Chapelfield Children's Day Nursery Ltd

Chapelfield Children's Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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254014 Unique Reference Number 26 October 2007 Inspection date Rosalie Mary Turner Inspector

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Chapelfield Gardens, Chapelfield East, NORWICH, Norfolk, NR2 1SF Setting Address

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E-mail

Chapelfield Childrens Day Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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 outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Chapelfield Children's Day Nursery is a private, non-profit making organisation. It opened in 1990 and has been run by a limited company since 1998. It operates from a purpose built nursery unit which is situated in a park in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. The building comprises of four self-contained, interlinked childcare units for the care of babies, toddlers and pre-school children. Each unit opens onto a secure enclosed outdoor play area. A maximum of 48 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:15 to 18:00 throughout the year.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 77 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. Of these, 28 children receive funding for early education. Children come from the city of Norwich and surrounding areas. The nursery currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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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 The nursery employs 26 members of staff including domestic staff. All child care staff hold appropriate early years qualifications and three are working towards a higher level of qualification.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are developing pleasing personal hygiene routines due to the effective practices followed by the staff. For example, they talk to them about the importance of personal hygiene and older children independently wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. A visit from the dental nurse reinforces children's learning and helps them to look after their teeth from an early age. Staff are good role models and children see them cleaning tables with anti-bacterial sprays and wearing gloves when changing nappies, therefore they learn to prevent the spread of infection. Children's well-being is assured because they are not allowed to attend if they are suffering from a contagious illness and carers are contacted as soon as their child becomes ill when at the nursery, so that others are protected from cross-infection.

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Helping children to be healthy

The nursery takes many positive steps to promote healthy eating and children are offered a wide choice of fresh fruit at snack time such as chopped plums, strawberries, tomatoes and cucumber. Those having a hot meal enjoy a well-balanced range of nutritious, freshly cooked foods including lasagne, hot pot and pasta. Children eat very well, enthusiastically telling the staff 'I like salad!' to show that they are developing healthy eating habits. The staff obtain full details of all dietary needs and preferences before they provide care to ensure children only eat foods that are appropriate to their individual needs. As a result, children's well-being is assured. Babies set their own routines for eating and sleeping. The staff give them lots of close comfort especially while they are drinking their bottles and watch to see that they are feeding properly. As a result, children thrive and their health needs are very well met.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are developing a positive attitude to exercise and routine play is provided outside in all but severe weather to ensure they can access fresh air. Toddlers look forward to playing in the garden and the staff provide a worthwhile range of physical equipment to help them to show off their increasing stamina including wheeled toys, hoops and balls. Children have easy access to drinking water throughout the day, they help themselves from a small water cooler or their personal beakers are within reach. The staff remind them to have a drink when they come in from outside play so that children quickly learn to look after their own health.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are emotionally secure because they are warmly welcomed into a safe and child-centred setting where they are able to gain a sense of belonging. For example, the corridor is brightly decorated with colourful photographs and all play rooms have displays of children's work and are attractively prepared prior to their arrival. The commendable range of well-maintained resources help children to separate from their carers with ease and quickly settle. However, there are no homely style chairs in the Jellybabes or Jellytots rooms to enable staff to comfortably hold and feed babies or assist children to continue homely life experiences.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's safety is given priority and all staff are vigilant to monitor play to protect them from danger. They complete a thorough daily check in all play rooms and take worthwhile steps to

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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 minimise any perceived hazards. For instance, they make sure all low-level electrical sockets are covered, toys are safely maintained and they hold regular meetings to raise and discuss any issues or concerns. Visits from the road safety officer, accompanied by Bethany and Benjamin bears and the local community police ensure children learn how to keep themselves safe. Furthermore, staff talk about the dangers from traffic when children are taken for walks to the local library and they practise regular fire drills, therefore children can escape quickly and safely in an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are suitably protected from the risk of possible harm. For instance, the key pad entry system safeguards them from possible intruders and they are never left alone with persons who have not been vetted. In addition, staff will not release children to an adult unless parents have given their consent and a password is known. All staff have completed child protection training and they are very clear about their role within this area. They demonstrate a clear ability to recognise the signs or symptoms of possible child abuse and have Local Safeguarding Children Board guidance to hand so that they can respond quickly to their concerns.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children thoroughly enjoy their time in nursery and have a strong bond with the staff who take time to listen to them. The adults respond positively to the sounds that the babies make and the close and caring relationships increase children's sense of trust. Staff cheerfully chat about what the toddlers are doing to develop their vocabularies. For example, they ask 'What colour is this brick?' and continue to stretch children's learning by prompting 'Can you find me another one?' Babies have outstanding opportunities to experience messy play and they are captivated by the feel of cornflour, jelly, glue and sand from a very early age. They relish covering their bodies with paint or foam to develop their senses and toddlers thoroughly enjoy making patterns with their Wellington boots.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The younger children have superb choices within a free play programme that is carefully linked to the aspects and components of the 'Birth to three matters' framework. Staff keep records of their achievements from the time that they come into the nursery so that they can provide activities that help them to make very pleasing progress from an early age.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are eager to participate. They squeal with delight and excitement, relishing the bright manipulative toys that play tunes when they press buttons. All adults very quickly respond to their individual interests and make highly effective use of praise to help children to persevere with challenges. For example, when the toddlers find a ladybird, staff spontaneously encourage them to carry out a mini-beast hunt and complete a collage activity. They relish the support and concentrate exceptionally well as they search for insects amongst the leaves and carefully produce ladybird pictures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. Children are motivated to learn and confident to try new experiences. They make very rapid progress towards the early learning goals in all areas of their learning because the staff have a strong knowledge of the Foundation Stage. All the adults display an exceptional enthusiasm and show that they genuinely enjoy working with the children, and as a result, they maintain a vibrant learning environment. Right from the start, staff find out about children’s skills, interests and needs and build on this information effectively to help them achieve as much as they can. A flexible approach to

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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 planning and an excellent balance between adult and child-led activities allows children to learn at their own pace. Staff are exceptionally perceptive of children’s interests during self-initiated play and they provide challenging activities that are extremely well matched to their current needs. Assessments of children's achievements are rigorous and staff use them skilfully to provide activities that address any identified gaps in learning. As a result, the educational programme is highly effective in supporting children to move on to their next stage in learning and they achieve exceedingly well.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing firm friendships that are especially evident when they play imaginatively. Their independence is extremely well promoted and children can dress themselves before going outside with little support from staff. They speak out very confidently at 'show and tell' time and cannot wait to tell their friends about the toys that they have brought from home. Excellent use of gestures and pictures help those who do not speak English to make their needs known and feel at home in the nursery. Resources are clearly labelled to ensure children learn that print carries meaning and they are helped to recognise their names because their coat pegs and name cards show their photographs alongside the text. Children self-select from an excellent range of fictional and reference books and they are captivated by stories. They listen attentively because the staff modify their voices and use story sacks to make familiar tales more interesting.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children use numbers confidently because they have plenty of opportunities to count within routine activities and many can sequence numbers reliably to 10 and beyond. They capably complete number puzzles and confidently select the date to complete 'our calendar'. Children have fun differentiating between the shapes and colours as they climb on the soft play items in the corridor and they access a wide range of tools to develop their hand to eye co-ordination. Outdoor play is exceptionally well promoted because staff allow children to take supervised risks in order to help them to develop control of their bodies. They climb, slide and balance on the adventure play equipment with great skill and demonstrate increasing spatial awareness by moving around the nursery avoiding obstacles.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have impressive opportunities to investigate the natural world and they have learned how to create a wild life area during the regular visits from a local Forest School conservationist. They enjoy collecting leaves from the surrounding trees to produce collages and discover the wider world by celebrating festivals including the Chinese New Year and American Independence Day. Children are fascinated by the range of resources that encourage them to question how things work such as the magnetic set and they use the computer competently showing very good control of the mouse.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's imaginative development is superbly fostered because the role play area frequently changes from a kitchen to a shoe shop, a clothes shop or toy shop according to their interests. They enthusiastically express their ideas and feelings through music and choose from a wealth of vibrant materials within craft activities. Children's sensory development is very well promoted and they use many different natural materials such as wet and dry sand, shells or leaves to explore texture.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. Children from all cultures and of all abilities play a full part in the nursery because they are highly respected by the staff who value each child's individuality and family context. The key workers take time to get to know the children and their families so that they are able to meet individual needs exceptionally well. Children are helped to understand the feelings of others

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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 from an early age through sensitive use of the feelings box, therefore they show an exceptionally caring attitude towards each other.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. They make friends easily and have excellent opportunities to learn about their multicultural society through the vibrant posters and positive images in the wide range of resources that help them to value diversity. Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is exemplary. They have outstanding support to help them to manage their own actions because the staff recognise if children are becoming restless and quickly divert them to another activity. Staff work closely with parents to set boundaries that are consistent with home so that children understand what is expected of them. All adults have high expectations of the children and continually praise their positive actions so that they are repeated. Staff are superb role models and give children clear explanations if they intervene. They get down to the children's level and quietly talk about

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Helping children make a positive contribution

their actions, therefore they begin to understand right from wrong.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The nursery has considerable experience of providing care for children who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The person nominated to co-ordinate support for those having additional needs is robust in her knowledge and understanding of her role and responsibilities. She competently works alongside staff, parents and other agencies to develop straightforward individual educational plans that ensure children have their needs met extremely well. All staff promptly recognise if children do not appear to be reaching milestones in their development and there are robust procedures in place to help children of all abilities to reach their full potential.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. They are given a high quality prospectus that clearly explains the care and early years education that the nursery provides and the excellent two-way flow of information that continues makes sure that parents remain fully involved in their children's learning. For example, they share special events at home, place photographs in 'Malcolm Monkey's' diary and the informal handovers at the beginning and end of each day help the staff to provide a highly effective service. Parents say they know about their child's achievements through discussions with their key worker and there are many highly informative photographic displays of the activities children cover to promote learning. Consequently, parents and carers speak extremely positively about the nursery stating 'The staff are extremely friendly, approachable and supportive'. They feel 'My child's learning is

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Helping children make a positive contribution

stretched' and particularly like 'The impressive range of stimulating activities'. This excellent relationship between staff and parents significantly contributes to the very rapid progress that children make towards the early learning goals.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Overall children's needs are met. Their care is enhanced by the pleasing organisation of the premises and resources together with the commendable leadership of the nursery. All staff have a suitable understanding of the National Standards, the Foundation Stage and 'Birth to three matters'. The well-established staff teams enjoy working together and individuals show pleasing support for each other. All staff are committed to continuous improvement and development, therefore, they are proactive to access further training to ensure that their knowledge and skills remain up to date. The staff and management team regularly meet to monitor, evaluate and improve the quality of their care. As a result, children's well-being is effectively promoted.

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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 Children's welfare is safeguarded because all legally required documentation is robustly maintained and the effective recruitment procedures ensure that staff are suitably skilled and vetted. The nursery is guided by a comprehensive range of policies and procedures that are consistently applied by the staff and regularly updated. In particular, the purposeful aims enable staff to provide a safe, secure environment in which children can freely experiment and learn through a wide variety of play experiences.

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Organisation

The leadership and management is outstanding. The management team monitors the nursery on a daily basis, therefore, they are able to give the staff worthwhile support and guidance. The commitment and overall ethos of the nursery promotes an inclusive environment in which every child matters. Regular staff meetings and 'in house' training opportunities effectively contribute towards the professional development of all staff. In particular, the comprehensive job descriptions and induction practices ensure that newly appointed staff are familiar with their roles and responsibilities and they very quickly become effective team members. The management team is proactive to address any perceived weakness. For example, an action plan is in place to develop the staff appraisal system and to incorporate additional theories such as children's schemas, into the child-centred curriculum. Consequently, children are able to develop

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Organisation

their personalities within a stimulating play environment and they make exceptional progress in all areas of their learning.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last care inspection the nursery was recommended to review the baby sleeping area and revisit the risk assessments. Babies have a comfortable place to rest or sleep because the resources for nappy changing have been reorganised so that they are located together and improvements to storage ensure the small chairs do not encroach on their sleeping area. A member of the management team has completed training in risk assessment and effective procedures have been developed to ensure staff check the play rooms at the beginning and end of each day and reduce any observed hazards. As a result, children can play with minimum risk of harm.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last early education inspection the nursery was asked to improve the planning structure and staff's familiarity with the Foundation Stage. All staff have completed Foundation Stage training as part of their early years qualifications and those working with older children have updated their knowledge through attending local courses. Staff have significantly reviewed planning to involve parents, carers and children and provide an entirely child-centred curriculum. Consequently, children are able to make outstanding progress because their interests and 'next steps' are at the forefront of the activities set out for them to learn through play.

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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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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 outstanding.

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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): • provide resources for children under two years of age to enable them to continue homely life experiences.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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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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