Shenley Primary School

Roger's Burrow Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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117150 Unique Reference Number 27 February 2008 Inspection date Carol Johnstone Inspector

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Woollcombe Block, HMS Drake, Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, PL2 2BG Setting Address

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E-mail

Pixieland South West Ltd 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 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 satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Roger's Burrow Day Nursery opened in 1995. It operates from a purpose built building based in a naval base in Plymouth and is part of the Pixieland Day Nursery Company. Because of it's situation, it is only able to admit children of personnel working in the naval base. There is an enclosed outdoor play area. A maximum of 36 children may attend the nursery at any one time. It is open each weekday from 07:00 to 18:00 for 51 weeks of the year.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 41 children aged from six months to four years on roll. Of these, 14 receive funding for early education.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 13 members of staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications and three are working towards a qualification.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting 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 good. Children benefit from the very effective hygiene measures which are followed by all staff. There is a clear sickness exclusion policy given to parents which excludes children with infectious illnesses for 48 hours. This protects the other children being cared for. All staff keep their first aid training up-to-date so are able to give appropriate care in an emergency. In addition, the first-aid box is regularly checked to ensure that it's contents are suitable for use. Medication and accident records are clearly completed and signed by parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff use disposable gloves and aprons when changing nappies and the changing mat is cleaned after each use. The toilet areas are checked regularly to ensure that they are clean and hygienic for children to use. Separate bedding is used for each child having a nap during the day.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children learn about their personal hygiene through washing their hands after using the toilet and before snack and lunchtime. Liquid soap and paper towels are used to minimise the risk of cross infection. There are also tissue dispensers on the wall for children to help themselves if they need to blow their noses. Children wipe their faces and brush their teeth after eating lunch, and confidently sing the 'toothbrush song'. There are also visits from a dental hygienist who talks to the children about how to care for their teeth and gums.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have independent access to fresh water each day. In addition they are given organic milk to drink at snack time. Children have a variety of fresh fruit each day and the nursery work hard to encourage parents to eliminate unhealthy snacks from packed lunches. For children who have a cooked lunch at the nursery, there is a healthy balanced diet of home-cooked food with plenty of vegetables. Children clearly enjoy their meals and eat them with enthusiasm. The weekly menu is displayed on the notice board in advance for parents. The chef has an up to date certificate in food hygiene and keeps the kitchen and utensils spotlessly clean.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have fresh air and exercise each day and there are opportunities to use a range of movements, such as climbing, balancing, bending and jumping. There is a fully enclosed outdoor area which contains a slide, playhouse and climbing frame. In addition there are scooters, bikes, pedal cars, hoops, balls and bean bags. When the weather is very bad, staff play music tapes for children to dance to or they set up obstacle courses. Children have opportunities to develop their fine motor skills with the use of pencils, glue sticks, scissors, rollers and shape cutters.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are protected from harm in the nursery as there are excellent security measures in place to monitor both visitors to the naval base and to the nursery building. The door is kept locked at all times and can only be opened by a member of staff. Visitors to the nursery sign in and out and are always escorted. There are thorough recruitment procedures in place to ensure that staff working with the children are suitable to do so. In addition, there is a comprehensive induction procedure which outlines health and safety measures. Staff also complete a probationary period to ensure that they are working with the children appropriately.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are daily risk assessments of all play areas to ensure that no hazards are present. The temperature of the water used by the children is controlled by a thermostat to avoid the risk of scalds. The fire drill is completed regularly and on different days to ensure that all children

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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 will be present at some point. It is also evaluated each time to see if any improvements are needed. Children who are sleeping are monitored by staff every 10 minutes.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children learn how to keep themselves safe through regular visits from fire and police officers and also from road safety officers who talk to them about how to be careful of traffic and how to cross roads safely.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children would be very well supported should a child protection concern arise. Staff have a clear knowledge of the types of abuse, the signs to be aware of, how to record and who to contact externally to gain assistance. There is a clear child protection policy given to all parents which outlines the nursery's responsibilities in this area.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. In all areas of the nursery, there is a wide range of bright and colourful resources which children can access freely. In the baby room, there are musical and pushbutton toys, activity centres, treasure baskets, soft toys for cuddling and a ball pit. Babies and toddlers in this room are mostly settled, but some lack stimulation for parts of the day. There are structured activities, such as messy play using paints, custard and corn flour in the morning and afternoon but a limited number only can play with these due to the layout of the messy play area. Some staff engage the babies and toddlers well but there is a lack of stimulating interaction from others who are working with them which leaves them restless and unengaged at times.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Older toddlers between two and three years mostly play with the preschool children. On the whole they are settled and enjoy playing with construction toys, trains, the sand tray and art materials. They also happily spend time in the home corner 'cooking'. Planning for all children under three loosely follows the 'Birth to three' framework. However, the observation and assessment procedures currently in place are completed infrequently which means there is a lack of focus in planning the next steps for children's learning. The Birth to three framework and it's planning is also not used to facilitate children's individual learning needs.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making steady progress through the areas of learning and are settled and happy . Some children use language very well to express what they are doing during their play. They enjoy taking books from the book corner and looking at the pictures. Children learn about a different sound and letter each week and they find objects to put in the 'sound boxes' relating to that week's letter. Children have opportunities to count the cups at snack time and to count each other when they line up. However, there are limited opportunities for calculation and simple problem-solving during free play activities and they do not often use mathematical, size or positional language. Some children are encouraged to make marks on their artwork but this is not consistent and there are a lack of mark making resources available around the room for children to independently access.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have good opportunities to learn about nature and the environment. There is a nature table containing a variety of small creatures, such as stick insects and snails which are regularly discussed. There are also regular visits from a local animal keeper who brings the children in more unusual animals and reptiles to see, such as skunks and lizards. Children have recently learnt about the solar system and painted a collage of planets which they have displayed on the wall.

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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 learn how to use pushbutton phones and cash registers which are available in the home corner. Although there is a computer it is not independently accessed by the children. Children's personal, social and emotional development is very strong. They are encouraged to be very independent, for example, when putting on their coats and shoes and they are able to pour their own drinks at snack time. The nursery have recently introduced ' Your time', an hour in the afternoon where children look at photos of activities and decide what they want to play with and how they want them set up. Children are confident, they get on very well with each other and are making firm friendships.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff know the Foundation Stage and the areas of learning. However in practice, the levels of interaction that will challenge children and stimulate their learning is inconsistent. This is partly due to the current methods of grouping children which makes it difficult for staff to know which level of interaction is suitable. In addition, children's observations and assessments are not completed frequently enough to be able to clearly track children's progress and identify the next steps in learning required. This also makes it difficult for staff to know where each child is on their learning journey and how to extend individual children based on their current abilities. Planning broadly covers the six areas of learning but does not currently facilitate children's individual learning needs through it's use.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are encouraged to learn about the cultures and religions of others. There are many resources in the nursery that reflect diversity and in addition children celebrate the cultural festivals of others such as Chinese New Year when they ate Chinese food and made lanterns. Children are also learning basic words of French during circle time and can say 'bonjour' to each other and to staff. Children participate in charity events, such as 'Jeans for genes day' and are also involved in sending ' Love in a box' parcels abroad to children who are less fortunate than themselves. Children enjoy getting involved in community projects and competitions and recently had a poem published in a 'First Poems' book. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There are two trained special needs coordinators in the nursery who support children who have additional requirements. They train children's key workers to make sure that they are working appropriately with identified children and regularly check on their progress. The coordinators know where to obtain external help but are sometimes constrained due to the long waiting lists for specialist support in the area.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave well in the nursery. They co-operate with each other and with the staff and they readily share and take turns. Behaviour management policies and training are cascaded to all staff to ensure that children receive clear and consistent messages. Parents are informed at the outset about how behaviour is managed at the nursery.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is satisfactory. There are friendly and open relationships with parents and they feel that staff are very approachable. There are newsletters sent out advising parents of current topics, a suggestion box and parent questionnaires. For parents of funded children, there is some basic information about the Foundation Stage in the prospectus. However, the current records for children's assessments do not always clearly track children's progress which makes it difficult for parents to see where their children are within the areas of learning and how they can help them to progress at home. Some information in the parent prospectus is

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 out of date and is currently being revised. The manager is aware of regulatory amendments in how parental complaints must now be dealt with and has revised the nursery's procedures accordingly.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Staff ratios are always maintained in the nursery and staff readily interchange between the different play rooms. There are backup staff available for emergency cover and for extended periods of leave. There is a clear operational plan in place and most of the documentation is comprehensive although some needs updating, such as the parent prospectus. Parental consent for emergency medical treatment and the taking of photographs is in place. Documentation is stored securely.

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Organisation

The nursery have a very tightly structured routine for each day which sometimes has the effect of restricting children's enjoyment of an activity due to the limited time available for it. In addition, children are not always grouped effectively in order to maximise their learning opportunities and this can make it difficult for staff to use appropriate levels of interaction.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is satisfactory. There is a relatively new manager in place and she has not yet had time to implement improvements that she has identified as being necessary. She intends to carry out regular appraisals on staff and to work with them to identify their training needs. The manager is frequently with the staff and the children but has not yet fully developed procedures to monitor the quality of teaching in depth. There are regular staff meetings each week and staff are encouraged to openly discuss any issues. The staff team interact positively with each other and are flexible and friendly.

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Organisation

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 last inspection the attendance records and the uncollected child policy were incomplete. These have now been revised and attendance records clearly show the times children and staff arrive and leave. There is now a clear uncollected child policy in place which will advise staff on what to do if this occurs.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, some staff were not familiar with the behaviour management policy. This has now been rectified and staff receive regular training on how to manage children's behaviour. There were also some issues relating to the procedures for the identification of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. There are now two trained special needs coordinators in post who are clear of the procedures to follow to ensure that children with difficulties and/or disabilities are identified and supported.

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Improvements since the last inspection

During the nursery education inspection it was observed that children were not being given regular opportunities to use basic calculation. Although children now have opportunities for basic counting, the use of calculation and problem solving during activities needs to be further developed.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A recommendation was also made to clearly show what children were expected to learn during activities and how more or less able children would be extended. This too needs further development.

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Improvements 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 final recommendation that was made relating to the nursery education inspection was to ensure that children were grouped effectively for their age and stage. This is an area that still needs to be addressed.

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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 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 that the grouping of children maximises their learning opportunities • increase levels of stimulating and challenging interaction across all activities (also applies to nursery education)

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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): • increase the frequency of observations to more clearly track children's progress and identify their next steps for learning (also applies to care) • use planning to help facilitate children's next steps for learning (also applies to care ).

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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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