Tots' Village Nursery

Tots Village Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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EY239159 Unique Reference Number 14 February 2008 Inspection date Denys Rasmussen Inspector

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Burntwood Lane, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 5YX Setting Address

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01883 340825 Telephone number info@totsvillage.co.uk E-mail Tots Village Nursery Limited Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE 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?

Tots Village Nursery (www.totsvillagenursery.co.uk) operates on the same site as De Stafford College and leisure centre, in Caterham on-the-Hill. There is a fully enclosed outdoor area for outdoor play. The nursery opens five days a week for 51 weeks of the year. The hours are from 08:00 until 18:00. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is registered to care for a maximum of 40 children at any one time. Currently there are 52 children on roll aged under five years. This includes 19 children who are funded for nursery education. There are nine members of staff working with the children. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is on a training programme.

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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 satisfactory. The nursery cook and two members of staff are trained in food hygiene, which means they are fully aware of regulations relating to food safety and hygiene. Children enjoy varied, wholesome meals and snacks that are freshly prepared on the premises and which take into account their individual dietary needs. The children are offered fresh fruit and vegetables each day and have independent access to drinking water. All the children benefit from the regular physical activity indoors and outdoors, that promotes their physical development. They practise their skills, for instance when using wheeled toys, balancing on the stepping stones and negotiating an obstacle course. They enjoy singing and action rhymes, play organised games and attend dance lessons. This all contributes to them learning healthy lifestyle habits.

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Helping children to be healthy

Procedures such as cleaning the nappy changing mat with anti-bacterial spray between changes, staff wearing disposable gloves and conscientiously washing their hands, help sustain satisfactory levels of hygiene and help prevent the risk of cross contamination. However, children are changed on the floor in the playrooms and it is unclear whether this meets environmental health standards; nevertheless, staff were observed to manage this satisfactorily. The nursery's effective sick child policy helps to prevent the spread of infection.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's health needs and dietary requirements are well recorded and complied with to ensure children remain healthy. Clear and accurate records are kept, for example about any medication that has been administered. Accidents are dealt with appropriately because the provider ensures that at least one member of staff trained in first aid is on duty at all times and any accidents are well recorded. This ensures that children's health needs are met and information can be effectively shared with the parents.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The children are cared for in a welcoming environment. An informative notice board and a display of photographs of the children involved in activities, greets parents and children on arrival. Parents commented on the approachability of the staff, who make them feel welcomed. The premises is situated in an outbuilding in the grounds of a secondary school. It is comfortably warm and has been organised thoughtfully. Children have access to a wide range of good quality play materials that are checked for safety and are appropriate for their age and stage of development. These provide a range of activities to promote children's development. Regular fire drills help children become familiar with the procedures so they learn how to leave the premises quickly and safely.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Positive steps have been taken to promote safety and minimise accidental injury, with measures in place such as regularly testing portable electrical appliances, heaters kept out of children's reach and safety mats placed when using the indoor climbing frame. Children are protected because of good security systems; staff conscientiously monitor access to the premises and children are only collected by authorised people. There are good procedures in place to protect children if staff have concerns about their welfare. The designated person understands her responsibility to liaise with child protection agencies in the event of any concerns. The manager demonstrated through discussion a good awareness of safeguarding children and of implementing the procedures.

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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 throughout the nursery are confident and have built secure relationships with the staff. The children are happy to be at the nursery. Staff consistently interact in a supportive and warm manner with children and have a secure knowledge of child development, which improves children's achievements. Children enjoy participating in a varied range of enjoyable activities and play resources. However, the babies do not have sufficient opportunities to be involved in sensorial play and during rest time the deployment of staff meant that the babies who were awake did not always have appropriate activities to engage them. Nevertheless, the babies receive lots of cuddles and have a strong bond with the staff that care for them, which increases their sense of well-being. All the children have the opportunity to play together, have meals together and rest together, which helps create a homely, close-knit atmosphere where

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

staff and children know each other well.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning are satisfactory. The staff have a satisfactory understanding of the Foundation Stage. Activities and resources are planned under each area of learning and generally follow a theme to promote children's understanding of the world around them. However, daily activities are not planned to be sufficiently challenging to extend more able children's learning or to further develop their independence and autonomy. Nevertheless, the staff know the children well and generally engage their interest and enthusiasm. Observations are completed on the children and are recorded under each area of learning to track their progress. However, the next step in their learning is not identified and so does not inform the planning. There is a good balance of adult directed and free choice of activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children readily approach staff for support, enjoy the company of their peers and play well together. They enjoy story time and participate enthusiastically predicting the text. They are encouraged to speak at circle time and learn new words generally connected to the current theme. They play games to develop their pen control and have access to mark making materials. The routine helps with name recognition, such as when the children hang their coats and find their labelled placemat at lunch time. Children mark their work and proudly show the staff when they write their name.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children find out about the world around them through topics, such as seasons, transport, new life and healthy living. They participate in activities such as looking at the inside of fruit and discussing the colour and taste. They look at the seeds and learn about growth; and begin to understand that fruit helps to keep them healthy. Children are given worthwhile activities to practise and consolidate their manipulative skills. For example, they manipulate play dough, corn flour, shaving foam, custard and sand. They handle tools with increasing control, such as scissors, rollers and the computer mouse. Children engage in practical activities to learn about number and counting. They play dominoes, sort and compare objects, use the scales and sing number songs that introduce early calculation. The children wash their dolls in the water tray and also learn about volume and capacity when they experiment with different sized containers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are involved in art and craft activities such as collage and modelling but have limited access to the full range of resources that will enable them to create and design autonomously. Children are learning to be independent when they use the toilet, help each other and access available resources. However, some everyday routines such as meal times are not exploited fully to further develop the older children's independence. The children use their imagination

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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 well and use representation to express their feelings and experiences. They make a bus with chairs, pretend to swim by swishing bricks on the floor and enthusiastically dress up and pretend to be animals, looking at themselves in the mirror and laughing together. Most children are adept at moving in a variety of ways and develop very good body control through music and movement sessions and using equipment both indoors and outdoors.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. The relaxed structure, routine of the session and realistic boundaries help children to behave well. Staff are gentle and supportive in their interaction with the children; praising them appropriately to encourage constructive behaviour. The children have developed a good understanding of acceptable behaviour in the nursery and awareness of the boundaries set, which helps them to play harmoniously together. The children are encouraged to develop an awareness of people in their local community. For example with visits from the fire service and dentist. Children have access to resources and visitors that promote a positive view of the wider world. For example by acknowledging a variety of festivals and traditions, inviting people to visit, such as a folk singer and providing play resources that reflect positive images of race, culture and disability. The children are offered the opportunity to learn the French language,

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Helping children make a positive contribution

when a French language teacher visits. Detailed information and parent consultations are used to ensure individualised care is offered. There are good systems in place to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This positive approach fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from the positive partnership staff have developed with parents. They experience consistent care because the staff know them well and communicate daily with the parents both verbally and through written daily reports. Parents wishes are respected and they are encouraged to be involved in nursery life through outings, parties and fundraisers. Parents made comments such as, 'my child has progressed well; staff are very approachable; proper food at lunch time; friendly atmosphere' and 'the staff genuinely care about the children and know them well'. The partnership with parents of children receiving nursery education is good. Parents regularly meet with staff to discuss their child and share their progress. The staff provide opportunities for parents to learn about the Foundation Stage and how the nursery implement this. Regular newsletters inform parents about the activities their children are

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Helping children make a positive contribution

involved in and what they are planning to do. Relationships with the parents are both friendly and professional, helping to promote children's development.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a friendly and caring environment where staff know them well. The recruitment procedures mostly ensure that staff are suitably qualified and have been subject to the appropriate checks, this helps to protect the children. However, Ofsted were not notified of a change of manager, this is a breach of regulation. Nevertheless, the manager is adequately qualified and some checks have been carried out. Staff have clear roles and responsibilities and work well as a team. They are kept up-to-date through regular meetings ensuring the operational plan works well in practice, however, at transitional times of the day they are not always deployed as effectively. All required written documentation are in place with the exception of the operational procedures for the safe conduct of outings, however, the policies and procedures

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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 work well in practice, ensuring the efficient and safe management of the nursery. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the nursery education is satisfactory. There is a strong commitment to develop the provision and satisfactory systems in place to monitor and evaluate teaching. The manager is working with the team to make improvements and is monitoring potential weaknesses that she has identified to further improve the outcomes for children. Staff development is encouraged. Staff have a satisfactory understanding of the Curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage and how to apply this in practice to support children's development.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last care inspection the provider has ensured that the staff are fully aware of the role of the special needs co-ordinator and has put systems in place to ensure that all the toys and resources are complete and in good condition.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last education inspection the provider has provided more opportunities for children to extend their understanding of number through worthwhile practical activities and by developing a mathematic area. Children are now grouped appropriately for story time most of the time and staff use props to engage the children and sustain their interest. The assessment and planning systems are being developed currently as presently children's next steps for learning are not informing the planning.

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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 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure the regulator is informed of any significant events particularly in relation to a change of manager. • provide the babies with more opportunities to be involved in sensory exploration.

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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 • ensure the deployment of staff is effective at transitional times of the day. • confirm that nappy changing arrangements meet environmental health standards. • ensure the operational procedures for the safe conduct of outings is available for staff's information.

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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): • further improve the planning and assessment processes so that the assessment of children informs the planning effectively. • further develop children's independence skills by involving them in familiar nursery routines such as meal times. • improve children's access to the full range of resources in the art and craft area that will enable them to create and design autonomously (also childcare).

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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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