Daisy Chain Pre-School

Daisy Chain Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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511719 Unique Reference Number 25 October 2007 Inspection date Susan Elaine Heap Inspector

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Daisy Chains Preschool, 923 Ashton Road, Oldham, Lancashire, OL8 3HX

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Setting Address

0161 345 0363 or 07708 053442 Telephone number

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E-mail

Rachel Wharmby Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional 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?

Daisy Chain Pre-School is individually owned and has charitable status. It has been registered since 1982 and under the current management since 2001. It operates from the main hall of Bardsley Community Centre. It is situated on the boundary of Oldham and Ashton. They are the sole users of the property during the day.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 24 children may attend at any one time. The pre-school is open each weekday from 09.15 to 11.45 term time only. All children have access to an enclosed play area. There are currently 17 children from two to under five years on roll. Of these, three children receive funding for early education. The pre-school currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school employs three members of staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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 cared for in a warm, clean environment where the staff actively promote good hygiene practice. For example, there are cleaning routines in place for the toys and equipment, and staff wear protective gloves when preparing or serving food. This contributes to children's health and safety and minimises the risk of cross infection. Children understand the importance of good hygiene and manage their personal care well by washing their hands after visiting the toilet, wiping their noses with tissues when needed and disposing of the soiled tissues in the bin, and they cover their mouths when they cough. They are praised consistently by staff for their efforts which develops their confidence.

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Helping children to be healthy

They have many opportunities to taste different foods through the many activities staff provide for them. They enjoy a healthy balance of foods at snack time and the staff talk to children about the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet. As a result, children are adopting healthy choices with food. The group operates a continuous snack time from mid-morning which means that children begin to understand their own needs and know when they need refreshment. They self select from a wide choice of fresh fruit or vegetables, such as apples, slices of pomegranate, celery, toast or biscuits which are attractively laid out on individual plates in the snack area. They pour their own drinks of water, milk or juice from covered jugs. They clear their own plates and cups after snack, put them in the washing up bowl and any pieces for fruit or vegetables are put in the small compost bin. This is later taken out to the

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Helping children to be healthy

compost bin in the garden. These activities help them to take responsibility for their actions and for the environment and develop their independence.

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Helping children to be healthy

The staff are committed to ensuring that children have access to fresh air or exercise daily. As a result, the setting operates continuous provision and children are able to follow their own interests and play inside or outside. The majority of children spend their time actively playing outside in the fresh air. They particularly enjoy digging in the garden or collecting leaves for the compost bin. They giggle with delight as they roll balls down the tarpaulin and work cooperatively together as they transport soil from one area to another. These are all enjoyable and contribute greatly to children's physical and healthy well being.

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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 safe indoor and outdoor environment where the staff give high priority to keeping children safe. There are effective procedures in place for the checking of toys and equipment. As a result, children have access to a well resourced environment which promotes their development. Children are supported closely by staff when accessing the outdoor play area and staff have a secure understanding of giving children a balance of the freedom to move safely and freely indoors and outdoors as they follow their interests. This ensures children can play and move around safely and independently. The staff are vigilant at all times and take positive steps to ensure children understand how to keep themselves safe, for example, they give reminders about not bumping into each other with prams. However, fire drills have not been practised with the new intake of children. This compromises children's understanding of

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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 The staff team work exceptionally hard within the constraints of the setting to provide a safe, stimulating, attractive and rich environment for the children. Furniture and equipment is placed effectively to provide smaller areas for different types of activities. This helps to create a cosy accessible environment for children to play, explore and investigate in safety. Children's play and development needs are met through the provision of a wide range of good quality toys and equipment. These are suitable to their age and stage of development and address all areas of equal opportunity issues. Low-level storage units, such as in the writing creative area, and displays of books at children's height allow children to safely self select equipment of their choice when needed.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The staff team are skilled and knowledgeable about good childcare practice and consistently give priority to protecting children and keeping them safe. They have a good understanding of their role within the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children relish their time in the setting and separate from their carers with confidence. Children of all ages benefit from an excellent range of indoor and outdoor play experiences which foster their all-round development. Play activities are provided by staff with imagination and creativity who make them interesting, stimulating and challenging for children. Children are highly motivated learners as they engage in their self chosen activities, using their initiative, imagination and creativity frequently to extend and control their own play. For example, children often concentrate for very long periods and are engrossed in their play either digging in the garden, building with cardboard cones and reels or acting out role-play situations. Children have many opportunities to develop their senses through exploring an excellent variety of textures and natural materials. They enter eagerly and go straight to explore the different fruits which include

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

dates, strawberries, prunes, rhubarb, jelly and custard. They often return to this activity several times during the course of the morning exploring the different textures and smells. They express their thoughts confidently, such as 'I don't like that' and use language to describe the different textures and tastes, such as sweet and sour. Children acquire new knowledge and skills because the knowledgeable staff support their play and intervene appropriately. They allow them space and time to practise skills, such as cutting with scissors, using sellotape or digging in the garden. Children are happy and settled because staff spend time with children talking to them and observing their play which they use successfully to plan the next steps in children's learning. Staff place the utmost priority on children's emotional well-being and value the processes by which children learn through exploration and experimentation. They place great emphasis on

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children being settled, secure and being able to manage their own personal care needs successfully. As a result, children can fully benefit from the rich, vibrant learning environment they have created for them by exploring and following their own interests and ideas.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff are secure in their knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum and its delivery. Planning has recently been reviewed and demonstrates how the stepping stones in the six areas of learning are to be covered over a period of time. Within this, staff allow flexibility for spontaneous activities which enable children to follow their own interests. Staff have specific planning time designated every two weeks to plan for the activities and themes and complete focused observations of the children within their key group during this time. These are then used to plan the next steps in individual children's play and learning. Great emphasis is placed on settling new children into

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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 the setting at the start of the school year and, as a result, staff have not yet formalised the monitoring of children's progress and made the links to individual stepping stones.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn through making choices and decisions about which activity they wish to participate in and, as a result, they become motivated and independent learners. Children benefit greatly from the good relationships they have developed with the staff and their peers and initiate conversation with others with confidence. They are developing good self-care skills. They know to put their wellingtons on before they go outside and to 'wrap up warm'. They routinely enjoy spontaneous mark making in the writing area or in the 'office'. They link sound and letters at circle time as they show the shape of the letter T with their hands and say it is 'Thursday'. They talk about the weather and are learning new words, for example, they know that the sky today is overcast and grey. They enjoy sitting in the book corner quietly selecting a favourite book for a member of staff to read to them. While in a large group they actively join in and take part

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

in the story which the member of staff brings to life by asking the children what happens next.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

They show interest in numbers and counting at circle time by counting the number of children present, twelve. They know that if they hold two hands up with their fingers stretched it makes 10. Then they hold two fingers up to represent the number two. They regularly use mathematical language to describe shape, position and size in their play, such as 'over there', 'half full' or 'big' and 'little' as they describe the size of the twigs and logs. Children enjoy excellent opportunities to explore the wider world by experiencing nature. They have firsthand experiences of planting and growing potatoes and tomatoes and have recently been introduced to environmental issues, such as starting a compost bin. Children are free to explore an excellent range of natural materials and use their imaginations and creativity to make three-dimensional models, such as a rocket or car.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children move confidently indoors and outdoors taking care not to bump into anyone when pushing the prams or balancing on the drainpipes. They frequently choose to play outdoors and freely move in a range of ways with pleasure and confidence. For example, they use their imaginations as they push the lawnmower around the grass often mimicking adults with their facial expressions, showing great concentration and are intent on their task. They use a range of tools to develop dexterity, such as paint brushes, scissors and pencils. Interesting sensory and creative opportunities enable children to experiment and explore shape, colour and texture.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are valued highly as individuals and the staff team work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure each child's individual needs are met and that they are able to play an active part in the setting. As a result, children who need additional support or who speak English as an additional language are very well catered for. For example, staff take time to research children's home language and key words are displayed alongside the English one in the room, such as 'window' in English and Somali. There is a good range of toys, equipment and books which promote a positive view of the wider community. As a result, children are having positive experiences and gaining knowledge and understanding of race, culture and disability. Children also take part in activities which support this throughout the year, such as topic work about different festivals. At circle time they say learn to say 'Good morning' in English, French, Spanish

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Helping children make a positive contribution

and Italian. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is of a high standard and they are learning responsible behaviour as they help tidy up. Staff act as exceptionally good role models, as a result, good manners are

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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 encouraged and children speak in a calm and respectful tone to one another and to the staff. They are developing a sense of belonging as their creative work and achievements are displayed attractively around the room. For example, children have made a model of a rocket and this is clearly labelled with their name. This also develops their confidence and self-esteem.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents regarding nursery education is good. The staff work successfully in partnership with parents who praise the staff highly for their care and commitment to their children. They state that staff are friendly, approachable and supportive. Children are admitted gradually into the group which enables the staff to build good relationships with children and parents and ensures children settle well. There is a wide variety of information available for parents, such as the policy and procedure file and the initial information leaflet. The staff fully involve parents in developing the service and seek parents' views on how they can develop it. For example, a parent's comment on the recent questionnaire resulted in the staff using a noticeboard to tell parents what children had played with that morning. Each term the setting has an open afternoon where parents can come and discuss their child's progress with their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

key worker. The staff team are consistently looking at ways to improve the service they provide and build on their success and develop closer links with the families, for example, planned activities include having dad's and grandparents' days.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The leadership and management of the setting is good. They regularly evaluate their practice, such as by reviewing the planning of activities. The staff team always strive for further improvement and show commitment to training for their own personal and professional development. Each member of staff has their own individual training plan and they have identified areas for development, such as developing physical play outdoors. However, there are no firm systems in place to date to monitor and evaluate the success of the nursery education.

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Organisation

Children's care is significantly enhanced by the effective way that the staff work in partnership with each other and with parents. This contributes effectively to children's good health, safety and ability to enjoy and achieve. Policies and procedures are of a good standard and used effectively to promote the welfare and safety of children. These are available for parents to view and keeps them fully informed of all aspects of their child's care and the high quality of the service provided. All the legally required documentation is in place and is well-organised.

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Organisation

Overall, the provision 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 provider was asked to maintain the contents of the first aid box and to update the documentation relating to special educational needs, child protection procedures and the lost and uncollected children policy.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The first aid box is now checked every six weeks and items replaced as necessary and all the documentation has been updated to reflect current practice and changes to procedures. These have all improved children's care, welfare and safety.

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Improvements 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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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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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 fire evacuation procedures are practised regularly.

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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): • ensure that observations and assessments of children's play activities securely link to the stepping stones and are used effectively to monitor children's progress • continue to develop systems for monitoring and evaluating the educational provision.

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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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