Rose Villa Day Nursery

Rose Villa Day Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Rose Villa Day Nursery

EY281429 Unique Reference Number 02 February 2007 Inspection date Kathleen Snowdon Inspector

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Rose Villa Day Nursery

Rose Villa, Church Chare, Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE16 4JF

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Setting Address

0191 4889900 Telephone number rosevilladaynursery@hotmail.com E-mail Stepping Stones Day Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Setting Address

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?

Rose Villa Day Nursery opened in March 2004. Children are based in four rooms according to their age and developmental stage in a detached building set in its own grounds in the heart of Whickham village, near Gateshead. All children have access to fully enclosed outdoor play areas. A maximum of 92 children can attend and there are currently 120 on roll. Of these, 23 receive funding for nursery education. Children who attend come from the local and surrounding areas.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery opens five days a week all year round, closing only on bank holidays. Opening times are from 08.00 to 18.00. There are 20 staff working with the children; 19 have appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery receives support from an early years advisor from the local authority.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Good priority is given to the children's individual physical needs. For example, very young children drink milk when they wish to rather than at a time dictated by nursery routines. This replicates the children's experience at home and, as well as benefiting the children's physical development, contributes to their emotional well-being. Older children thoroughly enjoy nutritious and appetising meals and snacks. These include ample portions of fruit and vegetables to encourage the development of healthy tastes.

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Helping children to be healthy

All the children have lots of opportunity to be active. For instance, babies and very young children practise new skills, such as crawling, standing and walking as they move around the nursery rooms. Children use a range of movements as they use soft play equipment to roll over, slide and bounce upon. Older children love to be outside. They run around energetically, use hoops and draw pictures on the chalk board and surrounding fences. These experiences keep the children fit and alert.

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Helping children to be healthy

Sick children do not attend the nursery. This, alongside effective cleaning routines, contains the spread of infections and common illnesses. Children wash their hands before meals and after playing outside. This teaches them about the importance of cleanliness and helps them to make a connection between personal hygiene and good health. Tissues are readily available to older and more capable children. This encourages them to become increasingly independent when carrying out self-help tasks, such as nose wiping.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Simple but highly effective steps help staff to keep the children safe on a day to day basis. For example, signs in the toilet tell staff that children must never be left unattended during nappy changing. Similarly, prominent reminders in the rooms where children are based enable staff to see at a glance whether children have specific conditions, such as allergies. Regular checks are carried out on babies and young children as they sleep. This ensures that the children stay safe as they rest.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Good use of safety equipment minimises the risk of accidents in the well organised and very well maintained nursery environment. For instance, safety gates restrict children's access to potentially dangerous areas, such as the staircase. The children have ample, clear floor space in which to move. They choose from a wide range of very good quality and developmentally appropriate equipment, which is stored at the children's height to allow them easy and safe access.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff awareness of child protection issues is good. This is consolidated by frequent participation in relevant courses. Alongside this, staff recruitment procedures are sufficiently rigorous. These factors protect children from unsuitable people and dangerous situations. Frequent participation in fire drills enables children and staff to practise what they would do in the event of a crisis.

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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 This familiarises the children with life-saving routines and teaches them that they have a part to play in staying safe.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. All children form excellent relationships with staff and other children. Babies and very young children are happy and very well settled through the supportive and loving way in which staff care for them. Similarly, older children form good self-esteem when their efforts are acknowledged with appropriate praise. The key worker system encourages children and staff to form strong bonds. This enables the children to feel secure and valued.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Through mixing with their peers, the children acquire important social skills that enable them to operate successfully within a group. Siblings play regularly alongside one another. This bridges the gap between home and nursery and helps the children to make connections between different parts of their lives.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Very good quality toys keep the children motivated and engrossed and encourage them to make progress in all areas of their development. The children gain confidence in their own ability when, with the help of staff, they tackle activities that have been previously too difficult, such as large floor jigsaws. Very young children handle items like pine cones and natural sponges. This encourages them to explore and examine things closely.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children have very good scope to develop their communication, language and literacy skills. For example, they listen attentively when adults talk to them and during story time. They speak clearly and confidently. Children handle good quality books like 'We're Going On A Bear Hunt' and turn pages one by one as they look through them. This teaches the children that text and illustrations carry meaning. The children begin to understand that writing has a purpose. For instance, they make determined efforts to write their name on their paintings and they try to compile shopping lists before they visit local shops with staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Good opportunities are in place to encourage the children's creativity. For example, they express their ideas when they paint spontaneously and they learn how colour works as they blend two colours to make another in purposeful, planned activities. Music and song feature strongly in this setting. The children have easy access to a range of musical instruments, such as bells, shakers and tambourines. This allows them to experiment with tone and sound. Similarly, they learn about volume and pitch when they sing songs that require them to shout and whisper.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Action songs, such as 'Ten Little Men in a Flying Saucer', introduce the children to subtraction. Most of the children count up to and understand the concept of five. Some of the children count as they carry out tasks such as laying the table. This encourages them to use mathematics in practical situations. The children occasionally use scales and rulers, usually in planned activities. This should be extended to enable children to weigh and measure spontaneously, at their own pace, during role play for example.

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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 The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a good understanding of the Foundation Stage. This, alongside the daily observations that they make of the children, enables the staff to plan activities that challenge children of all abilities. Activities are spread equally across all six areas of learning and enable children to make good progress towards the early learning goals. Themes are used which enable staff to introduce the children to a range of topics, such as 'Myself' or 'Shape and Colour'.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Plans are linked to the stepping stones. They show how children will be grouped and what resources will be needed. Staff evaluate activities to assess the contribution that they make to the children's learning. The children's progress is tracked by using Learning Profiles supplied by the local authority.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Bright and defined play areas contain a wide range of resources to encourage the children to initiate activities for themselves. The balanced daily routine offers children a wide range of experiences and contains a good mix of planned activities and free play. A good range of teaching methods is used. For instance, action games, such as, 'Simon Says', are used to teach the children how to follow simple instructions. Staff are skilled at recognising when the children need support and stimulus. They exploit spontaneous events, such as an aeroplane passing overhead, for example, to enliven an otherwise ordinary outdoor play session.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. A good range of resources help the children to form positive views of diversity. For example, the children see wall labels written in different languages, such as Bengali. They look at books, such as 'The Skin I'm In' and 'All Kinds of Beliefs', which introduce the children to issues of ethnicity and culture. Jigsaws, role play items and small world characters show people in roles that are usually associated with the opposite sex and people using walking aids and wheelchairs. These raise the children's awareness of gender and disability.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The children behave very well. They understand what is expected from them through clear and consistent guidance that they receive from staff. This helps them to understand boundaries and teaches them right from wrong. The children are taught to respect the feelings of others and are encouraged to express this through using good manners. 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 good. Parents receive very good quality written information before their child starts nursery. Regular newsletters keep parents informed of events in the nursery, such as fund raising plans. Parents learn about their children's progress through daily discussion with staff. As well as this, parents of babies and very young children collaborate with staff to update the children's daily diaries, which contain important information, such as nappy changes and sleep checks.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents of children who receive funding for nursery education access the children's files on request to see the progress that the children are making. Parents have very positive views of the staff and the service. They describe staff as 'fantastic, friendly and very professional'. Parents particularly like the nursery location, the way that they are kept well informed and the

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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 level of attention that the children get. In addition, parents think that the nursery makes a 'huge contribution' to their children's development.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Documentation is well organised and readily available. However, some records, such as the child protection policy, lack detail. Children's records are reviewed regularly. Consequently these are up to date and accurate. Secure storage of documents protects confidentiality. The registration certificate is displayed prominently to allow parents to scrutinise it should they wish to.

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Organisation

All staff hold qualifications suitable to their role. They take part in further training to comply with requirements and to inform and improve their practice. Recent courses include first aid for babies and young children and 'Birth to three matters'. Staff show a strong awareness of never exceeding registered numbers and of the importance of maintaining the correct staffing ratios. This contributes to the children's safety and well-being.

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Organisation

The quality of the leadership and management of the nursery education is good. Staff work well together and are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Managers are frequently present in the rooms in which the children are based. This enables them to assess the relationship between the children and their key worker and the effectiveness of the nursery education.

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Organisation

Regular staff meetings and staff appraisals ensure that staff members have the chance to express opinions and thoughts about the children that they care for and teach and about their professional development. The nursery forges highly beneficial links with local schools, which eases the children's transition from nursery into formal education. Liaison with other professionals, such as early education advisors from the local authority help staff to meet the children's educational needs as fully as possible.

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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 was asked to make improvements to resources that raised children's awareness of disability. The children now play with several articles that show images of people with differing abilities. These include dolls, books, small world characters and jigsaws. These items help the children to understand and respect difference.

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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 complains record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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Complaints 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

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • review written policies, especially the child protection policy, to ensure that they contain sufficient detail.

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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): • increase opportunities for children to weigh and measure spontaneously, during role play for example.

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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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