Pre-School Learning Alliance Bulwell Childcare

Wishing Well Childcare Centre

Inspection report for early years provision

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Wishing Well Childcare Centre

Unique Reference Number EY295475 Inspection date 20 June 2005 Inspector Cheryl Wilson

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Wishing Well Childcare Centre

Setting Address Steadfold Close, Crabtree Estate, Bulwell, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG6 8AX Telephone number 07958 630912

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E-mail

Registered person Preschool Learning Alliance Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day 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 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Wishing Well Childcare Centre is one of several nurseries run by the Pre-School Learning Alliance. It opened in 2004 under its current ownership and is situated on the Crabtree Farm estate in Bulwell, Nottingham. The centre operates from an open plan room with a designated area for children under the age of 2 years, and has the use of a community room within the Sure Start centre. A maximum of 36 children may attend at any one time. The childcare centre opens every day for 51 weeks a

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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 year. Opening times are from 08:00 to 18:00. There are currently 58 children aged from 8 months to under 5 years on roll. Of these 16 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from the local community. The centre currently supports a number of children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. The centre employs 9 staff to work with children. Currently, 8 members of staff have early years qualifications to NVQ level 3 and a member of staff is working towards this qualification. The setting receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a clean and hygienic environment. They learn the importance of good personal hygiene through well-planned daily routines and systems. From a very young age, children independently wash their hands after using the toilet or before snack to prevent the spread of germs. Staff provide a good role model as they are vigilant in protecting children from cross-contamination by following the well written hygiene procedures when changing nappies or serving food. Children are protected if they have an accident or become ill as staff are knowledgeable of first aid practice and follow effective health policies. Children are beginning to understand the positive benefits of a healthy lifestyle. They regularly participate in physical exercise and enjoy dancing with ribbons, riding bikes and rolling or spinning hoops. However, outdoor play is not sufficiently planned to

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Helping children to be healthy

enable children who receive nursery education to make good progress in their large physical skills. Children are beginning to recognise the impact that exercise has on their wellbeing. They talk about needing a drink and "a smaller top" because the weather is hot and they are "sticky" after outdoor play. Children have conversations about good foods to eat. They stay healthy due to the generally nutritious choices they make at snack and meal times. All children have their individual dietary needs met and preferences taken account of by the knowledgeable staff.

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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 welcoming and secure environment both indoors and outside. Their risk of accidental injury is minimised as effective systems, policies and procedures ensure that all areas of the setting are safe and suitable. From a young age children develop an understanding of ways they can keep themselves safe as staff skilfully share this knowledge. For example, children know to walk indoors and sit down when using scissors. Children are fully protected on the secure premises as staff are vigilant in their supervision, particularly at arrival and departure times. Their welfare is protected further as staff have sufficient knowledge of child protection

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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 policy and procedures. Children benefit from the bright, welcoming and well organised accommodation as they play actively and rest in relative peace. Toddlers enjoy mixing with the older children as they share the main playroom activities. Children thrive on the independence they gain from self-selecting the suitable variety of well maintained toys and equipment.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children are happy, settled and enjoy their time at the centre. They display an abundance of confidence and relish working independently, beside others or as part of a group. They are beginning to develop negotiation skills and most children play cooperatively with their peers. Children show natural curiosity and keenly question adults and their peers to further their knowledge. Children relate well to staff and form close bonds that support their emotional wellbeing in the setting. All ages of children thrive on making choices in their play and enjoy the time they spend outdoors. Their concentration is developing well as they participate in self-chosen activities. Children's developmental progress is not always maximised during free play. This is due to some staff's lack of knowledge of the possible learning outcomes from activities, whereby opportunities are then missed to extend children's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Nursery education The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Children make sound progress towards the early learning goals and generally progress well in their language and personal, social and emotional development. When taking part in the good variety of play activities children learn incidentally. Their progress is more rapid when they are supported by knowledgeable staff who role model new vocabulary and skills. For example, one member of staff shares a new computer game with children, demonstrating how to use the mouse and keyboard to a small group of children. She tactfully allows a child to take over and encourages him to share his new found knowledge and skills with another child who is unsure of what to do. As a result, children learn well and thrive on their achievements. Some focused activities are well planned and help children to make further progress as staff organise activities that

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

extends a specific area of learning. For example, children make progress in their knowledge and understanding of the world, social and language development as they engage in a story about the seaside. Staff skilfully relate this to children's own personal experience by asking open-ended questions. As a result, children enthusiastically talk about their own experiences of going to the seaside, boats and sand castles. A recent change of staff has directly effected the quality of teaching. However, management ensure that staff have a satisfactory understanding of the Foundation Stage and use a variety of teaching methods to support children's learning. Although children's progress is monitored and recorded staff do not consistently use this information to inform planning. Consequently, children are not always appropriately challenged in their learning. Children have opportunities to access a curriculum that incorporates the six areas of learning. Although, monitoring

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

systems are not sufficient in ensuring that all areas are equally covered.

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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 Children's behaviour is generally good during free play and group times enabling learning to take place. Some staff lack confidence in dealing with more challenging behaviour which results in missed opportunities for children to understand right and wrong. Children share toys amenably and take-turns with their favourite bikes as staff use an effective timer system. Their language skills are particularly well developed as children are frequently encouraged to talk about events in their own lives. Children speak confidently to their peers during play activities and enjoy sharing their experiences with staff or visitors. The mark-making area encourages children to attempt writing skills and many are beginning to have a go at writing their own name. Children often recognise the first letter of their name on a computer keyboard and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

say what sound it makes. They enjoy sharing books, listening to stories and readily demonstrate their knowledge of how books work. Children confidently count to ten and beyond and are beginning to recognise the numbers displayed around the centre. Children show interest in exploring media and malleable materials such as dough, water and paint. They regularly create pictures to support topics and sometimes use their own ideas. Children use their imagination to re-create familiar scenes with role-play resources and are well supported by adults. Many are developing a repertoire of songs as they join in at singing time, but other musical activities are less often planned. Children take great interest in technology and knowledgeably use buttons on pretend phones, tills and computer keyboards. Staff sometimes hinder children's progress in this area through their own lack of knowledge of modern technology and by not making the computer available throughout each day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's knowledge and understanding of the world is promoted as children find out about the amenities available such as the shops, schools, local fire station, doctors and play parks. They gain an understanding of living things as they plant seeds and care for them as they grow.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. All children are welcomed into the setting and are settled, happy and confident in the staff's care. Children have their individual needs identified and met well as detailed records are shared with all staff. For example, toddlers eat and sleep according to their usual routines and parental wishes. Children are beginning to gain a sense of belonging, and learn about their own needs and beliefs through some planned activities, as they celebrate birthdays and festivals, such as Halloween and Christmas. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to learn about the wider world and the differences in their own community. Children form positive relationships with adults and play co-operatively with their friends in small groups. The provision fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Children behave generally well in the setting but due to some

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Helping children make a positive contribution

staff's lack of confidence, more challenging behaviour is not always addressed consistently. Therefore some children do not always become aware of what is right and wrong. The centre's comprehensive special needs policy is effectively translated into practice. Staff work well with external agencies, to support children with

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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 additional needs, which results in them making good progress in their learning. Children benefit from staff maintaining friendly relationships with parents who receive good information relating to children's care and routines. The partnership with parents of children who receive nursery education is satisfactory. Through daily discussion parents become aware of their children's progress and learning achievements. However, more formal opportunities for parents to learn about and contribute to written assessments are not created. They receive written information on the topics being covered but this does not fully include ways that parents can support and extend their children's learning at home.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children's development and welfare is secured as well written policies and procedures promote the effective management of the provision. Appropriate induction for all staff ensures they are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities. Management ensure that good levels of staff are on site at all times and their appropriate deployment positively supports children's care, learning and play. Children benefit from the effective practice for recruitment, vetting and absences as this provides continuity in their care. The leadership and management of the centre is satisfactory. Management work well with external agencies to identify strengths and areas for improvement. For example, staff work with professionals to look at the ways they interact with children in their play and how this can improve their vocabulary. As a result of staff's heightened awareness of good practice, children's language development is now a strength of

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Organisation

the centre. Overall, the setting meets the needs of the range of children who attend. Children benefit from staff being trained in health and safety, child protection and first aid to protect their well-being. However, recent changes in the centre team have limited opportunities for staff to attend training related to the education of children under five. This has impacted on the progress children make. Systems are not fully in place to monitor teaching and learning across all age ranges. Therefore, children are not consistently challenged in their learning.

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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

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 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 satisfactory.

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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 improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the developmental needs of children, in order for planning to identify clear learning intentions that take account of what children already know and can do (also applies to nursery education) • develop staff's confidence in managing a wide range of children's behaviour.

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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): • implement systems to effectively monitor the quality of teaching and learning • take positive steps to ensure that parents are well informed about the nursery education provision; their child's progress towards the Early Learning Goals; and how they can support their child's learning at home.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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