Homestead Day Nursery

Homestead Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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253205 Unique Reference Number 05 November 2007 Inspection date Angela Hufton Inspector

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9 Mews Lane, Calverton, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG14 6JW Setting Address

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E-mail

Susan Mary Williams 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Homestead Day Nursery has been registered since 1998. It is situated in a converted farmhouse in the village of Calverton and serves children from the local community and surrounding areas. Children attend full or part time, and are cared for in small groups according to their age and stages of development. Babies have their own separate room which includes a sleep area. All children have access to the enclosed outdoor play area which comprises of a patio and grassed garden.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery opens from 07:30 until 18:00 on weekdays for 51 weeks per year, excluding Bank Holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year. The nursery currently has 41 children on roll and provides nine funded early education places. Of the 17 staff who work at the setting, nine work directly with the children at any one time and another two are responsible for cooking and cleaning. Seven staff are qualified in child care and education to the Level 3 with two staff working towards Level 4 qualifications. A further three staff are working towards a Level 2 award. 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 inadequate. Children are not sufficiently protected when requiring medication as the setting does not maintain clear records of the exact medications that are administered. This is a breach of regulations. Whilst blanket consent is in place for the setting to administer any prescribed or non-prescription medication, this does not ensure clear and specific instructions are given for all treatments, the dosage to be administered or under what circumstances. Consequently children's health is not promoted. Children are protected in the event of needing emergency medical treatment as parental consent is in place. They receive appropriate care following accidents as sufficient staff hold current first aid certificates and first aid kits are accessible throughout the nursery. Whilst appropriate forms and books are in place to record existing injuries or details following accidents at times these are not recorded or lack sufficient detail,

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Helping children to be healthy

respectively, to promote children's ongoing health needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health is suitably promoted with regard to hygiene and illness because the nursery follows its written procedures to minimise the spread of germs. For example, children with contagious ailments are excluded and if children become unwell they are sensitively cared for. Appropriate systems are in place to reduce cross contamination such as staff wearing gloves and aprons when changing nappies and cot bedding is changed on a regular basis. Children are beginning to learn hygiene procedures as part of some routines such as washing their hands after using the toilet or taking part in messy activities. Access to an enclosed outdoor area helps promote all children's overall physical development. Older children are taken outside in all weathers to get fresh air and exercise to help contribute to a healthy lifestyle. They enjoy using a parachute or digging in the soil. Older children receiving early education funding begin

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Helping children to be healthy

to learn about bodily awareness such as washing their hands but this is not consistently reinforced so children understand to manage this for themselves. They have fewer opportunities to develop their awareness of other aspects of health such as why their heart beats faster when they run as limited activities to support this are planned. Children begin to develop skills such as pedalling but more able children are restricted from developing their climbing and balancing skills as the climbing frame is not fully utilised to support this.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's dietary needs are met as all meals are provided by the nursery and are freshly cooked each day providing children with a balanced nutritious diet. Individual children with specific requirements are fully catered for following consultation with parents regarding allergies and intolerances. Staff are aware of children's individual development and provide meals of an appropriate consistency. For example, weaning babies have pureed or chopped food according to their needs. Staff ensure tables are clean before food is served and use aprons to promote hygiene when serving food. Children have free access to drinking water throughout the nursery to ensure they remain adequately hydrated.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is inadequate. Children are not sufficiently protected from accidents in the setting as risk assessments are not used effectively. For example, accident records are not monitored for patterns and risk assessments are not conducted when accidents to children occur. A new climbing frame has been installed in an area of the garden but risk assessments have not been carried out regarding children's access and use of this. Children are not sufficiently supervised to ensure they do not

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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 access the frame until staff are present. This does not ensure risks to children are minimised. Children are protected in the event of a fire as regular practices are carried out and visits from fire officers supports children's awareness of safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are cared for in suitably clean and satisfactorily maintained premises, with most rooms having sufficient lighting for children's needs and to enable them to move safely around the premises. Additional lighting is placed by the computer in the pre-school room to ensure children have suitable light in this area. Rooms used by children have welcoming displays of their work to encourage them to feel valued and settle. The premises are secure and entry to the premises is monitored to ensure only known persons are able to enter. This also prevents children leaving unsupervised. Good procedures are in place to protect children on outings as clear consent is obtained from parents and staff ratios are increased. This includes an annual trip to Arnold Park and a nearby hamburger chain as a treat, which the children enjoy. Children use toys and resources that are generally clean and in satisfactory condition. These are mostly set out to be

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

accessible to children to promote their independent choices.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are suitably protected in the event of child protection concerns. A suitable policy is in place to guide practice and contains most of the required details. Children arriving with existing injuries do not always have these recorded to ensure their on-going welfare is promoted. However, staff are sufficiently aware of potential signs and the procedures to follow.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children of all ages are contented and settled within the nursery. Mobile children are confident in moving freely round their designated play areas. Baby room staff often spend time directly with children, talking with them, helping them to feel secure. Older children are relaxed in their dealings with others and form good relationships with their peers and staff. They invite others to join in their play and freely talk to staff, particularly during meal times. Staff effectively using these opportunities to develop children's language.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children take part in a broad range of activities that are generally suited to their age and stage of development. Most children participate readily in activities offered and are often occupied and busy in their play. They have good levels of confidence and self-esteem supported through praise and encouragement from staff. Children enjoy cuddles with staff to support their feelings security and their self-esteem is promoted through praise.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is inadequate. Staff working with children in receipt of early education funding do not have sufficient skills or experience to effectively plan or deliver a suitable range of activities to promote children's learning in all areas. This affects the progress children make towards the early learning goals. Planning systems are in place to show how the six areas of learning are promoted, but aspects of physical development and the calculation area of mathematics is too limited. Teaching methods, including the use of worksheets for mathematics does not ensure children learn through practical experiences and limits their use of problem solving skills. The individual learning needs of the children are not sufficiently considered when planning focused activities. Staff discuss children's progress but the systems in place for observation and assessment are not used effectively to identify learning against

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

the full range of stepping stones. This leads to insufficient or inappropriate challenges for children, which impacts on their overall quality of learning. There is an emphasis on adult-led

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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 activities, monitoring and supervising activities rather than extending child-initiated activities. This does not support children's full involvement in their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Some children communicate freely but some children are not yet confident to approach others to talk. Most have fun when they sing songs. Children enjoy story time, and generally sit still and take part. Children's independent reading is restricted by the range available; they express preferences for non-fiction books but there are limited choices available. They access a writing area where there is a selection of writing materials available. A few children write their own name on art work and they proudly display letter shapes to represent their names. There are missed opportunities to extend children’s learning as the writing materials provided in the role play area are limited. Children have some opportunities to 'mark make' through using chalks in the outdoor area, having fun creating faces and bodies and naming them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Some children count in order to at least 10. Insufficient attention is given to increasing children's understanding of number, calculation, shape and measurement through practical activities and daily routines. Children enjoy building with construction toys and are developing some awareness of information technology through the use of resources such as the computer, on a frequent basis. They use the garden area to promote their awareness of growing and living things, a large display of Cosmos flowers and recently planted bulbs supports this. Children are beginning to try out a range of tools including scissors and spades.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have insufficient opportunities to express their ideas freely and imaginatively through different types of role play. They explore the texture of autumn leaves and use these in collages or construct models from junk resources using glue effectively to join pieces. Children are mostly confident to express their personal needs such as requesting the toilet or asking for help to put on their boots for outdoor play. They show care and concern for others as they help their friend with their coat or wash their 'babies'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is inadequate. Children are not supported in their learning about the similarities and differences between people. For example, a boy asked to play as a 'policeman'. A girl then asked to be a policeman too. Staff did not challenge the use of this gender role stereotype by either child and reinforced it by repeating the term. This undermines the requirement for staff to be anti-discriminatory in their practice and to support children's learning about diversity. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is not fostered. All ages of children begin to learn about some aspects of diversity as they acknowledge festivals, such as Diwali or Chinese New Year. At times this is limited because insufficient research about the background of these events has been done. Children do not have sufficient access to a broad range of resources to develop their learning in all areas of diversity

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children generally behave well and behaviour such as sharing is effectively promoted by most staff as they remind children to do this. They are happy to let staff intervene in any disputes and abide by their decision. Children are aware of the need for rules to ensure that activities are successful and happily help with tidying away which helps them to feel included in the routines of the group. A satisfactory policy is in place which details how staff will deal with unacceptable behaviour in a positive way such as using distraction.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are valued and have most of their individual care needs met as relevant information is sought at registration, including any allergies. Staff are available to speak with parents daily

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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 and a key worker system is in operation so that children's individual needs are acknowledged. A daily record sheet is in place for babies so that parents are informed of their child's time at the nursery. Children with learning disabilities and/or disabilities receive a suitable service at the nursery. Parents receive a range of written information about the setting which includes newsletters and they have access to a copy of the policies and procedures.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children in receipt of funding for early education is satisfactory. Parents expressed positive comments about the nursery and stated that they were always well informed about their child's progress. Parents contribute to a good baseline assessment of their child so that it is possible for staff to build upon their existing skills. However, this is not used effectively and consequently children's progress is not maximised. Children's assessments are available for parents at all times and regular parents evenings are held to support this.

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Organisation

The organisation is inadequate. Children's overall welfare and safety is compromised as required records and systems are not maintained to ensure they meet requirements. Each child's daily attendance is not always recorded, particularly to show the times they leave the premises. In addition staff do not consistently sign in and out, for example,7 on the day of inspection a staff member was present but was not recorded as such. This means the daily record of the names of staff who looked after the children is inaccurate. These issues are a breach of regulations and impact on the overall judgement. Children are cared for by well qualified staff and ratios are maintained to provide children with good levels of support. Staff are committed to improve their knowledge and skills through attending additional training. Some staff are currently undertaking Level 4 qualifications. Children are cared for by staff that have had satisfactory recruitment checks.

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Organisation

Comprehensive induction procedures provide new staff with the knowledge to support children and promote aspects of their safety.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of early education is inadequate. The staff have worked with the support advisors from the local authority to identify areas for development and are accessing training for staff members. However, the systems in place to monitor and evaluate the nursery education provision are not effective as previous weaknesses have continued and robust checks have not been made to ensure staff are providing activities to meet each child's needs. For example, there is an over emphasis on creative development and insufficient planning for all aspects of physical development. These gaps and inconsistencies in the curriculum have not been identified and consequently children's progress is not fully supported.

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Organisation

Overall the provision does not meet the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the setting agreed to three recommendations to improve the care offered. These were to ensure parents are made aware of and follow the security arrangements for the setting and to meet recommendations raised by the fire safety officer. The setting has successfully addressed these issues. The entrance door to the setting is kept locked at all times and notices displayed to ensure parents close the door on leaving. All fire doors are now in full working order and staff are aware of the evacuation procedures. This promotes children's safety. The third recommendation was to expand the range of resources to reflect positive images of diversity, directed towards learning for the younger children. Little improvement has been made

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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 in this area, with very few resources available. Staff have a limited awareness of how to plan effectively to support children's understanding of the similarities and differences between people. This has been carried forward for action following this inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the previous nursery education inspection the setting agreed to two recommendations to improve the provision. The first of these was to engage more able children in activities which will link their understanding of sounds with letters, and present them with more challenge. The second recommendation was to develop plans for physical development activities which will challenge what more able children can do, so that they have experiences of developing the control needed for a greater range of movements. Whilst the setting developed action plans to deal with these recommendations limited progress has been made in ensuring improvements are maintained. More able children are not sufficiently challenged to ensure their progress is maximised. They are not encouraged to practise the skills they have, for example, on the climbing frame. Children do not link sounds to letters as part of the routine or through other practical

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Improvements since the last inspection

activities including experimenting with various sounds. Activities are not planned sufficiently to build on what children already know and can do to ensure more able children are challenged. Aspects of these recommendations have been carried forward for immediate attention.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there has been a complaint made to Ofsted that required the provider to take action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

In April 2005 concerns were raised over an alleged broken fire door. An Ofsted childcare inspector made an unannounced visit to investigate against the National Standards. There was evidence to suggest a breach in standard 6 (Safety) in that both fire doors did not automatically close. As a result an action was raised. This has since been successfully addressed and the provider remains qualified for registration.

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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 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve. The registered person does not meet 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 inadequate - notice of action to improve.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care, the registered person must take the following actions: • take positive steps to promote children's good health with reference to obtaining written permission from parents before administering medication to children, keeping a written record of all medication administered and ensuring accident and existing injury records are detailed

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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 • take positive steps to promote safety through effective use of supervision also ensuring risk assessments are robust and used to identify hazards and the risks to children, including use of the climbing frame and monitoring of accidents • demonstrate how the registered person and staff understand and actively promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children through the provision and use of a wide range of resources and activities • ensure a record of children hours of attendance is maintained and a clear record is kept accurately reflecting which staff are caring for children These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education, the registered person must take the following actions: • improve the use of observation, assessment and teaching methods to ensure that learning intentions are matched to the children's next steps • develop system to more effectively monitor and evaluate the nursery education provision and put measures in place to ensure improvements are maintained • ensure that all areas of the curriculum are equally covered with particular reference to all aspects of physical and mathematical development These actions are set out in a notice of action to improve and must be completed by the date specified in the notice. The Department for Education and Skills and the local authority have been informed.

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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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