Bright Horizons Cambridge Science Park Day Nursery and Preschool

Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. Kidsunlimited Nurseries - Cambridge Science Park Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 221633 Inspection date 22/07/2009 Inspector Emma Bright

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Setting address 319 Cambridge Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 0WG Telephone number 0845 365 2930 Email CSP@Kidsunlimited.co.uk Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10). This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Kidsunlimited Nurseries – Cambridge Science Park is part of Kidsunlimited Nurseries, a national nursery chain. It opened in 2000 and operates from a purpose-built, two storey building on the Science Park in Cambridge. The nursery serves parents working at the Science Park and the local area. The premises are accessible and a stair lift is available to access the first floor. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 165 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 181 children on roll who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Of these, 49 receive funding for early education. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery currently supports a small number of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and also supports children who have English as an additional language. It is open five days a week from 07:30 to 18:00 all year round with the exception of bank holidays.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 33 staff. Of these, 16 hold appropriate early years qualifications and 12 are currently working towards a qualification.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The overall quality of the provision is inadequate. The individual needs of children in the nursery are not met and not enough is done to promote their learning and development. Many of the staff lack the skills and understanding about the children in their care and their knowledge regarding the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is insufficient. Links with parents and carers are not strong enough, and are not focussed on children’s learning and development. However, the capacity to improve is satisfactory due to the commitment of the new manager who has begun a self-evaluation system to identify and address some strengths and weaknesses in the setting. The environment generally promotes children's welfare and essential documentation is in place to ensure their health and safety.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the early years provision requires significant improvement. The registered person is given a Notice to Improve that sets out actions to be carried out.

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further?

To comply with the requirements of the EYFS the registered person must take the following action by the specified date:

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further?

 ensure children’s behaviour is managed effectively and in a manner that is appropriate for their stage of development and particular individual needs (Safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare) 28/08/2009  organise systems to ensure that every child receives an enjoyable and challenging learning and 30/10/2009 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 development experience that is tailored to meet their individual needs. Ensure practitioners are familiar with the content of the areas of Learning and Development in order to effectively support children’s learning and development (Organisation)  undertake sensitive observational assessment in order to plan to meet young children's individual needs and ensure parents have opportunities to be involved in their child’s learning (Organisation) 30/10/2009  improve systems to ensure that staff are effectively deployed in all areas of the nursery so that the

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further?

individual needs of all children are met (Organisation) 28/08/2009  promote equality of opportunity and anti- discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and not disadvantaged because of culture and home language. This refers particularly to finding out about children's home language so they can use it in their play and learning (Organisation) 28/08/2009  develop the system for monitoring and evaluating the early years provision in order to maintain continuous improvement, taking into account the views of parents and children (Organisation). 30/10/2009 To improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 develop the outdoor space further in order to support children's learning in a rich and stimulating environment, which offers challenging experiences and where they have freedom to explore and use their senses  update the risk assessment to ensure it identifies aspects of hygiene that need to be checked on a regular basis, such as keeping some equipment clean and the general care of some resources  improve the range of resources and activities to support children’s learning, ensuring that they are appropriate, well maintained and accessible for all children.

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provision

Overall leadership and management of the setting is inadequate. The new manager who has recently been appointed has identified areas for immediate improvement and has begun to implement changes within the setting; however, the overall management structure has failed to maintain continuous improvement. For example, most recommendations from the previous inspection have not been addressed, therefore overall progress is limited. Until recently, frequent changes in setting managers mean that many of the staff lack confidence in their implementation of the EYFS. Whilst training is planned for the future and other training has taken place, many staff do not fully understand how to deliver the learning and development requirements and this is fundamental to enabling children to make progress in their learning. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Practice is not sufficiently inclusive to ensure the needs of all children are met. For

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provision

example, children do not receive adequate challenge to support their learning. There are limited resources to reflect equality of opportunity so children do not benefit from a rich environment to learn about other cultures or the diversity of the children attending. Staff in the baby units do engage with the children but some staff lack the skills to support babies' emotional development as they do not appropriately comfort babies when they become very upset. Whilst sufficient staff are employed to work with the children, staff deployment is at times ineffective. For example, lunch time in some of the baby units is not a positive experience for children because staff are not well organised or are too busy with daily routines and chores to effectively meet these children’s needs. At other times babies become fractious as they wait in their chairs for an activity to begin, because activities have not been well planned in advance.

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provision

Children can select some resources which are at their level but activities are mostly chosen and set out by the staff. Some resources which are presented to the children are limited and at times unchallenging. Some books and other equipment is worn and as a result children are not encouraged to care for and value the resources. Opportunities for children to develop their imagination through dressing up and role play are limited; as a result children’s learning is not sufficiently supported in a stimulating environment.

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provision

Children are cared for in a secure environment where effective security measures are in place to ensure their safety. Clear risk assessments are carried out on a regular basis to ensure that hazards are identified and minimised to safeguard children. Some good hygiene practices are promoted as staff use a ‘no shoe policy’ in the baby units and there are appropriate nappy changing arrangements; however, some hygiene aspects such as accumulating dust on wall fans and dirty marks on walls are not addressed to fully ensure children’s good health. Staff have a sound understanding of the setting’s safeguarding children procedures and there are robust procedures in place for the recruitment of new staff. All required documentation is in place, and policies and procedures are shared with parents.

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provision

Parents speak highly of the friendly staff and the difference that has been brought about by the recent changes to the overall feel of the provision. There is a good daily exchange of information between parents and staff relating to children's routines and general well-being. Staff offer daily written and verbal updates to ensure parents are informed about their child’s care.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children’s progress towards the early learning goals is limited because staff do not understand how to deliver the learning and development requirements of the EYFS or what they need to do to support children’s learning effectively. This limits their ability to plan relevant and motivating learning experiences which meet individual children's needs and provide sufficient stimulation and challenge. Whilst there are assessment systems in place, these are not appropriately followed. Staff do not effectively observe, evaluate and assess children’s progress; although each child This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 has a learning journey in place it is not used to systematically identify appropriate learning priorities for each child. Planning does not adequately cover all areas of learning in a broad range of motivating experiences for each child’s stage of development. Parents have few opportunities to be involved in their child's learning

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

or contribute to the learning journey. As a result, staff are not able to adequately help children learn and develop to their full potential.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Staff have developed warm relationships with children; most staff know children well and engage with the children when they are not busy with chores. They have fun together with shredded paper as they explore and crawl through it, laughing as they put it on their heads. Some babies benefit from being held as they settle into their new routines. However, at meal times, children with specific dietary requirements are inappropriately sat away from others to eat their meals and this means they are not fully included in social activities. A clear and positive behaviour management policy is in place, however some staff do not consistently follow this policy and use inappropriate strategies to help children to understand what is expected of them. Over time this affects children’s disposition to learn.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Staff do not always value and celebrate children's individuality and it is not reflected in their approach to children and how they present activities. Whilst staff find out some words in individual home languages of children whose first language is not English, too little is done to ensure these children are fully included in the setting; for example children do not have access to use dual language books or see labels of familiar items in their home language and staff do not work closely enough with parents to ensure cultural diversity is embraced and respected. A suitable system is in place to support children who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children label simple shapes and colours and sing songs to learn about numbers and counting; babies play with shape sorters and push and play toys. However, they are not adequately supported in developing their understanding of problem solving, reasoning and numeracy in a broad range of contexts. Children have opportunities to draw and look at books, and they enjoy painting with water or making marks with big crayons outdoors. However, they make limited progress in their communication, language and literacy skills because they are insufficiently supported and some activities are inappropriate, such as the use of flash cards. Babies demonstrate curiosity and become excited as they watch and reach out for bubbles. Children have fewer opportunities to explore and experiment and find out things for themselves because sometimes adults do too much for them. As a consequence, children’s future economic well-being is not adequately supported.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children enjoy some physical activity and have opportunities to play outdoors so they benefit from exercise and fresh air. Babies who are mobile have space to move around and to pull themselves up to standing. However, the outdoor space is not always used effectively to support children's learning where they have freedom to explore and use their senses in meaningful experiences. Children are provided with a good range of meals and snacks which are healthy, balanced and nutritious. Food is locally sourced where possible, and all meals are prepared and cooked daily on the premises. Staff are clear about children's individual dietary requirements and any specific needs are well catered for. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

How well does the provision promote inclusive practice? 4 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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Foundation Stage led and managed?

How effective is the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement? How well does the setting work in partnership with parents and others? How well are children safeguarded? 3

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 3 How well are children helped to be healthy? 3 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 4 How well are children helped to make a positive contribution? How well are children helped develop skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being?

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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