My Nursery

My Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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My Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY293734 Inspection date 12 September 2005 Inspector Tracy Larnach

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My Nursery

Setting Address My Nursery, 18 St. Peters Road, Margate, Kent, CT9 1TF

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E-mail

Registered person Marnie Johanna Pearce 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?

My Nursery opened in 2004. It operates from 3 rooms within a detached house in Margate. The nursery serves the local town. A maximum of 25 children may attend the nursery at any one time. It is open each weekday from 08:00 to 18:00 throughout the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 53 children aged from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these, 31 children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery currently supports

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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 children with special educational needs and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs eight staff, including the manager. Of these, six hold an appropriate early years qualification, one is working towards a qualification and one remains unqualified. The setting receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children have access to a bright, clean environment where they are beginning to learn the importance of good hygiene and personal care. Children wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before they eat. They know this helps to prevent the spread of germs. Younger children are taught to wash their hands after playing outside and are beginning to understand the importance of good personal hygiene through the daily routines. Children regularly enjoy a range of activities that contribute to their health and develop their physical skills. They move around the classrooms with confidence, showing good spatial awareness. They confidently join hands to make a circle for group time. Children enjoy daily outdoor activities, which help them develop control of their bodies; for example, they enjoy playing on the bicycles, in the tunnels and on the climbing frames. In addition they have the opportunity to play with bats, balls,

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Helping children to be healthy

hoops and other equipment. Inside, children dance or move to music, a two-year-old said "that was good," as she laid on the floor after a vigorous dancing session. The children are becoming aware of the way activity affects their bodies and know when they need a drink or rest. They are able to help themselves to water from cold water dispensers whenever they are thirsty. Staff encourage children to drink plenty especially in warm weather to prevent dehydration. Children are beginning to understand the benefits of a healthy diet. The staff talk to them about healthy foods as they play. They have fruit for their snacks with toast or crackers. This helps them to develop healthy eating habits from a young age. However, snack time in the preschool classroom is rushed, not allowing time for the children to serve themselves and develop their motor skills and independence. The adults do not sit with the children, as a result there are missed opportunities for the

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Helping children to be healthy

children to participate in meaningful conversations and socialise. All children are encouraged to bring fruit to the nursery to share. Younger children who bring in fruit are made to feel very special. They are thanked and told how delicious it is. It is cut up and served at the table so they can help themselves. As a result they are motivated to try new fruits. The children's lunches, are brought in from home. Parents are asked to supply ice packs to keep the food from spoiling. The staff keep a few spare to ensure all food is stored safely.

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Helping children to be healthy

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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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are able to move around safely, freely and independently because of effective classroom set up and good staff deployment. Staff work well together to identify and minimise risks to keep children safe. They undertake regular risk assessments both inside and out, which means children can explore without danger. Children are learning about keeping themselves safe. For example, they wear safety helmets when outside on the bikes and a 'wet floor' sign is used if there are spills from the water table. In addition, regular fire drills help children become familiar with evacuation procedures so they learn how to leave the premises quickly and safely. A video phone system in the office and preschool classroom ensures that only staff and parents are permitted access to the nursery. A visitors books is kept for all visitors. As a result of these measures children are safe as unauthorised individuals can not

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

enter the nursery. Children select activities from a wide range of good quality toys and equipment, which meet safety standards. Staff check toys and equipment regularly to ensure they remain in good repair. Staff safeguard the children’s welfare by having all the required procedures and documents in place. For example, allergies are posted in the kitchen, emergency numbers are readily accessible and the names of staff trained in first aid are posted in each classroom. The manager has had recent training in child protection, and has updated the nursery's procedures and trained the staff. This ensures staff quickly recognise when a child is in danger and can act in the child's best interest. However, the nursery's child protection policy has not been updated to reflect this.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enter the nursery confidently. They quickly settle, selecting from the range of activities on offer. Staff carefully prepare the environment so that children may self-select and are able to clean up after themselves. This promotes their independence. Staff caring for the younger children have begun to use the Birth to three matters framework. However, it has not been fully implemented as intended. Staff are scheduled for further training, this will assist them in planning appropriately for the under threes. The younger children spend their time purposefully, they enjoy a range of activities that are stimulating and well balanced. Their creativity and imagination is encouraged through activities such as dressing up, painting and playing in different mediums, such as corn flour, jelly, sand and water. They also enjoy singing, dancing and playing instruments. However, the activities are set up in

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

two separate rooms. This means that the children can only access the activities set up in the room they are in at the time. Children confidently approach staff for support indicating trusting relationships. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and the children's learning is satisfactory. Children are

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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 confident speakers and good listeners. Children develop a love of books and an interest in reading because they have access to a good range of books in a well presented reading area. They read stories both independently and with an adult. Name cards, lists and a print-rich environment all encourage early literacy skills. Children count confidently and recognise numbers that are important to them. They enjoy number activities, however, some numbers games played in circle time resulted in fidgety children due to the large group. Children are confident in using information and communication technology. They are learning to control the mouse. They use listening stations, telephones and calculators during role-play. Children learn about different cultures, families and the wider world through a range of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

activities, materials and topics. However, the planned activity on the first day of inspection was not appropriate in promoting positive images of culture. Children use their imagination well, for example, they enjoy making meals in the role-play area. Children eagerly play with mediums such as sand, water and paint. Overall, children make satisfactory progress in all areas of learning. Staff create a stimulating environment, they interact well with the children supporting their learning by asking open-ended questions to make them think and promote their language development. Children enjoy teacher led games and cooperate well together, taking turns and concentrating well. However, observations of children's work are not being used effectively to inform the planning. Staff link the planning to the six areas of learning and the stepping stones, but it does not show what the staff want the children to learn or include adaptations to show they are adequately planning for and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

meeting the children's individual interests and needs. Therefore, children may not be challenged in their learning and individual talents may not be maximised. Staff make the most of incidental opportunities to extend children's learning, for example, one child enjoyed doing simple addition and subtraction with a staff member during the mornings activities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are valued and respected as individuals. Staff provide a range of activities and resources to promote a positive view of the wider world and increase children’s awareness of diversity and their understanding of others. They have a variety of play resources which show positive images of culture, ethnicity and gender. The staff has effective arrangements to care for children with special needs and are proactive in providing care and education for all children. The special education needs coordinator works with outside agencies to assist in developing individual education plans to meet children's needs. Children show care and concern for each other, and play together well. Staff use lots of positive reinforcement and praise and the children respond by behaving appropriately. Children confidently decide what to do, they help themselves to drinks and independently visit the toilet.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership between parents and staff is good. Parents feel informed about the setting and their children's learning. Communication through newsletters, daily chats and detailed notice boards helps staff and parents to work together. The staff who care for the younger children provide parents with written information about their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 child's day. In addition staff regularly invite parents in to meet with them about their children's progress. The provision fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Overall the provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides. The children benefit from qualified, experienced staff who are very caring. All staff work well together. They are developing as a strong team. They identify areas of weakness and work quickly on improvements to benefit the children. There are suitable contingency plans in place to cover for absences. This ensures children have appropriate supervision to keep them safe. The manager is very positive. She is proactive about training and all staff have identified their training needs. The nursery is well laid out and staff deploy effectively supporting children in their play. Induction training, policies and procedures work in practice to keep children healthy and safeguard their welfare. However, the register was not accurate during the lunch time transition, making accountability of all children difficult, thus compromising the

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Organisation

children's safety. The leadership and management of the setting is satisfactory. The classroom for the funded children is well organised. There are a range of activities and experiences for the children to select from although the learning intentions are not clear from the planning. Children are given a clear warning at tidy up times to allow them time to finish. However, there are several transition times during the day which disrupts the flow of activities. Waiting at these times result in boredom and sometimes inappropriate behaviour. In addition, the length of the sessions do not allow all children to participate for as long as they would like to, or for all children to have a turn. For example, the role play area became a tent for an hour then was tidied away.

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Improvements since the last inspection

As a result of a complaint against the provider in June 2005. The following two recommendations were made. Review systems for managing access into the nursery in order to minimise the disruption on the toddler group. There is now a comprehensive video system in place. Staff can monitor who is at the entrance from the office and preschool room. As a result the manager is there to greet parents and even if she is unavailable the children's activities are not disrupted to open the door. They were also asked to ensure keys for internal doors are easily accessible when the doors are locked. The keys are now accessible so the doors can be easily opened form either side.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Ofsted received a complaint about this setting in June 2005. The complaint related to

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Standard 2, organisation and standard 6, safety. Ofsted carried out an unannounced visit to investigate the complaint. As a result of the visit two recommendations were made, see improvements since the last inspection above. Ofsted is satisfied that the provider has taken the appropriate steps to address the complaint and remains qualified for registration.

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure snack time is a sociable time that promotes the children's independence • continue to develop the use of birth to three matters • ensure register remains accurate at all times and includes times of arrival and departure.

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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): • develop planning inside and outside to include details of what children are expected to learn and how staff differentiate to ensure all children progress through the stepping stones • make effective use of observations to identify individual children next steps in learning and use the information gained to inform the planning • review schedule in view of limiting transitions times.

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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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