Pucklechurch CofE VC Primary School

Grassroots Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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109171 Unique Reference Number 17 March 2008 Inspection date Hilary Turner Inspector

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The Studio, 24 Ashley Road, Hampton, Middlesex, TW12 2JA Setting Address

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E-mail

Atime Childcare Ltd 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?

Grassroots Nursery School was re-registered in 2001 and is run by Atime Childcare LTD. It is situated in Hampton near Hampton train station in the London Borough of Richmond. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:00 to 18:00 for 51 weeks of the year. It is registered to care for 35 children under five years, of these no more than 15 children may be under two years.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Children are cared for in self contained premises. There are two separate base rooms, one on the ground for children under two years and the second on the first floor for children two to five years. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 41 children on roll. Of these 12 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area and attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and who speak English as an additional language although currently they have none on roll.

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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 11 staff. Of these eight staff, including the manager hold appropriate Early Years qualifications and one member of staff is currently working towards a recognised Early Years qualification. The setting receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children’s health care and well-being is protected and supported effectively by the setting's sound polices and procedures, for example the good practice regarding nappy changing and cleanliness of toys. Children are encouraged to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet and low sinks are provided so that children are developing independence in their personal care.

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Helping children to be healthy

The systems in place to support children who are hurt or need medicines are well organised. All staff have first aid qualifications and first aid boxes are at hand. Any accidents or medication administered are carefully recorded and shared with parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a variety of nutritious meals that take account of their individual dietary requirements. Older children are encouraged to serve themselves and there is ample food for them to return for seconds. The youngest children sit together and are supported and encouraged to feed themselves, however the meal time arrangements sometimes do not fully support the individual needs of all children.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy fresh air everyday, and the garden is set out well to encourage children's enjoyment and physical development. The equipment provided allows them to climb, ride trundle toys and run around within a secure environment.

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Helping children to be healthy

Although there is less challenging outdoor equipment for the more able children they enjoy using wheeled toys, climbing and have fun as they run around in the outdoor space, for instance as they act out familiar stories where they show good spatial awareness as they manoeuvre and weave between equipment and climb through tyres.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children spend the day in an environment that is bright, welcoming and provides adequate play space. A large range of age appropriate play equipment is available much of which is interesting and fun, although few resources are made of natural materials. Children are also able to self-select what they wish to use from storage shelves and drawers.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's safety is promoted as staff carry out routine safety checks both indoors and outside to make sure they are not exposed to danger. Security of the premises is good and a CCTV camera is used to monitor the entrance. Written fire evacuation procedures are in place and the escape plan from the premises is practised regularly to ensure children are taken to safety quickly in the event of an emergency. Children are also beginning to learn about their own personal safety as staff remind children how to behave appropriately when indoors and outside to prevent accidents or injury to themselves or others. In addition staff plan projects, such as road safety to further extend children's understanding of keeping safe.

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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 Children's welfare is also promoted as staff have a sound understanding of child protection matters. They understand that the child's well-being is paramount, and would identify and report any concerns they may have in relation to child abuse.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time at the setting. Most of the younger children play happily with the toys and activities provided, developing confidence to try new skills as they feel secure in the support provided by the adult. For example, a child pulls itself up and standing alone is encouraged by a familiar adult to take several steps on their own as they hold out their hands to them. Children benefit from the staff's good understanding of the 'Birth to three matters' framework that supports their learning, and suitable activities are provided that are fun to do as well as promoting children's all-round development. For instance, children enjoy playing with water and sand. They also have fun mark making with chubby chalks on a garden wall which has been painted with black board paint.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The youngest of children enjoy music sessions as they play instruments with enthusiasm, and begin to understand rhythm. They also show great excitement as they act out the actions to the rhymes clearly very familiar with them. Children grow in confidence as they feel valued and secure by the good support and kindness the staff show them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of the teaching and learning is good. Staff have a sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage and are gaining confidence in their flexibility to deliver a curriculum which also follows children's natural interests. Observations are carried out on the children to assess their attainments. These are then evaluated and the next individual step for each child is planned. However, there are occasional gaps in the frequency of observations and in the evaluations of the activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making good progress in most of the six areas of learning as staff understand that they learn through play, and plan a well balanced curriculum that is linked to the stepping stones of the early learning goals. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world as there are less resources in this area and learning is usually at planned times through themes and activities. However, children are making very good progress in their communication and language skills as resources for mark marking and writing for a purpose are readily accessible and available in all their play. Lots of children can confidently write letters of their name and some can write the whole of their name. Staff are very skilled at supporting children to link sounds to letters and even two year old children are able to recognise their name and sound out the letters. Children love listening to stories

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and staff use props well to extend their interest and learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children take delight in acting out familiar stories, such as 'we're going on a bear hunt' using their imagination well. Outside they climb, crawl and run from the crocodile, calling their friends to do the same. A child says to another 'the bear roared at me quick lets swim back to the boat'. The child in charge of the boat says 'I'll throw the anchor out'. Another child says 'you need a map so you can follow us back to the giraffe island', the children giggle and laugh together as they play.

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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 Children are interested in what they do, and persevere with tasks. Their social and emotional development is well promoted as they show concern for their peers, and learn to take responsibility for tidying-up and keeping themselves safe. The positive role models of experienced, kind and caring staff means children quickly settle into their nursery day and engage happily and enthusiastically in their play.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Most children are content and secure as staff know the children well. A settling in period over several weeks, comprising of a series of visits to the nursery prior to starting, helps children to gain confidence in separating from their parents.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is good as staff work well together to provide a consistent approach to managing behaviour positively, and because children are busily engaged in stimulating activities and play throughout the day there are less chances for them to become bored or restless. Staff are positive role models as they help children to understand right from wrong, talk to them about the consequences of their actions and encourage them to share, take turns and be kind to one another.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Very few resources are available to help children learn about the world they live in and there are less opportunities to help children develop an appreciation of others similarities and differences for instance, cultures, religions, gender and disability. However, staff know the children's backgrounds and chat to them as they make links between home and nursery. Boys and girls play with all the resources and all children are encouraged to participate in what is provided. Systems are in place to support children with disabilities and/or learning difficulties, and although none currently attend staff have good knowledge of how to put these into practice .

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children who receive nursery education is good. Open evenings are held to inform parents about the progress their children are making in the Foundation Stage. Parents are also able to discuss their child's progress with staff at any time and look at their individual folders. Good information about the Foundation Stage curriculum is displayed. Parents are encouraged to support the staff on occasional trips and be involved in their children's learning. Staff have established effective and positive relationships with parents and understand that it has a positive impact upon the children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The leadership and management of the setting is good. The nursery is run by an experienced manager who is committed to providing good quality care and education for children. She encourages staff to attend relevant courses to increase their knowledge and skills. Consequently, they have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities and focus on the needs of the children. The staff work very effectively together and the mixture of skills and experience in the team compliment each other very well. However, systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of provision, observation and evaluation of activities in the Foundation Stage curriculum are not robust enough to identify some gaps.

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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 Staff are enthusiastic and clearly they place strong emphasis on putting children first. The deployment of staff around the nursery is good and ensures that all children are safe, secure and well supervised. Furthermore children are well protected as robust recruitment procedures are used to make sure all staff are fully vetted to ensure their suitability to work with children.

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Organisation

Children's welfare is safeguarded because all required records and documentation are in place ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the nursery. Parents are kept well informed about the service provided and how their child is progressing. In addition, the written policies and procedures practised by staff are also regularly reviewed and up dated which further promotes children's wellbeing and protection. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the previous inspection three recommendations were raised to: ensure that the back garden area is made fully secure; ensure the daily record of staff and children's attendance includes the times of arrival and departure; and improve hygiene practice by making cleaning materials inaccessible to children in the upstairs bathroom.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The garden has now been made secure, cleaning materials are out of reach of children and sound systems are in place to record staff and children's times of arrival and departure. As a result children's safety and welfare has been improved.

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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 action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure the individual needs of the youngest children are fully met at all times • increase the resources promoting diversity to increase children's understanding of the wider world, and provide more opportunities for children to explore natural resource and materials (also applies to nursery education)

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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

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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): • provide children with more frequent opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding to help them make sense of the world • ensure the systems in place are rigorous enough to monitor and identify gaps in the quality of provision, observation and evaluation in the Foundation Stage.

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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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