Jordans Village Nursery School

Jordans Village Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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EY256427 Unique Reference Number 03 December 2007 Inspection date Margaret Moffat Inspector

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Green West Road, Jordans, Buckinghamshire, HP9 2SY Setting Address

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E-mail

Jordans Village Nursery Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Jordans Village Nursery opened in 1975. It operates from Jordans Village Hall in the centre of the village. The nursery have the use of a large hall, smaller room, kitchen and cloakroom facilities. There is a fully enclosed outdoor area. A maximum of 30 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery opens five day a week. Sessions are from 09:00 until 12:00. Afternoon sessions are available from 12:00 until 14.45 two days a week in the summer term and are offered to children due to start school in September.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 37 children from two to five years on roll. Of these 34 children receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs nine members of staff. Of these, six hold appropriate relevant childcare qualifications.

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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 good. Children are kept healthy because staff follow appropriate health and hygiene policies and procedures. All permanent staff hold a current first aid certificate and there is a fully stocked first aid box. This means staff can give children appropriate care if there is an accident. There are effective procedures in place for the recording of accidents and includes a duplicate copy being given to parents to ensure they are fully aware of the accident and the action taken.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children play in a clean environment where they learn to follow good hygiene routines. They automatically wash their hands after visiting the toilet and understand why they need to do this. Children enjoy daily physical exercise that contributes to keeping them healthy. This includes gym sessions, music and movement and playing in the outside area. Children negotiate space well when playing on wheeled toys, manoeuvring round each other with care. Children regularly practise using small tools such as glue sticks, knives and spoons.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children receive a range of healthy snacks including apples, cheese and raisins encouraging them to develop healthy eating practices. They have weekly opportunities to cook and through discussion and topics learn about healthy living. Children are provided with drinks of milk and water at snack time and are aware they can ask for a drink at any time when they are thirsty and staff make these available to them.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in a welcoming, secure and safe indoor and outdoor environment where staff carry out daily checks in the room and outside area to minimise hazards and ensure the safety of the children. The security is good ensuring children are unable to leave the premises unaccompanied; for example, staff are positioned at the front door and main gate when children are going home preventing them leaving without an adult. However, the register does not record the arrival and departure times of the children. Regular fire drills help children become familiar with the procedure so they learn how to leave the premises quickly and safely. Staff help children understand how to keep themselves safe through discussions about the nursery rules and road safety when on outings.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children use a wide range of good quality toys and resources appropriate to their age and stage of development. The room is set up before the children arrive making it a welcoming environment for them to play in. Toys and resources are checked and cleaned regularly to ensure they remain safe for the children to use.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have a good understanding of child protection issues and the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child in their care. Staff have attended training and there is a policy in place, however, it does not comply with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board procedures to further ensure children's welfare at all times.

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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 arrive at the setting happy and content to leave their main carer. Staff are aware of individual children's needs and are on hand to offer support and assistance to those who require help, for example, they take children by the hand and ask them if they would like to listen to a story. Children self register by selecting their name plates from the table. Many children confidently find their own names, whilst others are encouraged by staff and parents, as they ask them what letter their name begins with. Children develop independence as they are encouraged to hang up their coats and bags on the individual pegs provided. All children are praised and encouraged for their efforts. Children make choices about the activities they wish to play with and readily join in games such as skittles waiting patiently for their turn. Good relationships are evident and children clearly enjoy themselves and have fun in the setting.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children under three are effectively integrated into the nursery and staff plan activities according to their needs and stage of development. Key workers play an important role in ensuring children have time to settle and adjust to the routines of the setting. Children become aware of the nursery routines as staff discuss this with them daily at registration and a visual timetable is completed to help children follow the session.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are progressing well, supported by staff who have a good understanding of the Foundation Stage and use the early learning goals and stepping stones effectively to plan activities for the children. Staff observe the children during free and focussed activities and use their notes to assess children's achievements and update children's records. This helps to identify children's stage of learning and allows staff to plan the next steps. Plans indicate how staff differentiate from younger and older children to ensure effective learning takes place.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children speak confidently to peers and adults. They talk openly during registration time about themselves and their families. Staff encourage the children to share their news with the others in the group and ask open ended questions to develop their vocabulary and thinking skills. Children use books for pleasure; they hold them correctly and sit chatting together about what they see in the pictures. Children can recognise numbers from one to ten in and out of sequence. For example, when playing with the skittles and hop scotch mat, children match the number on the skittle to the number on the mat and say the numbers as they do this and they confidently inform visitors they can put them on the right numbers. They count to ten and beyond and have opportunities for simple calculation in everyday activities. As they play hop scotch children talk about how high they can jump and how they can do massive and bigger jumps, showing

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and understanding of positional language. Children show kindness to one another during games such as hop scotch as they show each other how to play calling out the instructions as they go 'hop, hop, jump, hop, jump, hop, hop' and other children copy. Children talk about the days of the week and what the weather is doing through discussions when completing the calendar. Children have opportunities to express themselves freely through activities such as music and movement and painting and drawing. However, they do not have the same opportunities in adult led art and craft activities as staff produce a template and cut out all the items children need to use. Children enjoy acting out scenarios and show excitement as they dress up ready for the rehearsal for their play. Staff show sensitivity to children who do not want to dress up as they gently coax them, but they do make this compulsory. Children show delight as they

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

walk into the room and wave to other children from the local school they recognise in the audience. Children join in enthusiastically to familiar and new songs they have learned. Staff

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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 narrate the story and help children by prompting them with appropriate questions or showing them actions to encourage them to deliver the lines they have learned. Children thoroughly enjoy dancing and singing during this activity and beam when the audience clap at the end of the performance.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Staff treat children with respect, they take time to get to know the children in their care to ensure they are fully aware of their individual needs and use lots of praise and encouragement to promote their self-esteem. Children gain an understanding of the wider world through topic work and looking at different festivals, for example, during the 'people who help us' topic the nursery had visits from the local lollipop person and the police. Parents are also welcomed into the nursery to talk to the children about their cultures and occupations. There is a good range of toys and resources to reflect positive images including books, puzzles and dressing up clothes. There are effective procedures in place to support children with learning difficulties. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave well in response to the high expectations and support from staff. They readily share and take turns in activities and confidently deal with minor conflicts on their own, for example, when children walk to the front of the line when waiting for a turn at hopscotch, others inform them that they have to go to the end and wait their turn. Staff are consistent in their approach to behaviour management and this helps children learn right from wrong.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is good. They receive good information about the nursery through the prospectus, notice board and regular newsletters. Policies and procedures are readily available for them in the hallway to ensure they are fully informed about the setting and their children's care. However, the complaints procedure does not contain the current details of the regulator. Parents complete an entry profile for their children and this ensures staff have a good knowledge of individual needs and achievements. This helps staff build on what children already know. There are both formal and informal systems in place for staff and parents to share information about children's individual progress and development. Parents report they are very happy with service provided and the development their children are making.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The setting are in breach of regulations as they do not have a record of children's hours of attendance. This does not ensure an accurate record of the times when children attend for future reference. All regulatory policies and procedures and documentation which contributes to children's health, safety and well being are in place, although the child protection and complaints policies need updating. Staff organise space effectively to ensure children have room to move around and play comfortably in the environment. Children are happy and settled and receive good support from staff who know them well.

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Organisation

Leadership and management are good. Staff work well as a team and are confident in their individual roles within the nursery. There are effective systems to monitor and evaluate the provision of nursery education and include reviewing practice on a regular basis to ensure children are making good progress towards achieving the early learning goals. The established appraisal system identifies staff individual training and development needs and courses are

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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 undertaken to further enhance the care and learning of the children who attend the setting. 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 the nursery were asked to ensure all administration of medication is witnessed by a second staff member and request that parents countersign the medication record when they collect their child. Extend the fire drill records kept to include the time taken, exit used and any problems encountered. There is a new medication administration form in place which records details of staff who witness the medication administered and is signed by parents. Fire drill records now record the time taken to evacuate the premises and any problems encountered. The contributes to children's safety and welfare within the setting.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the previous nursery education inspection two points of consideration were raised. To develop the system for recording children's progress so that their progression through the stepping stones is monitored and provide further opportunities for children within the daily routines to freely express themselves through art and craft activities that are not adult led. There is a system in place for recording children's progress through the stepping stones, which is effective. Although children have opportunities to express themselves freely in art and craft activities, those which are adult led remain a recommendation for this inspection.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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

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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 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): • update child protection policy to ensure it complies with the Local Safeguarding Children's Boards procedures • update complaints procedure to ensure it contains current Ofsted details • ensure a record of children's hours of attendance is maintained.

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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): • review the delivery of adult led art and craft activities to ensure children are able to express themselves freely.

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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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