Trinity Catholic High School

Sunny Days Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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102860 Unique Reference Number 01 October 2007 Inspection date Nicola Jayne Pascoe Inspector

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St Day & Carharrack Community School, School Hill,St Day, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 5LG

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Setting Address

Land 01209 821868 Mobile 07799511829 Telephone number

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E-mail

Sunny Days Nursery 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?

Sunny Days Nursery, part of Teyluva Children's Centre, is a committee run group. It operates from one classroom and a purpose built nursery in St Day and Carharrack Community School, near Redruth in Cornwall. A maximum of 35 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:00 until 18:00 for 50 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure, enclosed, outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 52 children from six months to four years on roll. Of these, 10 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area. The setting currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 13 members of staff. Over half of the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ Level 2 or 3. There is one member of staff who is currently working towards a qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority, the Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA) and an advisory teacher from the Children's Centre.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Older children benefit from following the established health and hygiene routines. They remember to wash their hands following use of the toilet and before preparing and eating their snack and lunch. They wash their own cup and plate after they have eaten. Children are actively and enthusiastically involved in tidying away and relish this responsibility. Babies are cared for in a clean and hygienic environment. Shoes are removed when entering areas where babies are playing on the floor. Children and babies have use of clean toys, resources and equipment. Adults ensure that babies are kept clean and that nappies are changed regularly and are disposed of hygienically. A suitable area is used for nappy changing and staff wear latex gloves. Children’s and babies noses are wiped or blown as required and tissues disposed of appropriately. Individual flannels are used to wash babies and toddlers faces and hands after lunch. Sleeping babies

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Helping children to be healthy

have use of their own individual bedding.

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Helping children to be healthy

Older children benefit from free access to the outdoor play area, to enjoy fresh air, fun and physical exercise. Adults supervise the outdoor area well at all times of use. Children are confident in their ability to find their coat and dress themselves warmly before going outdoors. Toddlers and babies have equally regular use of the outdoors and are accompanied by their key worker, to maintain their safety at these times. There are suitable areas for children and babies to rest and relax when they are tired or unwell. Staff follow suitable procedures to care for sick children and to ensure that children and babies are protected from the risk of cross-infection. Accident records show that injured children are treated sensitively and these records are shared with their parents and carers. Most staff hold a valid paediatric first aid certificate. Medication is stored securely and administered as directed. However, written records

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Helping children to be healthy

of medication administered are not always countersigned by parents and carers. Children and babies enjoy a good range of healthy and nutritious snacks provided by the nursery. Older children help an adult to prepare these snacks, as they cut up the pears, bananas, plums and apples into bite-size pieces. Through discussion with adults, children are developing a good awareness of the positive impact that eating a balanced and nutritious diet has on their health.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children and babies are cared for in a safe and secure, child-centred environment. Older children are cared for in a school classroom and younger children and babies are cared for in the purpose built nursery unit. Good procedures are followed by staff to monitor and assess the premises, toys and resources on a daily basis to maintain safety standards indoors and out. Newly installed outdoor play equipment is currently securely fenced to ensure that children do not have access until it is safe for use. A safe outdoor area is available and is used throughout the day under adult supervision. All visitors to the premises are signed in and out and are supervised when in contact with children. Staff demonstrate confidence in their knowledge of local child protection procedures and in their ability to safeguard children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children benefit from regular opportunities to practise fire drills with adults, in order to develop their confidence and familiarity with the emergency evacuation procedure. Children and babies receive appropriate levels of supervision at all times, both indoors and out. The setting have developed and implemented a good range of written policies and procedures which are followed effectively in order to protect children from harm. There are suitable systems in place to ensure

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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 that children are collected by authorised persons. Staff organise the environment well to provide safe and suitable areas in which children and babies can move freely and play and learn in safety. Sleeping children and babies are monitored effectively. Children are developing an awareness of maintaining their own safety, through discussion with adults. For example, when cutting-up the fruit and vegetables, adults explain the importance of handling the knife carefully.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children and babies benefit from free use of a wide range of interesting and enjoyable toys and resources. Staff plan well to provide a broad and balanced range of activities such as large free painting, role play, craft, music and construction. Babies receive high levels of one-to-one support and share their chosen toys with their key worker, who in turn offers plenty of praise and encouragement for their achievements. Planning for older and younger children interlinks, to enable effective shared use of resources and equipment. Older children show high levels of independence as they move confidently within the setting, making good use of the indoor and outdoor environment for learning. Children of all ages are listened to, respected and encouraged to extend their play ideas further, through use of a wide range of appropriate tools and materials. Babies are well stimulated and are actively engaged in worthwhile activities during the day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Their individual needs are accommodated well by staff, who know and respect their differing abilities. Older children and babies are able to play socially together in the shared outdoor area during the day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of the use of the stepping stones to develop their planning, make useful observations and identify appropriate ‘next steps’ for children’s learning. However, these individual identified targets for development are not directly linked to future planned activities, in order to effectively provide regular opportunities for children to make progress. Staff use appropriate and interesting methods of teaching. For example, they use puppets to encourage children to join in group discussion and interest tables to enable children to explore, in order to satisfy their curious and inquisitive nature. Activities are well resourced; staff provide a carefully selected range of materials and tools which they make freely available to children. They provide carefully selected reference books, which are attractively displayed to support children’s learning further. For

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

example, children have recently explored such topics as Africa and India. Wonderful displays of children’s work relating to these topics are displayed. An interest table provides a selection of resources and books for children to freely explore and staff make good use of foods from around the world to promote interesting discussions with children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The daily routine provides children with good opportunities to develop their use of maths to problem solve, count, sort and match. They count during group discussion time and whilst preparing and helping themselves to fruit and vegetables at snack time. Children use writing materials during free play and they do have regular planned opportunities to develop their writing skills. However, there are insufficient opportunities for children to develop their use of ‘mark making’ purposefully, in order to communicate with others. There is also no evidence of children's written work displayed in the pre-school room. Children are confident in their use of computer equipment and programmable toys. They demonstrate high levels of imagination during role play and craft activities. They are confident to play alone and in small or large groups and are happy to request assistance from adults if required. They are actively involved

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

in tidying away, preparing snack and washing up their cup and plate after they have eaten.

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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 clearly relish the level of responsibility they are afforded by adults, who recognise the importance of allowing children to do things for themselves. Adults working with older children interact and support children appropriately. They offer high levels of praise and encouragement for children’s achievements. Overall, there is evidence to show that children receive good opportunities to make progress in all areas of learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children and babies attending the setting benefit from having their own designated key worker, who liaises closely with parents and carers to ensure their individual needs, abilities and preferences are identified and met. Adults demonstrate a good knowledge of their key children and babies, and there is evidence that they have established strong and trusting relationships. Adults plan to provide children and babies with their favourite toys and activities to help them settle and to separate from their parent or carer without distress. However, children and babies attending the crèche sessions are not pre-booked into the setting. Therefore staff do not have the opportunity to forward plan for the differing range of ages, interests and abilities of these particular children. Children and babies have free use of a good range of resources and visual aids. This effectively promotes a positive awareness of their own cultures and beliefs, those of

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Helping children make a positive contribution

others and an understanding of peoples differing abilities. Children and babies with learning difficulties/disabilities are supported well by their key worker and the nursery learning difficulties/disabilities coordinator, who has relevant training and experience.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are very well behaved, polite, kind and considerate. They demonstrate good manners and are able to share and take turns. As a result, they are able to cooperate and negotiate with others to maintain harmonious play in small groups. Adults are good role models who set appropriate examples to children. There is a suitable written behaviour management policy which is shared with parents and carers. The partnership with parents and carers is good. The setting recognise the importance of establishing and maintaining close relationships. They share high levels of information on a regular basis through a variety of appropriate methods. For example, new parents and carers are provided with a written prospectus. There are regular newsletters, prominent notice boards, formal one-to-one meetings and opportunities for informal daily discussion. A full range of written policies and procedures are freely available.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents and carers are actively encouraged to be involved in their child’s learning . Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are cared for by a committed and enthusiastic staff team. There are good procedures in place to ensure that adults working with children are suitably qualified and experienced. Unvetted persons are never left unsupervised when working with children. Staff identify appropriate development opportunities and regularly attend further early years training. New staff receive appropriate levels of induction and an effective staff appraisal system is used to continue to monitor staff suitability.

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Organisation

The nursery and pre-school are well organised to provide suitable and safe areas in which children and babies can rest and play. Key workers demonstrate confidence and competence in their roles and responsibilities. They operate the setting effectively to meet the needs of all the children who regularly attend. However, there is insufficient liaison with the Children’s

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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 Centre, in order to obtain useful levels of information, to effectively plan for the care of the children and babies attending the crèche facility. The registration system details the exact time of arrival and departure of children and staff. The nursery documentation is well-organised and readily available for inspection. Confidentiality is respected and maintained. The leadership and management are good. The setting maintains effective links with the Children’s Centre teacher, who is actively involved in supporting the committee and staff to assess and evaluate the standards of care and education. They actively seek support and advice from the local authority and Pre-school Learning Alliance. The Children’s Centre teacher has established effective links with local schools to enable children to benefit from a smooth transition into

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Organisation

school life. Overall the setting meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the nursery was judged to provide inadequate standards of care and satisfactory standards of nursery education. As a result, they were required to protect children's health by improving hygiene practices throughout the setting and making sure children do not share food and drink inappropriately. Children are now served their lunches and snacks at the same time. They sit socially with an adult and other children to eat. They are therefore supervised well and are clearly aware that the food on their own plate is for their consumption only. As a result, children's standards of health and hygiene are maintained at these times.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting also agreed to improve their knowledge and understanding of the requirements set out in regulations, and set in place a procedure to notify Ofsted of relevant matters. The committee and staff provide sufficient evidence through discussion and written policies, that they are aware of the requirement to notify Ofsted of significant changes or events. They have notified Ofsted of changes made to the outdoor play area and have welcomed an inspection of this area. As a result, children are protected from harm as the registered provider and Ofsted work together to ensure that standards are met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting was also required to provide regular and frequent opportunities for children to participate in physical activity indoors and outdoors, to enjoy the freedom of large-scale movement, such as climbing and balancing on large apparatus to improve their co-ordination and control. Children now have good opportunities through the use of newly installed outdoor equipment to practise such skills. Indoors children participate in music and movements sessions on a regular basis. Finally, they were also required to make more effective use of planned activities, daily routines, resources and the environment so that children learn about using numbers, writing and technology in practical contexts. The setting have now developed and implemented effective written plans for children's learning and development. They make good use of the daily routine activities to support learning and development of skills in most areas.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Resources and equipment are attractively set out for children's free use and staff provide high levels of support and encouragement. Age appropriate methods are used to encourage children to maintain interest and to develop their increasing levels of independence and confidence.

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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.

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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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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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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 all medication records are shared appropriately with parents • improve the pre-planning for the crèche sessions, through effective liaison with the Children's Centre, to ensure that all the children attending these sessions are provided with appropriate levels of stimulation and care.

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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): • further develop the cycle of observation, assessment and planning, in order to effectively link children's identified individual 'next steps' to future planned activities • make effective use of the daily routine to provide children with sufficient opportunities to develop their use of scribing for communication. Display children's written work for all to admire.

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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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