Cherry Field Nursery

Cherry Field Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY300147 Inspection date 16/04/2010 Inspector Carol Patricia Willett

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Setting address Long Grove Park, Long Grove Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8TF Telephone number 01372 747080 Email cherryfield05@aol.co.uk 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 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as 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: 0300 123 1231 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

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

Cherry Field Nursery is one of eight nurseries run by Cherry Nurseries Ltd. It opened in February 2005 and is situated in Long Grove Park in Epsom in Surrey. The premises consist of five base rooms in a building adjacent to Southfield Primary School. Children have access to two age-related enclosed outdoor play areas. They also have use of a dedicated soft play room. All food is cooked on site.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.15pm all year round. The nursery closes for a week at Christmas and on bank holidays. It is registered on the Early Years Register and can accept a maximum of 90 children. There are currently 45 children aged from six weeks to under five years on roll. The nursery accepts children in receipt of nursery grant funding. Children come from the local community. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 17 members of staff. Most staff, including the manager, hold an appropriate early years qualification. Two members of staff are currently on a training programme. Most members of staff hold a current first aid certificate.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children play and learn in a welcoming, safe environment, where most staff are caring, know the children well, and plan for their individual needs. Equality and diversity are promoted and the good range of resources mean that all children can take part at their own level. Staff provide a suitable range of activities and organise the environment well so children become independent learners and make steady progress toward the early learning goals, however, their learning is not always effectively supported. The nursery obtains feedback from parents and reflects on practice in order to identify areas for improvement to continually enhance children's care and learning, however, the setting have not yet developed this into an effective action plan. Partnerships with parents are good although links with other settings children attend have not been effectively established.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the systems of observation to effectively identify learning and achievements in order to fully support children's learning and development  develop all staff's interactive and teaching skills in order to fully support children in their play and learning and extend their knowledge and skills  further develop the self-evaluation process to ensure all aspects of the provision are systematically reviewed with actions in place to improve outcomes for children This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  develop effective links with other settings children attend in order to provide a coherent approach to children's s learning and development.

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the early years provision

Children are generally well safeguarded as there are effective safeguarding procedures and security of the premises is very good. Staff undertake safeguarding training and have a good awareness of the procedures to follow should there be any concerns about the children in their care. The company has suitable recruitment and vetting procedures and an effective range of policies, procedures and documentation is in place that meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children stay safe as regular written risk assessments and daily checks enable them to play and explore safely. All assigned areas for play are safe both inside and out. Children are well supervised, but are sometimes taken into areas that have not been fully risk assessed to see the bird table. Staff are mostly enthusiastic and well deployed and work well as a team. The nursery manager works with the early years advisor and company support manager to monitor and

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the early years provision

evaluate the setting and identify areas for development. They have completed an Ofsted self-evaluation form and complete an audit on accident and incident records, but they have not yet developed a plan to prioritise areas and implement improvements. They are committed to improve all aspects of the nursery through heeding local authority review visits and through staff appraisal systems. This identifies training needs such as updating first aid and child protection training for staff. The company has in-house training facilities that are used to further improve knowledge and skills of the staff.

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the early years provision

The staff develop good partnerships with parents and recent feedback questionnaires show they are very happy with the care and learning their children receive at the nursery. Staff have positive relationships with parents and they obtain useful information regarding the children’s individual needs through flexible settling in arrangements. This contributes significantly to consistency of care, children's confidence, sense of belonging and self-esteem. Parents receive relevant information about their child's care at the end of the day through written information, and discussions with staff. They are kept informed about what children are learning through regular news letters and the setting's notice boards and they are encouraged to contribute to children's achievement records. The nursery is beginning to work with other providers, where children attend more than one setting, to ensure a coherent understanding of their individual needs.

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the early years provision

Children with specific needs are identified in a timely manner and offered good support. Children are learning about wider society and differences through using resources that show positive images of diversity, such as books and dressing-up clothes. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children are mostly happy and settled in the nursery as they relate well to the caring staff. Most staff show good interactive skills as they support children's learning and development. However, some staff fail to respond to children's initiated interaction and do not use effective teaching techniques to encourage their thinking and learning and so children's needs are not always acknowledged or met. Staff have a generally good working knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and make observations of the children at play. However, these are not always used to good effect to identify what these tell about the children in relation to the early learning goals. Staff use information from parents and their own observations of children to plan for the children's next steps. The managers have identified this as an area for improvement.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery is organised to provide an effective learning environment, with colourful toys and access to areas where children can explore freely. Children are becoming confident in their daily routines. Staff demonstrate good caring skills as they help to settle new children into the nursery as they follow their own home routines. The children have good opportunities to initiate their own play and develop skills for the future as the environment is organised to allow them to move freely between different areas with toys and equipment stored in low units so that they can select them independently. Children are mostly confident and chat happily to their peers and to staff. They are generally well-behaved and make good relationships with one another as they learn to share and take turns. Staff reinforce the nursery 'code of kindness' using a range of resources, such as cushions with different facial expressions, to enable children to express how they

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and outcomes for children

feel. Children make steady progress in their development as staff provide opportunities for them to take part in a broad range of suitable age appropriate activities that cover all areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children are fully involved in their play, for example, they enjoy playing with ducks in the sand pit and water trays and exploring texture with a shredded wheat mixture and plastic insects. Younger children delightedly explore the soft play areas. Older children make obstacle circuits outside and show good spatial awareness and competent physical skills as they manoeuvre ride-on toys in the well resourced outside play areas. Older children explore the different rooms in the nursery with their 'listening ears' recording the sounds they hear.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop a good awareness of healthy living as they go outside daily for fresh air. Good hygiene procedures ensure the children play in a clean environment. There are good routines in place that develop children's awareness of good personal hygiene through effective hand washing and nappy changing procedures. Children know why it is important to wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating. They develop a knowledge of healthy eating and they eat well at the nursery as they are provided with nutritious freshly cooked meals where specific dietary needs are well catered for and they have ample to eat. Effective measures ensure that children are learning how to stay safe. Staff discuss safety issues with them and gently remind them about using resources safely, such as when in the soft play room. 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 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 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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