Caldecote Day Nursery

Caldecote Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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200546 Unique Reference Number 12 February 2007 Inspection date Sharon Waterfall Inspector

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2a Caldecote House, Lancaster Road, Rugby, Warks, CV21 2QN Setting Address

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E-mail

Mariana Dixon 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 inadequate - enforcement action. The registered person does not meet 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?

Caldecote Day Nursery is a private day nursery and has been open since 1995. The nursery has a proprietor but the supervisor manages the everyday running of the nursery. The nursery is situated in Rugby, close to the town centre and operates in a Victorian building. The children have the use of two main rooms, a creative/dining room, toilets, and a small outdoor area downstairs. Upstairs consists of three rooms, a dining area, three toilets and hand washing facilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Children attending are mainly from Rugby and both children and staff reflect the multi-cultural mix of the surrounding area. The setting currently provides care for 16 funded three and four year old children and supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities and children for whom English is an additional language. The children currently attending are aged birth to five years, who attend a variety of sessions. The nursery is open Monday to Friday 08.00 to 18.00 for 51 weeks of the year. There are 16 staff working directly with the children, full and part-time. There are seven staff that have relevant qualifications in childcare, with two staff currently working towards achieving the National vocational qualifications to level 2/3.

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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 setting receives support from the advisory teacher from the Local Authority. There are good links with reception class teachers in the local area.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is inadequate. Simple and effective procedures for the prevention of the spread of infection are not followed by staff and in discussion they are unaware of the importance of these procedures. Children's health is put at risk by the lack of up-dated information and ineffective practice. For example, the risks of cross-infection are not minimised as children share bed linen such as blankets and pillows, a nappy mat was found to be ripped and covered in mildew and children eat meals whilst other children's nappies are changed in close proximity.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health and welfare is put at risk due to recurring damp in the baby room and ground floor kitchen each winter. No positive action has been taken to rectify the problem or temporary solutions put into place to minimise possible effects. Walls in the baby room are wet with damp and cots are still lined up next to them, the walls are not wiped down and other ways of ventilating the room have not been sought. Whilst in the kitchen, staff continue to prepare heat and serve children's food within this damp area.

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Helping children to be healthy

Accident and medication recording procedures are in line with the requirements of the National Standards. A sick children's policy is in place and is shared with parents. First aid boxes are accessible and hold sufficient contents, though only one staff member is evidenced as having a current first aid certificate and is not present at all times the nursery is open, putting children's welfare at risk. Though some written procedures support children's health and welfare they are ineffective and therefore inadequate, due to the overall hygiene practices in the setting.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are provided with regular drinks throughout the day and food is given in adequate quantities for their needs. Menu's are nutritious and include fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. Children's individual requirements such as cultural or special dietary needs are taken into account. Many of the younger children's parents prefer to provide their own foods however, the procedures for the storage and serving of foods for the children is insufficient. In addition fridge temperatures in which babies bottles and food have been stored are running too high, food delivered by caterers stands for up to an hour before being served and no evidence was available that any staff on the premises hold a current food hygiene certificate. These procedures impact greatly on children's good health.

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Helping children to be healthy

Within the nursery education the pre-school children have appropriate opportunities to engage in both the development of large physical skills and small motor skills. These small motor skills are developed and hand and eye co-ordination skills used when using one handed tools. Lacing, threading and weaving activities also enable children to develop small and precise movements.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is inadequate. Although the nursery has a good amount of space and rooms that are used for the children, these at times are not organised efficiently to support children's development. On the ground floor there are three rooms available for the care of children under two years. Two are care rooms and the other a dining/kitchen area. Generally all of the children under two-years-old

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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 during inspection were cared for in the largest of the care rooms. At sleep time, some children were in cots but others lay on mats on the floor whilst the children who were awake played around them. The other care room remained empty, which is not effective use of space and didn't afford resting children quiet areas to facilitate sleep or enable them to sleep safely without disturbance. Small groups of children intermittently use the dining room for planned activities. On the first floor there are four care rooms for the children to use, again one being a designated dining area. During inspection all toddler and pre-school children squeezed into the dining room and ate in cramped conditions limiting children's comfort, whilst an adjoining room remained empty. This was discussed at a previous inspection, with no evidence that

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's work is displayed around the setting, bright materials and photographs provide a welcoming environment to children and their families. A senior member of staff opens the door and greets the families warmly. Within each area equipment, toys and furniture are provided which are appropriate for their purpose and help to create an accessible and interesting environment. They are of suitable design and condition and conform to safety standards.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's physical safety within the nursery premises are suitably protected. Security systems ensure only authorised people enter the nursery and children are well supervised using stairs and in the outdoor play area. Children are involved in learning about safety issues as they take part in regular fire drills and pre-school children learn how to transport and use tools appropriately. However, procedures for reporting concerns of a child protection nature are inadequate. Written policies do not meet current guidelines and jeopardise any future involvement of relevant agencies. The procedure for making initial reports regarding child protection concerns are not consistently known by staff who leave out the designated person with responsibility for child protection when highlighting initial concerns. This lack of knowledge significantly impacts on the settings ability to protect children from child abuse and neglect.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Although the 'Birth to three matters' framework is not currently being implemented observations do demonstrate that activities and care provides children with many of the aspects for their development. Assessment does not effectively identify children's next stages for development and staff are not currently using information gained to plan activities for specific children's needs.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Planned activities take place in the dining area and are staff-initiated as children are picked in small groups to go into the room. This makes the activities time limited and does not encourage independent or child-initiated play. The range of planned activities is also somewhat repetitive on a weekly rota. However, they do provide children with a variation of experiences and access to textural and explorative play. During a music activity the children used a range of instruments in many ways. They had to use some problem solving and physical skills to make sounds using varying actions. Though conventional instruments were used in the main, staff had put out an upturned baby bath and encouraged the children to explore making sounds. This links more into the heuristic play promoted by the ‘Birth to three’ framework and demonstrates that staff have an appropriate knowledge of child development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children just under three years are cared for in a room next to pre-school and share a creative area with them. They join in with the planned art and textural activities in this area. They enjoy playing in water coloured the same as the colour of the week, print, paint and play in the sand.

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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 Within their own room the children enjoy listening and joining in with stories, ‘The Gingerbread Man’ is a favourite and they become involved as they move the Gingerbread man puppet to the different characters in the book. This activity is helping them to enjoy and share stories, learn about words and meanings and listen and pay attention. Relationships between the staff and children are secure and children are happy and settled.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Three and four-year-old children access a range of resources, which appropriately support their learning across all of the six areas of learning. Development records show that children are progressing appropriately through the range of stepping stones. The curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage is actively used by all staff to complete planning and the interesting range of activities demonstrates their growing confidence in implementing ideas. Assessment demonstrates how children are progressing but does not specify future areas for learning. Session planning ensures children have time for free play, though space organisation at lunch time limits children’s abilities to be involved in practical activities and limits the learning of appropriate social skills. Behaviour management is consistent, positive and asks children to reflect on their own actions.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children are motivated learners and are inquisitive; they ask questions about visitors to the setting and are keen to show what they know. They are confident in speaking out in large and small groups, to tell news, answer questions and join in with stories. Children’s language and vocabulary are extended through differing themes and topics, such as talking about mini-beasts, hospitals and weaving. They are easily able to use language to show feelings, express ideas and make suggestions.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Numeracy and literacy are the stronger elements of the planned curriculum. The children often use mathematical language in their play, to describe the height of a tower of bricks they are using, counting how many children are present and how many legs an insect has. Older children count easily to 10 and many beyond. They are beginning to recognise numerals, particularly those that have some relevance to themselves. They engage in fun activities that reflect learning in the environment such as 'Welly printing' to identify shapes, counting bugs on a mini-beast hunt and growing plants to measure them. Using construction resources they make shapes, towers and steps.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

These activities demonstrate how by planning a wide range of activities the staff can extend children’s learning through a variety of the learning areas. The 'Welly printing' was also a creative activity, the bug hunts and plant growing link into knowledge and understanding of the world. The children join in with popular and familiar stories, by repeating repetitive phrases, suggesting what happens next and retelling the stories in their own words. The children have appropriate opportunities to engage in pre-writing skills, such as mark making, drawing, writing cards, lists and writing their names.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children's awareness of diversity within the wider society is positively promoted by effective planning of experiences and resources provided during themes in the education provision such as, children celebrating a range of cultural festivals throughout the year including Diwali and Chinese New Year. Children choose from a satisfactory variety of toys which reflect diversity,

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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 such as books, small world resources and dolls that reflect culture and disability. Many of these were available within the 'hospital role-play' area.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are respected as individuals and staff show warm care and concern for the children. An appropriate equal opportunities policy is in place and information regarding children's individual routines are recorded on initial registration forms. Activities throughout the nursery are suitable and aid children in developing skills on a general age and stage basis. Staff have experience of caring for children with learning difficulties and disabilities, their attitudes and knowledge are sufficient that they know where to request and seek advice and support.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The written documentation for behaviour management is inconsistent with the strategies that are used in practice. This impacts on the care of the children under two-years-old as there is no consistent strategy for behaviour management in use. Some staff use inappropriate strategies as a general guide, which have been discussed for use only with specific children. In pre-school staff use 'good' rules, good sitting, listening, walking and looking, the staff use these well and as reminders for children's behaviour. The children respond well to these and have to make decisions for themselves regarding whether their behaviour conforms to the rule. Self-esteem is raised as the children are praised for achievements and are encouraged to think and reason for themselves. The children show care and concern for others and are learning to work harmoniously together. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is satisfactory. An appropriate consistency of care for children is provided through adequate written and verbal communication. An annual parents evening is organised and parents in pre-school speak to the room supervisor regarding their children’s achievements. They are made aware at other times that they can see children’s development records if they wish. In the entrance to pre-school information regarding the Foundation Stage and areas of learning is displayed. Parents receive newsletters and see notices asking them to bring in items for the children’s display tables, briefly involving them in aspects of their child’s learning. Parents are informed that policies and procedures are available if they wish to read them.

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Organisation

The organisation is inadequate. Children are insufficiently protected with regard to suitability issues as procedures are not effective and the organisation is not robust enough to ensure that the correct levels of suitability checks on all staff are carried out. Information in staff records fails to identify which staff hold current first aid and food hygiene certificates, indicating that children’s health and welfare are not adequately supported at all times. Documentation relating to staff records are not easily available for inspection.

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Organisation

Although staff ratios were identified as meeting requirements, the staff register is not always completed immediately and some staff’s hours of attendance are not recorded at all. This impacts on safety requirements such as the effectiveness of the emergency evacuation.

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Organisation

Leadership and management of the nursery education are satisfactory. The nursery has shown commitment to improving practice by working in partnership with an advisory teacher. Staff have extended their working knowledge of the Foundation Stage and use guidance actively when planning interesting activities for the children. Though systems are in place to monitor and evaluate planning, it is not currently effective in identifying if individual children are benefiting from the planned learning outcomes.

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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 There is poor organisation of any positive action to limit the effects of the hygiene risks that reoccur each winter. Though the registered person is aware of the repetitive nature of the damp in the baby room and kitchen area, no preventative action has been taken to rectify the condition. Staff demonstrate a lack of knowledge of the serious effects on children’s health of poor hygiene practices with regard to food storage and service and sharing of bed linens.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection a notice of action to improve was set to raise the standard of the care for children. There were two actions the provider was asked to complete; to ensure that minimum staffing ratio's are maintained and to ensure child protection procedures are shared with parents before admission to day care. The nursery has implemented a change in the staff's shift patterns to ensure that the required number of staff are present throughout the day and registers evidence this is constant. Although the child protection information is now displayed for parents, the content of the policy does not meet current guidance and demonstrates that knowledge is not sufficient to safeguard children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A recommendation was also set for the nursery education inspection; to ensure that assessment records include information from parents and use information effectively to plan the next steps for individual children. This is on-going as the nursery has not had a new intake since the last inspection or completed a parents evening in that time, though no procedures have been put into place to gain extra information to meet this recommendation. Assessments are completed on children in pre-school, though tend to evidence what they are achieving as they partake in the activities rather than any specific individual planning for children's specific development. Therefore aspects of this remain within the recommendation made in this inspection.

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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 inadequate - enforcement action. The registered person does not meet 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

Ofsted is taking enforcement action to safeguard the welfare of children.

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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): • improve organisation of the lunch time period to ensure children have opportunities to benefit from learning through practical activities and have space to develop social skills • improve the use of the planning evaluation to clearly identify how children are progressing from planned learning outcomes and to plan individual next steps in their learning.

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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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