ABC Nursery

ABC Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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ABC Nursery

Unique Reference Number 134038 Inspection date 19 September 2005 Inspector Jan Leo

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ABC Nursery

Setting Address 11 Sandfield Road, Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7RG

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E-mail

Registered person Diane Tucker Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

ABC Day Nursery is a privately owned provision which registered in 1997. The nursery is situated in a residential area in Headington in Oxford, within walking distance of the John Radcliffe Hospital. The building, previously used as a residential home for the elderly, has been converted to create eight base rooms over two floors. Children are grouped according to their age with the older children using the rooms on the first floor. The nursery has an enclosed rear outdoor play area with assorted

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 play surfaces. It is shared by all the children attending the provision. The nursery serves the local area. The setting incorporates an after school and holiday care service for school age children and is open five days a week from 7.30 until 18.30 all year round. The nursery is registered for up to 58 children under the age of 8 years at any one time. There are currently 77 children on the roll who attend on a full or part time basis. This includes 23 children in receipt of government early education funding. Children aged over 8 years are also accepted. The setting supports a number of children with special needs and English as an additional language. There are 18 staff who work with the children on a full or part time basis. Of these, 16 have Early Year’s qualifications to level 2 or 3, and 1 is currently working towards a

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

recognised Early Year’s qualification. The setting receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children learn basic good practice regarding hand washing in order for them to avoid infection, and staff wipe tables at regular intervals to reduce the build up of germs. Parts of the building are not clean and the excessive dust in some areas could aggravate any breathing problems. Children are well nourished and enjoy appetising and varied meals with some degree of choice. Staff assist the cook in serving children's food but do not follow Environmental Health guidelines regarding wearing suitable clothing when handling food. Children have drinking water freely available at the nursery for when they are thirsty, but they can have to wait for a drink when playing off site in hot weather. Staff are attentive to babies and very young children, helping them to become emotionally secure, and they adopt effective settling in procedures for new members of the nursery. Young children rest and eat according

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Helping children to be healthy

to their needs but staff sometimes question the needs of older children and expect them to wait for the toilet when they clearly express their need to go. Children benefit from fresh air both on and off site. Staff have a sun protection policy to ensure children wear hats and sunscreen in sunny weather, but they do not routinely follow this to protect children from heatstroke. Older children, who are in receipt of early education funding, develop their co-ordination and skills through enjoyable outdoor activities designed to promote good health. Children run, hop, balance, throw and catch with varying levels of confidence. Some eagerly join in all activities whilst others are selective and need persuading to participate in team games. Staff demonstrate activities fairly clearly. They praise children's success to spur them on and increase their interest in staying active.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children play on two levels of the building, which in places and not well maintained. Staff use attractive pictures, photographs and children's work to make the environment more welcoming to children. In the main the play areas safe. Some carpets are uneven and pose trip hazards, and secondary glazing is not always secure to protect climbing children from breakable glass. The entrance is untidy, making a fire extinguisher difficult to access which could hamper children's evacuation in emergencies. Children use a wide range of equipment safely, and successfully avoid collisions with others when moving round in play. Staff supervise adequately to help young children avoid injury as they learn to walk, and they use effective barriers to limit access to hazardous areas. Staff deploy themselves evenly

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

throughout the group when escorting children to the park but give inconsistent messages when ordering children to stay on the pavement while some staff stand in the road. Children do not routinely learn how to keep themselves safe. Staff have a sound understanding of child protection issues. Some have attended training and a policy is in place to ensure staff know how to respond if they have concerns about a child.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Babies and very young children enjoy calm and relaxing activities, which offer opportunities for them to play alone or alongside friends. Some copy adults and confidently ask visitors to 'sshhh' as dolly sleeps having been placed carefully in a baby seat. Others try to mimic arm gestures while singing action songs with staff. Whole groups flock round the staff at story time to engross themselves in the book. All staff working with the younger children interact effectively to ensure babies settle and enjoy their day. Staff occupied with older children do not routinely join in play to develop ideas and skills, and there are frequently missed opportunities to extend children's interests. Many 2 year olds competently organise their own games with older children and mix well. They show interest in the resources and generally try everything on offer, moving round freely as they choose. All children have access to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

a suitable range of equipment and resources to provide appropriate challenges and, in the main, they remain happy all day. Children do not routinely learn to care for their environment and help tidy away. This results in some children walking over musical instruments, puzzles getting mixed up, and less space for play. Nursery Education. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff sometimes join in play to help children develop their skills but they do not display a sound understanding of how children learn. Children often receive orders rather than clear explanations and some staff threaten to exclude children from activities if they fail to comply with expectations. Staff regularly miss opportunities to develop ideas and link learning. Children organise their own play and participate in planned activities every day, but staff do not seize opportunities to link the two to reinforce what children know and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

make learning relevant. For example, staff do not develop mathematical work as children pack a suitcase, cut and shape dough, and re-arrange the dolls house. Instead, a counting, matching and sorting exercise is available in a separate room,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 making learning disjointed. Children mix well with different groups of friends and learn from each other. Most share resources fairly, co-operate to successfully complete puzzles, and navigate through computer programs. Children have easy access to a range of mark making equipment and use it confidently to create notes for friends using controlled movements. Children independently select books to read alone in a quiet corner and they clearly tell others what they are doing. Well-chosen resources enable children to develop letter recognition with little help and children shriek with delight when they guess correctly. Planning is adequate to provide a broad range of learning experiences, but in practice staff do not think through plans in detail, and learning outcomes are not always clear. Staff provide too many resources at any one

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

time for children to have sufficient space to spread and develop their games, and children do not learn to tidy away routinely to develop the care of their surroundings. Whilst children enjoy taking part in action songs with staff, some receive no help to develop their interest in the musical instruments. Children are encouraged to join in outdoor games to develop co-ordination and stamina and they show a growing interest in a range of sporting activities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Staff identify children's individual needs and they meet them appropriately taking account of family culture and preferences. Staff welcome children with special needs and work with outside agencies when necessary to devise effective systems to help children progress. Some staff place unrealistic expectations on children and give out orders and negative messages to manage behaviour, rather than clear explanations to help children learn how to behave. Despite that, most children feel welcome, behave well, and build stable relationships with staff. Younger children benefit from a more relaxed atmosphere where they become confident and secure. The partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. Parents and carers are happy with the friendly atmosphere of the nursery and family like groups for their children to work in. Staff provide basic information about the setting and display policies and planning for all to

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Helping children make a positive contribution

see. They do not routinely date all paperwork but include enough detail to give a clear picture of each day and children's rate of progress. Staff make children's records available to parents and carers if requested to help them celebrate their children's achievements. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. The leadership and management of the provision are satisfactory. Children are cared for by suitably checked and qualified staff, many of whom have worked at the provision for several years. The staff work fairly well together and are encouraged to attend training courses to continue their personal development. Staff deploy themselves effectively to support and oversee children's activities and maintain the required ratios. The children are organised into small groups but have opportunities to socialise with the other groups to broaden their circle of friends and become familiar

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 with all the staff. This helps avoid anguish when staff need to be re-deployed to cover holidays and illness. A staff rota operates for day to day cleaning duties and these are generally carried out routinely each day. The visual appearance of the property and outdoor resources is poor due to a lack of formal procedures for thorough cleaning and ongoing maintenance. Most of the rooms have limited space and storage is badly organised resulting in cluttered areas, which could affect children's safety and enjoyment. Staff use the entrance halls to house information for parents and carers as well as children's health and attendance records. This causes a breach in confidentiality as some personal information is on public view. Some of the documents required by regulation lack detail and some policies have been mislaid.

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Improvements since the last inspection

A number of actions were set after the last inspection, which in the main, have been addressed. The provider was required to verify qualifications of some staff and devise plans to improve the qualification levels; deploy staff appropriately to ensure unchecked staff had no unsupervised access to children; improve continuity of staff for babies; comply fully with the fire officers recommendations; remove the hazard presented by a torn carpet; and improve health and hygiene knowledge and practices. The provider has verified and raised the level of staff qualifications, and deploys the staff effectively to ensure all children are supervised by satisfactorily checked adults. She came to an agreement with the fire officer and confirmed that she complies fully with his requirements. The torn carpet has been removed to avoid children tripping, but carpet in a different area is now stretched and uneven, which again creates a trip

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Improvements since the last inspection

hazard. Five staff have attended training in health, hygiene and food handling but despite that, staff do not comply with Environmental Health recommendations. They do not keep the building in a clean and well-maintained condition to prevent the spread of infection, or wear suitable clothing when handling food. These matters have been re-addressed by new recommendations following this inspection.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • follow good practice recommended in food hygiene training and ensure all staff wear suitable clothing when handling food • meet children's individual needs regarding intake of fluids and use of the toilet at all times • promote children's understanding of safety issues by ensuring staff act as good role models regarding road safety • review risk assessments to minimise hazards presented by poorly situated resources and equipment, chairs that allow children to climb and access unprotected windows on the first floor, and fire equipment which is obscured by clutter • improve documentation by including full contact details in the child protection and complaints procedures; putting the failure to collect policy in writing; removing personal information from view to improve confidentiality; and

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The quality and standards of the care

making sure the policies are easily available to parents and carers before their children are admitted to the provision

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • improve strategies for behaviour management to ensure they are appropriate for the age and stage of development of the child and help children understand the impact of their behaviour • improve staffs knowledge and understanding of how children learn and review planning to link learning and make full use of all learning opportunities • develop the curriculum within child initiated activities to ensure learning is relevant to the children

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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