Park Day Nursery & Pre-School Ltd

Park Day Nursery & Pre-School Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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EY358986 Unique Reference Number 02 July 2008 Inspection date Heidi Wilton Inspector

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The Park Day Nursery, Crofton Community Centre, Stubbington Lane, FAREHAM, Hampshire, PO14 2PP

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E-mail

Park Day Nursery 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Park Day Nursery and Pre-school is a limited company. Although the provision has been registered to operate since 1990, it was required to re-register in 2007 due to the ownership status changing. The provision operates from rooms within the Crofton Community Centre, Stubbington, Fareham. All children share access to a secure, enclosed outdoor play area. The provision is eligible to accept children in receipt of government funding for nursery education. A maximum of 40 children under five years may attend the provision at any one time. There are currently 61 children on roll, 28 of whom are in receipt of funded nursery education. There are 10 staff, including the two managers and the director. Nine staff hold Level 3 qualifications and one is working towards a childcare qualification. The provision is open from 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks of the year.

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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 demonstrate a good understanding of hygiene procedures. Children in the pre-school select a tissue from the low level tissue box, wipe their own noses and dispose of the tissue in the low level bin. They demonstrate a clear understanding of washing their hands after messy play, before meals and after using the toilet. Children show the childcare inspector how they wash and dry their hands and inform the inspector that ‘we wash our hands because they are dirty’.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff share a sickness policy with parents to ensure they are well informed of incubation periods should their child contract an infectious illness. The setting has obtained written parental permission to seek emergency medical advice or treatment for the children. This ensures children will be treated promptly in an emergency. Each room has a first aid box and these are checked regularly to ensure they are well stocked. Accidents and medication are recorded correctly and parents countersign the entries to acknowledge that they have been informed. Accidents are reviewed and risk assessed on a regular basis to ensure any recurring accidents are looked at and procedures put in place to prevent them happening again.

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Helping children to be healthy

The nursery and pre-school staff have a good understanding of food and hygiene procedures and most of the staff team have gained food and hygiene qualifications. The group are based in a community centre and are regularly visited by Environmental Health. The setting put into place any actions which are raised to ensure the safe storage, preparation and cooking of all food. Children enjoy mealtimes and it is a social time when children chat and laugh together.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children engage in a variety of physical activities. Young babies and toddlers giggle and laugh as bubbles fly in the air and they run and jump to catch the bubbles between both their hands. They have fun moving around on low level toys and enjoy rocking on the low level seesaws. They giggle out loud as they push toy lawnmowers around the grass area and enjoy kicking soft footballs. Pre-school children have fun as they jump to and from stepping stones and laugh as they bounce on space hoppers. They throw balls to each other and older children successfully catch the balls. Staff give praise and encouragement which in turn boosts children’s self-esteem and confidence. They have a lovely time participating with a variety of ring games and have fun as they hop and jump from one end of the garden to the other. All children love familiar music such as ‘Sticky Kids’ and move and bend their bodies to the actions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Staff are deployed well around the nursery and the setting operate correct adult to child ratios. This ensures children are safe and their needs are met. The setting have sole access to part of the premises and doors leading to the pre-school and day nursery are secured when not in use. The setting has robust procedures to ensure children are only collected by the designated person. Children play within an enclosed garden. This area is sometimes used by the public visiting the community centre. The staff are vigilant, conducting risk assessments of the garden area each time they use it and keep a watchful eye of all the children at all times. Staff conduct regular headcounts of the children and position themselves well around the garden to ensure children are effectively supervised.

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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 The baby and toddler rooms have sleep chart checklists to ensure sleeping children are visually checked on a regular basis. Fire drills are conducted regularly as the community centre conduct regular drills throughout the building. The management record all fire evacuation drills and detail what went well and any improvements for future drills. The setting have uncollected and lost child policies in place to ensure appropriate procedures are followed.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The director/owner of the setting is the child protection officer. She has a secure knowledge of child protection procedures and processes and knows where to make referrals. The staff team state they would inform the management team should they have any concerns about any of the children. However, pre-existing injuries are not always promptly recorded in the incident record. The setting has a child protection policy in place which is shared with parents and staff. However, the policy is not currently up-to-date with the current Local Safeguarding Children Board’s procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The pre-school and day nursery offer settling in visits to new parents and their children. They are introduced to the management and staff team and are informed of how the nursery runs and operates. The number of settling in visits depends on the individual child and staff work with parents to do what is best for them and their children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Babies and toddlers are cared for by well qualified staff. Staff communicate with parents to obtain details of their routines to ensure they are able to meet the individual needs of babies and toddlers and these are updated as appropriate to the individual children. Staff sit at the same level as the toddlers and babies, interacting and supporting their play and exploration. They offer praise and encouragement for their achievements which in turn boosts the children’s self-esteem and confidence. Staff respond to babies babbling and toddlers’ words to ensure they feel valued for what they are communicating. Young babies have fun as they bang drums and shake tambourines and toddlers enjoy pushing train carriages around the floor. Babies and toddlers are able to relax and sleep where they feel most comfortable, in a cot, buggy, bouncy chair or on a soft cushion on the floor. Planning in the baby room is effective and staff show

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

how they differentiate for the different ages and stages of development within the room. Staff observe the children and track these observations to give a picture of where babies and toddlers are with their development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children within the toddler room are also cared for by qualified staff. Children are able to access different resources and activities independently from low level storage boxes and shelving. Their artwork is displayed to ensure they feel valued for what they do. Children who become upset are given cuddles by caring and loving staff and are distracted into favourite activities. Those who become tired or want a rest can relax on the soft play and cushioned area. Children enjoy playing with the train set and happily make chuffing noises as they wiggle their tummies along the floor to make the train carriages move along. They love to snuggle into a staff member to listen to stories and enjoy pointing out things in the pictures. The staff member offers praise and encouragement to the toddlers for their good recognition skills. Planning for the children is effective and covers all areas within the Birth to three matters framework. Staff observe

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

children well and these are tracked to show children’s current stages of development.

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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 for children in receipt of funded nursery education is good. Planning is effective and the staff team are knowledgeable about the plans and learning intentions. The staff team use a traffic light system when tracking children’s development to show if children have achieved, are working towards or need to revisit a goal. Observations are tracked into children’s individual records with supporting photographic evidence. This ensures staff know where children are currently and what their individual next steps of development are.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children arrive eagerly and find their friends. They show caring attitudes to each other, such as helping each other to build houses with Lego. Children demonstrate good teamwork skills. They carry equipment back to the shed in the garden singing ‘teamwork, teamwork, what’s going to make it work, teamwork’. The setting has a good transition process for children going to school. They visit the local schools, with the children going to school to watch plays and attend event days. Staff also take children in small groups to visit the local schools in the term before they leave the pre-school and teachers are invited into the pre-school to see children within their current environment. This ensures children become familiar with the new environment and the teachers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have opportunities to explore emergent writing as they make marks and letter shapes on chalk boards, in the sand, in shaving foam and within the role play area. They enjoy using letter stencils and staff encourage children to sound out the letter stencils for the letters in their names. Children are not often seen to choose books from the book rack independently. The book corner has no soft cushions or comfy areas to sit on and is not inviting and welcoming to the children. This does not ensure children make the most of this area in order to access books for their enjoyment.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children develop an understanding of number incidentally through their play. For example, they count how many bricks they use to make houses out of Lego. Children successfully identify written symbols for numbers from one to ten and have fun exploring different magnetic shapes. Children love to play different programs on the computer. They learn about sequencing and patterns as they click on the colours they think come next in the sequence. They have fun as they use magnifying glasses to look for bugs and insects. Children enjoy outings around the community, such as visits to the local dentist. They have fun as they sit in the dentist chair and learn about what drinks and food are good and bad for their teeth.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children participate in a range of structured arts and crafts, such as play dough, making passports, drawing and collages. However, there are limited opportunities for children to engage with free arts and crafts alongside the structured art. Children show a good understanding of loud and quiet as they inform the childcare inspector ‘look, we can do a loud and a quiet clap’. They have fun within the role play area and enjoy using the variety of resources to support their play. Children enjoy joining in with familiar rhymes and move their arms and bodies to the actions.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children have equal access to all toys and resources. Staff show children equal respect and value them all as individuals. Children enjoy dressing up in a variety of outfits, such as nurse, doctor and police officer, and girls and boys are both encouraged to wear these outfits. This fosters an awareness of positive gender roles. The nursery and pre-school celebrate festivals with the children throughout the year, such as Diwali and Christmas. The learning difficulties

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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 and/or disabilities coordinator has a good understanding of her job role. She has good links with the Area Inclusion Support Coordinator. The setting works in partnership with parents and carers and with outside agencies to ensure consistency in care is achieved for the children. The learning difficulties and/or disabilities coordinator has attended relevant training. At monthly team meetings she communicates with staff about concerns they have about any of the children to ensure additional needs are identified.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The staff team use consistent behaviour strategies with the children and this ensures they know what is expected of them. They use positive praise and encouragement for children’s achievements and good behaviour. The pre-school children have a set of golden rules displayed at their level. Staff gently remind children of the rules and explain the reason behind them. This equips children with the understanding to manage their own behaviour. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The staff team communicate with parents verbally both at the beginning and end of each day. In addition, staff in the baby room complete written diary logs of the children’s routine. This ensures parents can refer to the information within their own homes. The diary log is a two way process as parents can also write comments within the log to share with the staff. Important information is displayed on the parents’ notice boards to ensure they are well informed. Parents receive detailed information through regular letters and newsletters. Photographs of children and their artwork are displayed and this enables parents to see the things their children have been doing. The management meet with parents at the outset to ensure they are well informed of the provision, routines, staff and policies and procedures. Parents are happy with the provision and feel the staff team are all friendly and approachable. They feel their children are well looked

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Helping children make a positive contribution

after by an experienced and well qualified team. They know they can approach the staff or management at any time to discuss any worries or concerns as they are informed from the outset about the open door policy. The setting has a complaints policy and a complaints log in place. These require updating. Parents are all aware of how to contact the regulatory body should they have any concerns.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children in receipt of funded nursery education is good. Parents are shown the curriculum policies folder at the outset and are informed they can access this information at any time. This ensures parents are well informed about the curriculum being provided for their children. Planning is displayed on the parents' notice boards with information about what learning is taking place. This ensures parents are well informed and learning can be continued at home. Staff communicate with parents at the end of each day about the things their children have been doing. They inform parents they can access their children’s records at any time. However, many parents state they do not have opportunities to discuss their child’s developmental records through planned opportunities. They do state they look at their child’s records in the term before they go to school as these are sent home from

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Helping children make a positive contribution

the provision. Parents are impressed about the observations staff have conducted on their children but some would like the opportunity to discuss their child’s developmental records at intervals during their child's time in pre-school. Parents are knowledgeable about the key worker system and are aware of who their child’s key worker is. They are involved with their child’s learning as they are encouraged to bring things into pre-school with their child to share with topics being explored.

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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

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children are cared for by a well qualified and experienced staff team. The staff team are all kind and caring and have developed strong bonds with all the children. Staff work well as a team and work effectively across the three rooms, supporting and helping each other. There are plenty of first aid qualified staff to ensure children are treated appropriately in the event of an accident or emergency. Children's actual times of arrival and departure are recorded in the attendance register, which ensures children can be accounted for in an emergency.

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Organisation

All policies and documentation are in place, although some require updating. The nursery and pre-school have robust vetting and recruitment procedures to ensure children are cared for by suitably vetted and qualified staff. All documentation is filed away securely, which maintains confidentiality. Overall, the setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of children in receipt of funded nursery education are good. The director/owner and the two managers work closely together to ensure the effective running of the nursery and pre-school. The managers oversee the day to day running of the setting with the close support of the director. They ensure all planning, evaluations and observations are implemented. Both managers look at the planning conducted by the rooms and discuss the planning with the staff, suggesting where the plans can be amended or tweaked.

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Organisation

The management conduct annual appraisals for all staff. This is a two way process where staff complete a self appraisal and the manager meets with them to discuss their performance. Targets, training needs, concerns and achievements are discussed. In addition, the management conduct quarterly supervision meetings with the staff to review any targets and to discuss their current practice. The management observe staff within all rooms and often work alongside the staff team. They communicate with staff about any concerns as they arise and celebrate any achievements and good working practice.

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Organisation

All staff, including the management attend regular training to update and enhance their expertise. The management attend cluster meetings and feedback any information to the staff team. Any training attended is cascaded back to the rest of the staff team to ensure all staff are up-to-date. Staff also have access to childcare magazines and literature to enhance their knowledge. The nursery and pre-school belong to the National Day Nurseries Association and often receive current information and resources to implement with the children.

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Organisation

The whole staff team, including the management are a close, effective team. They support each other across all the rooms and work hard to create a fun and stimulating environment for all the children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Not applicable: this is the first inspection since registration.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration, 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 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • update some policies and documentation with required detail and ensure all staff record all pre-existing injuries into the incident record promptly

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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): • further develop the organisation of the environment to enable children to engage with free arts and crafts alongside structured art and make the book corner more inviting to encourage children to access books for their enjoyment • develop planned opportunities for parents to discuss their child's developmental records with their child's key worker.

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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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