Teeny Tots

Teeny Tots Inspection report for early years provision

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EY282342 Unique Reference Number 31 March 2008 Inspection date Marian Bvumburai Inspector

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163 County Road South, Hull, HU5 5LZ Setting Address

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E-mail

Teeny Tots Day Nursery Limited 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?

Teeny Tots nursery has been registered since 2004. It is owned privately. Children are cared for on two of the three floors of the detached building and the provision has sole use. The rooms have immediate access to toilet, nappy changing and hand washing facilities. The nursery serves the local community. There is an enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is registered to provide full day care for a maximum of 54 children to attend at any one time. The provisions times of opening are Monday to Friday 07.00 until 18.00 for 52 weeks a year. Children are able to attend a variety of sessions. There are currently 109 children on roll, 40 of whom are in receipt of education funding. The provision supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities and there are systems in place to support children who speak English as additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are 21 staff members employed. The majority have relevant childcare qualifications, and they all have appropriate working experience.

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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 The proprietor has a level V National Vocational Qualification in Management as well as a Diploma; a Nursery Nursing qualification and a teaching certificate. She is currently undertaking an Early Years Foundation degree course.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery have been awarded Quality Counts award from the National Day Nursery Association.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children’s health and well-being are nurtured well. They are cared for in a clean, warm environment. For example, the baby room has recently been carpeted and no shoes are allowed to ensure that babies crawl on clean surfaces. They eat healthy, nutritionally balanced cooked meals and snacks. For example, they have a mixture of chopped fresh fruit with water for snacks, and cooked meals include vegetables, meat or fish, potatoes, rice or pasta. A quick reference list of allergies is kept to hand for staff to refer to. During meal times staff remain close by to ensure that children eat their meals safely and do not eat from each others plates, especially because some may have allergies to some foods.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children, including babies enjoy a variety of regular, stimulating physical activities inside as well as outside. Staff creatively ensure that all children engage in rewarding outdoor activities daily and enjoy exercise through play. Children become aware of their own bodies and begin to understand things through daily routines. For example, when it is cold staff dress babies appropriately and take them outside for short periods to enjoy some fresh air and suitable activities, such as sitting and playing in the sand pit. The older children routinely wear their coats and younger children routinely ask to have their coats on before going outside for fresh air and play.

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Helping children to be healthy

The nursery provides a wide variety of clean and well maintained toys, resources and equipment to facilitate children’s play. Children are taught the importance of practicing good hygiene and do so through everyday routines. For example, more able children wash their hands with soap after using the toilet, dry them and put used paper towels in the lidded bins. The younger children are appropriately encouraged to do so independently and staff help where necessary. Children including three-year-olds say that they wash their hands to make them clean because of germs, which shows that they understand the importance.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff follow well-thought-out health and hygiene procedures which help to prevent the spread of infection and keep children healthy. For example, all children are provided with individual clean face towels to wipe their faces after meals and they brush their teeth. Babies and older children who are still in nappies are changed in the toilet area, away from other children. Staff use disposable gloves and aprons, and nappies are bagged then put into lidded bins. Policies and procedures for dealing with sicknesses are in place and understood by parents and staff. Children or staff with infectious illnesses do not attend which helps to prevent cross-infections to others. The system for recording medication administered is comprehensive and is adhered to well by staff. Accidents and incidents involving any child are recorded in detail and parents sign to acknowledge the record.

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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

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are generally kept safe. They are cared for in a child-friendly and suitably safe environment. Security into the building is vigilantly monitored, having CCTV and other measures in place. For example, parents and visitors ring the doorbell outside. Staff answer the intercom to allow access into the building. A meaningful visitors’ record is kept. Visitors complete the record and state their name, reason for visit, time of arrival and departure. Parents are also reminded by a polite written notice, not to allow other people into the nursery. However, although outdoor play is successfully monitored and children remain in the view of staff, the rear gate which gives access to the outdoor play area is not always kept secure.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The rooms are well laid out and potential hazards are effectively addressed. Children including babies enjoy moving freely between toys and activities of their choice. Staff routinely talk to children about safety to extend their understanding and responsibility for themselves. For example, they talk to children as young as two about climbing the stairs carefully. Children understand that they are not allowed to run on the stairs because they might fall and hurt themselves. They also understand why it is important to hold on to the rail as the walk up and down the stairs, and that they have to be escorted by an adult.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision supports a mixed group of children including some who have learning difficulties or disabilities. The key worker system enables them to know children well as individuals. This helps staff to plan effectively and provide for each child’s individual abilities and interests, and meet their needs whilst ensuring a safe environment for all.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children enjoy playing with the wide range of suitable indoor and outdoor resources and equipment, all of which are safe, of good quality and well maintained. For example, the provision has recently refurbished and equipped the outdoor play area. This now provides space for gardening, soft padded area where equipment, such as slides and climbing frames are placed, a sand pit with cover, a grassed area and hard surface.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Most of the staff have previously attended safeguarding children training. They have a good clear understanding of reporting procedures, if concerned that a child is being harmed. Management ensure that all staff are vetted and this information is readily available for inspection.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children receive good quality of care. The majority of staff hold relevant childcare qualifications and are experienced. Children are cared for by a team whose most members have worked together for many years. Staff have a good understanding of child development and how children learn. They have attended Foundation Stage training and have embraced well the ‘Birth to three matters’ framework. For example, information obtained from parents about the babies' routines is followed as far as possible to ensure that disruption is minimal. This helps babies to remain happy and settled. Staff have good relationships with children and have high expectations of their behaviour.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The nursery operates a key-worker system and keep well documented progress notes about each child. Parents complete the 'all about me' initial assessment booklet at enrolment, which tells the staff about the child’s stage of development at that point of entry. This information

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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 is valued and used as a baseline to build upon by staff. Children are continuously observed and their progress is monitored and recorded. This information is effectively used to successfully plan activities and play opportunities that address differentiations in children as individuals. Staff also ensure that younger or less able children are able to take part in all activities confidently and at their own level. For example, all children including babies enjoy painting. While older children use brushes, babies do hand or foot prints. Adult-led activities are clearly introduced. Children are routinely asked open-ended questions by staff to check that they understand what they are learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are offered an extensive range of stimulating activities and they can access a range of good resources to support their learning. Personal, social and emotional development is particularly nurtured well. Children work well together, for example, they choose to sit at the computer with their friends and willingly share the mouse when playing games. Children work cooperatively, thinking mathematically to find solutions to complete tasks, such as puzzles. They share decision-making, discussing and negotiating options and assisting one another without getting upset if others do not agree with them. Children have self-esteem, are well-behaved, eager to learn and confident to try new experiences. Their mathematical thinking is developing well.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Communication, language and literature is promoted satisfactorily. Children enjoy accessing and looking at interesting books which are kept within their reach and in full view. They listen intently to stories and contribute with enthusiasm. Most children recognise their names as well as their peers names. Some are able to write their own names. Mark-making materials are available at all times, located in an area. Some children confidently visit the area and use the resources. However, this is not included in other areas of activities, such as the home corner where children can enjoy writing shopping lists, for example. This limits opportunities for more children to practice mark-making and writing for different occasions.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The maths skills and vocabulary of more able children are promoted well and extended through everyday experiences. For example, at circle time children are effectively encouraged to talk about how they feel. Children indicate this by putting their name against a smiling, sad, or angry face. The staff then ask the child why they feel this way and children confidently elaborate on this to the group, using spoken language. Children use mathematical language to compare, such as ‘bigger than’ and ‘smaller than’, ‘more’ and ‘less’. They also confidently and correctly use positional language, such as up, down, top, bottom as they describe where pictures are positioned on the walls. Staff use every opportunity to encourage children to practice counting and recognise numbers as well as letters of the alphabet. For example, the padded section of the outside play area has some numbers and letters and these are incorporated and used in

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

play. Most of the older children can count beyond eight and recognise numbers up to five.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children’s creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world are nurtured well. They creatively make up stories during play in the home corner. They enjoy exploring and using a variety of medias, paint, crayons, gluing and sticking, and children enjoy sand and water play. They mix different colour paints and wait to see what happens. Children’s knowledge and understanding of the world is developing well. For example, they are able to relate to past and present events in their lives and are interested in community events. For example, some children talked about what they were going to do after nursery. One child said that she was going to see the fair and that she would wear her pretty dress that she got for her birthday. Children have many opportunities to learn about the cultures and beliefs of other

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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 people and activities as well as resources are in place to support this. For example, older children attend French classes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff regularly assess and record children's progress towards the early learning goals. They use this information as a planning tool, to ensure that each and every child's needs are focused upon and addressed and information is linked to the stepping stones.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are respected and equality of opportunity is promoted well. Their self-esteem is encouraged well through validation and acknowledgement, such as praise, having their work displayed in their environment and being given responsibilities. For example, children enjoy helping to tidy up and put things away. However, some of the displays are positioned at too high a level for children to see. They independently choose activities to participate in among what is on offer and can also suggest ideas or ask for something else. Staff are supportive and ensure that resources to support the play or activities are available. Children enjoy attending the provision. Some children say that they like to be at the nursery because they can play with their friends.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Resources and activities provided include a good quantity of those that reflect positive images of other cultures, different races, disability and gender. For example, the provision provides a bilingual library, the welcome poster on the wall reflects many different languages, and posters around the building include images of people with different skin tones. This helps all children in the setting to feel comfortable and valued.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children with learning difficulties and disabilities are included and positive steps are taken to meet their individual needs. Staff work closely with the relevant external bodies to promote the welfare of all children and meet their needs. For example, staff work closely with the Area Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) to put together Individual Learning Plans (IEPs) for children identified as having learning difficulties or disabilities. The child’s progress is then closely monitored and reviewed regularly. A well-thought-out written policy in place and is followed by staff.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Good behaviour is encouraged and the staff are good role models. They are able to manage a range of behaviours well and they effectively teach children how to behave in an acceptable manner. For example, a few children were banging toy cars on tables. A member of staff asked them to stop what they were doing without raising her voice. She sat down and asked the children what would happen to the toys. The children said the cars would break and they would not be available to play with anymore. They realised the consequences and stopped the behaviour. Children are happy and feel secure. They form meaningful relationships with others and mostly play well together.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. Parents are informed about the provision and given a parents' handbook, and written agreements about the care of their children are put in place as required. They are welcome to access their children's records on request, at any time. Daily diaries are kept for younger children and parents have immediate access to these. Parents are informed of changes that may affect their children's welfare. Parents are generally notified of planned activities. However, those with children who receive funded education are

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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 not given sufficient information about the Foundation Stage. The limits parents from continuing the learning at home and contributing effectively to their child's education. Staff formally report in writing on each child's progress at the end of each year and parents take the files home and return them later. Children in receipt of funded education take their files with them to school when they leave. The provision receives support from the local authority.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are cared for and supported by a well established team of staff, most of whom are suitably qualified and have worked together for many years. The staff are keen on attending further training to enhance their skills and improve the service they provide.

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Organisation

Children are happy, confident and enjoy being at the provision. They enjoy making friends and generally play well together. They are offered a wide variety of activities, play opportunities and resources are readily available to enhance play, which they enjoy. They form good relationships with their carers and freely approach them to ask for what they want. Staff are supportive and know the children well as individuals. They ensure that the environment is safe, comfortable and conducive for all children to play and learn happily. Children’s safety is paramount and there are effective policies and procedures for appointing and vetting staff which are adhered to. The staff understand and appreciate their roles and responsibilities, and consequently children are well cared for.

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Organisation

The leadership and management are good. Management have a clear vision for the nursery education and systems are in place to ensure that each individual child’s progress is monitored effectively. The manager provides strong leadership supported by well-thought-out policies and procedures. For example, all staff working with older children have attended the Foundation Stage training, and also those working with babies have attended the 'Birth to three matters' training. Management ensure that staff are supported well to pursue any relevant training. They pay for extra hours of cover to allow staff to attend training, or do other tasks, such as keeping their key-work children’s records up to date. New staff members are effectively inducted and they sign to acknowledge that they understand a policy or procedure at their own pace. There is a probationary period of three months, but the induction process takes as long as it

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Organisation

takes for a staff member to become confident. Staff feel that they are supported and enabled to grow and develop their skills and knowledge, and say they enjoy working at the provision.

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Organisation

Staff throughout the nursery have a good understanding of the importance of record keeping to support the continuous learning process for individual children. They work well together as teams to provide planned activities for all children and to offer them quality experiences which help them to develop in all areas of learning.

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Organisation

Positive working relationships have been formed with parents and management continue to seek ways of involving parents further and even more effectively. For example, parents provide baseline assessment information about their children which the provisions builds upon. There are plans to provide parents with written information explaining the early learning goals and stepping stones. This will help parents to gain a better understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum with regard to children who receive funded education. There is also recruitment in progress for a parent steering group which has been initiated and is being supported by management.

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Organisation

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

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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

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, the provision was asked to: develop staff's knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and local procedures; ensure that medication recording is always clearly recorded and in line with standards required and make sure that all staff take care when putting resources away to ensure they are safely stacked.

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Improvements since the last inspection

These issues have been addressed and a result, children's safety has improved. A comprehensive system for recording medicine administered is in place; staff have attended safeguarding children training and demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of this, and more storage space has been created for resources and equipment and these are stored satisfactorily.

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Complaints 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that displays are placed at a height where children can see them with regard to younger children • ensure that the gate which gives access to the children's outside play area is kept secure at all 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 that parents are provided with sufficient information regarding the Foundation Stage and stepping stones • create more opportunities for children to practice mark-making and writing for different occasions through everyday natural occurring opportunities.

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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 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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