Busy Bees Day Nursery at Preston Hospital

Busy Bees at Royal Preston Hospital Inspection report for early years provision

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EY264156 Unique Reference Number 22 January 2008 Inspection date Liz Whitehead Inspector

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Royal Preston Hospital, Sharoe Green Lane, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9HT

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Setting Address

01772 522 291 Telephone number prestonhospital.nursery@busybees.com E-mail Busy Bees Nurseries Limited 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?

Busy Bees at Royal Preston Hospital has been registered since 2003 and is part of a large chain of nurseries run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited. It operates from purpose built premises within the hospital grounds and provides child care for employees of the National Health Service. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery may care for no more than 60 children at any one time and there are currently 85 children on roll. This includes 24 three and four-year-olds who receive funding for nursery education. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is open from 08.00 until 18.00 hours each week day. The opening times remain flexible to suit individual circumstances. There are 15 members of staff working with the children, 10 of whom hold a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority, holds the Investors In People and Lancashire Healthy Schools awards and is currently working towards a quality assurance scheme.

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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 learning about the importance of good personal hygiene. They happily wash their hands prior to meals, although staff do not always encourage the children to use soap. Disposable towels are readily available to reduce the spread of infection. Additionally, the staff ensure that the tables are thoroughly cleaned. Meal times are a very relaxed and social time with children sitting with their friends and chatting about their day. These are sometimes used to promote children's independence, for example, older children help to set the tables and serve the main course but not the dessert. This contributes to the staff valuing children as individuals and the children being able to influence their portion size.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff work very closely with parents and ensure that all special dietary requirements are recorded. All staff, including the cook, are fully aware of these to ensure that children only receive food which is appropriate for them. Children are encouraged to eat healthily. They know that carrots and grapes are good for them and that they should not eat too many chips or doughnuts. They know that milk is good for their teeth and bones. Children are learning about healthy eating and meals are freshly prepared each day, using herbs that the children grow.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have daily opportunities for fresh air and are able to learn about the effect that exercise has on their body. They recognise when they are thirsty and drinks are available for them to access in named cups. Children enjoy playing outdoors and are as active as they choose to be and are able to join in with activities, such as riding tricycles, or to play with the resources available. Young children experiment moving in a range of ways, for example, crawling, walking, rolling and standing with the support of the staff, which develops their coordination.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are aware of their personal space and carefully manoeuvre around fixed objects and people when walking and running. They are confident when judging their own body size and are really proud when they successfully crawl under a chair. The children are keen to construct with a variety of building bricks and use these to practise and develop their coordination and balancing skills. Children are skilled at using one handed tools and equipment, for example, spades, rakes, paint brushes and pencils. Older children are very proficient at using scissors appropriately. They skilfully cut around pictures and help the younger children to achieve this.

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Helping children to be healthy

The children's health and well-being is further promoted through the effective management of children's illnesses. The staff rigorously implement the sickness policy. For example, should a child become unwell at the nursery the staff contact their parents. Children with an infectious illness are expected to remain at home to prevent the spread of infection. Children are able to sleep and rest according to their own routines and parents' wishes. Individual bedding is provided for each child which reduces the spread of infection.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Staff are able to treat minor accidents effectively as a first aid kit is readily available and one is always taken on outings. Parents can contact the nursery at all times as a landline and mobile telephones are always available. Very effective systems are in place to prevent unwanted persons from entering the premises. These include a buzzer entry system where parents and visitors must be admitted by a member of staff, and a record of visitors being consistently maintained.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children understand about evacuating the building in an emergency. Written information is clearly displayed and regular practises take place. This ensures that all children and staff know about and are familiar with the procedure. Staff are very aware of how to keep children safe and take good steps to minimise hazards and risks to children. For example, large glass viewing panels enable adults to see if children are behind the door, before they enter the playrooms, therefore preventing accidents.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children learn about keeping themselves safe through activities such as regular visits from the police and the fire service. All the toys and equipment are clean, well maintained, conform to relevant safety standards, are suitable for their purpose and appropriate for the ages of children using them. Written risk assessments are in place and are reviewed regularly. Additionally, all accident records are monitored by the health and safety officer and parents always receive a note if the children have bumped their head.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are confident of the signs, symptoms and procedure to follow if they have concerns regarding a child in their care. Staff attend child protection training on a rolling programme to update and increase their knowledge, awareness and confidence in dealing with any issues. Staff are fully aware of the importance of recording existing injuries to children and are aware of who the nominated person for child protection is.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are confident decision makers and are continually given opportunities to make selections, such as who and what they wish to play with. Some children opt to be creative or build whilst others wish to read books. All the staff are motivated and enthusiastic. They are kind, attentive, are interested in the children and value what they say and do. Staff working with the younger children have attended 'Birth to three matters' training. They implement the framework well into children's everyday play and planning and assessment systems are appropriate for this age group.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Activities are planned in advance but remain fully flexible to allow for spontaneity and for children to initiate them. A good range of resources are available for children to freely access. These include, books, creative materials, jigsaws and construction toys. Children state that they like to play at the nursery and particularly enjoy playing outside and on the computer. The staff balance their time carefully to allow children to play and learn independently as well as giving time to support and encourage them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff nurture children's creativity appropriately and provide a mixture of pre-cut shapes and various sizes of paper for their activities. Children are able to express themselves through a variety of media, such as pencils, chalk, paint and glue. They use a range of items to paint with, including brushes, string and are especially proud of their glitter pictures. Young children enjoy exploring the texture of the paint and play dough both with their mouth and their hands.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are confident communicators and happily talk with their peers and staff. They show a keen interest in books and enjoy looking at these independently, with staff and in group situations. Children of all ages develop good language and number skills through lots of singing, stories and conversation. Staff regularly increase children's knowledge through introducing new words, such as telling them the name of the tools, when playing in the sand.

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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 The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have attended training on the Foundation Stage and enthusiastically put this into practice. Therefore, children are highly motivated, keen to learn and enjoy trying new experiences. The Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of how children learn through play and hands-on opportunities and provide a wide range of activities and experiences to cover all areas of children's learning. The planning is flexible, understood by all staff and is currently undergoing a detailed review. However, staff do not plan activities to develop children's ideas for calculating.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have a real sense of belonging and all separate from their main carer with confidence. They eagerly seek out the staff and their friends to share their experiences and are really proud as they sign themselves in and out of the nursery. Older children are fully confident and openly approach both familiar and unfamiliar adults to initiate activities and conversations. They move freely between the activities, enjoy exploring them and have a positive attitude towards learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children listen carefully and join in enthusiastically with familiar sections of stories and songs. Some children can recognise their own name and occasionally that of their peers and are keen to practise writing these. Most children know the letter that their name begins with. They have many opportunities to see words and numbers as labels around the rooms. These are both printed and handwritten, although sometimes are written only in capital letters. Some children talk freely about their home and community. For example, they excitedly talk about watching movies at home.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing good counting skills and enjoy participating in counting songs and rhymes. They use these in daily play and a three-year-old spontaneously counts to 12, whilst a four-year-old counts to 20, when building a tower. Some children are able to recognise numbers, for example, a four-year-old points to the number four and knows that is their age. The children understand and use positional language, such as in and out, and the staff provide opportunities for them to describe size and shape through daily activities. Children are learning about volume, capacity and the related language through filling buckets in the sand tray and containers in the water tray. However, these are not always available in sufficient quantity to support children's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children confidently make simple models with various construction toys using their own ideas and also following staff examples. They show a very keen interest in the world in which they live and talk about growing seeds. They enthusiastically discuss feeding the ducks and carefully describe the route to the pond. This includes 'going down the steps and round the corner'. They have good opportunities to explore and investigate natural materials and to explore the natural world outdoors. The staff are currently developing an allotment to further encourage and develop the children's interests.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children follow simple computer programmes and operate the mouse with confidence. The compact disc player is easily accessible and is used independently by the children. However, the discs are not organised effectively to support children's learning and independence. Children watch with fascination as they repeatedly turn the lamp, in the role play area, on and off. Children are beginning to know about their own traditions and beliefs and those of other people, through daily play and celebrating festivals from a range of cultures. Overall, children make good progress towards the early learning goals.

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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 good. Partnership with parents and carers for funded nursery education is good. They receive a wide range of information about the educational provision through displayed information and leaflets. Assessment records for each child clearly show their achievements, progress and are available for parents to view. There are many opportunities for parents to become involved in their child's learning. These include regular parent liaison meetings and contributing to development profiles.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Very effective systems are in place to keep parents fully informed of their child's care and well-being. These include parents evenings, notice boards and newsletters. The nursery encourages and welcomes parental views and feedback and regularly sends questionnaires to all parents. Daily discussions keep them fully informed regarding their child's activities. This is supplemented with written information for younger children. Parents state that the 'nursery is spot on and that nothing is too much trouble for the staff'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children’s individual needs are met very effectively as the staff work closely with the parents and record relevant information. They know the children, their routines and likes and dislikes well and they regularly offer comfort and cuddles to the children. Staff make routine activities pleasant experiences for children. For example, talking and singing to them whilst changing their nappy and maintaining eye contact and cuddling babies whilst bottle feeding them.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

All children behave well and learn right from wrong through the positive example set by the staff. Children are developing a sense of responsibility and happily help to tidy the toys away, sometimes unprompted by the staff. The children get on well together and involve each other in playing in the water and when playing outdoors. An older child immediately and spontaneously says sorry when they bump into another child. Inappropriate behaviour is effectively managed through praise, distraction and explanation. The staff work closely with the parents which ensures that a consistent approach and clear and realistic boundaries are set for the children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children develop a positive attitude to others and gain an appropriate understanding of the wider world. Staff know the children's individual abilities and offer additional support, as required. For example, sitting nearby at mealtimes or working to children's individual education plans. All children are fully included and integrated into the setting and activities are adapted to enable all children to access them. When appropriate, funding is sought to provide a one to one worker to fully support the children. The children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The leadership and management of the nursery education is good. There are extremely effective systems in place to monitor and review the setting's strengths and weaknesses. There is a clear management structure in place and the staff work together well as a team, each aware of their individual roles and responsibilities. They regularly seek advice and support from the organisation's teacher and from the local authority. All staff regularly attend staff meetings and have appraisals to highlight any training requirements.

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Organisation

The setting is very warm and welcoming to children and their families, with pictures, posters and children's artwork thoughtfully displayed. This creates a stimulating and appealing environment. Children feel settled, secure and fully confident in the nursery due to the effective

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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 settling in procedure. The children have the use of a number of playrooms which are divided into the areas of play, which provides the children with a familiar and secure environment. A well established key worker system is in operation. A list and photographs of the key workers are displayed to ensure that all children, parents and staff are familiar with them.

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Organisation

Staff caring for children are suitable to do so. The recruitment and selection of staff is rigorous and the manager ensures that relevant checks are completed. In order to protect children, persons who have not been vetted are not left unsupervised with them. All new staff receive a full induction in order to familiarise them with the routines, policies and procedures of the nursery. Adult to child ratios are consistently good.

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Organisation

To further their personal development all staff are strongly encouraged to regularly attend relevant training. They update and increase their knowledge and skills and have accessed courses, such as parents on board, healthy eating and accessing the early years degree. Most staff hold a first aid certificate and have a suitable qualification which enables them to offer good quality care to the children.

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Organisation

All the required documentation is in place and is accurately maintained. All sensitive records and information are effectively stored in the locked office to ensure that confidentiality is fully maintained at all times. The setting's policies and procedures are readily available for staff and parents to view. The nursery is fully committed to its continual development and improvement. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection it was recommended that the setting develop the complaint procedure and provide shade in the outdoor area. These have both been fully addressed. The complaint procedure now includes details of how to contact Ofsted. Parasols and a gazebo are readily available to provide shelter from the sun. These improvements enhance children's health and well-being.

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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 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): • improve hand washing procedures to ensure the consistent use of soap • further promote children's independence throughout the day.

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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 that activities for children to calculate are planned for • ensure that the organisation of resources supports 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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