development and stimulate their interests. Staff know the children well. They are caring, sensitive and nurturing in their approach, consequently, children are keen to try new ideas, and make effective use of the toys and resources. Children show kindness and consideration to others and staff use skilful questioning techniques to engage the children and encourage them to talk and explore language.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Systems of planning are evolving, however this is currently being reviewed to incorporate fully the Birth to three matters framework, alongside the Foundation Stage Curriculum. Careful consideration is given to ensuring children are able to access a broad and balanced range of activities, suitable to their ages and stages of development and opportunities for children to enjoy story time with an adult is good. However, children do not often visit the book area independently during free-play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The overall quality of teaching and learning is good. They are keen to begin activities and become animated as they engage with the staff and their peers. Children speak openly and confidently and they receive regular opportunities to sing rhymes and engage fully in exciting and interesting stories. Children receive regular opportunities to attempt writing for different purposes, develop language for thinking and extend their imagination through story-telling. Children receive opportunities to recognise their names as they find their coat pegs upon arrival and at meal times.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Many children count reliably up to five and beyond and receive good opportunities to develop all concepts of mathematics through purposefully planned activities and excellent questioning techniques used by staff. Opportunities for children to express and communicate ideas in role play continue to evolve. For example, although there is a dedicated home corner area within the main play room, the regular rotation of resources hinders children's opportunities to re-visit previous experiences or access a full range of resources that stimulate their imagination and support the development of their creativity.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing increasing control in small muscle movements because of the opportunities provided by staff. They roll out dough, glue and cut with scissors and use various size paint brushes. Children explore creativity using a wide range of media such as paint, wet and dry sand and water. Counting is a regular feature of the session; children count how many

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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 children are present each day, numbers are displayed and counting at any opportunities are skilfully used by staff to introduce children to simple calculation and numerals.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Most staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of the Foundation stage curriculum, this ensures children receive a full programme of good quality education. Staff are starting to use a new system of curriculum planning, however it is not implemented rigidly. Staff plan purposeful activities that provide opportunities for teaching both indoors and outdoors. Opportunities for children to engage in activities that they can initiate themselves with appropriate intervention by staff are good. Consequently, children are consistently engaged in the learning process, helping them to make progress along the stepping stones. Most staff are familiar with the learning intention of the activities provided, resulting in good opportunities to move children on to their next stage of learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children are happy and settled at the nursery. Babies arrive at the setting happily and separate easily from their main carer. Pre-school children arrive happily, know the rules within the group and are relaxed and well behaved. Children with learning difficulties are supported in the setting and a special needs co-ordinator is in post.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's personal cultures are acknowledged by staff, for example, birthdays are acknowledged and celebrated if appropriate. Children learn about different cultures through planned activities related to different festivals such as, Chinese New Year and Christmas. Resources within the setting also help children find out about differences such as, books and posters or photographs that reflect positive images to further develop children's awareness of the differences in our society. Children find out about the local community through visitors into the setting for example; a policemen and French lessons. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is satisfactory. They are happy with the care provided by staff who are friendly and positive in their interactions towards them. A display board informs parents about the Foundation Stage and refers to policies. Planned meetings with key workers enable parents to view their child's records and inform them of their child's development. Newsletters are sent out to keep parents informed of the setting. Opportunities to involve parents in their child's development at home and to seek parent’s views about the setting have not yet been developed. A complaints poster is displayed and there is a complaints policy, although this is not in line with current changes. A range of policies are available in the office and are in the process of being updated.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Overall the provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

The manager is able to show that all adults working at the setting have undergone checks to establish their suitability and all staff are appropriately qualified in childcare. The registration

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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 certificate is displayed and the attendance register confirms that the provider complies with the conditions of registration. Most of the required documentation is maintained and currently under review by the new manager who has a supernumerary role. The required records for the safe and efficient management of the setting are maintained and stored securely for the welfare and care of children.

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Organisation

The Leadership and management of the setting is satisfactory. The manager is new to the setting and has already correctly identified the strengths and weaknesses of the setting which will take the setting forward. A training plan has been produced by the manager which hi-lights training needs for staff, such as, planning and assessment to promote best outcomes for children. Appraisals have been devised by the new manager to ensure that staff are involved in their personal development.

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Organisation

Staff are positive in their approach and work well as a team. They prepare the environment with a range of activities before the children arrive, which helps children to be involved in play straight away. Staff are keen to develop their skills and are working closely with the teacher from the Local Authority to develop their planning and assessment. Staff know the children well and meet regularly to plan. However, they are not updating the children's development records frequently enough and therefore the records do not accurately reflect children's abilities to enable them to plan effectively for children's next steps in their learning. Children's involvement in activities is recorded and although this information is useful to staff in finding out who participated, it does not help them find out the success of the activity and the impact on the children's learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Following the last inspection there were several recommendations made.

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Improvements since the last inspection

As the group have recently employed a new manager most of the recommendations have been completed or in the process of changing due to a new nursery policy document. The provision have completed and displayed a fire drill notice and up dated the operational plan, including the medication policy to inform parents of the need for written consent to administer medication, although this is to be reviewed again and a recommendation made in this report. A written procedure for biting will be included as part of the new incident record and the child protection procedure is also being reviewed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The provision have improved systems for children to dry their hands without the possibility of cross infection by introducing disposable paper towels.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Most staff are now involved in the planning enabling them to understand the stepping stones to better support children's learning and starting to include some aspects of children's awareness of other people's beliefs and culture, although this is still evolving. Assessment is based on observations but they do not always identify children's next steps and are not up-dated

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Improvements since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 frequently enough to ensure children are challenged effectively as the systems used are comparatively new to the provision.

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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.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • improve the recording of accidents/incidents and medication to ensure confidentiality • further develop all practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of how to implement the Birth to three matters framework. • improve the policy documents to ensure it reflects current practice and ensure the complaints procedure contain the correct information and develop a complaints log to share with parents

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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): • further develop the use of observations to clearly identify children's next steps in learning and use this information to inform the planning

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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