Happy Days UK Ltd

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. Happy Days (UK) Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY276621 Inspection date 03/06/2009 Inspector Jane Wakelen

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Setting address Crosswinds, Ferry Road, Iwade, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8RE Telephone number 01795 424348 Email 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

Happy Days (UK) Ltd Day Nursery opened in 2004 and is a family run business. It operates from four main play rooms in a converted chalet-bungalow. Children have access to a large enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is situated in a residential area in Iwade, Sittingbourne. It is open each weekday from 08:00 until 18:00, all year round.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 66 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 126 children in the early years age group on roll, some in part-time places. The nursery currently supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

There are 26 members of staff, 22 of whom work directly with the children. There are 18 staff with early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3, with one member of staff working towards her NVQ level 3 and two members of staff who hold an NVQ level 4 qualification. One of the owners is qualified as an early years teacher with Qualified Teacher Status.

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Description of the setting

The setting receives support from a teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the quality of the provision is outstanding. Children receive excellent opportunities to develop in all six areas of learning because the staff and leadership team are committed to fully implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage, meeting each child's individual needs. Every child has a key person who promotes the welfare and well-being of the child, implementing systems such as sign-language to ensure all children are fully integrated into the setting. The highly motivated leadership and the strong partnership with parents promotes excellent outcomes for all children. This is supported by constant self-evaluation and monitoring to continually improve the service being offered to promote outcomes for children.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 continue to develop the observation and planning to ensure all children are provided with activities to extend their development in all six areas of learning This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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provision

The two owners and the leadership team continuously review and evaluate all aspects of the provision in liaison with the staff team to promote outcomes for children. One of the owners is a qualified teacher and uses her knowledge to support staff in their development, to ensure children make progress in all areas of learning. She knows her staff team well and ensures the more experienced, confident staff support the less knowledgeable staff to ensure planning is implemented and based on children's individual learning needs. All staff are encouraged to attend regular training courses to update their skills and this supports the positive approach to improving the provision offered to children. The setting is in the process of completing a quality accreditation scheme which ensures continuous monitoring, reviewing and evaluation of the provision alongside the self-evaluation form. The addition of an outdoor area for babies, a

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provision

cookery unit and a sensory unit are amongst some of the wonderful improvements the nursery has implemented.

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provision

The manager uses a robust, rigorous recruitment and vetting procedure for employing staff. This ensures children are safe and receive a high level of care. The policies and procedures are reviewed on a regular basis and are made available to parents. Parents are extremely happy with the care and education their children receive and have regular opportunities to be included in their child's care, for example, writing comments in their Learning Journeys, contributing photographs of children's achievements at home and enjoying attending fundraising events for the whole family. This excellent partnership supports children's feeling of belonging and promotes their confidence. Parents come from a variety of different multicultural backgrounds and staff fully promote children who are bi-lingual by asking for support from parents to make labels in different languages. Parents are invited to come into the nursery and help children and staff

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provision

learn about different aspects of their culture, promoting inclusion and ensuring all children are valued and treated as individuals, for example, one parent read a traditional Nigerian story to a group of children.

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provision

Staff have a sound understanding of the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about children in their care. Children are safeguarded against strangers whilst in the nursery because of the effective systems in place to allow visitors into the building. All documentation is available and contact information for outside agencies to enable staff to protect children and support their welfare and well- being. The policy is in place and all staff ensure this is implemented effectively.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children flourish in the stimulating, welcoming environment where they benefit from the enthusiastic, motivated staff. Children develop excellent independent skills putting on aprons for craft, changing their shoes for outdoor play and spreading the cheese spread on their crackers at snack time. Staff make observations of children's learning and use this information to plan further activities to meet the child's interests. Occasionally, evaluation of observations This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 does not always provide further activities to extend children's learning or provide a challenge in all six areas of learning. This is an area that has been identified for further monitoring to ensure children make excellent progress in their development. Each child has a learning journey to record their continuous development and staff ensure that observations cover all areas of learning. This

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

record is shared with parents on two formal occasions throughout the year and is always available for parents to see on request. All children are in play rooms suitable for their age and stage of development and progress their way through the different rooms. This process is fully supported by staff, careful records of development and the partnership with the parents enabling children to progress through the rooms in a relaxed approach.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The youngest children are settled gradually into the nursery with full information obtained from the parents regarding routines, family information and individual care needs. All children have an allocated key person who liaises with the parents on a daily basis to ensure the child's individual needs are met. Children receive a caring, safe environment where they have access to activities both indoors and outdoors, including opportunities to use the sensory room. Babies are encouraged to try messy play such as gloop, water and paint. They explore their environment with staff implementing new activities on a daily basis to promote all areas of their development, including playing in the 'sand boat' outside or sitting on the grass watching the older children move at speed around the garden. The rabbits and fish provide entertainment for the babies who are not mobile yet and staff ensure they move the babies around to enjoy the swing or little rockers. Treasure baskets have

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

been compiled to give young children a range of natural resources to explore, although these are not always accessible. Young babies are able to move around the room, practising their skills in crawling and pulling-up to walk. Staff ensure furniture is safe for children to negotiate and give lots of praise and encouragement to the children for their efforts.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

As children move through the different rooms they have access to a range of resources suitable for their stage of development. All resources are stored at child height and staff constantly add additional resources, such as the real food in the role play area to encourage children to explore their environment. Children make choices throughout the day for child-initiated play, with staff providing different resources for children to extend their learning and encourage them to use their senses. For example, children handle different food stuffs and see what smells they like, they have sand and water to experiment with and a wonderful sensory room for children to experience different lights, sounds and touch. Children are able to partake in cooking activities on a daily basis as they have access to their own amazing 'cookery unit'. Children show great enjoyment as they observe changes in the dry ingredients when food colouring and water is added or what

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

happens when the egg is cracked. They learn about growing their own vegetables, planting, watering them and watching them grow. Staff happily engage in children's play in the role play area or allow children to become absorbed in their own play, such as painting on the large sheet of paper with brushes outside. Children access the computer in the pre-school room and use the mouse with confidence on programmes to support their numeracy and literacy skills.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children confidently move around the nursery, making choices both indoors and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 outdoors and behave well. They are aware of the behaviour expected of them and happily remind their peers if they feel rules are not being met, such as sharing particular toys. Staff know their key children well and form excellent relationships with the children and their families. This partnership ensures children experience continuity and promotes their self-esteem. Children with additional needs are integrated into the nursery, with systems being implemented to address their individual needs and ensure all children feel a sense of belonging. Children have opportunities to learn about each other's differences in ability, culture or language through discussion and topic work and learn to treat each other with equal concern. For example, children learn about a child's dietary needs and

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

accommodate this in their play by offering him an alternative food.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children show good concentration listening to stories or when fully absorbed in an activity they have chosen, such as threading pasta onto a shoe lace. Staff encourage children to join in large group activities, but allow children to move away and choose alternative activities if they do not want to listen to the story, or join in the activity that is planned. This allows children to develop at their own pace and prevents unwanted behaviour. Children can recognise their names and often each others. They are beginning to recognise and link sounds and letters and understand that print carries meaning, such as writing a list of members of their family. They use mathematical language in their play, such as 'where is the large tin' or 'I need the square box'. Children count the pasta they thread on the string, with many pre-school children counting above 10. Children compare shapes in their environment, for example, the triangular sandwich was compared with the

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Opportunities to develop large physical skills are excellent. Children have daily opportunities to play outside and access the large play equipment in the exciting garden. They climb up ladders and down the slides, play on the swing or balance on the balancing boards. Children can use the sit and ride toys on the printed road or enjoy seeing how many children fit on the rocker. They benefit from the fresh air and have an outstanding choice of healthy foods for snack time and lunch to promote their good health. Systems to promote hygiene procedures are implemented by staff who ensure children understand the importance of washing their hands and why, thus helping protect children from cross infection.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

A thorough risk assessment has been carried out to identify hazards and measures have been put in place to protect children, such as socket covers, locks on doors and a camera in the sleeping area for the babies to enable staff to monitor sleeping children. The risk assessment is being updated to enable a daily risk assessment to be put in writing, to continue to monitor the safety of the premises. There are excellent procedures in place to safeguard children, thus allowing children's well-being and welfare to be fully promoted. 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? 1 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? 1

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 1 How well are children helped to be healthy? 1 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 1 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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