Little Bears Day Nursery Ltd

Little Bears Day Nursery Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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EY226139 Unique Reference Number 26 March 2007 Inspection date Ann Hilary Guy Inspector

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Hill Farm House, 44 Old Groveway, Simpson, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK6 3AA

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Setting Address

01908 232832 Telephone number info.littlebears@ntlworld.com E-mail Little Bears Day Nursery Ltd 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?

Little Bears Day Nursery is privately owned. It registered in 2002 and operates from a detached house in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 30 children may attend the nursery at any one time. It is open from 07:30 to 18:00 for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 45 children aged from birth to under five years on roll. Of these, 17 receive funding for nursery education. Children come from both the local and a wide catchment area. The group can support children with learning difficulties or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs ten staff. Eight of the staff, hold appropriate early years qualifications and four are working towards furthering their qualifications.

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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. Children stay healthy because staff effectively follow current and appropriate environmental health and hygiene guidelines, policies and procedures. The children observe clear routines for health, washing hands at the appropriate time and cleaning their teeth after food. Staff use tabards when serving food and all the children use bibs or aprons at mealtimes. Procedures for nappy changing and potty training ensure the child's privacy and prevent any possibility of cross infection. Good procedures underpin the appropriate action being taken when a child is unwell, requires first aid or medication. Set sleep times are in place, although provision is made for babies to sleep according to their need and parental wishes. Children are closely monitored whilst sleeping.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children receive suitable quantities of high quality food and drink. This is delivered daily in hot boxes and served by staff. The four-week menu includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and offers children a good balanced diet. Snacks and tea are provided by the staff; these too are nutritious and encourage healthy eating. All children have access to drinks throughout the day and have regular breaks.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children greatly enjoy using the good facilities within the garden. The garden is divided into four clear areas, each providing different opportunities for the children playing on a hard surface, bark or grass. The location of the setting enables staff to take children out for nature walks in the vicinity of the nursery, avoiding all main roads. Babies are also taken out regularly for walks in pushchairs. Children use the garden in all weathers and have Wellington boots to change into before going outside. They have a good range of equipment available, including slides, climbing frames, balls, bats and other small equipment. The children also have their own garden and enjoy growing a variety of different plants and caring for them.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The secure, child-centred environment ensures children remain safe at all times. The premises are well organised enabling children to have plenty of space to play safely, both inside and outside the building. The flexible use of the rooms, enables staff to meet children's individual needs. Each area is well equipped with a wide variety of toys suitable for the age group. Toys and equipment are maintained in very good order, with baby toys regularly cleaned, and children choose from pre-selected activities. Although a comfy chair is provided in the baby room, most staff prefer to sit on the floor when giving babies their bottles, to enable them to be closer to the other children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The safety of the children is paramount, and monitored regularly by one of the managers. Clear steps are in place to ensure all possible risks are minimised. Very clear health and safety documentation, together with regular fire practices and clear procedures when taking children away from the building on walks, ensure their safety at all times. The staff protect children, extremely well and demonstrate a clear understanding of the policy and procedure to follow for safeguarding 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

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children of all ages are well cared for and have their individual needs extremely well met through the activities provided. All staff have a very clear working knowledge of the Birth to three matters framework and the Foundation stage, enabling the children to have activities that are stimulating and challenging. Staff encourage as much independence as possible from an early age and provide a good range of experiential play for the youngest children. The youngest children experience a good varied range of activities to stimulate their skills in all areas. Planning shows they have played with baked beans, jelly and pasta, and photographs show the enjoyment the children have when playing with the wide variety of tactile and messy activities available. Activities are planned according to the next steps of learning for the individual children in attendance, in order to further stimulate and challenge them and offer a wide variety of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

experiences. Staff use the observations they have of the children at play to ascertain the next steps for each child. The nursery has a topic based plan which all groups follow at a level suitable for the age of children in the group. Plans are written for each room and the planning system clearly shows the learning intentions for children of all ages. Children under three years share a room with the older children. A very good system has been implemented ensuring all the children have times when the activities provided are specifically geared to their age and ability, plus some times when they join together. This enables the children to have a good amount of individual attention and to mix with children of a different age.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children play an active part in their learning and develop confidence and independence. A good standard of support is given by all the staff, enabling the children to develop their potential through pre-selected free play activities. Scrap books, as well as more formal recording of observations against the stepping stones, clearly show how children progress within the setting. The scrap books, containing many photos and evidence of children's work, are a very informative form of recording of children's achievements, particularly liked by the parents, as they cover all aspects of the curriculum and show the wide variety of activities both inside and outside that children enjoy. Plans ably support the children's learning, with focus activity plans and topic spider graphs showing how the needs of individual children are woven into the daily plan. The organisation of the environment and resources

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

restricts children's access to a range of tools to enable them to further develop their skills in handwriting and calculation. Staff interact extremely well with the children and know them very well. They are skilled at developing their potential through the variety of activities offered and ensure planning enables the next steps to be very well catered for.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn mainly through free play activities and group times. They are skilled at making good relationships with their peers and the staff, with many children showing their vivid imagination through their play. In particular children are stimulated by the dressing up clothes and props, creating a very involved role play which staff stated had been going on for a number of days. One child carefully looked at the sand in a small tray with a magnifying glass. He used some good descriptive words to describe what he saw and started trying to sort the grains of sand out but quickly tired of this activity and went to look at other things in the room through his magnifying glass.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are happy and very settled, and all communicate well with the staff and each other. They are developing their mark making skills, with some beginning to write their names, however, they are not always encouraged to write their names on their work. Children have 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 opportunities to count in practical situations and lots of opportunities for shape recognition. The outdoor area is well used in all weathers. It enables children to grow plants and tend their own garden, as well as using the good variety of sports equipment available. They have regular opportunities to use a computer and many have developed very good skills. Children can select the programme for themselves and all know they have a set time to use the computer, shown by an egg timer. This enables all who want to use the computer during a session. They enjoy listening to stories, playing instruments, singing songs and doing action games.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children feel a strong sense of belonging to this small, friendly nursery, and staff work very closely with the parents to ensure the needs of all the children are met. Children have access to a good range of toys and equipment that reflect equality of opportunity and a multi cultural society, they learn of other cultures through their topic work and celebrating some festivals from other cultures. Children of all ages make decisions about what they will play with throughout the day, from equipment pre-selected by the staff. They are well supported by the committed staff team who know all the children well and respect their individuality. Children with any form of learning delay or disability are well supported and fully included to enable them full access to all the activities offered. Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is generally very good and the older children especially demonstrate a good sense of understanding

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Helping children make a positive contribution

right from wrong, adhering to the clearly defined rules of the nursery. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is good. Children benefit from the close relationship all staff have with their parents, and are looked after according to parental wishes. Good communication ensures consistent and supportive care is given at all times. All babies have a daily diary and all older children a scrap book of photos, with captions relating to the aspects of learning achieved, which are shared regularly with the parents. These together with newsletters give the parents ideas of how to extend the topic into activities within the home. The nursery also has special events to which parents are invited, and all parents know they can speak to the nursery staff at any time, ensuring good relationships are fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children greatly benefit from the extended family atmosphere within the nursery, all staff and management know all the children and parents. The management team closely monitor and oversee all aspects of care within the nursery, ensuring consistency throughout. Leadership and management are good. All groups have a group leader who works with the room team to plan according to the age and ability of the children in the group. Staff are rotated throughout the different age groups to ensure they have a thorough understanding of all aspects of work within the nursery.

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Organisation

Children are grouped in age appropriate groups with staff at the required ratio for the majority of the time; however, ratios are not met all of the time whilst children are eating. The registration system, with both room registers and a central register located in the room nearest the front door, ensures accuracy is maintained at all times. Children are signed in and out by the staff member that opens the door for the parents. Children greatly benefit from the highly qualified

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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 staff team and their care and welfare are safeguarded through the comprehensive policies and procedures. These soundly underpin all aspects of the nursery.

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Organisation

The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last care inspection a very detailed and informative policy and procedure is in place for child protection. Children have opportunities to explore using all their senses, creativity and independence from pre-selected activities. A very clear method of recording all persons on site is in place, including a staff register, visitors register and children's register. The complaints procedure and details of how to contact Ofsted are clearly displayed. These have all had a very positive effect on the smooth running and care offered within the nursery.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection of funded nursery education, the key issues related to providing opportunities for children to develop their awareness of linking sounds and letters and to practise their writing skills; provide structured activities for children to develop calculation skills; and to develop and use observations and assessment in planning for the next steps of learning. Most of the issues have been addressed, although the previous play leader recently left the nursery taking all her plans with her, therefore the evidence has been based on observation and plans since the beginning of the calendar year. Children have daily opportunities to link sounds and letters, however, children have limited opportunities to practise their writing and calculation skills. A new system for observations and recording the next steps of learning is in place and being effectively used within the planning. This is still in its infancy and not fully

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Improvements since the last inspection

developed. Children experience a stimulating variety of activities that cover the curriculum.

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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 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): • ensure ratios, especially with the youngest children, are maintained during meals.

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The quality and standards of the care

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

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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): • review the organisation of the environment and resources to give children greater opportunities to select items for themselves • develop opportunities for children to practise handwriting and calculating.

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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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