Kids Planet Stone

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. Giggles and Wiggles Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY293756 Inspection date 14/07/2009 Inspector Valerie Thomas

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Setting address Giggles & Wiggles, Mount Industrial Estate, Mount Road, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 8LL Telephone number 01785 813528 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).

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Giggles and Wiggles Day Nursery took over an existing day nursery in 2004. It operates from a converted Victorian house and a portakabin within the grounds, close to Stone town centre. Due to the age of the building, there are some restrictions in respect of access to the first floor and access to the portakabin is via steps. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. The provision operates from 07.30 to 18.00 five days a week, 51 weeks of the year.

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Description of the setting

The setting is registered to care for 62 children under eight years. It is registered on the Early Years Register and both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 95 children on roll, all of whom, are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The setting is in receipt of funding for free early education for children aged three and four. It supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and children who have English as an additional language. There are 17 staff who work with the children. Of these, 15 have appropriate early years qualifications and two staff are working towards recognised qualifications. There are arrangements in place with the local schools that children in the EYFS attend.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding. There is an extensive range of experiences provided in a vibrant and stimulating environment and the successful interaction of the staff ensures that all children are highly motivated in their learning. The self-evaluation process is extremely thorough and effective, showing that leadership and management is very forward thinking and committed to future improvement. The extremely detailed policies and procedures and very well- organised documentation demonstrate that all elements of the EYFS are rigorously implemented to promote every child's welfare and learning successfully. High priority is given to developing positive partnerships with parents and other settings to ensure children's individual needs are effectively met.

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further?

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

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further?

 extending staff understanding of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice so that they are clear of how it is put into practice in the provision and consider accessibility to the premises so that they are more suitable for children with disabilities. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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provision

Leadership and management are outstanding and provide excellent guidance and support to all staff. Systems to evaluate what is offered are rigorous and management constantly strive for excellence through regular appraisals of staff, team and room leader meetings and mock inspections in conjunction with the sister nursery. The forward thinking of the management demonstrates a very committed attitude to continuous improvement and action plans are identified for all staff to promote their development and help improve outcomes for all children. The views of parents and children are actively sought through questionnaires and discussion and any actions necessary are taken. All recommendations made at the last inspection are effectively met and many other improvements are implemented. For instance, close-circuit television is now in place for additional security and an inspiring wildlife corridor and squirrel run designed by the children are set up to

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provision

provide optimum learning opportunities. High importance is given to promoting staff knowledge through regular training opportunities and all existing staff are trained in first aid and safeguarding with new staff booked on training in the near future. Support for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is very good, although, some staff are not fully aware of the SEN Code of Practice and access to the building is not suitable for everyone.

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provision

There are extremely robust recruitment procedures implemented to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. Staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and fully understand their role in reporting concerns and ensuring all children are protected. There are rigorous safety checks undertaken to ensure all areas are safe and staff are vigilant in their supervision of children. Risk assessments for the premises and outings are in place which are reviewed every three months and there is a daily safety checklist for each room. Security is excellent with staff monitoring access to the building at all times. All rooms and outdoor areas offer extremely inspiring learning opportunities with an extensive range of resources which are easily accessible to enable all children to make choices. For example, the outdoor learning area has a vast amount of numbers, words, pictures and interest areas, such as, a herb garden and a water area where

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provision

children can look at the tadpoles with their magnifying glasses. Documentation is extremely well-organised, with effective recording of accidents, medication and attendance to promote each child's health and safety.

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provision

Staff are extremely dedicated to building very positive relationships with parents. A very detailed exchange of information about a child's individual needs takes place through the 'All about me' sheets and their individual routines at the initial placement. All children have a daily sheet which is sent home to keep parents informed of their child's well-being. All policies are actively shared and information is available in different languages such as a leaflet on swine flu which is available in English, Bengali and Polish. High priority is given to involving parents in their child's learning, through sending regular letters home detailing topics, taking Kitty the cat home to share in their experiences and older children have books to practise their handwriting in which they can take home. Parents are also encouraged to become involved in developing what learning opportunities are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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provision

offered in the setting. For example, some parents helped to build the squirrel run and bring information in on wildlife, such as, the habitats of bats so that they can be incorporated into the wildlife corridor. Staff are extremely proactive in sharing progress records with parents and open evenings are held to extend parents knowledge on the EYFS. Partnerships with other settings delivering the EYFS that children will move on to are actively promoted to ensure a clear exchange of information to helps support the transition between settings.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children's health is exceptionally well-promoted. There are healthy and nutritional meals and snacks provided which are mostly home-made from fresh ingredients. Children eat well at snack and lunch time and they all sit together with their key person who ensures everyone is included. Drinks are accessible on the side in each room to enable every child to help themselves and staff are extremely proactive in helping children to develop a healthy lifestyle. Children learn that exercise is good for you, sleep helps to restore your energy and that vegetables make you strong. Excellent hygiene routines ensure that children fully understand the reasons for hand washing after using the toilet and they thoroughly enjoy singing the hand washing song. Staff are vigilant in their hygiene when changing nappies and serving food ensuring that protective clothing is worn at all times and that all areas are clean. This helps to reduce the spread of infection. The implementation of free

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

access to the outdoor area from the pre-school room and excellent opportunities to be outside for children in the other rooms means that their physical skills are significantly promoted. They are thrilled as they run to try and catch the staff and are extremely confident when climbing on the various climbing frames and show very good skills when pedalling the bikes. Staff are highly effective in teaching children about keeping themselves safe. Regular fire drills are held and older children use pictorial sheets to go around the nursery and outdoor areas to make sure everywhere is safe. Staff are meticulous in ensuring children are supervised at all times to ensure their safety. For example, when children are taken into the wildlife corridor head counts are completed as they go in and when they come out. Staff ensure that children stay close at all times asking them to think why they need to do this and they realise that this is because they might get lost if they

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Very successful methods are used to manage behaviour, with clear and consistent boundaries set. Staff talk to children explaining that it is unkind to smack others and they are encouraged to say sorry. Children are actively encouraged to develop positive relationships with each other, sharing cushions as they sit and read books together and to give the puppet back to their friend. This helps them to develop skills for future learning. Praise is used extremely well and helps all children to develop high levels of self-esteem. Developing and extending children's knowledge and understanding of the world is clearly outstanding. While in the wildlife corridor children look up in the trees for bats and birds and use the magnifying glasses to look under logs for mini-beasts. They develop their counting skills as they count the fish in the pond and express their obvious enjoyment, excitedly saying 'I can't

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

believe it' as they see the tadpoles in the water. Visits to the nursery by the police and fire services successfully help children to understand about people who help This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 us. A wide range of resources, such as, posters, dressing-up clothes, books and jigsaws and activities where children pretend to visit other countries to find about their culture, dress, music and food help children to value and respect differences in others and make a very positive contribution to society. This is extended further to ensuring all children in the setting are valued. For children who have English as an additional language, words are displayed in their own language and staff are proactive at finding out from parents how to say the words properly so that they can be used during play and routines, such as naming colours.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Staff plan an extensive range of learning experiences which are clearly built on children's individual interests. The observation and assessment process is robust with all children having a 'My Story' booklet where their progress is clearly assessed against the early learning goals. Regular observations as children play are used to plan the next steps in each child's learning and these are included in their learning journey. All children thoroughly enjoy their time in the setting and flourish from the stimulating experiences provided. Staff interact extremely well and develop very positive relationships with every child, supporting and extending their learning as they play. Babies are inquisitive and enjoy exploring the shredded paper and language skills are enthusiastically promoted by staff as they look at books together and encourage them to imitate animal noises. Staff use open- ended questioning extremely well with older children to encourage them to explain

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

their thinking. For example, children are asked if they can remember what nocturnal and evaporation means and they are eager and confident to answer with full and accurate explanations given. Literacy skills are well-developed for all ages. Young children make marks in the shaving foam and excellent opportunities are provided for all children to practise their emergent writing skills through using brushes to paint the fence with water outside and self-registration in the pre- school room. An exceptional range of sensory activities is provided which helps to develop each child's creativity. For instance, children explore textures such as jelly, 'gloop' and natural materials in the sensory baskets and bottles. Staff use extensive methods to develop children's number skills. Consequently, children confidently count how many legs are on the spider on their T-shirt and how many syringes they have when playing in the hospital role play area and share them out

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

equally between themselves. There are substantial opportunities for children to recognise numbers as they are displayed in every room at child height and in the outdoor area and as a result, young children demonstrate exceptional knowledge as they recognise the numbers in the book even when they are upside-down. 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? 2 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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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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