St John Fisher Catholic Primary School

City Way Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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103713 Unique Reference Number 17 April 2007 Inspection date Linda Patricia Coccia Inspector

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18 City Way, Rochester, Kent, ME1 2AB Setting Address

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E-mail

Sara Daly 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 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

City Way Day Nursery is a privately owned multi-functional nursery. The nursery has been registered since 1999. The nursery is situated on the main road into the town of Rochester. The nursery offers the use of four play rooms for different ages and functions including a baby room, toddler room, pre-school room and sessional room. The nursery also provides a breakfast, after school club and holiday club for school age children.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery operates all year round. The facility for child care is open from 07:30 until 18:00 Monday to Friday. The breakfast club operates from 07:30 until 08:30; the after school club from 15:15 until 18:00 and there are pre-school sessions from 09:15 until 11:45. The holiday club operates during school holiday periods from 08:00 until 18:00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 117 children on role. Of these 40 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities, and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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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 18 members of staff who are employed in the nursery, of these, 16 staff hold relevant qualifications. Two staff are attending qualification courses. The nursery is currently working towards the Medway Quality Assurance Scheme. The nursery gains support and advice from the area SENCO, and Local Authority Early Years Team.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Good standards of hygiene are maintained within the nursery and good procedures are in place to help children understand about personal hygiene issues. Older children are encouraged to take themselves to the toilet to help them become independent and all children are reminded about hand washing after using the toilet and before eating meals. Individual face cloths are used for each child. Children learn about personal hygiene.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health records are well maintained and there are suitable procedures in place to promote children's health. At least five staff hold current paediatric first aid certificates and first aid boxes are available throughout the nursery and are regularly checked. Children's health is promoted.

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Helping children to be healthy

The food offered to children is nutritious and contributes to a healthy diet. Children happily tuck in to all the snacks and meals and drinking water is available to them throughout the day. All staff who handle or prepare food hold food hygiene certificates. Staff use good procedures to ensure that appropriate food is served to children with allergies or other dietary requirements. Children's individual dietary needs are met. Children are encouraged to pour their own drinks and spread their own toast from choices of honey, jam or marmite. However, on occasion some children's snack time can be chaotic and therefore they do not benefit from the experience of being able to socialise with friends or gain listening and manipulation skills. Most children participate in meaningful snack time activities.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children participate in a range of physical play activities both indoors and outdoors which allows them the opportunity of fresh air and meets their various energy levels. A range of outdoor play equipment is available such as ride on toys, hoops and sand play which children move between freely. Children also have the opportunity to participate in more structured physical play which is provided by a specialist company. Their equipment is adapted for all ages of children, who are fully supervised as they climb, jump and practise other physical movements. Children enjoy physical play.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are looked after in a suitable premises with a welcoming atmosphere. The rooms are brightly decorated and walls display children's work. The out of school club children share the use of the biggest room with the sessional children who only attend for morning sessions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are looked after in rooms which are safe and secure. Appropriate safety equipment such as gates and socket covers are used to keep children safe. Children use equipment which is well maintained, hygienic, easily accessible and stored appropriately. Children can self select the toys they want to play with.

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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 are transported in vehicles which are well maintained and driven by suitable persons. Staff drivers have completed appropriate training. Some children walk to school accompanied by staff. A range of comprehensive procedures are in place to protect children whilst off the premises, such as route assessments and protocols for the behaviour of staff and children. Policies also cover safeguarding children within the nursery and staff are required to have an awareness of the Local Authority Safeguarding Children Board procedures. Children's well being is promoted.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are cared for by staff who are professional and caring and have a good understanding of how young children develop. Small children settle well every morning. They are greeted by smiling staff and cuddles and hugs are readily available. Staff successfully implement the Birth to three matters framework. Heuristic activities are planned by staff to encompass all areas of children's development. For example, messy play activities such as using cornflour or painting help children to become competent learners as they explore creative mediums. Children in the out of school club are fully involved in planning their activities with the help of staff to achieve a relaxed experience.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children in receipt of nursery education funding are making good progress towards the early learning goals. Children are learning to control and use their bodies through a range of activities such as music and movement and structured physical play. Children competently use computers and other information technology equipment. Four-year-olds are able to load programmes on to the computer using the mouse and then complete assigned tasks. Three-year-olds ably use telephones and push button table top computers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children enjoy books and reading. They enthusiastically join in with staff at story time and sing songs which relate to their activities. For example, they sing the days of the week during news time. Two four-year-olds happily used magnetic letters to randomly identify the letters in their names. They were able to identify most letters of the alphabet and could give the sounds the letters made. Children also enjoy making music with instruments. Four-year-olds listen to the sounds they make and are able to produce rhythmic music whereas the younger children love to just bash away making as much noise as they can.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

There are plenty of opportunities for children to see numbers and shapes. Staff use good mathematical language which challenges children. For example, they ask 'How many?', 'What is this shape called?' and such like. Four-year-olds are able to identify individual numbers out of sequence and can calculate totals from smaller groups.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children happily discuss their families and home life with staff and act out scenarios in the home corner. They talk about events which have happened to them and people they know and show concern for their friends.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have created a wide array of wall displays using different mediums. A Chinese dragon made of cloth and different coloured foil adorn one wall, whilst string paintings and other creations of tissue paper and corrugated card are also displayed. All children enjoy being creative.

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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 Staff have a good understanding of the Foundation Stage. Two sets of staff deliver the nursery education to two different sets of funded children. An agreed topic is set for each term and although delivery may differ in each group, children still attain the same levels of learning. Planning takes into account children's starting points and their next steps. Children's key workers have the responsibility of completing observations and compiling the information into reports for parents. However, occasionally, not all relevant observations are included in the reports which means that the information provided for parents can be incomplete. For example, reports may not fully show how children attained their next steps.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children from a variety of different cultures attend the nursery. Staff use good procedures to ensure that they are made aware of children's individual religious or cultural needs. A wide range of pictorial images and toys which show positive images of all areas of equality are seen and used by children everyday. Children participate in a variety of festivals such as Divali which enables them to learn about each others' differences. Children learn about each other's differences. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

A range of suitable procedures are in place to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Fully trained staff assess children's needs and then liaise with other health professionals to meet those needs. Children are well supported.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The nursery provides a good range of policies and procedures to help children learn about their behaviour. Pictorial images of good behaviour are displayed in most rooms to remind children how to behave. For example, how to sit nicely at group time and how to listen well to instructions. A full range of behaviour management strategies are used by staff, from distraction with babies and younger children, to time out or discussions with older children. Children are generally very well behaved and interact well with each other. Children play within well defined boundaries.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff work closely with parents. Child record forms are completed by staff and parents when children start at the nursery. Parents receive information about the nursery and their children's development through a variety of different means from a prospectus, parent notice boards to daily activity diaries and verbal reports from staff. Parents report that they and their children are well supported. Children benefit from continuity of care.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is good. Parents with children in receipt of nursery funding report that they have regular meetings with their child's key worker to discuss their child's progress. Parents feel they have a reasonable understanding of the Foundation Stage but there are no displays or written reminders to reinforce their understanding. Occasionally parents can become involved in their children's learning when activities are sent home, such as reading books or collecting items for show and tell.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The provider has good procedures in place to ensure staff working with children are suitable to do so. Staff undergo rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures when being employed. Disciplinary procedures are in place to ensure that staff always act professionally around children. Children are looked after by suitable persons.

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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 The provider displays her registration certificate in a prominent place. Attendance records are well maintained and staff record children's arrival and departure times. Children's individual records are also well maintained and are confidential between staff and parents. Records are stored appropriately. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The provider and her manager have clear aims for providing a positive experience for children in the nursery. They are committed to high standards of support for parents and children and regularly review and implement practices which contribute to a well run nursery. They provide a range of toys and equipment which are suitable for the different ages of children using them. The provider encourages staff to play an active role in the running of the nursery. They attend regular staff meetings and can offer suggestions to improve any aspects of the operation. Staff are offered training opportunities using both in house or outside training organisations. There is very little turn over of staff and the differing age range of staff gives the children stability. Children benefit from highly qualified and skilled staff.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The provider has followed a number of recommendations from the last inspection to improve practice in the nursery. Under National Standard 7 children's hand washing facilities are available in all rooms and toilets are well maintained and under National Standard 3 the provider has provided more messy play activities for the children in the toddler room.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Further recommendations under National Standards 7, 12 and 13 to make changes to policies and procedures have also been implemented. The provider has devised a medication administration procedure which involves both staff and parents. She has nominated staff members to be lead officers in behaviour management and safeguarding children and has included safeguarding children information in policies. Finally, the nursery's complaints procedures have been updated and parents have been made fully aware of them. Children now benefit from the changes in procedures as they enjoy more sensory experiences and their health and well being is being fully promoted.

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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 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 good.

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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): • ensure that all children have a meaningful experience at snack times

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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): • ensure parents of funded children can access written information about the Foundation Stage and early years curriculum • review how children's records are compiled and how the information is presented to ensure parents have a complete picture of their child's progress under the Foundation Stage

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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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