Nanpantan Nursery School

Nanpantan Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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EY354437 Unique Reference Number 30 June 2008 Inspection date Alison Putnar Inspector

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The Old School House, Nanpantan Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3YD

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Setting Address

01509 239203 Telephone number rw.nanpantan@btinternet.com E-mail Nanpantan Nursery School Limited Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional 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?

Nanpantan Nursery School opened in 1968 and re-registered as a Ltd company in 2007. It operates from the main room in a purpose built building. It is situated in Nanpantan Leicestershire. A maximum of 26 children may attend the nursery school at any one time. The nursery school is open each weekday from 09.15 to 11.45 and 12.30 to 15.00 during term time. All children share access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 64 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these, 58 receive funding for nursery education. The nursery school currently supports a number of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. There are nine staff employed, seven work directly with the children. Of these, two are qualified teachers and three hold relevant early years qualifications.

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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's health is generally well promoted as staff follow clear and appropriate practices, ensuring toilets are clean and suitable for use before each session and that tables are sanitised before snack time. Children understand the importance of following good hygiene routines as they wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating. However, the current practice of sharing a bowl of water for hand washing increases the risk of cross-infection. Clear policies, procedures and records are maintained in relation to medical needs. All staff hold a first aid certificate ensuring there is always someone on hand to deal with minor accidents. Systems are in place for ensuring that any more serious accidents are promptly addressed. Records relating to accidents and the administration of medication are maintained and shared with parents, promoting continuity in children's care. However, the system for storing records of

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Helping children to be healthy

parental written permission for administering medication is less secure. Parents are fully involved in the commitment to maintain a healthy environment, through keeping children at home when they are ill. A written policy about sick children is shared in the Nursery School Prospectus.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children actively learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles through planned activities and opportunities for outdoor play. They consider the effect of exercise on the body and talk about healthy and less healthy foods. Children have independent access to fresh drinking water during the sessions, ensuring they do not become dehydrated. Snacks and refreshments include healthy options of fresh fruits, water and milk. Children are well nourished and their dietary needs are met as staff work closely with parents. Those staying for lunch club bring a packed lunch, staff sit and eat with children fostering social skills and seizing opportunities to engage in conversation.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit as they gain access to fresh air and develop their large physical skills when using a range of resources in the outdoor play areas. Here they use large climbing equipment, wheeled toys and tunnels to develop their muscle control and sense of spatial awareness. On occasions the setting utilise local green spaces for a range of ball games as they feel the outdoor space at the nursery school is not appropriate for these activities. During poor weather space is created inside for physical play and musical ring games and movement sessions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children's safety is clearly of paramount importance in this setting. Staff are exceedingly vigilant in ensuring that children remain safe whilst in the setting. Secure monitoring systems are in place to ensure that children arrive safely and leave the setting with the correct adult. Records of visitors, staff and children's attendance are maintained as required, protecting children's safety and enabling leaders to ensure that everyone evacuates safely should the need arise. An appropriate range of policies and procedures are in place to guide staff practice, a few lack the necessary detail such as the outings policy. General risk assessments are conducted to further reduce the risks of accidents and staff ensure the premises are safe and suitable before children arrive. Managers have a clear understanding of procedures to safeguard children from harm or neglect. Some have recently attended training to further enhance their knowledge and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

skills in this area. Since the training they have identified gaps in the written procedures for recording and reporting concerns for children's safety, but have yet to update the documentation.

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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 Good methods are in place to help children to learn about safe practices. They take part in regular fire drills ensuring that all can evacuate calmly and swiftly. Staff take opportunities to remind children of safety issues during play. Many recall that when working with the child-size hammers and tacks they need to make sure that tacks are not left on the floor, as these can hurt people's feet. Older ones talk about the need for wearing sun hats and apply sun cream 'to stop burning' before going outside to play. During trips out they practise crossing roads safely and use wheeled toys and stop and go boards back at the setting to consolidate their knowledge. The premises are made welcoming and friendly to children and parents. Children's work is valued and displayed and some useful information is provided for parents and carers.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

A good range of resources are provided on child-size tables and the floor to enable children to access and play in small groups. Effective methods are followed to ensure that toys and resources are maintained in a clean and suitable state.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children enjoy their time at the nursery school. They make progress in development as they freely access a range of practical play activities that allow them to build on their natural curiosity. Children settle well and most are confident when leaving their adult carers. Good relationships are evident. Children get on well with both their peers and adults in the provision. Staff are enthusiastic and engage in activities with children to support their language and thinking. Activities are planned and set out by staff, children have many opportunities to make choices from those provided. Children can also access some additional resources available around the room. Younger children are beginning to develop the confidence to select from additional resources to extend their play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are organised into three groups depending on their age and ability. Each group attends at different times during the week. This enables staff to pitch and plan activities for the varying needs of those who attend. Staff undertake observations of children during play, recording their progress and development. This information is then used to plan further activities to enable children to build on the skills they already have. The effective use of key worker groups, where individual staff take responsibility for a group of children, means that staff develop in-depth knowledge of those in their group. This also further supports the bond between children and staff, enabling younger ones to operate confidently in the setting and thus make progress in wider areas of development as they access the variety of learning resources.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good with some outstanding aspects. The dedicated and experienced staff team have a sound understanding of the Foundation Stage and use this to plan a range of worthwhile interesting learning experiences. Topics and themes are used as a tool to enable children to make links in their learning. For example, a recent topic on 'living things' prompted the older children to explore and discuss objects that are living and not living. They cut out and stick pictures of their findings. Interesting practical activities further support their enjoyment as they observe the changes of frogspawn to frog and seeds to plants, mapping their observations by drawing and painting what they see. This also supports their knowledge and understanding of time as they record the date the changes are observed. Topics are generally rotated during the terms, the system is appropriately flexible to incorporate changes and include

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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's progress is tracked and recorded, with information used to ensure that planning generally covers all six areas of learning and takes account of the needs of those in the group. Effective systems are in place to ensure that children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are very well supported. Individual education plans are compiled with parents and relevant professionals to ensure that these children are making maximum progress in relation to their starting points. The indoor space is used very well to offer a learning rich environment. Children access a good variety of toys and resources set out by staff and are able to freely select from some additional resources to enhance their play and enjoyment further. Children have daily opportunities at times during the session to access the outdoor play spaces. Impressively,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

younger ones are able to make choices about when to play outdoors, rather than at a set time. This practice is not consistent for all ages and outdoors is used less well during some sessions to fully enhance and make the most of all learning opportunities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

A key strength of the setting is the children's excellent personal and social skills. This is very well supported through the caring and supportive staff who have high expectations for behaviour. Children are kind and considerate towards each other. Most independently share and take turns. Children are excited and motivated during some activities. A group of older ones show wonder as they discover a letter 'from the fairies'. Pointing to a tiny door, discovered in the nursery school wall last week, they describe how they left notes for the fairies. They leap up and down with excitement as the staff member reads the fairies' response. Busily they begin to write further letters and responses. This shows a highly skilful method of encouraging children's early mark-making skills and helping their understanding of writing for a purpose. Many of the children are confident communicators. They benefit from good opportunities to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

talk to others in large groups, such as during register time and on one to one situations. Good listening skills are developing and children understand the need to wait a turn during conversations. Some children show increasing skills as they competently voice their thoughts and actions during activities. Two children engage in conversation, one considers 'the fairy is so tiny, that’s why we can’t see them', another responds 'that’s why I made my letter so small so she can carry it'. Younger ones begin to show interest in text, they select their name cards upon arrival and enjoy using books. Observations show that some younger ones practice using pens, white boards and activity sheets on the mark-making table, but they have less frequent opportunities to independently make marks and write during other activities such as role play and outdoor play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Routines of the day are used well to provide opportunities for children to practise and consolidate their mathematical knowledge. They count those present in the group at register time, many able to count to 15 and beyond. Children demonstrate their ability to solve problems by calculating how many cups are needed for those at the snack table. They use language correctly and independently during play when comparing size and shape. A good range of resources and computer programmes are provided for children to explore number skills. A good variety of activities are provided to enable children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. Children independently use the computers and complete simple programmes using the mouse, showing a secure understanding of information technology. They explore features of the natural world during activities in the outdoor play areas and also on trips in the local community. Staff and children talk about posting their invitations to Teddy

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

for the 'Teddy bears picnic' at the local wood. Children frequently talk about events in their own lives and learn about the lives and experiences of others through planned activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

A variety of natural materials and malleable materials are provided for children to explore and investigate. Children talk about their model of a Dinosaur created through joining recyclable materials. Displays of children's art work show a good variety of craft materials are provided

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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 to support their creativity. Children frequently paint, draw and make collages. Materials are set out on the table and children can access additional resources in nearby cupboards. Younger ones are at an early stage of freely accessing the wider craft resources. A good range of tools are provided to support children's hand to eye coordination, enabling them to practise the necessary skills needed for early writing. Children enjoy using instruments and independently set up a band in the outdoor play area, exchanging instruments and exploring the sounds. Role play areas enable children to explore their imagination and are set up in a variety of ways to enhance children's play such as home corner, hospital and vets.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are developing in confidence and settle quickly in the welcoming environment. They gain a sense of belonging as they find their peg and select their name card on arrival. Very positive relationships exist, enabling children to operate independently in the setting. Children's needs are considered at the start of the session. Upon arrival children immediately begin to play and be active, helping them to separate from parents happily. A brief register time is conducted once all children have arrived, reducing the potential for children to feel uncomfortable if they arrive late. At register time children are keen to listen to and share each others' news, helping them to learn about and respect others' lives and explore similarities and differences positively. Children take part in fundraising events, supporting them to consider the needs of others. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave well in response to staff's appropriate handling. Generally staff remember to offer explanations about behaviour to enable children to learn and consider the effect of their behaviour on others. Meaningful praise and encouragement is provided to encourage children to share and take turns fairly this also fosters their positive self-esteem. A child beams with pride as he is given a sticker as reward for independently letting a friend have a turn with the drum.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Sensitive settling-in methods enable children and parents to feel confident in the setting. Staff make themselves available to talk with parents at the beginning and end of the sessions. Good methods are in place to ensure that records relating to children's needs are shared and updated. Secure systems are in place to ensure that communication is strong in relation to meeting the care needs of those with learning difficulties, disabilities or additional needs. The provision periodically, actively seeks feedback from parents to enable them to take account of parents' views and needs when organising the setting. The setting are improving and developing links with local schools to support a smooth transition for those moving onto their next level of education.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnerships with parents and carers of funded children are good. Parents spoken to remark positively about the approachable and welcoming staff team. Twice yearly parents evenings provide good opportunities for parents and staff to discuss children's progress, although, this good practice is not used fully to enable parents to contribute to planning the next targets for their child's development. A good level of information is provided about the education curriculum in the Nursery School Prospectus. At the end of term detailed information is shared in newsletters about what children have done. Less information is provided about future plans for activities to enable parents to be fully involved and share skills and knowledge should they choose to. Children bring in items for topics and some take reading books home to share, there are fewer systems to fully support those parents who may have less knowledge of children's

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Helping children make a positive contribution

developmental stages, to continue their children's learning at home. Throughout the year

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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 parents are invited to join the setting on trips out, they are frequently involved in fun activities and fundraising events such as the Summer Fair, teddy bears' picnic and graduation ceremony.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit as they are consistently cared for by qualified and experienced staff members. Robust and secure vetting procedures ensure that staff are suitable and remain suitable to be working with children. A comprehensive induction system ensures that those new to the group have appropriate skills and understand the generally well-written policies and procedures that underpin the smooth day to day running of the setting. Children's well-being is supported as adult to child ratios are covered appropriately. Staff are enthusiastic, caring and kind, they know the children well and demonstrate commitment to working with parents to meet children's needs. Routines are organised appropriately to ensure children have a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, with indoor and outdoor areas being used generally well overall to provide a stimulating, enjoyable, learning environment.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of early education is outstanding. Staff working with the children meet regularly to discuss the education provision and plan future activities, ensuring that the curriculum is provided to meet the needs of the children attending. Leaders implement secure systems to maintain an overview of plans to ensure that each area of learning is effectively and equally covered and to monitor and address any gaps in provision. A positive attitude to raising standards is evident as the setting works closely with relevant professionals. They take onboard advice and develop action plans to continually raise standards and make improvements. Appraisals are used well to highlight strengths and areas for development. Staff regularly attend additional training to develop and enhance their skills, ensuring the quality of teaching is at least good and outstanding is some areas. Overall, the setting meets the needs of the children

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • promote children's health further through reviewing the system for hand washing before snack time and ensure that records of parents prior written permission to administer any medication are stored securely • take positive steps to further promote safety in the setting in relation to reviewing and updating some risk assessments and the policies for safeguarding children and conducting outings.

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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): • review the routines of some sessions to consider ways of extending the use of outdoors to further enhance the learning environment incorporating all six areas of learning into these worthwhile outdoor experiences • extend opportunities for parents to contribute to deciding and planning children's next steps in learning and consider building on the ideas, resources and systems for them to contribute to children's learning at home.

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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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