Lambley Day Nursery

Lambley Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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EY361602 Unique Reference Number 04 June 2008 Inspection date Janice Walker Inspector

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The Old School Room, Church Street, Lambley, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG4 4QB

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Setting Address

0115 9312745 Telephone number challengeconsult@btconnect.com E-mail Lambley Day Nursery Limited 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?

Lambley Day Nursery is a privately owned provision. It has operated under its current management since 2007. It operates from the converted old school building in the village of Lambley, Nottinghamshire. Children are cared for in three groups within the nursery; the main play room is divided into two areas for the toddlers and the pre-school children and there is a separate room for children aged under two years. There is an adjoining outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is open each week day from 07.45 to 17.45. It is open all year round, closing only for Bank Holidays and for a week over the Christmas period. A maximum of 25 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 38 children on roll. Of these, 13 children receive funding for early education. Children attending come from the local and surrounding areas. The nursery also operates an after school club for children up to the age of six years. The nursery currently supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. All children currently attending speak English as their first language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 10 members of staff to work with the children. Of these, seven, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications and two are working towards a

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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 qualification. The setting receives support from the early years support team from the local authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children are cared for in an environment where staff’s high standards of cleanliness help to promote their good health. Good hygiene practices such as those regarding nappy changing and the arrangements for young children and babies who sleep help minimise the risk of spread of infection. This is supported by well-implemented procedures for children who are unwell and exclusion periods for infectious illnesses. Through discussion and daily routines, children develop an awareness of the need for good hygiene; they wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet and staff are vigilant in cleaning noses as needed. Older children evidence their understanding of the importance of this as they bring staff’s attention to younger children needing support and explain that they wash their hands to wash the germs away because the germs would give them tummy ache. Good systems for recording accidents and medication

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Helping children to be healthy

administered along with well-stocked first aid boxes and an adequate number of staff with first aid qualifications contribute to children’s immediate safety and welfare. However, this is compromised to some extent as written permission from parents to seek any necessary urgent medical advice or treatment is not in place for all children.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are very well nourished. They have regular meals and freely access drinking water throughout the day. They develop a positive attitude to the benefits of healthy eating as the on-site Cook prepares fresh, appetising, nutritious, home-cooked meals and snacks that include a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Meals take account of the individual needs of all children, specific dietary needs are met and babies’ food is mixed to the required consistency. Through discussion, older children develop an awareness of which foods are good for them and why. Sociable meal times which strongly promote the independence of older children foster their enjoyment of these occasions.

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Helping children to be healthy

All children regularly use the outdoor play area for fresh air and to practise their developing physical skills. They also enjoy trips to the nearby park and walks around the local rural environment. Older children develop a positive attitude to physical exercise through regular outdoor play times. They pedal bicycles, and ride scooters and sit-on vehicles competently. They learn about space as they carefully steer these toys around obstacles and manoeuvre themselves around their indoor activities. They balance and climb and enjoy circle games with staff. In poorer weather they access the soft play equipment and play circle games and music and movement activities. They begin to understand the importance of warm up activities before engaging in physical play and recognise changes which happen to their bodies when they are active. Children practise their hand-eye co-ordination by accessing a wide range of play materials

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Helping children to be healthy

such as pencils, scissors and small joining equipment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are looked after in a warm, welcoming and well-maintained environment. They use good quality toys and equipment and there are comprehensive systems in place to check that they remain in good condition and safe for them to use. Children are cared for in groups according to their age and ability which ensures that play materials are appropriate to their

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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 level of development. Storage is well designed and children safely and independently access their toys and play materials. Good procedures and practices ensure that children are protected from adults who have not been vetted. Children’s welfare is further safeguarded as all staff have a sound awareness of their responsibilities regarding child protection and regularly attend training to update their knowledge and understanding of related issues. They are fully familiar with the setting’s clear policies and procedures which include relevant contact details. However, systems are not yet in place to share these procedures with parents prior to admission so they may not be clear of staff's responsibilities regarding the protection of children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Comprehensive procedures are in place to promote children’s safety within the setting. Staff carefully monitor access to the premises and clear procedures are in place for the collection of children by named adults. Children move safely around their identified play areas because staff undertake daily safety checks and vigilantly supervise the children in order to minimise the risk of accidents. Secure systems are in place to ensure that routine checks of equipment such as gas, electrical and fire equipment are undertaken so that they are maintained in effective working order. A range of policies are also in place to promote children’s safety in the event of an unplanned emergency such as extreme weather or power failure. Children are kept safe on outings and school collections due to clear procedures that are understood and effectively implemented by staff. Children learn to keep themselves safe through discussion and safe

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

practices. For example, older children are involved in safety checks prior to use of the outdoor play to raise their awareness of possible dangers and the precautions in place to keep them safe. All children are developing a good awareness of fire safety as they have regular opportunities to practise the emergency evacuation procedures.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are involved, interested and enjoy their play. New attendees settle well at the nursery due to the kind and caring staff team whose high levels of individual attention and reassurance helps them to separate from their parents and gain in confidence to explore their environment. More settled children arrive happy and eager to participate. Staff meet the individual needs of younger children by enabling them to eat and sleep according to their own routines. They are kind and caring, demonstrating genuine care and appropriate affection towards them. Children form fond relationships with staff demonstrating their trust as they cuddle closely for comfort when they feel unwell and seek support with their chosen activity. These children engage in a broad range of activities based around their interests. They move around freely and independently select toys of their choice from the well organised, low-level shelving. They

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

enjoy sensory experiences by playing with different materials including natural resources, and foods. Children attending the out-of-school club are clearly confident and content in the setting. They benefit from being able to make their own decisions about where they play and freely select their games and activities. They enjoy interacting with the babies and younger children; the homely atmosphere within the setting means that they know them well and excitedly share their progress. They interact positively with each other and engage in animated conversation as they play. They have good relationships with staff, initiating interesting conversations and confidently expressing their needs and wishes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children make sound progress towards the early learning goals because staff have a secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum. They plan and provide a stimulating and harmonious environment and effectively support an

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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 interesting range of activities which helps to ensure children remain motivated and keen to learn. Staff get to know the children well and use their knowledge to ensure that activities are pitched at the appropriate level and that children receive effective support and sufficient challenge to make progress in their learning. However, systems are not yet in place to gather information from parents about what children can already do to establish starting points in their learning and the assessment records contain limited information and are not updated on a regular enough basis. Consequently, they do not indicate progress made and cannot be used effectively to ensure that all children make optimum progress in all areas of their development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are actively engaged in the range of activities provided and are encouraged to initiate their own games and independently select resources. Daily routines which include serving their own lunches, pouring their own drinks and dressing and undressing for outdoor play, support their developing self-help skills. They assuredly state their needs and opinions and proudly show their work, displaying high levels of confidence and self-esteem. They work well together and are developing their awareness of the need to take turns and share resources such as toys and meals. They are good communicators, confidently speaking to adults and to each other, asking questions, seeking support and expressing their thoughts. They participate in discussions, listen to each other and ask relevant questions, such as where a staff member’s pearl earrings are when listening to a story about a lost pearl. They re-tell favourite stories to small groups

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and confidently make up songs in response to events around them. They develop an enjoyment of reading supported by regular visits to the mobile library and access to a wide range of age-appropriate books. Children use a wide range of materials to make marks and practise writing for different purposes, for example in the role play area and are able to write some letters independently. They benefit from being able to see letters and print displayed around the room and learn to link sounds to letter shapes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Daily routines provide regular opportunities for children to practise their counting and calculating skills as they count the number of children present and work out if they have enough cups and plates for snack and meal times. They confidently use numbers during practical activities and can count in order to 10 and beyond and many children can recognise some numerals. They have learnt a variety of number rhymes to support their ability to solve simple addition and subtraction problems. Children make comparisons between size, weight and quantity, for example, as they experiment with the compare bears and the weighing scales. They have very good opportunities to find out about the natural world and enjoy exploring their environment. They learn how to grow seeds, taking care to cover them to keep them warm and protect them from the birds. They grow herbs, fruit, flowers and vegetables and watch the changes as they

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

grow. They confidently recall the story of the hungry caterpillar, explaining how and why the caterpillar turned into a butterfly. They are developing a good awareness of the uses of information technology and confidently operate the computer. Children talk with interest about their own lives and those of people they know. They enjoy regular walks around the local rural community to explore the natural world along with visits to nearby facilities such as the school and park. Through a good range of resources which reflect differences within society along with planned activities linked to festivals, they have good opportunities to learn about the cultures and beliefs of other people. Children are actively encouraged to explore their creativity; they listen to different types of music, build a repertoire of songs and freely explore a wide selection of musical instruments. They use their imagination in the home corner where they

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

engage animatedly in role play, acting out their real and imagined experiences. Children enjoy using a wide range of tools and materials to explore media, such as paints, shaving foam and clay. They participate enthusiastically with art and craft activities and use their own ideas to create pictures and three dimensional models.

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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 flourish in the welcoming, caring and homely environment. They are respected and valued; staff take time to discuss their individual needs with parents and close relationships are formed. There is a strong emphasis on children’s choices within the setting; daily routines support children’s growing independence and staff’s ongoing praise and encouragement for their contributions and achievements helps to raise their self esteem. Children are well mannered. Staff remind younger children to acknowledge kindness with thanks and to use please when asking for something. Older children spontaneously display good manners and parents comment that this extends to the home environment. Their behaviour is very good. Staff are good role models; they are calm and kind and treat the children with care and respect, sensitively reminding them of what is acceptable and what is not when necessary. Displays and resources reflect

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Helping children make a positive contribution

positive images of our diverse society and help to raise children’s awareness of differences. Planned activities linked to festivals, such as dragon dances and using chop sticks to eat Chinese foods at Chinese New Year, help to support their understanding. There are appropriate systems in place to ensure that children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are fully included in all aspects of the nursery and staff work closely with parents to ensure they are able to meet children’s individual needs. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is appropriately fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children settle well because staff foster good relationships with parents and work closely with them to share information about children’s individual needs and routines. They use daily diaries for younger children to ensure they share relevant information on an ongoing basis. Parents receive a range of information about the setting which includes an overview of some of the main policies and procedures and displays provide details of the curriculum for each age group. Ongoing information is shared via the nursery website, through monthly newsletters and through daily verbal exchanges, helping to promote consistency of care for children.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers of children in receipt of funding for nursery education is satisfactory. There is limited information for new parents that explains the curriculum and how it is delivered through play. Staff are in the process of establishing ways of enabling parents to be more involved in their children’s learning although these are not yet in place for all children. Staff provide information about what children have been doing each day and make themselves available to informally discuss children’s progress. However, although parents are aware that staff monitor their children’s progress, systems to enable them to share what they know about their child on admission to the Foundation Stage are not yet in place. As a result, staff are not able to fully effectively build on children's previous knowledge and skills or clearly show the progress a child has made. Opportunities for parents to contribute their own

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Helping children make a positive contribution

observations of their child's learning at home in order to build a more detailed picture of children’s progress have not yet been established.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The effective organisation and management of the setting enhances children’s care. The new nursery owners are in the process of implementing new initiatives throughout the nursery to strive towards continual development to improve the quality of care and education for children attending. All required documentation is in place and contains a good level of detail to promote children’s health, safety and well-being. Robust recruitment and selection procedures ensure that staff working with children are suitably vetted and experienced. They are clear of their

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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 roles and responsibilities due to the comprehensive induction procedures implemented and an ongoing programme of team meetings and training. The newly introduced appraisal system supports this. Consequently they work well together; they are confident and competent, supporting each other to meet children’s individual needs and to ensure the smooth running of the setting. Effective organisation of staff ensures that there is an appropriate proportion of qualified and experienced adults working with the children and appropriate staff to child ratios are maintained, ensuring that children receive good quality attention. Space within each area is well used and daily routines are well organised to meet children’s needs, offering time for active play, meals, relaxation and sleep as required.

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Organisation

Leadership and management of nursery education is good. Staff deliver a broad and balanced curriculum and demonstrate a sound awareness of individual children’s stages of development. The new management team along with the pre-school leader demonstrate a real commitment to improving the educational provision. They attend regular training and pro-actively seek and implement advice from relevant professionals. New resources have been purchased and planning, assessment and evaluation systems are all under review with a clear action plan in place. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend.

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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 written parental permission for the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment is in place for all children • devise systems to share the procedures regarding safeguarding children with parents, prior to admission.

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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): • ensure assessment records clearly indicate children’s starting points for learning to enable staff to build on their previous learning and skills and ensure that staff make regular entries so that they can use them to effectively monitor children’s progress in all areas of learning • ensure that parents receive good quality information about the setting, are well informed about their child’s achievements and progress, are encouraged to be involved in their child’s learning and have opportunities to contribute to their child’s assessments.

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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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