Hook Village Nursery

Hook Village Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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507936 Unique Reference Number 20 September 2007 Inspection date Doreen Forsyth Inspector

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Ravenscroft, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9NN Setting Address

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E-mail

Hook Village 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 satisfactory. 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?

Hook Village Nursery opened in 1988. It is a committee run group that operates from a room in the Hook Community Centre, close to Hook village centre, in Hampshire. It has an enclosed garden for outside play.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is registered to care for up to eighteen children aged between two and five years old. There are currently ten children on roll. This includes six children who are in receipt of government funding for nursery education. The nursery welcomes children that have disabilities and/or learning difficulties or whom speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting is open Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 09.00 to 11.30 and from 12.30 to 15.00, there is an additional lunch club.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are four members of staff working with the children; three of these hold relevant Early Years qualifications at level 2, two members of staff are currently working towards a level 3 qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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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. Children are well protected from infection and illness as staff follow good health and hygiene practices, for example, they clean the tables for children before they eat using anti-bacterial spray. Staff are helping children to learn to use suitable hygiene routines, such as washing their hands after using the toilet and using wipes to clean their hands before eating. All staff have current first aid training so are able to help children appropriately if they should become ill or have an accident. Most of the required records, documentation and policies that help to protect children's health and promote their wellbeing are in place and well kept, but the sickness policy is not always shared with parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are learning about healthy lifestyles, they are encouraged to eat healthily and to take part in plenty of physical exercise. They can access drinking water from a jug and mugs set out on a low table whenever they wish. At the well organised café style snack time they select their own fruit and vegetables from an attractively arranged selection and chose a drink of milk or water which they pour out for their selves. At lunch time they sit together with staff to eat their packed lunches. Staff use this as an opportunity to discuss which foods are good for us. Children can rest according to their needs; There is a small 'quiet' area with cushions for the children to use if necessary.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have good opportunities to take part in regular physical activity; they can freely access the nursery's outside area where there is a small climbing frame, slide and other toys. They regularly go across the road to a play park where there is a very good play area with challenging resources that help children to develop their climbing skills, balance and large muscle control. If the weather is unsuitable for outside play children use physical play, resources in the play room or take part in movement activities and ring games.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children play in a welcoming, bright and attractive playroom which is part of a community centre; there is a toilet and hand wash basin attached to the room for the children's use. The room opens up onto a small, enclosed outside play area. The staff regularly risk assess the premises used and have identified and minimised most potential hazards, however the gate into the garden is not securely locked. All necessary fire protection equipment is in place and children regularly practise how to leave the nursery in case of an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children have access to a good range of well maintained and safe toys and resources; these are attractively laid out and are well stored within children's reach so that they can easily chose what they wish to play with. The resources have to be put away after each session, so staff arrive early each day to make the room an attractive and suitable learning environment for the children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are safeguarded because staff understand their role in child protection and are able to put the appropriate procedures in place if necessary, some staff have attended relevant safeguarding children training. The necessary information regarding the safeguarding children procedures are not always shared with parents.

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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

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children quickly settle; they are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. They are beginning to understand the rules and routines of the setting well. They take part in a suitable range of activities both planned and spontaneous, that help them to develop and learn. Children interact well with each other and with the adults in the setting, staff are interested in what the children do and question them appropriately. Staff help children to focus and concentrate on their chosen tasks. They are skilled at recognising the children's interests, they provide and extend activities that help children learn by developing the play activities that engage the children, for example, using sand, bricks and small world vehicles and figures in a builder's tray to portray 'Bob the Builder' with large books nearby to reinforce the theme.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Staff have developed their knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage of learning and how children learn through training and the advice of support workers. Staff plan activities that are based on topics and themes that promote the six areas of the early learning goals; they have organised the playroom in different learning zones, helping to provide a broad and well balanced curriculum which is suited to the needs of all the children that currently attend. The planning used promotes all areas of learning and is based on the stepping stones towards the early learning goals. However, when staff plan an adult-led activity they do not base their planning on an aspect of the early learning goals, and do not show what they want children to learn from these planned activities. Staff are beginning to assess children's progress, but have not yet put into place a system that uses the information

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

they glean from the assessment records to plan for children's individual learning needs. The key-workers find out where children are in their learning when children first start at the nursery from discussion and written information obtained from parents, this helps them to build on what children already know.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy the activities presented, they are learning to concentrate on the activity they choose. they are able to take turns and share, they work together and are learning to co-operate in their play. Children are learning to be independent, they use the toilet and wash their hands by themselves, they put on their own aprons for messy activities and pour their own drinks at snack time. They are learning to link sounds and letters, they enjoy bringing in items from home that are linked to the letter and sound of the week. Children recognise their names on their name cards at self registration at the beginning of a session. They enjoy books and stories in the comfortable well resourced book corner. They have some opportunities to write and make marks. Staff are skilfully helping children to count and use mathematical language in their play. For example, they help count the children present at registration; they count the pieces of fruit

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

they have at snack time. A member of staff brought in different flower pots, when the children were planting pansies and carrot seeds, for the children to compare shape, grade in size and to count.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn about their local community and about the wider world through their themes and topic work. They plan to celebrate Harvest at the local church with other pre-schools, they often visit the nearby school and go for local walks. They sometimes have visitors into the nursery. The children enjoyed planting pansy plants to take home and to brighten up the nursery garden; they talked about how they have to look after the seeds that they planted. Children use the pre-school computer with skill and confidence, they use suitable programs that help to support their learning.

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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 have good opportunities to use their imaginations, to explore colour and use different materials. They can paint freely at an easel, dress up and play in the home corner, use small world toys and puppets and use different materials such as sand, water and playdough. Children's physical development is encouraged; children use their large muscles well when climbing outside or using the seesaw. They practise their small muscle skills using tools such as cutters in the playdough, scissors, or spades with the compost mixture.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. All children are welcomed and valued by the staff at the nursery; the staff are warm and attentive, they value what the children do and listen to what they say. There is a Special Needs Co-ordinator (Senco) in place who has a responsibility to ensure that all children including those that may have a disability and/or learning difficulty, or those children that speak English as an additional language are included and their individual learning needs are met. Children begin to learn to value diversity through some of the resources they use such as books, dolls and small world toys, there are attractive welcome posters written in different languages displayed at the nursery entrance. Children behave well in the setting, staff are able to provide good support and attention because the setting maintains high adult/child ratios. Children's achievements and efforts are recognised and praised by the staff. The nursery has a suitable

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Helping children make a positive contribution

behaviour policy in place, but this is not easily shared with parents. Children's social, moral, cultural and spiritual development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from the strong partnership that the nursery builds with parents. Parents are able to serve on the management committee, help in the setting and assist with fund raising. There is an attractive and informative notice board in the entrance hall and parents have regular newsletters. The setting has a good prospectus and policies pack, but these are not always shared appropriately with parents. There is a complaints procedure in place that complies with current legislation.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers in regard to nursery education is good. The prospectus, parent's leaflet and displays inform parents about the Foundation Stage of learning. Parents are invited to termly meetings with the children's key-workers when they have an opportunity to share what they know about their children's learning with the staff, to find out about their children's progress and achievements and to see the assessment records kept. Parents have some opportunities to be involved in their children's learning, for example, they can help children to find items at home that link to the topic or the letter and colour of the week.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The nursery is suitably organised, all staff have been appropriately vetted and are suitable to have unsupervised access to the children. The setting has appropriate systems in place to screen all potential staff and to ensure staff undertake good induction procedures. Staff are experienced and most have appropriate qualifications, some staff are currently undergoing suitable early years training; all staff attend short courses to update their skills and knowledge. Most of the policies, procedures and records that help to ensure children's health, safety, wellbeing and enjoyment are in place and well kept, but staff and children's attendance is not accurately recorded. The provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Leadership and management of the nursery are satisfactory. The setting receives good support from an active management committee. A new manager has been recently appointed, who is in the process of implementing some changes in the organisation of the setting in conjunction with the chairperson. The manager and staff have a clear sense of purpose and are committed to the continuous improvement of the setting. All staff assess and appraise their progress and the provision provided, which is then used at their annual appraisals to evaluate their training needs. The nursery has undergone an external accreditation scheme which helped them to recognise the setting's strengths and areas for improvement, but this has almost expired and requires renewal.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the nursery was set three recommendations regarding safety in the setting, rest facilities for the children, and improving snack and meal times. The setting has partitioned off an area of the play room for children to use for sleeping and resting when necessary. Children enjoy suitable snack and meal times, staff sit with the children encouraging them to eat and helping to develop their meal-time social skills. At the last inspection their were toys on the play room floor that posed a trip hazard. Staff are now vigilant about the children's safety and ensure toys are not left on the floor. The children often help staff to tidy up at the end of the play session.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting was set two actions for improvement in regard to the nursery education provision which was judged to be inadequate. These concerned staff's knowledge and understanding and confidence in using the Foundation Stage curriculum, their role in helping children to learn though play, and the use of observations and assessments. Since the last inspection there have been some changes in the nursery staff. Most of the current staff are attending relevant early years training and are appropriately developing their knowledge and understanding of how children learn and the Foundation Stage of learning. The use of observations and assessments still requires some attention and will carry forward as a recommendation from this inspection.

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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 satisfactory. 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 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure parents have good access to all the relevant nursery policies and procedures • ensure children's and staff attendance is accurately recorded, including the times of attendance.

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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): • use the information that you obtain from children assessment records when planning to ensure children's individual learning needs are met and that they are helped to move onto the next step in their learning • clearly show what the learning intentions are for the planned adult led activities each day and how they link to an aspect of the stepping stones towards the early learning goals.

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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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