The Teepee Day Nursery

The Teepee Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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EY263716 Unique Reference Number 04 December 2007 Inspection date Hazel Farrant Inspector

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St. Margaret Clitherow Primary School, Pembroke, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7RD

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Setting Address

01344 360601 Telephone number enquiries@theteepee.co.uk E-mail Tee Pee Ltd Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Setting Address

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?

The Teepee Day Nursery opened under new management in July 2003. It operates from a one storey building within the grounds of a primary school in Bracknell, Berkshire. The nursery has five playrooms and there is a fully enclosed outdoor area. The nursery serves the local community.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 49 children aged three months to under six years old may attend the setting at any one time. The nursery opens from 07.30 until 18.00 Monday to Friday, 51 weeks of the year.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 79 children on roll. Of these 11 children receive funding for early years education. The group supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and for those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 20 staff that work with the children and 15 hold early years qualifications. The nursery also employs two cooks. The setting receives support from the local authority and the National Association of Day Nurseries.

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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 outstanding. The nurseries excellent procedures include children's learning about personal hygiene. Even the younger children know about germs and how they spread on dirty hands and used tissues. Children understand how to help keep themselves safe from the spread of infection. For example, they place their used tissues in the bin and wash their hands. Clear visual signs around the nursery actively remind children about hygiene.

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Helping children to be healthy

Through highly effective procedures and clear documentation, children’s medical and dietary needs are significantly well met. All members of staff hold valid first aid and food hygiene certificates. Children enjoy excellent meals which are freshly prepared. Their diets are carefully discussed and through robust procedures, children’s individual requirements are met extremely well. Children have a superb choice of healthy eating options throughout the nursery. Snacks include fresh fruit, vegetables and rice cakes. Children enjoy visits to a local ‘pick your own’ farm where children are able to enrich their knowledge and understanding of where food comes from. Children have excellent access to drinks throughout the day; they expertly pour their own drinks of water. Babies and young children’s needs are catered for exceptionally well. Staff thoroughly discuss with parents all individual requirements so that they offer continuity of care

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Helping children to be healthy

The children relish their time playing in the well resourced enclosed outside area. They are engrossed in practising their footballs skills and expertly dribble the ball in and out of cones placed on the ground. They have excellent opportunities for physical play both inside and outside of the nursery. A covered area ensures children can enjoy fresh air even during inclement weather. Children also enjoy physical play inside as they have access to a superb soft play area.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children play and learn in a safe and secure environment. Staff work hard to ensure the premises are warm and welcoming for the children. A daily risk assessment is conducted for both inside and outside of the nursery to ensure children’s on-going safety. Most doors are made safe to ensure little fingers cannot become trapped. However, one of the exit doors to the garden area is a potential hazard for children and requires being made safe.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

A good range of resources and activities are available. The staff provide a welcoming environment through displays of pictures, posters and children's art, both on the walls and hanging from the ceilings. Children are kept safe by staff who are vetted and who demonstrate a good awareness of safety. For example, pictures are displayed around the nursery to remind children how to keep themselves safe. The security of the site is good. The main door is locked and visitors must ring the bell to gain entry. Parents gain entry by an electronically controlled side gate. Therefore, children are unable to leave the premises unsupervised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Effective child protection procedures promote and safeguard children's welfare within the setting. Staff complete child protection training as part of their core training and are fully aware of the policies. They are confident in the action they would take should they need to do so.

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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 good. Children are very happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. They are keen to explore their surroundings and are confident and growing in their independence. They benefit from the care and encouragement of experienced and knowledgeable staff in a stimulating learning environment. Children relate well to the staff and one another, they enjoy socialising with others as they play in groups, participating in a range of interesting and worthwhile activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are becoming good communicators, they chat confidently, one child said the holly leaf they had made was sharp to touch. They develop their physical skills extremely well both indoors and outside. Babies also benefit from being given a high level of support to begin actively exploring and investigating interesting sensory, tactile play. For example, they enjoy hand printing to create a festive greetings card. Children enjoy making their own dough; they mix the ingredients together and squeal with delight as they manipulate the dough into a ball ready to roll out. They enjoy a wide range of messy play activities where they are able to take part in new experiences. Children enjoy music and singing activities where they are able to experiment playing a wide range of musical instruments. Staff regularly review the organisation of resources and planning in order to ensure that they are developmentally appropriate and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

provide a range of experiences which increase children's learning. Children achieve well because staff are well established, caring and skilled. They make effective use of early year’s guidance, such as the Birth to three matters framework, to provide good quality care and learning opportunities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children make good progress in their individual learning because staff have a secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum. Children enjoy a broad range of activities which are interesting and encourage children to learn in a fun way. Staff use effective teaching techniques to promote children's thinking and knowledge. Staff use a variety of observational methods to record children’s individual progress. Activities are evaluated and staff use this information to help to guide them in their planning and they are committed to an on-going refinement of the monitoring systems.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are eager to learn and concentrate well, showing good perseverance with activities. They co-operate and negotiate roles. For example, when acting out their imagined ideas in role-play, they share the resources available in their ‘medical centre'. They share and value one another's ideas, helping them to be confident and skilled speakers, using words effectively to convey their knowledge. For example, children understand the meaning of ‘extinct’ when they sing the song ‘we love panda bears’. Children are able to sit and enjoy books in a comfortable and cosy environment. Children are making good progress in mark making to represent their own ideas in their everyday play. Some children are able to link sounds to letters and recognise their own name. However, children are not always encouraged to attempt to write their own name on their artwork.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children count confidently up to 10 and beyond. Some use numbers in their play and respond to challenges which extend their mathematical vocabulary. One child spontaneously counts backwards from five to one during an action song. They begin to make sense of the world around them as they explore and investigate through interesting topic work. Children make Rangoli patterns and print with henna. Children have access to a computer and have a variety of interactive toys to support their awareness of information and technology.

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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 enjoy developing their own creative abilities, having free access to a wide range of media, such as paints, glue, scissors, paper and glitter to produce their own works of art. Their physical skills develop and improve through a wide variety of experiences, including regular sessions of Tai Chi, football skills, music and dance.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children feel good about themselves and show respect and consideration for others as they share and take turns. Children are encouraged to help one another, for example by helping to set and clear tables at meal times. Staff foster children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Children learn about diversity through a wide and interesting variety of planned topics and resources that are readily available to them. For example, children have access to puzzles, books, dolls, play figures and dressing up clothes. Information is sought from parents about the culture and backgrounds of the children, which means that their individual needs are met well. The nursery actively promotes contact with local communities and schools. Grandparents are invited to join their grandchildren for tea, which has proved very popular throughout the nursery.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff work directly with outside agencies and the parents to ensure the specific development needs are fully understood and the appropriate care and learning opportunities are offered. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well with labels and books available in dual language. The nursery has a clear policy for behaviour management and follow ‘Mosely’s Golden Rules’ ethos to promote good behaviour. Staff act as good role models and they are very positive with the children who respond well to praise and encouragement. Children are well behaved, polite and courteous.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents share information about their child’s abilities when they first start at the nursery. A system is in place to ensure parental observations are also recorded in the child progress file. Staff use this information and their own observations to draw up an individual learning plan for each child. These are shared at meetings with parents where they can be discussed and where parents have an opportunity to formally comment on them. Parents are very happy with the nursery and the education provided and feel they are kept well informed about their child’s progress. Although daily plans are available, they are not accessible for parents to easily view. Parents receive detailed information about the nursery before their child starts and notice boards keep them informed of relevant information. Regular newsletters and information are sent out either in hard copy or electronically via email according

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children settle well and are very happy within the nursery. The dedicated staff work well as a team supporting children according to their needs. They organise space and resources well to allow the children to move around freely. Staff are encouraged to complete training in many areas and all staff complete core training that include first aid, child protection, health, safety, and food hygiene. Staff are well deployed and clearly enjoy working with the children; they are very caring and kind.

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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 The leadership and management of nursery education is good. Staff are well supported to develop their skills through practical work within the nursery and by attendance at both internal and external training courses. Children benefit from a high percentage of experienced qualified staff. A high percentage of staff hold relevant childcare qualifications. They are very well organised and work efficiently to set out a stimulating learning environment for children. The provision for nursery education is continually being monitored and evaluated. Curriculum planning covers all areas of learning and staff are aware of the progress individual children are making. However, currently daily plans do not clearly show the intended learning outcome or extensions to activities for children that are more able.

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Organisation

There are robust recruitment procedures in place to ensure only suitable staff work with the children and all staff are effectively inducted. The on-going suitability of staff is monitored and future training needs are highlighted during appraisal meetings. Staff have a good awareness of the nurseries policies and procedures which are covered during their induction period. All required documentation is in place, although several policies require reviewing to ensure they contain relevant information. Overall, the setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection new seating has been purchased to ensure that children's needs are met. Children throughout the nursery now access a good range of age appropriate books to promote their interest in language and literacy. Good procedures are now in place to ensure feeding utensils for babies with special dietary requirements are clearly labelled. The nursery now benefits from suitable storage facilities which promotes self-selection of toys and resources.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Activities are now extended to ensure that all children are provided with achievable challenges. Children have good opportunities to develop their mathematical understanding through everyday activities. They enjoy using a variety of resources for writing, such as diaries and pencils in the home corner and chalk boards in the outside play area. Children's observations are used to plan for their individual progress to ensure their next area of development is highlighted.

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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. 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 then 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 AND 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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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): • further promote children's wellbeing by ensuring exit doors to the garden do not compromise children's safety • further consolidate and review the failure to collect and lost child policies.

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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 promote opportunities for mark making by consistently encouraging children to write their own name on their artwork • further develop planning records by showing how daily activities link to the early learning goals and stepping stones and by including information on how activities will be differentiated to meet children's individual learning needs. Ensure daily plans are clearly visible to parents to view.

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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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