The Rocking Horse Club

The Rocking Horse Club Pendle Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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310266 Unique Reference Number 23 May 2007 Inspection date Cynthia Walker Inspector

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Walton Lane Child Care, Walton Lane, Nelson, Lancashire, BB9 8BP Setting Address

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01282 613 437 Telephone number head@walton-lane.lancsngfl.ac.uk E-mail The Rocking Horse Club Pendle Ltd Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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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?

Rocking Horse Club Pendle Ltd was registered in 2000. It operates from a purpose built children's centre in Nelson. Children have access to three playrooms within day care and also the school nursery, library and training room. There are fully enclosed areas for outdoor play for all ages of children. The setting provides full day care which includes a breakfast club, luncheon club, after school care and holiday care. Children attend the nursery school within the building which is integrated with the full day care provision. The setting serves the local and surrounding area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting is registered to care for a total of 122 children under the age of eight years at any one time. There are currently 233 children on roll, of which 20 children are in receipt of nursery education funding. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and who speak English as an additional language. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting is open each weekday from 07.30 to 18.00 hours, all year round, except for Bank Holidays. There are 64 staff working within the setting, of these, 30 staff work directly with the children. Over half the staff working with the children hold appropriate early year's

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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 qualifications or teaching qualifications and four staff are working towards appropriate qualifications. The setting receives the support of the local authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are well nourished and enjoy a wide variety of nutritious meals and snacks which include a broad selection of fruit and vegetables. Discussions at teatime on why salt is not good for you and children being aware that fish helps you grow big and strong, enables children to develop an understanding of the importance of certain foods. Children are able to access regular drinks throughout the day. The children's dietary needs are discussed with parents and efficiently recorded to ensure the individual children's needs are met.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are developing a good understanding of personal hygiene as they become increasingly independent around their personal care, as they wash hands after going to the toilet and before they eat their food. They explain that they need to wash their hands after they have examined a worm in their hands. Staff follow clear procedures as they change children's nappies and ensure all surfaces are kept clean. Discussion with parents on their children's daily routines is used to enable staff to sensitively ensure children receive appropriate rest or sleep. Staff demonstrate that children are cared for efficiently if they have an accident or need medication because they follow appropriate procedures.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy physical activity by daily access to the attractive outdoor area and veranda. They move freely with pleasure and confidence as they run around and negotiate space successfully. Children confidently climb the rungs of the climbing frame and use good balancing skills as they crawl across the top. They push and ride the wheeled toys skilfully as they manoeuvre the resources around the available space. The children's physical development is supported by a wide range of resources which include climbing areas, wheeled toys, a range of small equipment, playhouses and slides. The use of areas for specific age ranges enables children to move safely and with confidence to develop their individual skills.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a warm, safe and secure environment where risks are identified and minimised. There are clear procedures in place for the collection of children from eight schools within the surrounding area including a travel risk assessment. Children are learning about keeping safe as they respond to the clear explanations from staff about how to use the climbing ladder in the outdoor area. Regular fire practises reinforce children's understanding of fire safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The setting is very welcoming to children with colourful displays on all the walls within the building. Children particularly enjoy the sensory resource in the corridor leading to the play rooms and spend time with their parents discussing the colours and pressing buttons to make different noises. The rooms are creatively arranged to enable children to access all areas of play and learning. Children are accessing a good range of resources which are appropriate to their ages and stages of development and actively extend their play and learning. Resources are well arranged to enable children to make spontaneous decisions about the toys and resources they are going to use.

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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 The designated member of staff within the children's centre has a good understanding of child protection procedures and has established a strong working relationship with other professionals in this field which effectively safeguard the children within the setting. She gives ongoing support and ensures the full staff team are trained in child protection and are fully aware of their responsibilities in safeguarding children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time in the setting and arrive happy and eager to participate. Younger children are making good progress because staff are developing an effective understanding of the needs of children under three. Detailed planning is in place which is linked to the 'Birth to three framework' and includes a wide range of activities to stimulate children's play and learning. The children's records of achievements include a good range of photographs and examples of children's work. Although these are being developed, information from these is not used to inform future planning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children acquire new skills as they join in a wide range of interesting activities. Children under two enjoy exploring their senses as they hunt for toy pigs in the shaving foam, squeezing the foam through their fingers and clapping their hands together. They enjoy spreading glue over the paper and carefully place straw and other materials over the glue. Children are developing their language skills as they repeat simple words introduced by staff, such as 'pig, where's the pig'. Children under three develop their physical skills as they enthusiastically hop and jump around the veranda area. They enjoy participating in musical games, such as 'down at the station' and match the movements to the song. Children are developing good control of pencils as they complete pictures of their mummies and children use good hand-eye co-ordination as they spread pasta shapes on to string. Displays within the room reflect the children's artwork

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and participation in activities, such as playing with large boxes or playing in the sensory area. Older children explain they enjoy coming to the out of school club and their favourite activities are doing creative activities or completing jigsaws. After tea the children enjoy participating in a circle game where each child put one of their shoes into the centre and other children have to guess who they belong to. Planning indicates that children are able to access a good variety of play opportunities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children make good progress in all areas because staff have a secure understanding of the early learning goals. They plan a balanced range of activities which motivate children to learn and include modifications and extensions. Information from the children's previous sections in the setting, is used to establish the children's starting points and staff have sufficient understanding, of the groups overall learning, to plan aspects of their next steps in learning, for example, recognition of numerals. However, information from the children's records of achievement is not evaluated and does not link to the individual next steps for learning to the future planning. Teaching interests children and helps them to become focussed and persist at activities for some time. Staff's effective questioning challenges and supports children to achieve as much as they can. They provide an interesting and welcoming

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

environment and make good use of their time and resources to support children's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children are motivated to learn and are interested in the broad range of activities available. They use their initiative and take responsibility for their own play. Children have good concentration which enables them to stay focussed at circle time and activities, such as dominoes.

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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 They communicate well and use language to give explanations on how to use a toy tape recorder and children discuss the details of a pig they are going to paint. Children listen with enjoyment to stories and explore words, such as enormous. Resources within the 'farm shop' stimulate children to make marks as they make their own shopping lists, whilst other children are encouraged to design a sign saying the shop is closed for lunch.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are involved in a wide range of mathematical experiences. They reinforce their counting skills within the daily routines as they count the strawberries in the shop and the pictures they need to complete a game. Children estimate who has won the domino game by comparing the numbers of pieces remaining. They discuss the shape of the tea bag and confidently use language to describe the length and size of objects. The introduction of garden peat and home made compost stimulates the children to explore and investigate the differences in texture, appearance and smell. Useful discussions around the items which go into the compost increases children's understanding of the environment. Children enjoy exploring the compost and become very excited and animated as they discover a worm which they describe as being, tickly and wriggly. They are confident in the use of audio equipment and manipulate the controls to listen to the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

sounds of the farmyard. Children use their imagination as they play in the farm shop as they sell milk, eggs and fruit to each other. Displays within the room reflect a wide variety of child centred art work which include 3D sculptures, salt pictures and spider's webs made from string. Children independently select colours to paint an observational picture of a toy pig.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children behave well in response to the clear and consistent explanations from staff. They have a good understanding of the behaviour codes of the group, particularly at circle time and when going outside to play. Children have established positive relationships and work co-operatively together particularly in the role play area and whilst completing table top games. Younger children are developing self assurance from close and effective relationships with staff. All children are confident in their environment and displays of children involved in activities promotes their self esteem.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are developing a positive attitude to others through the provision of a good range of resources which include dressing up clothes, small world figures, puppets, jigsaws, books, dolls and displays. Activities linked to their own culture and those of others reinforce the children's understanding of diversity. Discussions with parents establish the children's individual needs and there are effective systems in place to record these to ensure appropriate care is given. There is an active partnership within the children's centre to ensure children with learning difficulties attending the setting receive consistent and effective support. All key workers are trained to monitor individual children's progress and good relationships have been developed with all professionals and the volunteer agency. The provision fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development appropriately.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents are actively welcomed into the setting and receive detailed and comprehensive information through welcome packs for each age group, information packs, notice boards and regular newsletters. The children's ongoing needs are met as information is shared with parents on a daily basis through daily record sheets and verbally through the key workers. The transition procedure is being reviewed to improve the opportunities for information to be shared between staff and parents about the individual children. The setting takes positive steps to ensure that parents are kept informed about all the relevant policies and procedures.

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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 Partnership with parents is good. Clear displays within the setting give parents useful information about the activities their children are involved in and useful information on the foundation stage is detailed in the parents welcome pack. Regular newsletters inform parents of the topics and themes being followed which encourage parents to be involved in their child's learning within the home. There are opportunities for parents to be involved in their children's learning as they volunteer to help within the setting. Children complete scrap books about their week in 'giraffes' that highlight the work they have completed during the week, at the beginning of the week children also complete a scrap book about their weekend, both of which, are displayed for parents. Parents are invited to progress days twice a year to discuss their children's

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Helping children make a positive contribution

achievements and their individual records are readily available for parents to access. Key workers reinforce this with regular chats at the end of a session.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. All the required documentation which contributes to children's health, safety and well-being is in place. Documentation is supported by clear policies and procedures which are reflected in daily practise, for example, behaviour. Effective recruitment and vetting procedures are in place to determine the suitability of staff members to safeguard the children attending the setting. Team Leaders identify and highlight the staff's future training needs and regular in-house workshops help to maintain the children's care and learning. Space within the setting is effectively organised and creatively arranged to enhance the play and learning for children.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. The senior staff team has a clear vision for the education of the children and are actively supporting the newly appointed team leader to implement this. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and work as an effective and supportive team. Regular staff meetings and weekly planning meetings ensure they maintain the consistency in improving outcomes for children. There are systems in place to monitor the overall provision through questionnaires to parents and a system is being introduced to begin peer observations within the room. There are effective systems in place to monitor and evaluate the planned programme of activities for children. The setting liaise with advisors from the Local Authority to improve the quality of education for the children they are providing. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the setting were give two actions in relation to the vetting of staff and the use of the building during hours of operation. They also received a number of recommendations in relation to the staff's responsibilities, the key workers, planning of activities, the security of the garden, hygiene procedures and behaviour management. At a subsequent nursery education inspection a point for consideration was raised in relation to evaluating and planning the children's next steps for learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection the setting have moved to a purpose built building which has a positive impact on some of the previous actions and recommendations. The setting have clear vetting procedures in place for staff to ensure they are suitable to work with the children. The premises are safe, secure and suitable for their purpose. Each child is allocated to a key member of staff and all staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities to effectively meet the children's needs. Detailed planning is in place to provide a wide range of stimulating activities to promote children's play and learning. The outdoor area is secure which maintains the safety for children.

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Improvements 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 Staff are promoting the children's health by following good hygiene procedures. Children are well behaved in response to the clear and consistent responses from the staff team.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The children's record of achievements contain evidence of children's work, photographs of their involvement in activities and observation of their progress. However, information from these are not formally evaluated to identify the individual children's next steps for learning and used to inform future planning.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • continue to develop the assessment programme for children under three to ensure their observations are used to plan the next steps for the children's learning and development.

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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): • continue to develop the assessment procedures to identify individual children's next steps for learning and link these to future planning.

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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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