Mega Nursery

Mega Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

p.1

EY216880 Unique Reference Number 18 May 2007 Inspection date Yvonne Victoria Facey Inspector

p.1

The Mega Centre, Bernard Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S2 5BQ Setting Address

p.1

0114 272 5077 or 2535997 Telephone number meganursery@bemega.com E-mail Hope City Church Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

p.1

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?

Mega Nursery opened in January 2003. It is situated in The Mega Centre, which is a large community centre linked to the Hope City Church in Sheffield. The building is a refurbished disused factory. The nursery serves families living in the Sheffield area. The nursery opens on Monday to Friday from 08.00 to 18.00 and is registered to care for a maximum of 57 children. There are currently 102 children on roll, of which 40 receive funded nursery education.

p.2

WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery supports children who have English as an additional language and cares for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Eighteen staff work with the children, most of whom are qualified and two are working towards an early years qualification.

p.2

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

p.2

Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children have daily opportunities for fresh air and exercise within the setting's fully enclosed play area. They take part in planned activities to develop their physical skills and enjoy playing with an appropriate range of equipment including climbing frames, ride on toys, balls and stilts that offer sufficient challenge. Children improve their fine motor control and coordination through the safe handling of a suitable range of tools, such as scissors and drawing materials. Babies and younger children regularly go on outings and walks so they can have access to fresh air.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

Children are suitably taken care of if they have an accident or become ill, because staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of how to promote children's welfare. For example, they ensure children who are ill do not attend, most staff hold a current first aid certificate and the first aid box is easily accessible. Appropriate systems are in place for recording accidents and administering medication, which ensures children's health needs are met. Staff are aware of satisfactory health and hygiene procedures, for instance, they wash their hands before serving meals and suitable nappy changing procedures are in place.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

Appropriate routines are in place so that children are learning simple hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before meal times and after messy play time. Children have some understanding of why they need to wash their hands. For example, a member of staff asks them why they need to wash their hands, which some children reply ' because we will get germs and we will get tummy ach'. However, a number of children sit down at the snack table after outdoor play and do not wash their hands. Consequently children are at risk of infection.

p.3

Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a varied menu of nutritious meals and snacks which enable them to increase their awareness of healthy eating. At snack time children are able to make healthy choices from the varied range of fruit provided. They choose from pears, oranges and bananas. Freshly prepared meals are provided at lunch times and menus are displayed for parents to see. Children's dietary needs are discussed as part of the registration process and all needs are recorded.

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are kept safe in the setting due to the stringent security measures of the building and the vigilant attention of staff. The children access a suitable range of resources to meet their ages and developmental needs. The organisation of the play rooms enables children to explore their environment in a safe manner, moving freely from activity to activity. Toys stored on low units enable children to select activities without hazard. This encourages children to make their own choices and supports them in becoming independent. There are a range of measures in place to support children's safety and help prevent accidents, both within the setting and when on outings.

p.3

Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children start to share responsibility for their safety through clearing away resources after play, to reduce trip hazards or by participating in emergency evacuation drills. There are appropriate equipment and resources available to children. Equipment is generally safe and well maintained, although some children's play materials are not well presented or kept to a reasonable standard. For instance, dressing up clothes torn and not clean and books are torn.

p.3

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 staff’s sound understanding of child protection is sufficient to ensure they protect children from harm. They are aware of what to do if they have concerns about a child and follow appropriate procedures to safeguard children’s well-being. Staff are aware of recent changes regarding the Local Safeguarding Children Board. The appropriate recruitment and vetting procedures contributes to ensuring staff caring for children are suitable to do so.

p.3

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enter the provision, separating easily from their main carer and settle quickly into the setting routine. They are motivated to learn and confidently make independent choices regarding the activities and resources they wish to explore. Children have a positive relationship with their peers and the staff team. They are developing their social skills and learning to take turns and share resources. Children practice and improve their self-care skills through purposeful activities, including putting on their coats and putting on their own aprons during messy play. Babies attending are happy and secure due to the sound settling in procedure where parents are encouraged to stay with their child. The staff work directly with the children throughout the day and provide consistency of care for them. The younger children enjoy being around the older children as they play together mainly in the messy play area.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff have a reasonable knowledge of the Foundation Stage. They link their plans and activities to the stepping stones to progress the children’s learning towards the early learning goals. However, the planned activities and experiences are not effective to ensure all individual children's learning is successfully promoted. For example, children's achievements records do not identify the next step in their learning and are not fully incorporated in the planning. Staff use suitable methods to maintain children's interest, sitting with them, asking questions and extending their play in most areas. The staff provide activities that are based on children's interests and adequately cover most areas of learning.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have a good range of vocabulary and use language with increasing confidence when talking to peers and adults. Children have satisfactory opportunities to develop their writing skills. Some children can write their own names confidently with recognisable letters and older children can draw detailed pictures of people. However, they do not have opportunities to practise writing for a purpose in different areas of their play and resources for them to explore and develop their skills are limited. Children understand and use numbers satisfactorily. They can count up to ten confidently and some older children can count beyond. Children are able to match shapes well and are beginning to compare and sort numbers. Opportunities for children to calculate and use their problem solving skills are suitably promoted. For example, they successfully share out plates, cups and cutlery at lunch time. Children develop their awareness

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

of space, shape and measure through opportunities including completing puzzles, pouring sand and water into different sized containers. They show an interest in number problems, during action and number rhymes.

p.4

Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy taking part in creative activities using a variety of materials including paint and collage. They use their imaginations well and the role-play area is used generally well. For example, children have bowels of water in the home corner and wash up, talking freely about how their mummy and daddy wash up at home. Children enjoy singing songs from memory and enjoy exploring a variety of musical instruments as a free choice and group activity. There are

p.4

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 few opportunities for children to explore how things work or to use technology in everyday activities.

p.4

Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children who may be identified with learning difficulties and disabilities are suitably supported to promote their development and learning. Generally, children behave well, as appropriate for their age and stage of development. Although at times older children's behaviour can deteriorate when they are not sufficiently occupied. For instance, lunch time with the older children was very noisy and children often left the table and disrupted the lunch time routine. The children have opportunities to learn about themselves, the local community and the wider world through planned activities and celebrating different festivals. Children access a satisfactory range of resources, which promote positive images of race, culture, disability and gender. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. The parents are given appropriate written information about the provision prior to their child starting in the group. Staff gather personal information regarding children's individual needs to ensure that staff follow home routines and they share information about the children's day. There are noticeboards and regular newsletters for parents to gather information about the routines and activities of their child's time at nursery.

p.5

Helping children make a positive contribution

There are satisfactory systems in place to inform parents about the early learning goals. For example, a nursery booklet adequately informs parents about six areas of learning. Parents are welcomed into the nursery by friendly staff who take the time to talk to them about their children. There are invited yearly to parents evenings and are able to express their views at anytime and by completing parent questionnaires. Children's development records are readily available for parents to access and discuss with their child's key worker.

p.5

Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. All legally required documentation is correctly maintained and securely stored. For example, staff record the daily arrival and departure times of children, staff and visitors. Children's personal information is easily available to support their care, such as written parental permission for seeking emergency treatment and other written consents. Space indoors is used well to cater for all the children's play needs. This means children are able to move around independently. There is a key worker system in place to ensure the continuity of care for children. There are adequate systems in place to recruit and check staff, this ensures that children are cared for by adults who are suitable to do so.

p.5

Organisation

Leadership and management are satisfactory.

p.5

Organisation

The manager identifies staff training needs and encourages staff to attend relevant training and development courses. Support is in place from the local authority to help staff to implement the Foundation Stage and develop assessment of children's progress. There are some opportunities for staff to meet as a team and they are involved in planning activities. A generally good induction procedure is in place for new staff members and staff are regularly updated about policies and procedures. The manager is clear about the overall management and

p.5

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 improvement of the nursery and suitable action plans have been put in place. However, the monitoring of the action plans on a day to day basis is not fully effective.

p.5

Organisation

Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

p.6

Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the provider was asked to develop staff's knowledge and understanding of child protection and share with parents. Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of their role in the protection of children the policy is now shared with parents. They were also asked to consider the organisation of meal times and ensure creative activities were used as part of the daily routine. These have been successfully achieved throughout the nursery apart from the lunch time routine for the older children.

p.6

Improvements since the last inspection

The nursery have developed an appropriate action plan to address the recommendations of the previous nursery education inspection. The staff have addressed some of these recommendations satisfactorily, although progress has not been successfully monitored and as a result some areas still require improvement. For instance, developing children's writing skills and outdoor activities.

p.6

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.

p.6

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.

p.6

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

p.6

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.6

THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

p.6

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 resources are maintained to an appropriate standard and is inviting to children • review the arrangements for children's hand washing to minimise the spread of infection.

p.6

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):

p.6

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 • provide children with more opportunities to practise writing for a purpose and access appropriate materials • develop children's record of achievement to identify the next step in individual children's learning, to inform planning • provide opportunities for children to develop their skills in information and communication technology.

p.6

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.7

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.7