Forest Rock Day Nursery.

St Clements

Inspection report for early years provision

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St Clements

Unique Reference Number EY261598 Inspection date 16 May 2005 Inspector Patricia Bowler

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St Clements

Setting Address 16 Church Hill, Woodhouse Eaves, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 8RT Telephone number 01509891131

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E-mail

Registered person Timothy John McEnery Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care, Out of School 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 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

St. Clements Day Nursery and Out of School provision opened in 2003. It operates from a purpose built setting, within the village of Woodhouse Eaves, in Leicestershire. A maximum of 50 children may attend the nursery at any one time and a maximum of 20 children may attend the out of school provision. The nursery is open each weekday from 07:30 to 18:00 all year round. The out of school provision provides care during school holidays.

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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 There are currently 112 children aged from birth to 8 years on roll. Of these, 22 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs, and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 17 staff. Of these 13, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. A total of 3 staff are working towards a suitable qualification.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a clean and well-maintained environment. Their health is enhanced through vigilant policies and procedures, which are consistently followed by staff ,to ensure they are not exposed to cross-infection. Children consolidate their own understanding of simple hygiene practices through regular daily routines. Older children talk knowledgeably about germs and the importance of washing their hands. Children regularly play outside. There is space in the enclosed play area to experience a range of activities to provide exercise and freedom to run and play. Children are gaining control of their bodies through a variety of activities including music and movement. Children experience a broad, and varied, range of well-planned, nutritious meals. Foods purchased from local suppliers, including farm produced vegetables, ensures they eat high quality, fresh foods. Care is taken to ensure all dietary needs are

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Helping children to be healthy

discussed and recorded. Close liaison between the chef and parents ensures she is fully aware and provides the correct ingredients to meet children's specific needs. A wide variety of different fruits are provided as snacks between meals. Children are beginning to understand the benefits of eating fresh fruit and vegetables, and engage in meaningful discussions about foods, to build strong bones and teeth. Staff make good use of stories and rhymes to increase children's awareness of healthy-eating. Children recognise their own needs and independently access drinking water throughout the day. Quiet areas are available for children to rest, and relax, at leisure.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. High regard is given to ensure children are cared for in a safe and secure environment. Robust systems, including CCTV and coded entry doors, protect children from visitors who are admitted and escorted at all times. Visitors and parents are reminded to maintain security, with written direction to ensure outer doors are closed, as they arrive and depart with children. Good procedures, and consistent risk

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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 assessment, ensures that all areas accessed by children are safe and any hazards are minimised. Children are cared for by qualified, and experienced, staff and thorough clearance procedures ensure they are suitably checked and vetted. Health and safety procedures are diligently followed, by all staff, to maintain children's safety. Children move confidently around the nursery. Furniture is suitably arranged to enable them to move freely, and access play resources, in their base rooms. Those who are cared for on the first floor manage the stairs well. They are learning to keep themselves safe and know to take their time and hold onto the banister. Children are beginning to understand the consequences of their actions and listen carefully as staff explain issues such as throwing sand.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Imaginative play opportunities are used effectively to increase children's knowledge and awareness of safety issues in the wider world. The building site area, for older children, gives them an informed insight into protective clothing and careful handling of tools. They are learning to accept that limited numbers of children can access the activity and talk about this being for safety reasons. Children are protected from harm because staff understand their role in child protection, and are able to put appropriate procedures into practice, if necessary.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Staff use the Birth to Three Matters effectively to plan and promote opportunities for younger children, to experience a varied range of activities, which contribute to their overall development. Children are developing confidence to join in large, and small, group activities and make informed choices about their play. They enjoy playing with natural resources including water, sand, cooked rice and oats and imaginative methods, to find hidden objects, encourage them to experience feeling different textures. Warm relationships with staff enhance children's sense of belonging. They sit with children in small groups, sharing books and engaging in activities to build, and extend, social skills. Children are beginning to share, and take turns, and understand the needs of others with adult support. Children are supported well to persist in completing jigsaws and continued use of praise and encouragement gives

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

them a real sense of achievement on completion. There are good opportunities to develop their imagination, and fine manipulative skills, in role-play situations. The care for babies is very good. Appropriate resources encourage them in their developmental milestones and they are sensitively encouraged to develop age-appropriate movement. Sensory skills are enhanced with tactile toys. NURSERY EDUCATION Children are confident. They separate happily from their carers and have warm relationships with staff actively seeking support when required. They are developing good peer group relationships and work well in small, and large, groups. They are learning to share and take turns and understand the needs of others. Positive

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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 behaviour is enhanced by sensitive intervention from staff to enable children to learn right from wrong. Children respond appropriately in situations of conflict and are given opportunity to sort this themselves. They are swift to apologise and accept outcomes. Children are interested in the activities and make informed choices about their play. They are keen to join in small, and large, group activities and use this time appropriately to link home and nursery experiences. They sustain good levels of concentration, persisting in tasks to completion; a child spent considerable time colouring in a pre-drawn picture with a very fine felt pen. They have some personal independence and are competent with their self-help skills. They are able to put on their own shoes, and make good use of dressing-up opportunities, to increase

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

dressing skills. They recognise their own personal needs, putting on extra clothes when feeling cold, and are developing good personal hygiene practices, washing their hands without adult prompting, following toilet use. There are missed opportunities for older, and more able, children to reach their full independence potential as they do not pour their own drinks or assist in cutting up fruit for snacks. Children are capable of doing this, and following discussion during the inspection, a child successfully poured more water from the jug and expressed pride in his achievement. Children are confident communicators. They listen and respond appropriately to peers and adults. They listen intently to stories eagerly joining in with familiar phrases of favourite books. They are acquiring a wide vocabulary and have good opportunities to use communication in role-play activities. The building site is used effectively and children talk confidently about building processes naming materials

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and tools. They are developing good skills to negotiate and accept ideas from others. Most children recognise their names which are clearly displayed on their own drawers. Although older children can write their names, this is not practiced at every opportunity on their creative work and, there are insufficient opportunities for children to link sound to letters to recognise initial sounds of words. Mathematical development has significant weaknesses. Most children can count up to ten and attach quantity to a chosen number. However, there is insufficient use of resources and opportunities for children to count spontaneously, recognise numerals and practice calculation skills. Staff do not use practical and spontaneous opportunities to increase children's development, for example, when counting children at snack-times to work out how many cups are needed for each table. These are well within the children's capabilities. There are also missed opportunities to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

increase children's use of mathematical terms when cutting fruit into halves and quarters. Children experience a suitable range of creative activities, however, these are mainly adult-led and do not always offer scope for children to express their own creativity. Children are developing a very good awareness of the world around them. Resources are used effectively to encourage their awareness of diversity and they are learning about the natural world through practical activities such as plant growing. They make effective use of intermediate communication technology in their play. Overall, children are making sound progress towards the early learning goals given

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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 their capabilities and starting points. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING The quality of teaching is satisfactory. Staff have sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage, a reasonable range of teaching methods and an adequate understanding of how children learn. However, they do not always use this to best effect to promote the progress of individual children through the stepping stones. They provide an appropriate range of activities and experiences although these do not always provide sufficient challenge for older, and more able, children. Planning includes a range of interesting topics, to include most of the cluster areas, which are mostly taught successfully. Assessments and observations are satisfactory although information gained from these is sometimes inconsistent. They do not give informed detail of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

planning for the next steps in children's learning. Staff make effective use of good behavioural strategies to promote positive outcomes for children. They give good support to children with special educational needs and work effectively with other agencies. Monitoring procedures are adequate but are not always used to identify ways to improve teaching.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Very good relationships are fostered with parents. Excellent information is provided about the setting and procedures for discussing and recording information about children ensures their individual needs are met well. Newsletters and open parent evenings provide opportunities for staff to share children's progress and have open discussions with parents about the care of their children. Children's sense of belonging is enhanced through daily contact using both written and verbal communication to ensure staff and parents are kept fully informed. Good procedures and secure relationships help children to settle. Children benefit from the staff's positive awareness of equal opportunities and inclusion of all children. They work successfully with other agencies to ensure their individual needs are met. Children make active choices about their play and use their initiative in most indoor

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Helping children make a positive contribution

and outdoor activities. However, there are times when too much adult involvement hinders their creativity and independence. They are developing good relationships with peers, developing good strategies to negotiate and are learning to work harmoniously with others and respect their needs. Children's behaviour is generally very good. There are very good opportunities provided for children to become aware of the world around them. They are learning about diversity through practical activities. Discussions with parents, during the inspection, resulted in many positive comments about the good care their children receive. Reference was made to staff being fully committed, and caring, and generally very approachable. Most information is shared well although they are not kept fully aware of their child's educational progress. The

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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 quality of the partnership with parents is good. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered through positive staff interaction to build warm, caring relationships with children in an environment where they develop respect and awareness of the needs of others.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children's care is enhanced by the staff's understanding of the setting's comprehensive policies and procedures to protect children and promote their well-being. Staff have good opportunities to attend additional training to enhance the quality of care given to children. The organisation within the nursery generally meets the needs of the children well. They are grouped sensibly, to ensure they receive good levels of care, appropriate to their age and developmental stages. Good procedures are established to maintain the required child/adult ratios. There is a good balance of indoor, and outdoor, activities to extend play and learning opportunities for the range of children attending the setting. Staff organise time to allow the children to be cared for in small, and mixed, age groups. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT The quality of leadership and management is satisfactory. The manager has

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Organisation

experience within a range of day care settings. She sees her role within the nursery to oversee the care and education of the children attending. She expects staff to maintain high levels of commitment to plan, and provide, this for individual children. She takes an active role in being with children and spends time in individual rooms. She uses this time to monitor staff working practice which is then followed through at regular appraisal meetings. She has spent time ensuring staff implement the "Birth to three's" framework which is reflected in the good level of care provided for children in this age range. However, there are inconsistencies between the care of children under three years, and those receiving nursery education funding, resulting in the setting meeting the needs of the range of children attending satisfactorily overall.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection the setting has included written procedures in the event of a child being lost in the parent information booklet. This has ensured clear information is provided to ensure parents are fully informed and appropriate action is taken to ensure the welfare of children is maintained.

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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 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 satisfactory.

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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 improvements as indicated in the nursery education section as below

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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): • use practical and spontaneous opportunities to promote children's independence and mathematical development raising the challenge for older and more able children to build on what they can already do • improve the opportunities for children to input their own ideas into their creative work and provide a wider range of materials to choose from, enabling them to produce their own creations. • improve the observation and records to clearly identify the next steps for children's learning

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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