Valley Primary Academy

Billy's Young Stars Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 142818 Inspection date 29/09/2009 Inspector Julie Neal

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Setting address Butlins Skyline Ltd, Warren Road, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 5SH Telephone number 01643 700543 Email 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

Billy’s Young Stars Nursery was first registered in 1995. It is run by Butlins Skyline Ltd and is based at Butlins Somerwest World in Minehead, Somerset. There are two aspects to the setting. There is a full day care facility for the children of Butlins’ staff, which also includes an after school club and a holiday playscheme; and a sessional crèche for the children of holidaymakers staying onsite. There are separate areas within the building for each type of provision, and each has its own entrance and toilet facilities. There is a small enclosed garden suitable for children’s use. The holiday playscheme is situated in a separate building with its own facilities.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 30 children may attend the staff day care provision at any one time. There are currently 44 children on roll, of which 35 are in the early years age range, and attend at different times. A maximum of 24 children may attend the sessional provision for holidaymakers at any one time. Numbers on roll vary on a daily basis, according to season. The setting also provides care for children aged over five years to 11 years. This provision is registered on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the setting

The staff day care provision is open 8.30am to 6.00pm every day, including weekends, all year round. The crèche facility provides sessions from 10.00am to 12.00pm, 2.00pm to 4.00pm, and 7.30pm to 11.00pm; days vary according to demand but sessions do not currently run on a Friday or Monday. There are 12 staff working with children, 10 of whom have relevant childcare qualifications, and two are working towards these.

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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

Children's welfare, learning and development needs are met very well. There are good systems in place to ensure that staff have a thorough understanding of each child's individual requirements. These are used well to establish children's individual starting points, enabling staff to plan effectively to promote their progress and development. Strong systems of ongoing self-evaluation have enabled the setting to identify areas for improvement, and actions taken to address identified weaknesses have been extremely effective in promoting good outcomes for children. For example, encouraging staff to take a more meaningful role in the self-evaluation process has resulted in improvements to the way children's progress towards the early learning goals is monitored, in response to suggestions from the staff team.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  develop processes to share relevant information with other providers, where children attend more than one provision, in order to further support individual learning and development  ensure that systems used to record children's progress towards the early learning and development goals are used consistently, in order that all children's individual learning diaries accurately reflect their current stages of development

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the early years provision

Extremely strong management in the setting has resulted in an enthusiastic and committed staff team who demonstrate a very good knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Staff at all levels have an excellent understanding of their responsibility to safeguard children, and procedures that support them in protecting children are extremely good. Employment procedures are robust and ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff's ongoing suitability is reviewed annually, including renewed Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, and health declarations. All staff take part in safeguarding training to ensure they have a complete understanding of Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures. Visitors are suitably identified, they sign in and out, and are supervised at all times. Risk assessments are excellent, they are detailed and cover all aspects of the provision, including any

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the early years provision

walks or excursions children may take to access other facilities on the holiday park. These are supported by stringent daily routines and procedures that ensure children are kept safe and secure at all times. For example, there are extremely strict procedures in place to ensure the safe collection of holidaymakers' children using the sessional crèche provision, and these are implemented very well by staff. All regulatory documentation is in place and is well maintained. For example, records of attendance in both the staff day-care facility and the holidaymakers sessional provision clearly show the times when children are present, and which members of staff are working in each area. Any accidents or incidents involving children are clearly recorded, and records shared with parents. Policies and procedures that support children's well-being are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they reflect current legislation, and that they provide accessible guidance

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the early years provision

Managers show an immense commitment to ongoing improvement and ensuring high quality outcomes for children. They have invested time into staff development and teambuilding, which has resulted in practitioners being skilled and confident. Managers have successfully promoted a culture of reflective practice in the setting with all staff being involved in evaluating the effectiveness of the provision, and being involved in identifying and addressing areas for development. For example, having identified that more could be done to promote inclusion, they have significantly developed information and resources that support children and parents for whom English is not their first language. This has resulted in good quality, practical information being accessible to parents in their own languages, that relates to the setting and to wider welfare issues affecting children. For instance, guidelines for the prevention of Swine Flu are provided in more than one

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the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 language.

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the early years provision

Staff develop good relationships with parents and work closely with them to ensure their children's individual needs are met. Parents of children who attend the sessional crèche facility bring their children for a one hour taster and settling in session, enabling staff to observe children and discuss their individual needs with parents. Parents of children who attend the day-care facility are encouraged to visit as often as they wish prior to their children's attendance. This ensures that parents have opportunities to get to know key people involved in their children's care, and to discuss their child's individual requirements. Information for parents is well presented and is relevant to each part of the setting. For instance, children's activities in the crèche facility are programmed in advance in order that parents can book their children into the sessions they will enjoy most while on holiday.

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the early years provision

Within the day-care facility, information regarding children's activities is more focused on how what children do supports specific areas of learning and development. The setting invites feedback from parents, for example using questionnaires and email to gain their views, as well as discussions. Some children attending the day-care facility also receive care from other providers of the EYFS, such as local preschools. The setting has yet to make links with these in order to share information regarding individual learning and development, although has identified that they need to do so.

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and outcomes for children

Children thoroughly enjoy a wide range of activities that promote their learning and development in all areas. Staff plan very effectively to ensure that activities are appropriate to the different types of provision within the setting. Within the sessional crèche provision, children attend who are on holiday, most will only attend a few sessions. Therefore, staff plan activities to be broadly appealing, such as cookery and art and crafts, and they use their skills to quickly engage children, encouraging them to make suggestions about what they would like to do. When planning, staff consider how different activities generally support aspects of the early learning and development goals. The short-term attendance of children in the crèche means that formal monitoring of children's individual progress in learning is not realistic. However, where children return for more than one session, staff use their previous observations to plan activities that build on their interests and

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and outcomes for children

Within the day care facility, children of all ages make consistently good progress towards the early learning and development goals, in relation to their individual capabilities and starting points. This is because the staff team have a very good knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the EYFS. They make good observations of children and use these to identify the next steps in learning and development for each child. Staff have a thorough understanding of each child's individual stage of development, and have devised an effective process for monitoring children's attainments. However, there are some inconsistencies in maintaining children's records of learning and development, with some not accurately reflecting children's current progress. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Babies and very young children develop warm and affectionate relationships with

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and outcomes for children

staff, who support their individual routines well. For example, they have their meals and sleeps in accordance with home routines in order to maintain consistency of care as they grow and develop. Burgeoning communication skills are promoted extremely well by staffs excellent interactions with very young children, encouraging babies to babble and form sounds, and using songs, rhymes and repetition as children start to say recognisable words. Very young children are confident as they learn to move their bodies purposefully, and staff organise resources well to encourage this. For example, interesting items in strategically placed treasure baskets encourage babies to stretch and crawl towards them, and to grasp and explore the textures and sounds of the objects within. Extremely lively musical activities are enjoyed by children who learn to coordinate their movements as they shake maracas and rattles, and use sticks to hit to xylophones

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and outcomes for children

Children of all ages are happy and content because their individual needs are met well. Older children take an active and meaningful role in planning and developing activities. For example, three and four-year-old children enjoy a story involving jungle animals, then they decide they want to play a game of 'in the jungle', which involves a long imaginary trek. Staff engage with children extremely well, encouraging them to think and to voice their thoughts and ideas. For instance, they talk about animals they may see on the ground or up in trees, they talk about the jungle being hot and sticky, and they move quietly and noisily as they pretend to be different creatures such as snakes and tigers. Children develop an awareness of the wider world through a range of activities. For example, they learn about aspects of each other's home cultures and traditions. Staff identify celebrations from different cultures that will have some meaning for children and explore these

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and outcomes for children

with them, for example, focusing on those that celebrate friendship and family. Children are well behaved and show kindness and concern for each other. They take turns and share well, and take pride in being helpful, such as tidying toys away after use. They are encouraged to share and explore their feelings appropriately, and excellent use is made of props such as persona dolls and 'Monty', a giant monkey, to help them articulate, for example, what makes them feel cross.

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and outcomes for children

Awareness of personal safety is considered an integral part of routines and activities, and regular repetition ensures that children quickly develop an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe from harm. Frequent practising of emergency evacuation procedures ensures they gain awareness of how to conduct themselves in the event of a fire. They are reminded of safety procedures every time they leave the premises. For example, prior to going to feed the ducks staff go through safety routines with children, including keeping safe when crossing roads and near water. Due to the public nature of the holiday park staff ensure children develop a very good understanding that they must not talk to strangers.

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and outcomes for children

Children's health is supported well. Clear sickness policies and procedures are shared with parents and implemented effectively by staff. All members of staff have current first aid certificates, which means that any accidents can be immediately responded to by an appropriately trained person. Children benefit This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 from a clean and well maintained environment, where very thorough systems of checks ensure that all areas remain hygienic. Children are supported well as they learn to manage their own personal needs independently and to develop at understanding of the importance of good hygiene practice. For example, babies and very young children quickly learn that they must wash their hands before snacks; older children ensure they use tissues when they cough and sneeze, and they know to put these in the bin straight after use. The setting has a healthy

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and outcomes for children

eating policy and parents are encouraged to support this by providing nutritionally balanced, packed lunches. Snacks are provided and children have a good variety of fresh fruit. Children have access to fresh drinking water at all times, and staff encourage them to drink at regular intervals, particularly when active. 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 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 3 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 1 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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