Include School Norfolk

Long Hanborough Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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134440 Unique Reference Number 13 February 2008 Inspection date Jenny Read Inspector

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Playing Field Pavilion, Roosevelt Road, Long Hanborough, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 8JG

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Setting Address

01993 883178 or 07976011428 Telephone number

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E-mail

Longhanborough Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional 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 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?

Long Hanborough Nursery School is a voluntary group with charity status, managed by a committee of parents and carers. The nursery has been established for 40 years and is located in the Pavilion within the village of Long Hanborough. The areas available to the children include the large hall, craft room and toilet facilities. They use a small, enclosed, patio area for outdoor play and have use of the adjacent playground and wooded areas for additional play space. The children attend from the village and the nearby rural communities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 26 children from two years to five years may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 18 children on roll. Of these, 11 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery is open on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 09.00 until 11.45 and on a Thursday from 12.00 until 14.45. An additional session operates specifically for rising four-year-olds on a Wednesday from 12.00 until 14.45. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs three staff to work with the children. All staff hold the Diploma in Pre-school Practice at Level 3. The nursery receives support from the Local Authority.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children are learning to understand simple good health and hygiene practices that promote a healthy lifestyle. They know the well-implemented hand washing routines very well. They are very independent, using the step up to the sink to turn on the cold tap, access the soap dispenser and help themselves to paper towels, placing them straight in the bin afterwards to reduce the risk of cross infection. A member of staff is always on hand to support the younger children if this is needed. The children have a thorough understanding of their personal care and describe knowingly how washing their hands before meal times, after using the toilet or following messy play activities will make the germs go down the drain.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children receive appropriate care if they are ill or have an accident because staff are sensitive and follow appropriate procedures. For example, a child is comforted, receives lots of cuddles and is carefully monitored throughout the session and is regularly asked if they wish to go home. However, written permission from parents to enable staff to seek emergency medical advice or treatment if necessary is not in place and awareness of when to notify Ofsted regarding children's health is not clear. Two staff have an up-to-date first aid qualification and record accidents in a book and the relevant page is signed by most parents. The staff indicate they use the pavilion's first aid box but have little awareness of its contents because there are no checking systems in place. Consequently, some items were out of date, reducing their sterility.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have their health and individual dietary needs met and increase their understanding of healthy living because staff show sound awareness of any allergies, medical needs or dietary requirements and plan discussion and interesting activities, such as looking and tasting food from around the world and talking about food they like or dislike. Children readily access their individual drinks from their named tray when they are thirsty, for instance, following robust play on the playing field. The children are learning to pour their own drinks at snack time and talk about how drinking lots of milk will give them strong bones.

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Helping children to be healthy

The parents provide their children's fruit for snack time and lunch boxes for pre-school sessions in line with their child's specific dietary needs. Meal times are a really happy, social occasion where children and staff sit together and readily talk about their family and what they have been doing. This promotes their enjoyment of food. However, children do not help to set up the tables, for example, counting the cups and putting out the children's names to encourage their learning during daily routines.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are very confident in their physical skills enjoying daily fresh air and rigorous exercise inside and out. For example, they enjoy regular walks through the woods, explore the mound, playing fields and grassland surrounding the nursery as they pretend to go on a dinosaur or bear hunt. Although, planning for the outside area is random. They enjoy a number of opportunities to develop large muscle skills and co-ordination as they boldly use the climbing apparatus, trampoline and balancing beam.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are challenged to build on fitness, agility and control of their body as they use a good selection of resources and tools. For example, joining in obstacle courses and using stilts, stepping stones, scissors and games, such as hammer and nails. Useful discussion and effective questioning from staff, such as 'why are you feeling hot?', is helping the children recognise changes to their body following exercise. For example, they exclaim knowingly, 'we need to have a rest now from all the running around'. Younger children gain control as they practise

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 walking up and down the steps into the creative area, holding hands for support with staff if necessary.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children benefit from a very spacious, bright and cheerful setting where staff make excellent use of space to provide a welcoming environment. Although the temperature of the room does fluctuate resulting in some staff and children stating they are cold. Staff set out the room and give good emphasis to making sure the activities and toys are presented nicely for the children to aid their development. The two rooms have clearly defined spaces, such as a comfortable reading area, carpet areas for floor play and numerous table top activities. The children confidently move from one area to another indoors and out, accessing equipment and activities independently.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children play with an abundant range of safe equipment, toys and play materials that are stimulating and interesting and meet children's needs. They develop some independence as a small number of resources are stored invitingly in low-level units with pictures, written labels and a description of the area of learning the toys relate to. Although most activities are set out for the children, they understand that they have to put things away when they have finished. Children's pictures are carefully displayed around the small room and on screens and what they are doing is highly valued and respected by the staff and children as they look for their names and talk proudly about what they have done.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's safety and security is given high priority by daily safety checks and sweeps of the indoors and outdoor areas. This ensures hazards to children are effectively minimised. For example, padlocks are attached to the gates in the courtyard garden, the main door is locked once the children have arrived and a member of staff is present on the door at key times to monitor adults and children entering or leaving the premises. Staff undertake occasional written risk assessments but these are not completed in conjunction with the children to help increase their awareness of potential dangers and hazards. Children take part in Road Safety week, learning to cross the road safely when walking around the village and join in innovative ideas to help raise their awareness of the dangers of cars.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are vigilant and supervise the children well at the same time allowing children to take risks safely. Children display a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. Effective questioning and regular reminders about the rules for safe play, enable the children to recall, for example, how they have to wait until the person has moved away from the bottom of the slide before going down. They describe with clarity how frequent practise of the escape plan is 'just a drill' but how in an emergency they would need to get away from the building and not go back in, until the fire brigade have made it safe. The records kept show good recording and evaluation to ensure that fire exiting times are as low as possible and children's understanding is secure.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff record accurately if a child arrives late or leaves early outside of core session times. However times to indicate when staff and visitors are present are not shown to ensure there is an accurate record of all persons present on the premises at any one time. Children are generally well protected from abuse and neglect because staff demonstrate good awareness of the signs and indicators that may raise concerns. They are very clear of their responsibility to record, monitor and report any concerns. Although the child protection policy is detailed

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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 and informative about issues of child protection, it does not include up-to-date referral procedures or show accurate steps if an allegation of abuse is made against a member of staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children have a fun time at the setting, forging good relationships with staff and other children because the nursery has very small numbers of children attending. As a result, the children are happy, know the routines very well and many chatter freely with the staff during play. Although, the key worker system is not effective for all children to ensure their identified member of staff is present on the days they attend to help them build a strong bond. The staff know the children generally well and provide purposeful support to enhance their experiences and development. For example, some younger children have greater dependence on an adult and need regular approval during play. The staff help the children to build their train track offering suggestions of how the different pieces fit to encourage problem solving. They ask relevant questions to develop their play ideas further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Although staff have not attended any training on the Birth to three matters and do not plan to reflect aspects of the framework, children experience a great range of stimulating and interesting activities. For example, photograph albums show children exploring paint, shaving foam, porridge oats and other pulses. Staff indicate they know the children's interests and plan according to the children attending each day. These engage the children and readily support and promote their learning and development. Children enjoy free-flowing indoor and outdoor play daily but planning for the outdoor area is inconsistent to ensure they are engaged in purposeful activities and are able to choose where they wish to play and learn. They enjoy daily opportunities to build and construct, to make marks, to read and share books and be creative with a broad range of media and materials.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and children's learning is satisfactory. The children are making sound progress because staff support them appropriately through their generally good understanding of the Foundation Stage curriculum and through the broad range of activities. Staff create an environment conducive to learning, organising the space and activities well to promote children's independence and decision-making skills.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Planning covers most areas of learning successfully and provides clear differentiation for the younger and older children. Staff take it in turns to complete the weekly planning and show a clear understanding of the purpose of their activities. However, they do not use the children's profiles to ensure planning links directly to the children and their next steps. The person responsible for planning takes steps to explain what they want the children to gain from the activities, however, the learning intentions are not recorded. This makes it very difficult when not all staff are present to know what to do to challenge children's learning effectively. Observation and assessments are not dated or completed routinely to show an accurate record of attainment and do not link to the planning of activities to ensure children are able to build on what they already know and can do.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The children learn to care for their environment by helping with planting and weeding at the allotment and enjoy acting out stories, such as going on a bear hunt in the woodlands, going on walks around the local community to complete a traffic census and making bird food to hang in the trees during National Bird week. Children seek out others to share experiences,

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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 forming attachments and good relationships. They understand there needs to be agreed codes of behaviour to play safely and harmoniously together and regularly recall these during circle time. Children readily express their needs, feeling safe and confident to ask each other or a member of staff to help them. Many children have a positive self-image and a small number of children wear their nursery tee shirts and sweat tops with pride.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy opportunities to share news about recent events in their lives and talk in front of a group. This is assisted by the daily 'show and tell' sessions during morning register time. They animatedly talk about the toys they have brought in from home and readily demonstrate how things work to the group. All children enjoy books and stories and eagerly recall that an author writes the words and an illustrator draws the pictures. Staff plan many topics based around familiar stories. The many photograph albums available show examples of the vast array of activities that engage and motivate the children's interest in classical stories through books, puppet shows and role play. For example, the children made porridge and bear puppets and took it in turns to perform the story of Goldilocks and the three bears to the audience. Children's interest in books is successfully promoted by the Oxfordshire programme, which provides each

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

child with a Bookstart pack to share with their parents at home.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The staff provide daily opportunities for children to practise and develop their writing skills both in adult-led and free-play activities. For example, chalk boards, magnetic letters, role-play, sand and dough assist the younger children to develop hand and eye co-ordination. However, staff rely greatly on writing, numbers and colour recognition work sheets for the older children, rather than encouraging these areas through play. Children gain further awareness of numbers, shape and mathematical language through daily routines, innovative activities and good questioning from staff. For example, children talk about how they grow, measuring themselves against the giraffe height chart, making graphs for comparison and measuring the mung beans they planted in jam jars as they grew. They gain excellent awareness of opposites, talking about how the daffodil roots grow down and the flowers grow up. Children enjoy hearing and using

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

new words introduced by staff during topic work, for example, 'nocturnal' when talking about the opposite of day and night.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children confidently use a range of everyday technology in their play. For example, they use the computer to support various areas of learning and explore calculators, tills in the shop, torches and magnets. Children occasionally talk about the weather but seldom discuss the day, date and month to increase their understanding about the passing of time and introduce words, such as yesterday and tomorrow. Children learn about living things, their habitats and how to care for them. Photographs show children making a wormery and watching the life cycle of a butterfly as they set up a butterfly sanctuary. Children draw, paint and make models for the story the Very Hungry Caterpillar to extend their experience further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy a wide and varied range of creative activities that stimulate their interests and increase their awareness of texture and use of different resources. For example, they construct with a purpose in mind using recyclable shoe boxes, selecting different media and tools and adapting their design to make their vehicles and houses. Children paint for a purpose and as a free-play activity and readily use their imagination when pressing shapes into the play dough or making

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

papier mâché models to represent vegetables for their story and play. They enjoy regular music sessions and listening to various types of music.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children benefit from a wide selection of resources and occasional activities, which help them learn about people's similarities and differences and the wider world. For example, children learn about different food from around the world and make lanterns and dance with the Chinese Dragon during Chinese New Year celebrations. Children participate in fundraising events throughout the year and visit the local church at Harvest festival and Easter to join in events in the local community. Although no children currently attend who have identified learning difficulties and/or disabilities, staff skilfully adapt activities to suit the individual needs of the children and work closely with parents. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are learning responsible behaviour because staff set clear and consistent boundaries. They feel valued and a clear sense of identity because staff display their work, photographs and provide frequent praise and encouragement. As a result, children are generally well behaved, take turns co-operatively and respond well to staff's calm, positive approach. Good support, effective questioning from staff and regular discussion is helping the children confidently recall the boundaries and rules, such as how they do not run inside because they will fall over.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents take a satisfactory part in the life of the setting. They are usefully employed as parent helpers on a Monday and Friday and support the nursery with fund raising events through being part of the committee. Children benefit from the informal daily contact and close working partnership with their parents and staff. Parents readily praise the staff, their commitment and the excellent interaction with their children stating strongly how happy their children are to come to nursery each day. Parents receive good information about the setting through the clear and well written prospectus, termly newsletters, notice board articles and daily access to the operational plan. In addition, they are offered opportunity to look at the numerous photograph albums set out each day showing examples of activities. However, parents receive little on-going information about their children throughout the year.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents of children receiving funding for nursery education is satisfactory. Photograph displays and clear, well-written descriptions in the prospectus about the six areas of learning, ensure parents are sufficiently informed about the education provision. Weekly notice board articles about what the children will be learning each week helps notify parents. However, regular on-going information about children's progress through the stepping stones is not available. Parents can see their children's assessment records when they wish. However, these are not up-to-date to enable parents to see an accurate record of attainment to support their children's learning at home or the nursery successfully.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children benefit from the careful organisation of play areas, resources and successful deployment of staff. The staff are very committed and arrive early to the setting to unpack the equipment and resources each day to create a stimulating and inclusive environment. The staff work very well as a team and create a really happy, cheerful environment. As a result, the children are happy and relaxed and are making satisfactory progress in their learning. All staff are qualified to level three but have received no training on aspects of the Birth to three and Foundation Stage curriculum, to extend their skills and knowledge. However, staff know the children's

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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 interests, have forged solid relationships and talk about how they can support and extend children's learning. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

The small numbers of children attending each session maintains excellent adult to child ratios and positively supports children's care, learning and play. The operational plan is reviewed yearly by the committee and contains a number of detailed policies that are well written and most contain the required information. This information is set out clearly in a folder and displayed on a table with leaflets and the notice boards for parents to view each day. However, there is no formal recruitment and induction programme in place to ensure systems are robust. In addition, staff appraisals have not been completed since 2006 to provide on-going support for staff and to highlight any areas for improvement. For example, training and the continuing development of the education provision. All required documentation is in place, although minor areas for improvement have been identified relating to the attendance and accident records.

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Organisation

Each child has an individual named section in a folder and a separate sheet for accidents to ensure records are secure and confidentiality is maintained.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the setting is satisfactory. Children's learning is of a satisfactory standard and they are making sufficient progress from their individual starting points because they enjoy a comprehensive selection of activities that cover the six areas of learning generally well. Although, current systems for monitoring the education provision require further improvement, staff show good understanding of how children learn and sound awareness of intended learning. The current committee attend the required meetings to discuss and agree future plans for the nursery but have little effect on improving teaching and children's learning because there is little involvement with the nursery to support the staff.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The inspection recommended, the provider improved hand washing practices, obtained written permission from parents to seek emergency medical advice or treatment, devised a procedure for uncollected children and extended the complaints procedure to include contact details of the regulator.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The nursery has made satisfactory steps to promote children's health care needs. The procedure for uncollected children is in written form and the contact details of the regulator are clearly recorded in the complaints procedure to ensure parents are well informed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last nursery education inspection, the provider was asked to: increase the daily opportunities for children to count, recognise and compare numbers; provide clear learning outcomes in the planning; make regular assessments of children's development to plan children's next steps; provide parents with information about the Foundation Stage curriculum and improve the role-play areas to promote children's reading and writing in play.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting has made steady progress with improving children's access to numbers, writing in the role play and information to parents about the Foundation Stage curriculum. Further development is still necessary to develop the planning and assessments to support and extend children's learning.

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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

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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): • review systems for checking contents of the first aid box and ensure accident records are shared and signed by parents • obtain written permission from parents to seek emergency medical advice or treatment • increase awareness of the circumstances to notify Ofsted with particular regard to the children's health and ensure all records and policies contain sufficient detail to safeguard children's welfare • ensure the daily record of attendance includes accurate times of staff and visitors to show clearly who is present at any one time.

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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): • ensure observations and assessments are completed routinely and link closely to the planning and children's next steps so that they may build on what they already know and can do • develop the methods to inform parents of their children's on-going progress • improve systems for monitoring the quality of the nursery education provision and evaluating its impact.

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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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