Cuerden Nursery School

Cuerden Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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EY359145 Unique Reference Number 15 April 2008 Inspection date Joan, Patricia Flowers Inspector

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Cuerden Church School, Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 6ED

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Setting Address

01772 628 448 Telephone number kristarcuerdennursery@hotmail.co.uk E-mail Ann Jeanette Walmsley Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care, Sessional care, Out of School 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?

Cuerden Nursery School operates from within Cuerden Church School in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire. The setting is run by an individual organisation. The pre-school nursery caters for children aged from two years to five years and operates from a self-contained classroom within the school and the school hall. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 08.00 until 18.00 with the exception of Bank Holidays and one week during the Christmas period. There is an out of school club that caters for school age children. This element operates from the school hall, a classroom, the computer suite and the church and is available Monday to Friday from 08.00 until 09.00 and again from 15.10 until 18.00 during term time. The club operates Monday to Friday from 08.00 until 18.00 during the school holidays. Facilities include separate secure outdoor areas for the out of school club and the nursery aged children. The nursery is an eligible

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

provider of nursery education for three and four-year-old children. There are 80 children on roll between the ages of two and 11 years.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Meals and snacks are provided according to the type of session children attend. This may include children bringing packed lunches from home. The registered provider employs a manager who holds a level 4 childcare and education qualification heading a staff team of seven, of whom,

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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 five are qualified or appropriately trained. Two staff are attending relevant level 3 training and one staff member is working to achieve professional degree level status. Support and training is obtained from the local authority Sure Start development team.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children's good health is promoted well because suitable steps are taken to reduce the spread of infection. These include, implementing a comprehensive sickness policy, keeping parents informed of any illnesses circulating and making sure that the children's environment, their toys and any equipment used by them are clean. Staff keep their first aid certificates up-to-date so that their knowledge and procedures are in line with current practices. Therefore, children benefit from the staff's improved awareness, enabling them to administer basic first aid to the children as appropriate and enabling them to assess when outside advice is needed. Recording procedures ensure that parents are kept fully informed about any intervention taken by staff for the well-being of their children and their countersignature provides a check to ensure that this has been done. Extra advice for parents and carers is provided in the form of a 'bump to

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Helping children to be healthy

the head' letter, which provides them with signs to be aware of so their child remains healthy and safe.

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Helping children to be healthy

Good hygiene procedures help to prevent cross-infection and children are beginning to learn about this through their daily routines and in their activities. Hand washing and toilet facilities are readily accessible to the children and they are gaining good levels of independence in their personal care. Children have daily opportunities to exercise and play outside in the fresh air within the enclosed play area where they have access to a range of equipment, which promotes their physical skills. They competently ride their wheeled toys, manoeuvring around obstacles and are learning how to balance on low beams during planned fun physical activity games, such as obstacle courses. Children gain confidence to climb on the climbing frame and slide down the slide as their physical skills are challenged. Children enjoy playing imaginary games. They crawl along the ground as they pretend to be insects and stamp about roaring, as they become

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's dietary needs are known to staff and care is taken to ensure that these are met. Children enjoy a range of healthy snacks mid-session and have independent access to water throughout the day as well as a choice of drinks at snack and lunch times. Midday meals are freshly prepared and children have opportunities to select what they would like each day from the menu provided by the school. Food related activities help children to understand what healthy eating is all about. They make soup and pizzas and taste different foods like noodles during the topic they are following about different countries in the world. Fruit and fresh raw salad items feature prominently at every snack time with children encouraged to try things they have not eaten before, such as cucumber or strawberries. Children are learning through discussion about different types of foods so they develop good healthy eating habits.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children's safety is assured because suitable steps are taken to reduce the risk of accidental injury and to ensure that the nursery environment is safe. The premises and outside areas are securely locked and fire exits are kept clear. Children participate in regular fire drills and staff

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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 are very clear about emergency evacuation procedures. Safety equipment is used where appropriate and daily safety checks are conducted before the children arrive to ensure that the premises and equipment do not pose any risks to children. Children are supervised very well and adult-to-child ratios are increased when children are taken off the premises. This ensures that children can be closely monitored and ensures their continued safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children have access to a wide range of highly appropriate equipment and play provision that is clean and maintained in good condition. Low tables and chairs provide opportunities for children to play comfortably and low storage of the play resources encourages them to make their own choices about what they want to do.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is suitably safeguarded because staff have a clear understanding about child protection procedures. The manager is effective in ensuring that staff attend training in this area so their updated knowledge benefits children's safety ensuring that they are protected from risk of harm. Clear written procedures support this good practice very well and inform parents and carers so all children benefit.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are very settled and confident within their day care environment. They separate easily from their parents and carers and eagerly greet the staff and their friends. Their interest is sustained throughout the day or session because there is a wide choice of stimulating activities for them to choose from and they concentrate well at their chosen activities. Children have established a warm relationship with staff, confidently approaching them for support and conversation. For example, one child asked for an impromptu story to be read to her outside and help was offered when children cut their toast in half at snack time. Because the staff respond to children's individual needs, good relationships are fostered enabling children to feel secure and confident. Children enjoy receiving praise and encouragement for their achievements and for helping with small tasks. This helps to promote their self-esteem and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Older school age children enjoy activities that are appropriate for them in the out of school club. There is a range of board games and construction type activities that they can choose from. A range of books including the Guinness Book of World Records, encyclopaedias and different annuals are provided for children to enjoy. Staff are on hand to provide support with homework tasks if children wish to do this and children can be creative with different planned craft activities or free art with pencils, pens and paint. In these ways, children's all round enjoyment and care needs are promoted. Outdoor activities take place on the school playground after school, providing children with opportunities to enjoy freedom to run outside in the fresh air at the end of the school day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are engaged at all times and thoroughly enjoy the activities that are on offer. They are making very good progress in all areas of learning. The staff work effectively together to plan a programme of activities based around themes that interest the children and which encompass all six curriculum areas. Staff use a number of different measures to monitor the children's progress, with dated photographs, written observational notes and lists of achievements recorded in children's individual files. The staff use this information to help children take the next steps in their learning. This record of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 assessment does not always make clear the links to planning for individual children's next steps and parents are not always encouraged to contribute to their own child's assessment file.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing broad vocabularies and use language very effectively to share stories and chat with their friends and staff. They enjoy listening to the stories read to them by staff and access the books in the reading area independently. Children are very well supported to develop their writing and pre-writing skills and many are able to form recognisable letters and can write their names. Most children can confidently select their name 'leaf' at self-registration time to stick onto the wall display tree. Letters and words are displayed around the nursery to a good extent as children come to understand that words and letters have meaning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The group provides good activities and opportunities for children to develop their mathematical understanding. They count confidently during singing rhyme times and are learning to understand basic mathematical concepts, such as comparison, addition and subtraction. Children, during practical free play activities in the sand and water, learn about which container holds more or less and which is the biggest and the smallest. They see numbers displayed within the nursery, for example, the price chart displayed in the role-play shop. This encourages children to use these props as they act out familiar real life situations.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making good progress in developing their knowledge and understanding of the world. They take part in topic-based work, which helps them to learn about a wide range of interesting subjects. During the topic of mini-beasts, for example, children learnt about ant colonies and how they work. They recreated what they had learnt on the wall display after first looking at books and watching how ants walk backwards and forwards along pathways on and under the ground. Children discuss the weather every day and decide on which symbol they should use on the weatherboard, discussing if it is sunny or cloudy. Children use technology like computers, telephones and programmable role play resources, such as the cash registers and pretend domestic equipment to support their imagination and learning. They explore the effects of the magnetic construction resources and experiment trying the magnets against

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

different objects as they discover which materials the magnets attract.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children’s are developing their self-esteem because of the respect and encouragement that they receive from staff. Their personal, social and emotional development is given high priority within the setting. As a result, children are happy, confident and settled. They develop good degrees of self-help skills, independently getting themselves a drink of water when they are thirsty and they know that they must wash their hands after going to the toilet, which they do competently. They put their work in their own tray ready to be collected before going home and willingly help to tidy away their play items at set times or before getting something else out to play with.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The setting has a wonderful range of resources for imaginative role play, these are available to the children constantly in the both themed areas as well as the domestic role play area. Children enjoy drawing and painting and produce very individual pictures. Children enjoy a range of experiences that promote their creativity and imagination. They use different painting techniques, such as brush painting and printing as they make their ladybird shape for the new birthday board display. Children are encouraged to experiment with paint and colour and they freely design and create pictures, collages and three-dimensional objects using glue, scissors and a range of recyclable materials. For example, children enjoyed making their spider puppets to take home.

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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. Children's individual needs are well supported because they receive good attention from staff who liaise with their parents to ensure that any necessary information is shared. This enables staff to plan and provide care that is appropriate to the children's specific individual needs. The setting has effective arrangements to care for children with learning difficulties or disabilities and for children who have English as an additional language, although none currently attend.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered. They behave very well and are familiar and at ease with their daily routine. Children are developing their understanding about how to cooperate and play together and to respect and value one another, sharing and taking turns and caring about their peers. For example, one four year-old helped another to fasten his coat up before going outside and children use good manners as they say please and thank you and excuse me with little reminders from the staff. Children are beginning to gain an understanding about the wider world and their local community through celebrating festivals, tasting food from a variety of cultures and having access to a range of resources which show positive images of culture and gender. Children have been learning about different countries of the world. They made models of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, cooked pizza and coloured their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

flag when they learnt about Italy. Children were able to explain what they had done as they pointed to the other parts of the display showing the other countries they had learnt about and remembered using chopsticks when they tried to eat noodles.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is good. Children benefit from the friendly relationship the whole leadership and management team have established with them. Parents receive a range of information that keeps them informed about the organisation and smooth running of the setting. This includes making sure that they are familiar with the policies and procedures, regular newsletters and informative notices, about for instance, the forthcoming Early Years Foundation Stage. This ensures that they know what it is their children will be doing and gives them the opportunity to be included in their child's learning. Parents are able to discuss their children's progress at any time as well as at parent evenings. The manager and staff team go to good lengths to foster positive relationships with parents and family members. Parents are invited to contribute to the overall management of the setting through periodic parent questionnaires

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The children's environment is clean, warm, welcoming and very well presented, with prolific examples of their own artwork and colourful posters displayed. Good use is made of the available space which means that children are able to move around and play safety and in comfort as they access all areas of the curriculum. This ensures that children are constructively occupied throughout the day or their particular session so their care and learning needs are met. Effective use is made of time and children are given warning about any routine changes so they can prepare to finish what they are doing in plenty of time. Adult-to-child ratios are high allowing very good levels of supervision and support. The staff team work well together, sharing tasks and contributing equally to the success of each session. As a result, children receive good quality care and education.

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Organisation

Appropriate recruitment procedures ensure that staff are suitable to work directly with the children and volunteers are vetted to establish their suitability. Staff are appropriately qualified

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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 and are given opportunities to attend training events to update their skills on a regular basis. As a result, they are knowledgeable about current practice and are preparing for the forthcoming changes in readiness for delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage. Most of the required documentation is maintained, however, the register of attendance is sometimes not fully completed to show the times of departure of every child. Staff are able to act in the children's best interests because they hold relevant and necessary information about them. The comprehensive range of policies and procedures that have been formulated enable the setting to run smoothly, because staff and parents alike are informed.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of the funded nursery education is good. There is a clear commitment to continually improving the quality of the setting. The leader and all staff meet regularly to ensure that children receive a balanced curriculum and activities are evaluated to ensure that they offer children appropriate challenge. Staff appraisals are used by the manager to not only ensure that the skill set of the team meets the needs of the children, but also to encourage staff's individual development and training needs which children gain much benefit from. There is good liaison with Cuerden School, to which the majority of the nursery children will attend. This partnership includes reciprocal visits from the reception teacher during the last weeks of the summer term. This helps to prepare children for a smooth transition into school reception class. The reception teacher also shares ideas and expertise with nursery staff.

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Organisation

Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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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.

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that the daily record of children's hours of attendance is consistently 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): • continue to develop the assessment methods used so that planning for individual children's next steps in learning are clear and also develop ways of including parents and carers more in this process.

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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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