Limes Farm Infant School and Nursery

Smiley Face Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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145991 Unique Reference Number 06 December 2007 Inspection date Penny Wood Inspector

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Amesbury C E Controlled Primary School, Kitchener Road, Amesbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 7AX

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E-mail

The Trustees of Smiley Face Nursey 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 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?

Smiley Face Nursery opened in 1985. It is a committee run group and operates from a classroom within Amesbury Church of England Aided Junior School in Amesbury, Wiltshire. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery operates Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00, term time only. A maximum of 18 children aged between two and five years old may attend the nursery at any one time and there are currently 28 children on roll. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The nursery employs eight members of staff, seven of which have an appropriate qualification in early years care and education.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children enjoy choosing from the range of healthy snacks available each day. When preparing for snack time, they help to count out the number of bowls required, re-enforcing their counting

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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 skills. Records of children’s allergies ensure children only receive snacks which are suitable for their individual dietary needs. Drinks provided at snack time and during the session on request ensure children do not become thirsty during the session.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are developing a good understanding of hygiene procedures which reduce the spread of germs within the group. They willingly wash their hands throughout the session, particularly after participating in craft activities and prior to eating, with prompts from staff as to why it is important to do so. The low-level sinks within the classroom aid children’s independence when washing their hands. Staff maintain a clean environment, cleaning equipment during the session and the toys each term to ensure they remain suitable for children’s use.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children’s good health is promoted through the group’s sickness policy, such as the exclusion of children when they are ill in order to prevent the illness from spreading. Children benefit from the medical care they receive from staff who are trained in first aid. A suitable first aid box enables staff to see to minor accidents, with parental consent allowing staff to seek further medical care in the event of a more serious incident. All health documentation is completed with the required detail and shared with parents to inform them of the care their children receive.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy daily opportunities to be physically active, with good opportunities to participate in exercise in the enclosed outdoor area. They enjoy playing with a good range of resources which promote their physical wellbeing and their large muscle control.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children benefit from rooms which are dedicated to their sole use. They are able to access different areas for play and activities, although at times the class is cluttered which impacts on the presentation of the learning environment. Staff maximise their use of the available space, particularly when participating in small group activities.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children enjoy activities which are appropriately resourced. They are able to choose between activities and toys stored in the classroom. However, although the group benefits from plenty of storage space, not all toys are stored safely, with some toys stacked precariously within children’s reach in the cloakroom area. Staff regularly check the toys for damage, with broken toys discarded to ensure the range remains suitable for children’s use.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm to children. For example, they secure the gates outside and cordon off unsuitable areas; ensuring children are able to play safely when outside. Within the classroom, staff reduce the risk of harm through the use of safety equipment, such as stair gates and socket covers. Staff are aware of potential hazards, such as spilt water during water play, and promptly take action in order to minimise the risk of harm. During play and activities, children benefit from high ratios of staff ensuring they receive good levels of supervision. Children’s welfare is safeguarded as a result of the staff’s knowledge and understanding of the group’s child protection policies and procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enter the group with ease and quickly settle as a result of the praise, encouragement and support they receive from the staff. All children participate in an appropriate range of

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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 adult-led and free choice activities and play opportunities. Staff sit with children, supporting them and encouraging them to achieve, although at times there is too much adult input which limits children’s learning. For example, a wall display of the nativity shows characters that have been drawn and pre-cut by staff, restricting children to only decorating these shapes. For those children who are not yet in receipt of funding for nursery education, staff have regard to the Birth to three matters framework, although there are limited systems in place to monitor and record the younger children’s learning and development to ensure they are making appropriate progress. Children are developing their language skills, with good systems adopted by staff to encourage the younger children’s language development through the clear pronunciation of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

words. They are confident in sharing their ideas and enjoy engaging each other and staff in discussions. Staff seize opportunities to extend children’s vocabulary, particularly during discussions at circle time. For example, staff and children talked about animals which ‘hibernate’, with children clearly understanding the concept of certain animals sleeping through the winter.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Overall, staff have a clear vision for the future provision of nursery education. Staff are adapting to newly devised systems concentrating on establishing firm foundations for the future. The planning and evaluation of activities is under development and at the time of inspection, only planned activities focussing on children’s communication, language and literacy development were in place. However, due to the variation in opportunities, children are naturally learning through play across all the other areas of learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff are developing the system for recording information gained through observation within children’s development records. However, these are new and yet to become established as records which can be used to aid the planning of future activities and for individual children’s development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children benefit from the high ratio of staff. However, at times adults have too much input in the adult-led activity which restricts children’s learning, the level of challenge they experience and children’s ability to develop their individual creativity. For example, when making Christmas puddings with clay, some children struggled to make the round balls, preferring to squash the clay into different shapes instead. In response, staff rolled the clay into a ball for the child, with the result being that all the puddings looked the same.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Within their creative development, children are gaining confidence in naming their colours. They have access to a range of different media and enjoy exploring and experimenting during free play opportunities. For example, children were observed pouring water through different pieces of equipment, experimenting with the speed of flow and the effects that different sized holes have on water pouring out of containers. In addition to watching the water, children explored how the water felt by using the different pieces of equipment to pour the water over their hands and arms.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

During games involving a feely bag, children enjoy exploring the contents, guessing what the contents are, and identifying the common letter which the items begin with. Children are gaining good control of their small muscles, encouraged by activities which require them to manipulate media such as dough. These skills aid children’s development of pencil control, with children enjoying opportunities to colour and draw within the group.

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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 forming good relationships within the group with both staff and their peer group. Staff support children well and happily join children for activities on the floor. For example, when playing with magnets, staff joined children on the floor to experiment which magnets would attract or repel other items within the set. During story time, children sit well. They enjoy stories, which are at times supported by the use of puppets and visual aids, adding an extra element of interest. When counting and learning to recognise numbers, staff use visual prompts to support children. For example, having counted 11 children present, a child was encouraged to draw a number 11 on the board, with another child pointing to the number 11 on a number line. Throughout the session staff are re-enforcing children’s concept of number. They often

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

encourage children to calculate, for example, guessing the number of items within their ‘silly soup’ bowl.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Children are developing a good sense of belonging to the group through the provision of named coat pegs, individual drawers and named place mats at snack time. Staff ensure all children have the opportunity to participate in activities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Those children with additional needs are supported well within the group. Good systems ensure staff are aware of the child’s needs, with parents informed of the strategies in place to encourage children’s development. Children are developing their understanding of diversity through the celebration of cultural festivals and access to resources which depict positive images of race and disability.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Generally children behave well. They are encouraged to follow the group’s rules, with gentle reminders from staff on how to behave during circle time. For example, staff encourage children to have ‘kind hands’, to save their loud voices for outside and to use their ‘listening ears’ during story time.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents receive general information about the group in the first instance, with a more detailed prospectus currently under construction. In addition they have access to the range of policies and procedures, information displayed on notice boards and regular newsletters. Should parents wish to raise a concern, there is a complaints policy in place, although this does not detail the requirement to record and respond to written complaints made by parents.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Within the provision of nursery education the partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. Parents receive some information regarding the provision of nursery education, primarily regarding forthcoming topics. Staff make themselves available to discuss children’s time within the group and concerns as they arise. However, the group do not currently provide parents with formal opportunities to discuss and review children’s development records. Children are able to take in items from home in order to ‘show and tell’. However, at present the staff do not encourage parents to extend children’s learning at home through topic related ideas and activities.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. Children benefit from the current high ratios of staff, most of which are trained in early years care and education.

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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 Appropriate recruitment procedures ensure staff are suitably checked to work with children, with staff undergoing an induction process to establish their roles and responsibilities. Management have systems to identify further training in order to enhance staff’s knowledge.

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Organisation

The committee have begun to seek feedback from parents with regard to their thoughts on the provision and areas they would like to see improved. At present, the committee and manager are undergoing a detailed review of the group’s practice in order to improve their provision. However, this is in the early stages with many aspects still awaiting implementation, particularly within the provision of nursery education. All required policies and procedures are in place, although some require updating in order to reflect recent changes. The more experienced members of staff are supporting the manager and committee within the reviewing process. All documentation is stored securely and available for inspection.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is satisfactory. Weekly staff meetings enable staff to contribute to the preparation for the following week and to ensure all staff are aware of and able to have input into the changes taking place. Due to the number of changes currently taking place, the manager does not have formal systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of changes to ensure that new initiatives are successful in promoting children’s learning. Staff are encouraged to attend meetings with other providers in order to share ideas and extend professional expertise.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspections for care and nursery education, the group have made some improvements within their practice, based on the recommendations that were raised.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection for care, the group were asked to improve the written procedures for complaints and child protection, ensure the person in charge acquires the relevant qualification for the role of manager, to improve the system for recording attendance for visitors and children, to ensure drinks are readily available and to provide resources which depict positive images of disability. As a result, most issues have been addressed. A new manager with a relevant qualification is in charge, children enjoy drinks at snack and mealtimes with facilities to have a drink during the session if they wish. The group have purchased some small world figures which depict positive images of disability in order to encourage children to learn about diversity through play. Policies and procedures are currently being reviewed and staff are addressing the issues with the registration of children to ensure documents are an accurate reflection of

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection for nursery education, the group were asked to improve the partnership with parents by informing them of children’s development and to provide children with further opportunities to learn about technology. As a result, partnership with parents is an area for ongoing improvement, with children experiencing some opportunity to use everyday technology to support their learning.

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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 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 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 satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure all toys are stored safely and the learning environment is free from clutter • continue to develop systems to ensure effective monitoring of the younger children’s learning and development through a varied range of learning activities • continue to review all policies and procedures to ensure they contain appropriate and accurate detail on the group's practice

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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): • continue to develop the systems for the planning of activities and the recording of children's achievements and use information gained through evaluation and observation within children's records and to plan children's next steps • reduce the level of adult direction within activities to allow children to be challenged, to explore and to express themselves particularly within arts and crafts • improve opportunities for parents to discuss and review children's records and develop systems to involve parents with children's learning at home • develop the systems for the evaluation of the provision of nursery education to ensure that new initiatives are effective in promoting children's learning

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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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