St Vincent's Nursery

St. Vincents Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

p.1

EY343794 Unique Reference Number 10 January 2007 Inspection date Nivedita Misra Inspector

p.1

St. Vincent's RC Infant's School, Orchard Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA15 8EY

p.1

E-mail

Governors of St. Vincent's Infant's School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

p.1

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

p.1

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.

p.2

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

p.2

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.

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.2

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.

p.2

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

St. Vincent's Nursery was previously known as Higher Downs at St Vincent's and re-registered in 2006. It is run by a committee of governors of the school as a charitable organisation. Children from the local community attend. Children have access to two playrooms, a secure outdoor play area, the school infant playground and a playing field. The nursery is open from 08.00 - 18.00, 50 weeks of the year. A maximum of 35 children may attend at any one time. The setting employs eight staff; of these seven hold an appropriate early years qualification. A qualified teacher also works within the nursery. Support is also given to the nursery from the early years advisory teacher in Trafford.

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Between 1 October 2006 and 31 March 2007 Ofsted intends to work with the Regional Service Inspection Providers (RISPs) to carry out up to 60 pilots to integrate inspections of registered

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 day care and, where necessary, funded nursery education into sec 5 inspections, if the day care provision is managed and run by the school governing body.

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

This provision has been inspected as part of these pilots. The report for the early years provision will be subsumed within the sec 5 inspection report for the school and will therefore not be published separately as an early years provision.

p.3

Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Effectiveness of the registered day care.

p.3

Organisation

The quality of day care is satisfactory. The setting provides a secure environment for the children who are contented and well-settled. They have warm, confident relationships with the staff who have good knowledge of them as individuals and show strong commitment to their wellbeing. Parents confirm that their children are well looked after and they praise staff’s patience when helping their children to grow in confidence. Indoors there is a good variety of accessible resources, including areas for relaxation, for children of all ages. There is good access to the outdoors but resources provide little opportunity to develop children’s climbing skills. Children develop good relationships with each other and happily chat about what they are doing. They are clear about daily routines and understand about the need to, for example, wash their hands after play and before eating. Snacks and lunchtime food are nutritious and the fact

p.3

Organisation

that staff eat with the children in small groups helps to create a sense of community. Long-established working practices ensure that the days run smoothly but registration procedures and one element of the complaints procedures are in breach of the regulations. There are also weaknesses in the procedures relating to general record-keeping, risk assessments, fire safety and nappy changing.

p.3

Organisation

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take into account the following recommendation(s):

p.3

Organisation

Improve the procedures for registering children’s and staff attendance and for making parents aware that they have access to the complaints record.

p.3

Organisation

Ensure that risk assessments are carried out, fire exits are clearly identified and fire drills conducted sufficiently regularly taking into account the children’s age.

p.3

Organisation

Improve the procedures for general record keeping and nappy changing.

p.3

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 The quality of nursery education is satisfactory. Children enjoy attending, behave well and readily co-operate with staff and each other. They are beginning to understand about taking turns, listen well to instructions and show curiosity about, for example, melting ice or drifting clouds. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is suitably fostered. Parents generally feel well informed about activities and daily incidents but some would like more guidance on how they can contribute to their children’s education. All aspects of the Foundation Stage curriculum are suitably catered for and identified in the planning, with suitable emphasis on the development of communication and number skills. Staff know what activities are organised for the day but planning is too generalised. It does not make sufficiently clear the

p.3

Organisation

purpose of the activity or identify the way in which it will cater for individuals’ next steps. Staff regularly note children’s achievements but there is no easily accessible record that charts individual pupils’ progress. The leadership and management team has only been in place since November. All those involved are fully aware that procedures for action planning, administration and identification of staff’s roles and responsibilities are not yet sufficiently clear to promote children’s progress to best effect.

p.4

Organisation

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take into account the following recommendation(s):

p.4

Organisation

Improve the quality of planning so that it identifies what the activities are designed to help children learn and how individual needs will be catered for.

p.4

Organisation

Improve the quality of assessment so that children’s progress is clearly identified.

p.4

Organisation

Develop management procedures to improve the organisation of the provision and effective use of staff (also applies to day care).

p.4

Complaints since the last inspection

Since the registration there have been no complaints about the registered day care that required Ofsted or the school to take action so that the day care continued to meet the National Standards. The school is required to keep a record of complaints about the registered day care made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints about the registered day care other than those made to Ofsted.

p.4

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.4

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.

p.4

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

p.4

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

p.4

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): • Improve the procedures for registering children and staff attendance and for making parents aware that they have access to the complaints record. • Ensure that risk assessments are carried out, fire exits are clearly identified and fire drills conducted sufficiently regularly taking into account the children’s age. • Improve the procedures for general record keeping and nappy changing.

p.5

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 the quality of planning so that it identifies what the activities are designed to help children learn and to cater for individual needs. • Improve the quality of assessment so that children’s progress is clearly identified. • Develop management procedures to improve the organisation of the provision and effective use of staff (also applies to day care).

p.5

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

p.5

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

p.5