St Catherine's Childcare

The Nursery at Marlpool Inspection report for early years provision

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205442 Unique Reference Number 10 July 2007 Inspection date Donna Stevens Inspector

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Marlpool Lane, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 5HP Setting Address

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E-mail

K Baylie 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The Nursery at Marlpool opened in September 2000. It operates from one room in Marlpool First School in the Marlpool area of Kidderminster.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting generally serves the local area, but children from all over the Wyre Forest can attend.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 37 children aged three years on roll. This includes 34 funded three and four-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently no children with special needs or with English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The group opens five days a week during school term. Sessions are from 09:00 until 12:00 and from 12:00 until 15:00. Children can also attend for full days.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are two full-time and two part-time staff who work with the children all of whom have an early years qualification. The setting receives support from a mentor teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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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 As from September 2007 the nursery will be renamed St Catherine's childcare and will provide before and after school care in addition to the current nursery provision. This follows a change to the name of the school to St Catherine's primary School following the Wyre Forest School review.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. Children's health is extremely well promoted as the setting takes excellent steps to promote the children's good health and encourages them to begin to take responsibility for meeting their own health needs. In the children's bathroom, detailed photos of the steps children need to take to wash their hands, encourages them to wash their hands properly. They are able to explain why each of the steps is important, that it helps to keep their hands clean and stops them from getting germs. Children use the toilet independently and they understand that they need to wash their hands after playing outside, before eating and after using the toilet. In the boys toilets stickers have been placed in the toilet bowls and the children understood that these are to help them aim correctly and prevents spillages on the floor making the bathroom 'not very clean'. Children receive very good care if they become unwell, need to be given

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are very well nourished. They have excellent opportunities to learn about healthy eating because the setting provides children with regular drinks and snacks that are nutritious and comply with their dietary and religious needs. Mid morning and mid afternoon snacks consist of different fruits and raw vegetables and parents provide packed lunches for the children at lunchtime. Meal times are very sociable occasions where staff sit down with children and lead by example, bringing healthy foods in that they talk to the children about and encouraging children to eat healthy foods from their lunch boxes first. Children learn about cooking and food nutrition through a range of exciting and interesting activities linked to themes and projects such as making sandwiches for a teddy bears picnic.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy excellent opportunities to experience physical activity and develop their skills. They access a wide range of activities such as climbing, balancing, running around and learning bat and ball skills. They have weekly sessions in the school hall where they are able to join in with musical movements, dancing and organised games. They are able to use the school playground and playing fields and help to build their own assault courses and balancing trails in the outdoor area. Children can move freely between the indoor and outdoor areas and through lots of positive encouragement from staff to practise new skills such as, throwing, catching and balancing make very good physical progress.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. Children are kept safe as a result of the staff's excellent awareness of health and safety and positive steps are taken to minimise risks. Children are cared for in a very clean, well maintained and safe environment. A very child friendly environment has been created and the walls are decorated with colourful posters and children's artwork. Most of the extensive range of high quality toys and equipment are stored at children's level so that they can easily access toys independently. There is a superb range of resources both inside and outside which allow children to the imaginative and creative in their play.

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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 High levels of staffing ensure that children are very well supervised at all times. A high priority is given to helping children to understand how to keep themselves safe. They begin to understand about safety issues within the setting by taking part in regular fire evacuation practices and helping to pick up toys and sweep up sand to prevent accidents. Safety issues are linked to current projects, for example while children are learning about water they have learned how to keep themselves safe when near it.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are very well protected from possible abuse or neglect. There is a detailed written policy that is understood by staff and shared with parents. The designated member of staff responsible for child protection issues regularly attends training and ensures that the whole staff team is aware of updated procedures and have a good understanding of the types of abuse, signs to look for and appropriate action to take should they feel concerned about the welfare of the child.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. The children are extremely well settled in the setting and are very confident and happy. Staff spend a great deal of time with the children developing relationships with them, supporting their play and encouraging them to learn new skills. Children enjoy a superb range of activities covering all areas of play and development which include a good mix between structured activities and free play and activities inside and outside. Staff are fully involved in children's play, helping them to use their imaginations, have fun and achieve to the best of their ability.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. Children's personal, social and emotional development is extremely well catered for and they have constant opportunities to increase their independence by staff who encourage them to select their own activities; take themselves to the toilet and put on their coats and shoes. They are encouraged to choose their own activities, give their opinions and share their ideas. They are able to choose whether they would like to play inside or outside. They maintain attention and concentrate at appropriate times, for example in circle time or when having a story. Children work very well together in teams to produce a finished result, for example helping each other to lift planks to build a balancing trail in the garden.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's language and communication skills are excellent. They use language to describe their feelings and ideas and to take on roles in the role play area such as, a waiter or waitress taking orders and delivering food. They enjoy looking at books and listening to stories and know how to handle books correctly. Books are sorted using coloured stickers, for example different colours for nursery rhymes, number books and alphabet books. This introduces children to a simple library system and helps them to begin to understand that books can be about a variety of subjects and a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. They understand that print carries meaning and toy boxes and equipment in the setting are clearly labelled so that children begin to identify words to objects. Mark making areas both inside and outside provide superb opportunities for children to practise emergent writing skills using a range of materials. They are also provided

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

with writing equipment in the role play area so they can further practise their skills and begin to understand the writing is used for a purpose such as, taking down orders in the beach café, writing bills and receipts. Many of the children are able to write their own names and other simple words.

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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 Mathematical learning is a real strength of the group and in each theme and project children are able to participate in a range of high quality activities that introduce them to concepts of counting, addition and subtraction and matching articles to written numbers. As part of the water theme they have looked at the nursery rhyme 'One, Two, Three, Four, Five' and play a game using a net where they have to catch the correct number of items and place them on a cardboard fish with that number written on it. The rhyme 'Five Little Speckled Frogs' provides opportunities for children to sort cardboard frogs according to size and colour and once again to practise counting. Numbers are displayed in many areas of the nursery and there are number lines both inside and outside. The children are extremely confident with numbers and count

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

exceptionally well while playing these games and joining in with group activities such as, counting the number of children present each morning and afternoon session. They do this by passing a stone around and talking about whether there are more or less children than the previous session.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children have excellent opportunities to gain a broad understanding of the world around them by investigating and exploring through first hand experiences and high quality activities that introduce them to the foundations of history, geography, science and technology. The children investigate objects and materials, using their senses and finding out and identifying features of living things that they observe in the outdoor play area. They have helped to plant flowers in the garden and learn how to care for them. They have planted a scented pot where all the plants are fragrant and they can smell the different perfumes. A particular favourite is a dedicated bug area with plenty of large rocks and logs the children can lift up and look for mini beasts using magnifying glasses. There are baskets full of pine cones, sticks and shells which they can play with, touch and explore. The termly theme is used to introduce children

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to some excellent activities which further their experiences in this area. While looking at the theme of water they have learned about the lifecycle of the tadpole, which helps them to understand how living things change as they grow. The water tray outside has been used to create a mini seaside area with water and sand, rocks, shells and seaweed and plastic seaside animals such as crabs and fish. Children develop excellent building skills as they have the opportunity to use a wide selection of different construction toys and natural materials. A particular favourite are the large pieces of wood, drainpipes and guttering that they can use in the outdoor area to make balancing tracks and channels to pour gravel down. They are skilled at working out which pieces fit together and how they may need to angle pieces downwards in order for the gravel to fall from top to bottom. Children are extremely confident as they use

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the computer and other electronic toys. They are able to explain the programs that they use and demonstrate their mouse skills and how to create a finished product that they can print off and display on the walls. They are beginning to learn about time and changes to the seasons as they talk about weather on a daily basis and look at books of photographs of events that have taken place in the nursery. They begin to learn about their own cultures and beliefs as they celebrate Christmas and Easter, and learn about other ways of life as they celebrated events such as Diwali and Chinese New Year.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are able to be creative and express their own ideas through art, music, dance, role play and imaginative play. They take part in art and craft activities where they use a superb range of materials to create pictures and models that are displayed in the nursery or taken home. Staff are highly skilled at giving the children ideas, but then allowing the children to move forward with these, selecting their own colours for paints and helping to suggest materials that can be used. They thoroughly enjoy music and sing many familiar songs from memory keeping beats and doing actions. There is always a role play area both inside and outside which is linked to the current theme and provides children with a range of high quality resources so that they can take on roles that are familiar to them in society. Role play areas have included a post

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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 office, teddy bears picnic, vets, bakery, a Chinese restaurant, garage, space station and seaside café.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children make excellent progress in all areas of learning. Staff find out the children's skills, abilities and interests when they start at the provision. high quality planning clearly shows the aims of each activity, where it links to an area of the Foundation Stage and an outcome for children and encompasses elements from the National standards such as safety and health. For structured activities children are divided into groups by age and ability and take part in different activities. For example older children enjoyed practising their phonic sounds and listening to songs and younger children played a game where they chose plastic animals from a bag and decided whether they lived on land or in the water. Children each have their own files that contain examples of their work with small slips attached describing how they completed the activity, what they enjoyed and any skills that they may have used. Photographs are also taken

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

so that children can look back and show their parents the range of activities and opportunities that have been given to them. There are effective procedures in place to support children with special needs and children with English as an additional language. Excellent use is made of the space both inside and outside and the wide range of opportunities available to the children allows them to fully extend their play and immerse themselves in high quality learning experiences. Children are constantly observed and staff use a daily book to note any achievements and new experiences that children have had. These are then transferred to individual index cards and used at the end of each term to complete the nursery profile which transfers with children onto school. They are also used to identify any areas where children may need help to further improve their skills and learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. The children's individual needs are very well recognised and met. They are able to develop a positive attitude to others and gain an understanding about the wider world and community through access to a superb range of play and resources that encourage positive images of gender, culture and disability. They learn about other ways of life through themes and projects and this helps them to become sensitive and understanding towards others.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is exemplary. The settings rules are displayed on the wall for children to see and top priority is for the children to be happy and friendly. Staff encourage children to learn right from wrong, constantly praise them and encourage them to take responsibility for tidying up and helping each other. Children are developing an understanding of compromise, turn taking and sharing as they understand the concepts of restricted numbers in the outside and role play areas. Staff provide a calm and consistent environment for the children where they constantly praise them and lead by example being polite and courteous to each other and the children. Any problems are dealt with by; calmly talking to children, asking them not to repeat the behaviour, to apologise to any children that have been affected by the incident, and explaining to them the consequences of their actions and why behaviour is inappropriate.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. Children benefit from the close verbal communication between parents and members of staff. High quality written information is provided for parents both before their children start the group and on an ongoing basis through examples of children's work, books of photographs of their children taking part in activities and regular newsletters and displays on the parents notice board. Parents are able to attend parents evenings to have opportunities to discuss their children's progress and learning but staff are available at any time to talk to parents.

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

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. Children benefit because the staff team is extremely well qualified and experienced and use their knowledge to plan and organise a range of high quality activities and opportunities both inside and outside. The play space both inside and outside is well laid out to ensure children can easily access toys independently, benefit from a high level of individual adult attention and fully extend their play and learning.

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Organisation

Their individual welfare, care and learning needs are exceptionally well met and supported by the high quality documentation kept. All required records are kept up-to-date, confidentially stored and available to share with parents. Policies and procedures have been carefully thought out to reflect the outstanding practice and are regularly updated and available to parents at all times.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is outstanding. All the staff work well together as a team and meet regularly to discuss planning and the welfare of the children. Yearly appraisals provide opportunities for training needs to be identified and the management have a very positive attitude to training that encourages staff to recognise areas for improvement in their practice and appropriate courses to attend to further strengthen the already high quality standards of care and education received by the children. Overall the needs of all children who attend are met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the setting was asked to develop the role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). A member of staff has now attended the training and there are very good procedures in place for meeting individual needs. They were also asked to improve the resources available to children that depicted positive images of people with disabilities. The group have purchased various equipment including small world play, books and puzzles.

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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. 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 outstanding. 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 outstanding.

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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

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of care are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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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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