City Child Nursery

City Child Inspection report for early years provision

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EY348911 Unique Reference Number 11 July 2007 Inspection date Tom Radcliffe Inspector

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City Child Day Nursery, 1 Bridgewater Square, LONDON, EC2Y 8AH Setting Address

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02073740939 Telephone number citychild@brighthorizons.com E-mail Bright Horizons Family Solutions Ltd. Registered person Childcare Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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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

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

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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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

City Child Day Nursery registered in 2007 and is one of a group of nurseries owned and managed by Bright Horizons Family Solutions Ltd. It operates from a purpose built building in the Barbican in the City Corporation of London. Children have access to four rooms, toilet areas and an enclosed outdoor play area. The groups open all year round, five days a week from 08.00 to 18.00. All staff members including the manager hold a Early Years qualifications. There are 26 children on roll.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. The spacious environment that children are able to play and learn in is very clean. It is maintained to a high standard. Accident and medication procedures are clear, known to all staff and followed in accordance with strict and therefore effective guidelines. Correct records are maintained within the nursery by nominated first aid staff who ensure that first aid kits are available for all parts of the nursery. If children were to sustain minor injuries staff would be able to act in their best interests. A sick child policy is in place which excludes children who are infectious.

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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 Children regularly wash their hands during their time in the nursery, for example, before eating, to help prevent the spread of infection. The nursery has obtained parents' written permission to enable them to seek emergency medical treatment, helping to ensure children's good health is promoted. The nursery has in place many other good examples of helping children to be healthy, these include effective nappy changing practice and regular cleaning of the areas that children use, for example, after eating or between activities.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's individual dietary needs are known and met very well within the nursery. A range of meals and snacks are available during the day all of which are prepared by a qualified cook in a kitchen that has at its disposal professional standard catering equipment. Food ranges from healthy meals to nutritious snacks from which children are encouraged to make healthy choices. Weekly menus are also shared with parents. Drinks are made available to all children within the setting that reflects their needs, for example, there is a water station in the pre-school room from which children can help themselves. Baby bottles are made in accordance with safe policy and to meet individual needs. Information about baby feeds are recorded and passed to parents at the end of each session.

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Helping children to be healthy

Physical development for the children that is reflected in planned indoor activities is good. Children have regular opportunities to be able to develop fine motor skills through a range of resources, toys and activities. These include puzzles, art activities and threading games. Children's mobility is also actively promoted, for example, young children are encouraged to crawl, stand and walk by skilful stimulation and encouragement. Older children also take part in music and movement activities. In addition to this all children take part in a weekly yoga activity which is enthusiastically received by them. Outdoors the children have access to other toys where they can run, play, ride on wheeled toys, climb, and balance. However, the nursery should plan for more outdoor physical activity to encourage the children to get more involved in vigorous exercise.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The premises are very secure and safe for children, as a purpose built nursery children's safety has been incorporated into the design and layout of the setting. Access by all visitors is controlled by authorised staff and there are very effective procedures in place for the arrival and collection of children so that they are kept safe. The nursery has a nominated member of staff who oversees all aspects of safeguarding children. The staff member has recently undertaken training to ensure that the welfare of all children is guaranteed. Emergency evacuation procedures are carried out regularly and fire detection equipment is located throughout the building. As a result children are aware of what to do to keep themselves safe in an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The nursery has good policies in place in the important areas of health and safety and the routine undertaking of risk assessments. Staff are well trained in these areas which has resulted in a carefully monitored and safe environment in which the children can play and learn.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Each of the activity rooms allows children to take sleep or rest to meet individual needs. For example, sleep is carefully monitored in cots in the baby room while in the toddler room children can sleep on mats in a quiet part of the room.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is an excellent range of toys and resources that are clean and in good condition, ensuring that children are able to develop in all areas. The children spend their time in a very stimulating

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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 environment in which they experience high levels of support and supervision from all adults. The nursery premises are very child friendly as all children's play areas are planned and very well organised. The equipment and furniture within the nursery promotes a wide range of meaningful activity, for example, in the baby room equipment available enables the children to gain an understanding of the world around them. Children's work forms an important part of this learning environment especially in the form of displays. This shows the children that they are valued and their work is important to everyone.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. The children are grouped according to their ages and stage of development. All areas that are available to the children provide an excellent environment which promotes their care and learning. The baby room, for example, provides a warm and caring environment in which children are settled, happy and secure. The babies take part in developmentally appropriate activities and discoveries in a well planned and organised room. They are stimulated by a wide range of very good equipment and by the use of music and lights. The babies are given many opportunities to learn about the world around them, for example, they experimented with plastic bottles filled with different substances to discover a range of sounds, textures and how materials move. The baby room is bright and colourful with many displays of children's art work and interesting photographs, it is also a room where the staff ensure that the language

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The toddler room also provides an excellent environment for care and learning. The room is very stimulating and inviting with a wide range of activities and attractive displays. The use of quiet background music and high quality relationships between key workers and children help to promote and maintain the learning culture. The storage, arrangement and accessibility of toys and equipment within the toddler room are all very good. Children are able to self select activities or work alongside their peers, for example, in a water play activity where some children were experimenting with floating objects. As with other areas of the nursery the staff in the toddler room promote discussions with the children, for example, in a circle time activity children were encouraged to talk about themselves and their feelings.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff deployment in the nursery is very effective. In the pre-school room the oldest children work and play in an exceptionally well resourced, supportive and highly organised learning environment. All areas of children's learning are planned for and each is represented in a learning station within the pre-school room. Each work station has appropriate resources and furniture to engage and stimulate children and staff work very hard to implement well thought out plans and assess children's development. There are many very good examples of high quality learning, these include where children learnt about planting seeds and the life of snails; where children worked with numbers in the maths area and where children wrote pretend letters in the mark making area. Children's language development is promoted by the staff who regularly engage the children in meaningful conversations and make extensive use of writing in the form of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The overall planning of the nursery is excellent. The staff make very good use of Birth to three and the Foundation Stage curriculum.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. The nursery has in place highly effective procedures to ensure that all important background information is provided by parents. Parents and staff both feel that the setting makes good use of this, for example, all dietary needs of the children are known and used by all relevant personnel. The staff know the children very well and are very effective in meeting their needs. For example, a parent was very pleased with how the nursery worked with her daughter to understand her own ethnicity while another parent praised the nursery for the skilful way in which it dealt with her child when she showed signs of unwanted behaviour.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

When required children with learning difficulties and disabilities are very well supported within the nursery. There is a special needs co-ordinator who ensures that the effective policy is fully implemented, this includes adaptations of the physical environment to accommodate wheelchair access and use of toilets, the proper use of suitable furniture and an inclusive setting where all children are valued.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The behaviour in the nursery is excellent. Children show a high level of self control in all areas of the nursery and the happy atmosphere is further enhanced by excellent relationships with adults who act as very positive role models. The staff take every opportunity to promote good behaviour and spend a significant amount of their time talking to children to make expectations clear. The nursery actively promotes diversity; it effectively utilises excellent resources to show children that the world contains many different peoples and cultures. These resources include books, posters and photographs in addition to planned experiences that the children have. The nursery staff support diversity as a way of life and it is an approach highly valued by the parents and to the great benefit of the children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. The nursery values its parents and the positive contribution that they make to the work of the nursery. The nursery takes great care to ensure that the parents are fully informed about how it operates through newsletters and open days or evenings. Parents value these opportunities and feel that it helps them understand more about how their children are developing. Key workers are able to keep parents fully informed about progress and development. The nursery maintains a very high standard of documentation between home and itself, this ensures that parents have all the information that they need and that the nursery has gained all the proper permission that is required. A number of parents expressed very positive opinions about the nursery, these included for example, a mother who considered that the hand over procedure at the start of the day was

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Helping children make a positive contribution

excellent and a group of parents who had contributed to the Daily Books in use in the baby room. These books give parents an opportunity to respond in writing to how their child has spent the day and what they enjoyed doing.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The provider has very good recruitment procedures. These ensure that staff employed at the nursery are suitable to work with children. All staff hold a relevant qualification in child-care; consequently, they have a very good understanding of how young children learn. Staff also benefit from both excellent training opportunities and outstanding supportive literature which enables them to access highly effective practice. Good staff deployment and a proper period of induction into the nursery further ensures the effectiveness of the setting. The Ofsted registration certificate is displayed. The attendance registers for children and staff confirm that

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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 the provider is compliant with National Standards. The policies and procedures that the nursery has in place are of the highest standard and ensure that the nursery is effectively and safely managed. Children's on-going care and well-being are given very good attention.

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Organisation

The nursery is very reflective in its work with young children. It strives to constantly give the highest possible standard of care and it regularly undertakes an analysis of its provision and plans for future development. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration 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

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • develop the outdoor play area so that the children have greater opportunities to take part in regular planned physical activity outdoors.

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The quality and standards of the care

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 care

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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