Happy Days Truro City

Happy Days Truro City Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY313724 Inspection date 17/09/2009 Inspector Linda Janet Chauveau / Nicola Jayne Pascoe

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Setting address College Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3XX

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Telephone number 01872 261 519 Email robinkarkeek@freeuk.com Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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.

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. 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 Truro City is one of 18 nurseries run by Happy Days South West Ltd. It opened in 2005 and operates from fully accessible purpose built premises. Children have access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery is situated adjacent to Truro College on the outskirts of the city of Truro, in Cornwall. It is open each weekday from 07.00 to 18.00 for 51 weeks of the year.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 71 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 147 children aged from birth to under five years on roll, some in part-time places. The nursery supports several children for whom English is an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are 18 members of staff, 15 of whom hold early years qualifications to at least level 2. One member of staff holds a teaching qualification. The setting provides funded early education for three and four-year-olds.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Nursery key staff have a good knowledge and understanding of each child's needs, ensuring they successfully promote children's welfare and learning. Children are safe and secure in this large nursery, with staff teams providing consistent care within specific age groupings. Partnerships with parents are strong and are particularly significant in helping to include and support children who speak English as an additional language. Nursery staff work together effectively with senior management and other agencies so that the systems they are implementing to observe, assess and plan for individual children are used well, enabling children to make good progress. Regular in-house self-evaluation by nursery staff and reviews of the nursery chain as a whole ensures that priorities for development are identified and acted on, resulting in improved experiences and outcomes for children.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 ensure that the outside play areas are suitably maintained and are resourced in a way that will offer a stimulating and challenging learning environment for all children  ensure the needs of babies using the shared outdoor spaces are being met effectively; enabling ease of access and stimulation through the use of appropriate equipment and suitable resources This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The nursery is well organised. Children are kept safe from harm as staff clearly understand their role in following the procedures set out in the nursery's detailed child protection policy. Clear vetting procedures, thorough induction and appraisal systems ensure new and existing staff working with children are suitable to do so. A comprehensive range of checks and risk assessments are effectively carried out on all areas of the nursery to ensure children's safety. Closed-circuit television monitors both visitors outside and children and adults within the nursery ensuring that children are secure at all times. Required adult to child ratios are met and good care is taken to ensure that all children, especially those new to the nursery or who may require extra help, receive sensitive individual care and attention.

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the early years provision

Senior management have a clear sense of purpose about what they want to achieve for all their nurseries. A rolling development programme is in place throughout the nursery chain, resources, such as new role play and correctly sized furniture, have recently been added to the nursery and plans show improvements will continue in the future. The manager is keen to motivate her staff team, who are encouraged to take responsibility for the area they work in, identifying areas for improvement and producing action plans to show how they would implement change. For example, the staff working in the toddler room have identified that their outdoor play areas would benefit from refurbishment. Support from management enables changes to be instigated whenever possible. Generally, resources are deployed efficiently throughout the nursery and well maintained, resulting in a continually developing learning environment for children. However,

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the early years provision

the outside play areas, particularly those used by the older children are less well cared for and lack the visual stimuli to create a vibrant learning environment.

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the early years provision

Head office organises regular in-house training events so that staff skills are up-to- date and encourages professional development for all. Good working relationships with local authority staff also help to implement and embed good practice. All recommendations from the previous report have been successfully addressed, particularly improvements to the systems to assess children's capabilities when first starting at the nursery. A successful 'getting to know you' system is now in place, which ensures that staff have a very good picture of a child's specific requirements and enable them to plan to meet their individual needs.

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the early years provision

Relationships with parents are strong. Staff regularly share information in many ways; by verbal feedback and phone calls and by providing access to a daily diary of their child's activities. Parents' views and involvement is encouraged through feedback sheets, access to progress reports, parents evenings and open days. A selection of useful information for parents is displayed on the notice board and staff and key person photos are shown at reception and in each room, helping parents familiarise themselves with the nursery's staff and environment. Nursery management have worked with nearby schools to ensure that children's transition is smooth and is currently developing partnerships with other settings children attend, to support the seamless delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The nursery is very effective in supporting and including children for whom English

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the early years provision

is an additional language. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that children settle well and willingly provide prompt feedback throughout the day. They are keen to value other cultures and languages through written materials, signs and pictures around the nursery and by learning some significant words in children's home languages, helping to give children a sense of belonging and being valued.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have a secure understanding of the EYFS and are successfully using a key person system to support children to achieve good outcomes. All children are making good progress towards the early learning goals. Staff are constantly evaluating and developing the system used throughout the nursery to monitor children's progress. They observe children at play, assessing their level of development and then target the next steps in their learning. Observations are used to plan the nursery curriculum, with a strong focus on using these records and feedback from children to plan a stimulating learning environment based on individual interests and learning styles. Photographs and further observations clearly show when progression has been achieved and staff summarise progress to ensure it covers all areas of learning.

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and outcomes for children

Each room in the nursery is set out with a range of interesting and age appropriate activities which change throughout the day. In the baby room, staff spend lots of time at floor level interacting with their key children, cuddling them on their laps as they read stories or look at picture books of photos of themselves with their friends. Children learn to crawl or walk as they move around the room exploring play mats, shakers, stacking toys, musical instruments and push along toys. Staff provide lots of shared experiences, including themed bags to explore together, each one containing a variety of natural resources to provide sensory stimulation through textures, smells and sounds. Babies' individual routines are followed for rests and meals. The baby room is one of the nursery's smaller rooms and has no direct access to the outdoors and in warmer weather the room can become a little stuffy. Staff aim to take children outside whenever possible. However, they are

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and outcomes for children

restricted by shared access to the play areas with older children and by the logistics of manoeuvring a large number of non walking children in a safe and secure way. This means that the youngest children at the nursery do not always benefit from as much fresh air as others.

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and outcomes for children

In the Tiddler room, children aged between one and two years are looked after by a confident and knowledgeable staff team. Children who are new to the nursery benefit from good settling in procedures, and Makaton signing is used to help children with limited communication skills. Children are helped to make decisions about their play using a choices book to point out favourite activities. From this staff noted that children enjoyed water and splashing about and playing imaginatively with large recycled cardboard boxes. They then based their planning on these interests in the indoor and outdoor areas so that children are able to enjoy learning based on their own interests. A recent development to the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 curriculum is the introduction of heuristic play sessions, when children are provided with a calm, quiet atmosphere and the opportunity to explore a range of natural

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and outcomes for children

and household items such as shells, pegs, pots and pans without intervention or interruption.

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and outcomes for children

Toddlers aged between two and three years enjoy a spacious learning environment with access to an outside play area which is safe and secure. They have timetabled free-flow outside play sessions, shared with other age groups, but at yet do not have the freedom to move between the indoors and out for the whole of their day. Children are free to choose from a wide variety of toys and activities, including role play, small world toys, musical and sensory toys made from recycled materials and sit and ride toys. Their art work is attractively displayed including lively attempts at self portraits. Visits from outside agencies such as the police and local paramedics help children become aware of their own personal safety and develop an understanding of their local community. Staff use group activities to reinforce children's learning and understanding of personal care. Children happily explain that they wash their hands before snack and are keen to show their numerical

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and outcomes for children

skills by counting the number of breadsticks they have on their plates. Staff have implemented 'tiger's rules' to help new children understand what is acceptable behaviour at the nursery, staff use a tiger puppet during circle time to interact with children to reinforce simple ground rules.

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and outcomes for children

Currently the oldest children attending are aged between three and under five years and are looked after in their own pre-school room on the nursery's lower ground floor. They are confident and polite and have very good relationships with key staff and each other. They are effectively helped to develop their skills in communication, language, numeracy, problem solving and information technology, and so are well prepared for their next stage of learning and development. In preparation for transition to school children learn to pay attention by developing good listening skills during group times, and, as a reward for sitting quietly, they are encouraged to choose toys and resources for themselves. They happily make decisions, choose toys such as a play till, books or small world toys and, when finished, take responsibility for tidying up after themselves. Others choose to play outside; children have the opportunity to use both covered and open outdoor play.

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and outcomes for children

Children know that to keep them safe and healthy they should apply sun cream in warm weather.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have set up the outside play by taking a selection of indoor activities outside. Children can spend time in the fresh air, looking at books in the cosy corner, scribing with pens and paper, constructing with building sets, playing with water and in the play house. There is a range of physical equipment available such as a slide, ball pool, mini tunnel and sit and ride toys, enabling children to develop strength, coordination and physical control. However, best use is not made of this area, as staff do not plan to offer differing activities, which are exciting and physically challenging to complement the ways in which children learn in the outdoor environment. 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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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 2 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 2

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Stage

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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