Bramley Children's Centre

Bramley Children's Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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EY267790 Unique Reference Number 12 July 2007 Inspection date Thecla Grant Inspector

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Fairfield Street, Fairfield Estate, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS13 3DT Setting Address

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E-mail

Leeds City Council 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?

Bramley Children's Centre is one of Leeds Councils Children Centres. It opened in 2003 and operates from three rooms, in a purpose built building. It is situated in the Bramley area of Leeds. A maximum of 52 children may attend the children's centre at any one time. The children's centre is open each weekday from 08.00 to 18.00 for 52 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 64 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. Of these, 16 children receive funding for early education. Children come from the local and surrounding areas. The children's centre currently support a number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The children's centre also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The children's centre employs 22 members of staff. Of these, 19 hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working toward a qualification.

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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 stay healthy because practitioners effectively follow current and appropriate environmental health and hygiene guidelines, policies and procedures. Practitioners are trained in administering first aid and appropriate permission and records are in place regarding the administration of medication to children. They keep records and monitor accidents in the setting and have clear policies about children who are sick or who have infectious diseases. These policies are shared with parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health is promoted by a wholesome nutritious and balanced diet. Meals are freshly prepared and a menu is available for the parents. Good systems are in place with regard to sharing information and preparing meals for children with special dietary requirements. This includes the consistency of meals prepared for babies. Meal times are a relaxed social occasion when children and adults sit together around the table to enjoy their food and each others company. Young children are learning to feed themselves, practitioners sit in a cosy chair and hold babies whilst bottle feeding. Babies enjoy this comfortable and relaxing time.

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Helping children to be healthy

Older children learn about foods that are good for you and enjoy the food tasting activity. They bring different types of fruit to share in the healthy eating display. A three year old recognises the fruit she has brought into the setting, "I brought the melon" she says. All children have access to water in their individual water bottles on easily accessible tables.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are protected from infection because practitioners take effective steps with regard to nappy changing. For example, they roll new paper onto the changing mat before changing each child. Practitioners use 'real nappies' when they change the children out of their throw away ones. Practitioners understand the importance of hand washing and make sure their hands are washed after nappy changing and before tending to food. Children learn simple hygiene practices from an early age. For example, three year olds know how to wash their hands, they discuss that they use soap and water then rub their hands together. The four year olds discuss germs and what will happen if germs get into their tummies. As a result, children have a good understanding of hygiene practices.

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Helping children to be healthy

Practitioners further take steps to prevent the spread of infection by keeping the premises clean. However, the dolls used by the children are dirty. The cook also tends to the laundry and makes sure her hands are thoroughly scrubbed before preparing meals. However, she does not have an apron to change into when attending to laundry duties.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children thoroughly enjoy the outdoor activities provided. The children over three and the children under three have different gardens. Those under three enjoy playing on the sit and ride toys. They run in the garden; they push the dolls in the prams. Children practice balancing on large wooden bricks constructed by practitioners for them to walk across. They are supported during this activity.

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Helping children to be healthy

Babies develop their large motor movements because they are provided with sufficient space indoors to get up onto their knees and reach for the toys provided. Young children rest and sleep according to their needs. Babies sleep in cots in their play room and children under three sleep on child sofa beds.

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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 Older children enjoy playing games with each other in their garden. For example, they play a musical game where one child plays an instrument and the other children run until the noise stops. Children enjoy bouncing on the space hopper. 'One, two, three,' says a three-year-old, she then begins to hop along the stepping stones. A small mixed age of children play hide and go seek, they hide in tunnels made from trees. As a result, children have fun in their garden.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a welcoming and secure indoor and outdoor environment. Classical music plays during the morning in the corridor and soft music adds to the ambience of the play rooms. Practitioners warmly greet parents as they enter the play rooms. There are pictures of children's art work and photographs of children at play on the walls in and around the building. The play rooms are filled with exciting and stimulating activities for the children who happily access what is available. Each room is attractively organised into different areas. For example, home corner, sensory pay area and arts and craft area. These effectively support enjoyable activities that challenge children in ways appropriate to their needs.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Practitioners have a good awareness of security and ensure children cannot leave the premises unsupervised. There are clear procedures to ensure children are collected only by authorised people and all visitors are asked to sign into the building. Security is further promoted through the vetting procedure. Person's not vetted are not allowed to work with the children. This includes students and volunteers.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Practitioners are aware of their responsibilities to keep children safe and clear, and comprehensive policies and practices are in place to ensure children's safety. Children are also aware of the safety procedures. For example, a four-year-old decides to build a house from the large wooden bricks, when she notices one of the bricks are broken. She immediately tells the practitioner who takes the brick away. Children practice the fire emergency procedures, these are appropriately recorded and all fire fighting equipment is checked regularly.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are protected because staff fully understand their role in child protection and are able to put appropriate procedures into practice. As a result, children are effectively safeguarded.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children in the baby room enter the sensory area to play with the resources, whilst babies sit on the soft carpeting, they babble as reach for the toys. Practitioners positively respond to their attempts to communicate. Small children confidently explore their environment. They easily access the puzzles from the shelf in their room; they take the pieces out but cannot fit them back. The children decide to play with the shopping basket and put the frying pan into it. Children experiment with different media, such as sand; they have a good time as they use the spoon and container to put sand in to the bucket.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children in the under three's room enjoy a planned range of activities and spontaneous events which support their development and learning. They make bread and tea with the practitioner in the home corner. "Butter on?" ask two-year-old. They talk about their mummy's brushing their hair as they use the brush on their own hair. The children enjoy wrapping the dolls in blankets and taking them for a walk. Children have very good opportunities to mark make, they

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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 are able to choose their own paper and the type of material they would like to write with. As a result, children are confident and happy.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Older children have made positive relationships. For example, a small group of four-year-olds play together on the suspended balancing beam. One child crawls on the beam whilst the other two stand legs astride on the chain holding up the beam. Children enjoy linking up with each other. They play co-operatively with the train pieces linking the tracks together. They make tunnels for the trains to go under and put 'bark' into the carrier trains. Their interest is kept for a long period of time at this activity.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children have a good relationship with their key worker and other practitioners. They ask questions and their requests are positively responded to. Children's development is tracked and their progress is monitored. Profiles devised for the under three's suitably link to the 'Birth to three matters' framework. As a result, children are well motivated.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Practitioners have a good knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage and how young children learn. Practitioners have attended training in the Foundation Stage and the curriculum guidance is available for the parents to browse through. The learning environment is well planned to provide a range of activities across six areas of learning. Children's profiles are consistently linked to the stepping stones and systems are in place to gain information about their attainments. Planning effectively reflects children's initiated activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Practitioners make use of their time and resources to support children's learning. They question, challenge and support children to achieve as much as they can. For example, a small group of children show interest in number and counting. They open the pea pod to see how many Pease are inside. Each time the children eat a pea they are asked how many are left. However, they are not given sufficient time to solve the problem before being told the answer.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

A small group of children learn about seeds and what they grow into. The children are asked how many seeds they would like to put into their plant pot. They then take the amount they require from the practitioners hand. For example, a child takes three seeds, but asks for two. The practitioner asks him to count again. He counts three seeds and is asked to put one back. As a result, opportunities are missed for older children to solve simple mathematical problems for themselves.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making good progress in the six areas of learning. They show increasing independence in selecting and carrying out activities and display a high level of involvement. For example, children expertly use the mouse on the computer to activate the 'smart board' and before selecting the game the put a tag around their necks. They have a good understanding of the routine what to do on the board. The children competently select the choices given to them by touching the picture. Children enjoy exploring and investigating what happens when they plant seeds into soil. They are asked the question 'what do you need to make seeds grow?' The children answer 'water' and promptly water their newly planted seeds. Children have good opportunities to practice their writing skills and are beginning to form recognisable letters. For example, once they have finished planting their seeds into the plant pots. They identify their

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

plant pot by writing their names on a lolly pop stick.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have a strong sense of belonging and seek out others to share in their experiences. For example, a small group of four-year-olds chase each other around the garden, they run

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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 through the tunnels made from trees enjoying their game. A small group of three-year-olds ride the bikes around the garden. Later the children play hide and seek with the practitioner, one child counts up to 20. Children listen to stories with increasing detail and show keen interest in the written word. The children know what the author of a book does. They know how to hold a book correctly and handle it carefully as they turn the pages. A three-year old makes a three dimensional structure by accident. She pulls a roll of paper from the middle, 'it's longer' she says. She enjoys altering the shape herself. Children enjoy using their bodies to explore texture, for example, during the corn flour activity they let the corn flour drip from their fingers. Children know colours, such as yellow, black and white, but do not often use colour language

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are cared for by practitioners who skilfully work with parents to meet the individual needs of their children. Very good provisions are in place to work closely with the parents. For example, home visits are in place so the parents can meet the person caring for their child. The parents' notice board is displayed in the lobby along with information which may interest them. Photographs introducing the practitioners are attractively displayed. Parents receive verbal and written feedback regarding the development of their children. They confidently make suggestions in the complaints and complements box.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children with learning difficulties sit with their inclusion worker and are helped to communicate by the use of pictures. For example, the inclusion worker shows the children a picture of drinks and they choose what type of drink is preferred. The children also use sign language to indicate if they would like more food. There is a special needs co-ordinator in place and practitioners caring for children with learning difficulties have attended inclusion training. Children happily access dolls of different races to play with and posters reflecting diversity and culture are attractively displayed. Children learn about the different cultural and religious festivals through celebrations such as, Chinese new year and Christmas.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are valued and included; they have a good sense of belonging, for example, children help to plan the garden and their ideas have been positively implemented. The children have a good sense of belonging and access all areas very well. They are confident and get on well with each other. The behaviour management policy is in place and shared with parents. Practitioners have a high expectation of children's behaviour. They manage children's behaviour in a way that is appropriate to each child's age and stage of development. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is effectively fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents is good. Parents are effectively included in their children's learning. For example, they receive good quality information about the education programme. Parents are invited to a parents evening, they receive news letters about the provision and are aware that they can share their suggestions with practitioners. The parents are encouraged to become involved in their children's learning by singing and reading stories to the children. The parents share in the self registration of their children by asking them the thought for the day and responding to their comments.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Recruitment and vetting procedures positively contribute to children being protected. Practitioners have an accurate knowledge and understanding of child development and a clear sense of purpose. They are committed to continual improvement and have attended relevant training and workshops to enhance their work with the children.

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Organisation

The management have a very good contingency plan with regard to staff shortages. As a result, the adult-child ratio positively support children's care learning and play. Practitioners make good use of the space provided so that children are well cared for and supported during their time at the nursery. The Council's induction policy is used. This includes anti oppressive training and child protection training.

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Organisation

Policies and procedures are in place. These include the complaints log book. Policies and procedures work in practice to promote children's health, safety, enjoyment, achievement and the ability to make a positive contribution.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is good. The leaders have a clear vision for the nursery education with a strong focus on the personal development and achievement of all children. All practitioners are responsible for their own training files and disseminate information gained from courses attended. Practitioners have staff meetings, weekly team meetings, training days and supervision. These motivate the staff and help to build a committed team.

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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 management was asked to address a few issues in care and education. In care the management was asked to develop systems in place for parents with regard to documentation. This has been addressed. A wealth of information is shared with the parents and all medication and accident records are appropriately signed. Information on complaints is on the wall in the entrance for parents and Ofsted's telephone number is displayed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the management was asked to address a few issues in education; the management was asked to consider providing more opportunities for children to solve simple mathematical problems. Children have a good range of resources for them to solve simple mathematical problems. As a result, steps taken have improved outcomes for children and the organisation of the provision.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since 1 April 2004 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 complaint 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): • make sure effective systems are in place to prevent cross contamination from laundry to kitchen and make sure dolls are regularly washed.

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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): • make sure opportunities provided for older children to solve simple mathematical problems include time for them to think things through.

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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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