Daydreams Private Day Nursery Limited

Daydreams Private Day Nursery Limited

Inspection report for early years provision

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Daydreams Private Day Nursery Limited

EY275100 Unique Reference Number 12 January 2007 Inspection date Christine Myerscough Inspector

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Daydreams Private Day Nursery Limited

1 New Hall Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 2GT Setting Address

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E-mail

Daydreams Private 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Daydreams Private Day Nursery Limited opened in 2000. It operates from two floors of a converted house in the Sale area of Cheshire. A maximum of 40 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 07.45 to 18.00 and closes on bank holidays. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 60 children aged from nine months to under four years on roll. Of these, 12 children are in receipt of nursery education funding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 37 members of staff. Of these, 13 hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association.

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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 satisfactory. In the main, positive steps are taken to promote children's health. For example, good standards of cleanliness are maintained across the nursery. There are clear procedures for nappy changing and toys are washed regularly to prevent the spread of cross contamination. Children learn about healthy practices, such as brushing their teeth on a daily basis. They follow established routines as they independently wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap after toileting. However, children share hand drying towels, posing a risk of cross infection. A clear policy regarding the care of children who become unwell is in place. This ensures there are suitable arrangements to act in the best interests of all children and protect them from illness. Well stocked first aid kits are easily accessible around the nursery to enable staff to attend to children's needs quickly, if required. First aid training is kept up-to-date to ensure staff have the required knowledge

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from a variety of nutritious home cooked meals to promote their growth and development. For example, they enjoy lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise and roast dinners. The nursery has gained the 'Tots Healthy Eating Award' for the quality of their food. Meals are balanced to meet children's dietary requirements and food is prepared by the nursery cook using only fresh ingredients. Children are offered regular drinks. However, fresh drinking water is not accessible to children at all times in the day to enable them to quench their thirst when needed. All children sit together at mealtimes and make good attempts to feed themselves. However, children's independence skills are not fully promoted as staff pour children's drinks and set out the cutlery.

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Helping children to be healthy

Comfortable furnishings, such as bean bags and cushions provide for children's relaxation to ensure their well-being. Staff are attentive to children's needs and offer cuddles and warm smiles so they feel secure. However, during bottle feeding, babies are not always held by staff.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children take part in a range of activities to contribute to a healthy lifestyle. They go out on walks and visit the local farm. Children enjoy the freedom of running around in the spacious outdoor play area. They develop self-confidence in their physical skills as they eagerly jump on the trampoline and push themselves along on wheeled vehicles. Soft play equipment and a ball pool provide fun indoor experiences and promote children's fitness levels. Activities, such as splashing in puddles whilst wearing Wellington boots, produce plenty of excitement. Children particularly enjoy an outdoor group exercise session. They actively participate as they move their body parts and play follow the leader.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children play in comfort. They move around their environment freely and with confidence. The nursery building is maintained in a good state of repair and decoration to make the environment welcoming to families. An inviting reception area enables children to settle in quickly and feel at ease.

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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 Toys and equipment are of good quality. Most of the resources are maintained in good condition. Children sleep in buggies or on sleep mats. However, there are no cots or other appropriate furniture within the nursery to meet the needs of the younger children whilst they are sleeping.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children feel reassured as they are well supervised by staff. A range of appropriate measures, such as fixed gates to prevent children gaining unsupervised access to the stairway and covers in low-level sockets, keep children safe. Risk assessments are undertaken daily by staff, however, rugs on the floor in the toddler play room are not secure and are a trip hazard. Good security arrangements protect children from unauthorised entry into the nursery. Parents and visitors are greeted personally at the door. The main entrance gates are locked once children have arrived. A password is agreed with parents for the safe collection of children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Effective fire safety precautions are in place to keep children free from harm. Advice from a fire officer is regularly sought so all staff are clear about procedures to follow. Monthly drills are undertaken so children become familiar with safe practices. As a result, children learn to evacuate the building quickly.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is safeguarded. Staff have an awareness of the indicators of abuse and have attended recent training on child protection. They have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the event of identifying a child protection concern.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a positive environment with a relaxed atmosphere. They are happy and content throughout the day in the care of a supportive staff team. Good relationships are formed, which enhances children's confidence and contributes to their well-being.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff make effective use of the 'Birth to three matters' framework to guide their practice and plan a suitable range of activities for children's enjoyment. Playing with glue, paint and sand encourages children to explore using their senses. They concentrate well as they complete jigsaws, make their marks on paper and draw around dinosaur stencils. Children enjoy having a story read to them and looking at books. Staff spend time interacting with children to engage them as they play. Singing songs and talking together helps to develop children's communication, vocabulary and understanding. Babies' early communication skills are positively supported by staff who respond to their babbles and sounds. They enjoy activities, such as peek a boo, and investigate different textured items in a treasure basket. However, in some of the rooms in the nursery, the way in which resources are organised, inhibits children from freely selecting materials

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to build on their natural curiosity as learners.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of the teaching and learning is good. Children make good progress towards the early learning goals. Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage, which enables them to support and promote children's learning effectively. A good awareness of children's individual capabilities through carrying out regular observations, helps them to plan successfully to meet children's needs. Plans reflect a varied programme of stimulating

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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 activities across all six areas of learning to support children's overall development. Staff deploy themselves well and children benefit from a good amount of one to one support to encourage and extend their learning further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are interested, excited and motivated to learn. As they arrive at nursery, they separate with ease from their parents. Children are friendly towards visitors and happily talk to them. They develop friendships with other children and eagerly hold hands together. Children are very familiar with the nursery routine. They spontaneously sit on the cushions when it is registration time and start to tidy away resources when the music starts to play. Circle time is effective in developing children's language and communication skills. Children patiently take turns when listening to others. They share their news, giving very good descriptions about events in their family life. Children recognise their own names with ease as they place their name cards on the wall. They have opportunities to link sounds to letters as they take part in activities to sound out the initial letter of their name. Children demonstrate good pencil control

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

as they copy over letters. At story time, they become engrossed as they listen to fantasy tales. They communicate their feelings and express their opinions about goblins.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are confident counters and show enthusiasm as they count out shiny beads. They recognise numbers around their environment and know that there are only four children allowed at any one time in the home corner area. They use mathematical language frequently as they play to describe shape, size and position. Through activities, such as threading blocks, they sort and match successfully by colour and quantity. Children are gaining an awareness of capacity and volume as they fill their buckets in the sand. Planned activities help children observe changes that occur, for example, children show interest as they watch ice cubes melt. They learn about the seasons and have daily discussions about the weather. Children go out on trips into the local community and have visitors to the nursery, such as fire fighters. As they join tracks for their trains to travel on, they build and construct purposefully. Children perform

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

simple functions on programmable equipment, and show good levels of concentration and persistence when using the computer. They have a good sense of time and place as they differentiate between yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children demonstrate good control over their movements. They negotiate steps and space well as they climb up the stairs and manoeuvre wheeled vehicles around the outdoor area. Children confidently and proudly show off their skills to others as they jump, run and balance on tyres. They show respect for one another's personal space as they sit next to one another on the bench and make space for their friends. A weekly visit from a dance teacher helps children to develop a positive attitude towards exercise and enables them to enjoy new experiences, such as ballet. Children develop good skills with their hands. They handle malleable materials, such as dough and adeptly use tools, for example, spades, sieves and cutlery. Children use a variety of colour and texture in their art work, for example, they use paint, pasta, feathers and shiny paper to create their collage. Children experience a weekly visit from a music teacher and have

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

opportunities to explore a range of instruments. They particularly enjoy role play as they pretend to wash the clothes and iron them. Children enthusiastically sing songs and listen to different styles, such as classical.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children are warmly welcomed, respected as individuals and treated with equal concern. Staff create an environment where everyone feels valued. Children's photographs are on display to help them develop a sense of belonging. Significant events in their lives are recognised and the dates of their birthdays are highlighted on the wall. This helps children to feel special and good about themselves. Staff divide their attention well so children feel well supported and reassured. This establishes a sense of security and trusting relationships. A range of resources, such as multi-cultural books and jigsaws, are available to increase children's awareness of diversity. Links are made with a toy library to widen children's play experiences. Children take part in activities to gain an understanding of similarities and differences. For example, during Chinese New Year, they visit China Town and have opportunities to taste Chinese food. The

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Helping children make a positive contribution

nursery has a positive attitude towards inclusion and recognises the importance of working closely with parents to meet children's individual needs. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are well behaved in response to the clear expectations of staff. They cooperate well together and happily play alongside one another. Staff act as positive role models. Good use of praise from staff supports children's efforts and boosts their self-esteem. Children respond well to smiley face charts to promote good behaviour. They develop a sense of pride as they take home their creative work to share with their families. Children are polite and demonstrate good manners as they say thank you for their meals. They wait patiently as they line up at the door to go outside to play.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. An open and friendly approach from staff helps parents to feel welcome and contributes to establishing trusting relationships. Time is spent chatting together to ensure a good amount of information is shared regarding children's welfare. This enables staff to meet children's needs successfully. A daily record sheet keeps parents very well informed regarding their child's day to promote consistency of care. Good quality information is available about the service on offer so parents are fully aware about the care practices, policies and procedures. For example, parents receive a prospectus and there is a wealth of information in the reception area. Parents speak very positively about the nursery and are happy with the care on offer. They find staff approachable and value their advice about how to support their children's needs. Their views are actively sought through discussion and

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Helping children make a positive contribution

the use of parental questionnaires. Plans of activities are on the wall and an informative display about the Foundation Stage enables parents to be well informed about the curriculum. Parents have opportunities to attend a yearly parents evening. They receive a report and have access to observational records at all times to keep them abreast of their child's progress.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children receive a good amount of attention as staffing levels are well organised. Most of the staff on duty are qualified in childcare. The managers act in a supernumerary capacity and there are effective contingency arrangements in place to cover any unexpected staff absences. Regular

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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 meetings are held to establish effective communication systems to ensure outcomes for children are positive.

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Organisation

Records are well organised and stored securely in a locked filing cabinet to maintain confidentiality. Most of the documentation is in order to ensure a safe and efficient service. Generally good systems are in place to establish the suitability of staff before employment, however, these are not yet fully in line with revisions to the National Standards to ensure they are robust. A good range of policies and procedures form an effective operational plan and are regularly reviewed to contribute to the smooth running of the nursery. Regular training opportunities throughout the year enable staff to update their knowledge and skills to support the ongoing development of the nursery.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the nursery education is good. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities in the delivery of the curriculum. The managers identify any areas for improvement and are proactive in ensuring these are addressed. There is not yet a rigorous system in place for the monitoring and evaluation of the nursery education.

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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 Children Act inspection, the nursery agreed to ensure records of attendance are accurately maintained and provide domestic-style furniture to meet the needs of the babies and toddlers. The systems for recording the attendance of staff and children now indicate the arrival and departure times. This ensures effective record keeping to keep children safe. A sofa is now in place to provide opportunities for children to learn to pull themselves up into the standing position. This assists children in their developing mobility.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The previous nursery education inspection recommended that children have opportunities to care for living things, and that planning is revised to identify what children are intended to learn. Parents have brought in sea monkeys and a mouse so children learn to identify some features about living things. Children also regularly care for the nursery goldfish as they feed them and clean out the bowl. Clear learning objectives are now included within the planning documentation. This ensures activities are well suited to meet children's developing needs and provide suitable challenge.

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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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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 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 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 fresh drinking water is available to children at all times and that children have suitable hand drying facilities • assess the risks to children in relation to the rugs and take action to minimise these • provide cots or other appropriate furniture for children to rest or sleep • ensure resources are organised to allow all children to freely select materials and build on their natural curiosity as learners • implement robust vetting procedures for staff in line with revisions to the National Standards

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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): • formalise the procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of the nursery education.

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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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