Sunflowers Neighbourhood Nursery

Sunflowers Neighbourhood Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Sunflowers Neighbourhood Nursery

EY295699 Unique Reference Number 05 January 2007 Inspection date Hayley Lapworth Inspector

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Sunflowers Neighbourhood Nursery

Braunstone Leisure Centre, 2 Hamelin Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE3 1JN

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E-mail

Braunstone Childcare Co-operative Ltd Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Sunflowers Neighbourhood Nursery opened in 2004. It operates from purpose built premises as part of a leisure centre complex in Leicester. A maximum of 42 children may attend at any one time. The nursery opens for five days a week all year round. Sessions are from 08:00 until 18:00. Children can attend a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 60 children aged from six weeks to five years on roll, of these, 45 receive funding for early education. The setting currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and also supports children who speak English as an additional language. The setting employs 16 members of staff. Of these, 14 hold appropriate early years 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 satisfactory. Children's health is mostly assured because hygiene routines are promoted. Babies nappy changes are frequent and thorough keeping them clean and dry. Children are encouraged to wash their hands before snacks and meals and after using the bathroom. However, older children are not able to access toilet roll independently. This impacts on their personal hygiene and independence when using the bathroom.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are beginning to learn about how to keep healthy. For example, staff encourage children to eat healthily and provide them with a nutritionally balanced diet. For example, at breakfast time they choose between 'Ready Break', 'Weetabix' or 'Rice Krispies'. In addition to this, the meal menus are based upon fresh produce everyday. However, on some occasions fluids are only served at mealtimes and drinking water is not always easily accessed by children. This means that they are not encouraged to meet their own bodies needs when they are thirsty.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff are qualified in first aid. Children benefit through efficient accident and medication procedures ensuring they receive appropriate treatment most of the time. This is achieved through records which detail any action taken and the care they received. Following administration of medication or a child being involved in an accident parents usually countersign the records. However, at times parental signatures are not obtained. Therefore, parents are not always fully informed on matters that promote children's health.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children receiving funded nursery education are developing skills in manoeuvring there bodies. They have sufficient opportunities to equipment which promotes their physical development, such as bicycles. Friends play together using the space around them imaginatively. For example, two children played happily as 'mummy and kid' using areas and the equipment pretending to be at school, at the supermarket and at home in bed. This shows they are at ease and confident in their surroundings which supports them in developing their own ideas.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Toys and resources are stored appropriately. Children's independence is beginning to develop because the storage of resources allows them make choices from what they can see.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Risks of accidental injury to children are minimised. This is achieved because the staff have taken many steps to provide a safe environment. For example, they regularly communicate with colleagues about there whereabouts. This means the children are well supervised and adult to child ratios are maintained. The kitchen is made inaccessible to children and the outdoor area is maintained in a safe condition. This helps to protect the children from having accidents. Overall, security of the setting is superb. All visitors are met at the main door by a member of staff and invited in where appropriate and are asked to sign the visitors record. In addition to the main door there is an internal door leading to the play areas which is only opened by staff using a code. This means that the children's safety is effectively promoted.

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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 Children's welfare is effectively safeguarded by staff who have good working knowledge of abuse and neglect. They are aware of local referral procedures and their general responsibilities. There is a child protection policy in place which is easily accessed by parents and visitors. Children are beginning to learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, they are involved in practising the fire drill. Staff are confident and aware of their roles and responsibilities for evacuating the premises. A written fire drill is appropriately displayed. Therefore, the safety of parents and visitors in the event of an emergency is considered and enhanced.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Most of the children are happy throughout their time in the setting. They arrive keen following the Christmas break, pleased to see their friends and ready to share their holiday experiences with the staff. A few are less settled on arrival, but soon adjust when warmly received and comforted by familiar staff. Some children are independent in making choices. For example, they browse around and select what they would like to do. This enables them to develop confidence and make decisions for themselves.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are at ease with the staff and their peers and are building relationships. For example, they communicate with their peers during play and are beginning to develop confidence in speaking in a group. For example, during group time they speak out loud telling the group what presents they had for Christmas. This means they are developing language and social skills and are learning how to express themselves. Staff ask the children questions which make them think, for example, when playing with the musical instruments they ask them if they need to shake it or bang it to make a noise.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children’s experiences are enhanced by the interaction of staff and their understanding of child development. As a result, staff organise appropriate activities that relate to children's age and understanding. For example, finger painting for toddlers. They are suitably using the ‘Birth to three matters’ framework as a reference tool to provide a range of activities. This means that younger children access valuable experiences that contribute towards their development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Some staff have a suitable understanding of the Foundation Stage and how young children learn. This includes encouraging them be involved and have first hand experiences. Planning is in place, however, this is not always available, compromising the children's learning. Plans include opportunities for the children to develop in the six areas of learning enabling them to have appropriate experiences. Staff plan activities, some of which are adult-led and others allow children to learn from one another. Staff are beginning to consider how to extend learning for more able children. This means that they are beginning to benefit from additional challenge. Children's achievements are monitored by staff who make observations and link them to the stepping stones. These are then used to inform children's individual assessment records, which show that they are making suitable

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

progress towards the early learning goals.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children are beginning to develop memory skills and are able to concentrate well. For example, they make good use of books by reading to themselves, sharing stories with one another and reciting familiar text, expression and fine details. They are beginning to show respect for one another, this is best demonstrated by the way they listen when their friends are telling them a story.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are beginning to develop writing skills. They have opportunities to write for a purpose, this is best evident in their attainment files which show examples of mark making and early writing skills. They regularly have access to writing implements in a variety of forms, such as, an interactive white board, a screen and jumbo marker pens. More able children write their own name on their work and form letters with confidence. Others are guided through letter formation. This enables them to make progress and form recognisable letters.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing a satisfactory understanding of numbers, how to count in order and are showing signs of understanding early stages of calculation. They are encouraged to use number in a suitable variety of ways. For example, counting how many children are present and finding out the date by counting how many days have gone by, and calculate the year by discussing last years numbers then adding one more digit on to six. However, some opportunities for using mathematics and gaining independence are missed. As a result, children do not always make optimum progress.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Staff are aware of children’s individual needs and backgrounds. They work effectively with parents to ensure that the needs of all children are met. This is achieved through the settling in procedure where parents are encouraged to stay and spend time with their children in the setting. This allows the children to become familiar with their surroundings and the staff to form relationships with the parents. Parents receive some information about how the group is run, in the form of policies and procedures. Communication at the start and end of the day ensures parents are kept informed about their child's care and provides a consistent approach to the children's care. Parents who made comment are happy with the care their children receive and the service provided.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Some staff have a good knowledge base and experience of working with children with special needs. They form working relationships with other professionals that contribute to their care. They have secure understanding of monitoring concerns, making assessments, the referral process and the importance of parental involvement at an early stage. This means that they are able to competently support individual needs and provide tailored care.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children are beginning to learn about their own lives and others around them. This is best demonstrated through accessing resources which depict positive images. For example, books, jigsaws and their involvement in celebrating cultural festivals. This enhances their understanding of the world around them.

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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 Children’s behaviour is generally good. This is because most staff have a suitable understanding of managing children's behaviour. They are suitably confident in implementing the group's strategies to manage children's behaviour. This helps children to learn right from wrong and behave well. Children are praised for good behaviour, for example, when they use manners and showing respect for one another. This helps to develop confidence and enables them to feel good about themselves.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children in receipt of nursery education is satisfactory. Staff informally discuss with some parents their children's levels of attainment on entry, however, this information is not effectively used to ascertain their starting points and inform planning. Therefore, planning does not always effectively relate to children's level of development and the children's learning is compromised. The group hold annual consultation meetings with parents and the children's key worker to discuss progress made, ensuring they are formally informed of their child's stage of development. Staff share their written observations and records that link to the early education curriculum. However, little information is made available to parents about the Foundation Stage and the six areas of learning, which means they do not necessarily understand what their children are learning or are able to contribute to this learning

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children benefit from a environment that is suitably organised. This ensures they have access to appropriate learning opportunities inside and outdoors. Staff work together as a team and communicate well keeping one another informed about the children's individual care, for example, their dietary needs and how much they have eaten. Staff are deployed into areas effectively, this ensures the children are suitably supervised and makes them feel secure in their surroundings. The setting have a suitable operational plan in place, made up of policies, records and procedures. This contributes towards the smooth running of the service. Recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that the staff have suitable qualifications and experience to work with children. Staff are keen to access a range of training. Equal opportunities is applied, which means that all staff have chance to develop professionally. Over half of the staff team

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Organisation

hold early years qualifications, which contributes to the quality of the setting and provides the children with appropriate care.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of children in receipt of funding for early education is satisfactory. Leaders create a suitable setting steered by aims, objectives and job descriptions. They are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Suitable planning has been devised, however, this is not always readily available to staff working directly with the children. Management and staff are developing the setting's practise to ensure that all children have access to learning experiences that relate to the Foundation Stage and the early learning goals. Management are developing systems looking at the effectiveness of the provision and evaluating practice. This includes some involvement from the parents through surveys and questionnaires. Leaders are involved in providing some aspects of nursery education, this is achieved through the support they provide to staff. Management of staff is effective, staff receive regular formal supervision

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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 and an appraisal system is in place which looks at practice issues, their strengths and weaknesses and future development needs. Overall, children’s needs are met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection a number of recommendations have been addressed. Recommendations raised as follows. To increase staff knowledge of caring for children aged from birth to three years by developing and embedding the use of the 'Birth to three matters' framework. This is now implemented in the planning of activities and a number of staff have accessed training in this area. This means that the children are experiencing meaningful experiences.

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Improvements since the last inspection

To ensure that the assessment of children's progress is used to plan activities based on what they need to do next and their interests so that their individual needs are consistently met across all areas. Assessments of children's progress are made and then used to inform planning, identifying what they need to do next and targets for individual children. This ensures children can reach their full potential. To ensure that staff become knowledgeable and familiar with the Foundation Stage and their stepping stones so that children are sufficiently and appropriately challenged to make progress across all areas of learning. The member of staff working directly with children receiving funding has accessed a wealth of training and has secure knowledge in this area. This ensures children are appropriately challenged and make progress. To ensure that information about children's progress is shared with parents so that they can become fully

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Improvements since the last inspection

involved in their children's learning and help them to continue to make progress in all areas. Children's progress is shared with parents through annual consultation meetings. This enables them to begin to be involved in their children's learning. To ensure that there are systems in place for evaluating and monitoring the educational provision for children to give a clear focus for future developments across the Foundation Stage so that children continue to make progress. Management are in the process of implementing systems to evaluate and monitor the educational provision with some parental involvement. Therefore, children can continue to make progress.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND 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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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): • make sure that drinking water is available at all times • ensure parents countersign entries of accidents involving children and administration of medication at all times • provide appropriate resources in the bathroom for the children to visit independently, to develop skills in personal care and hygiene.

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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 opportunities for children to develop through spontaneous learning with particular reference to mathematics • implement a system of children's initial assessments that includes parents to determine their starting points on entry to funded nursery education • ensure that the planning is always available to staff working directly with the children.

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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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