The Old School House Nursery School

The Old School House Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY388669 Inspection date 21/10/2009 Inspector Tracey Jane Outram

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Setting address The Rise, 4 Endcliffe Rise Road, SHEFFIELD, S11 8RU

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Telephone number 01142663230 Email info@schoolhouse.plus.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

The Old School House Nursery School opened in 2009. It operates from a purposefully modified and extended detached building, which is situated within an established residential area, that is in close proximity to the centre of Sheffield. It is a privately owned setting that offers nursery provision and out of school care.

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Description of the setting

The children attending the nursery and the out of school club come from the local and surrounding areas. The setting currently use four rooms within the building and the ground floor is dedicated to the care of the younger children. Older children use the stairs to access the upper floors. All children share access to the secure outdoor area. The setting is open from 8.00am to 6.00pm each week day closing only for statutory holidays.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education for children aged three and four-years. They are registered to care for a maximum of 50 children at any one time and there are currently 38 children on roll. Provision is made to support children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. There are 13 permanent staff members all of whom hold relevant childcare qualifications. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is inadequate.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Weaknesses in the leadership and management of the setting fail to ensure that all policies are understood and precisely implemented across the whole of the nursery. The staff do not effectively utilise the outdoor play area and observations of the children are not routinely used to inform the planning, or to ensure that the next steps for their learning are clearly identified. However, the children eagerly enter the bright, spacious and airy premises where they are making steady progress in their learning and development. They enjoy equal access to the available resources and form secure relationships with adults and their peers. in addition, members of staff are welcoming and respectful to parents but strategies to keep them up-to-date about children's progress are not fully developed. The setting has the capacity to maintain continuous improvement; they are committed to providing a quality service and welcome support from the local authority.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the early years provision requires significant improvement. The registered person is given a Notice to Improve that sets out actions to be carried out.

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further?

To comply with the requirements of the EYFS the registered person must take the following action by the specified date: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  update and implement an effective policy on administering medicines; this includes obtaining prior written permission for each and every medicine from parents before and medication is given (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare). 12/11/2009

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further?

To improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 enhance the play provision outdoors to enrich opportunities for children's independent exploration and learning particularly in relation to problem solving, reasoning and numeracy  make ongoing observational assessments and use these to provide relevant and motivating learning experiences that meet each child’s individual needs improve the two way flow of information with parents to promote a shared understanding of children’s individual needs and involve parents in practical ways to support their child’s learning and development  use self-evaluation for tracking, monitoring and analysing the continuous improvement and secure consistency by rigorously checking how well plans and policies are implemented within the setting.

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the early years provision

The children attending the setting are appropriately supervised by attentive adults who are confident to take preventative action to manage or eliminate any environmental risks to their welfare. For example, detailed risk assessments are completed to ensure that hazards to children both on and off the registered premises are kept to a minimum. In addition, members of staff are appropriately deployed, equipment is safe and space is well-utilised. Recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that adults are suitable to work with children and frequent training opportunities are provided for staff to update and increase their skills. Importantly, staff understand the child protection procedures. This includes recognising signs and indicators of abuse, keeping accurate records and alerting the designated child protection officer if they are worried about any children in their care.

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the early years provision

Leaders and managers of the setting are motivated to secure improvements; however, the process of critical self-evaluation is not deeply rooted within the nursery. For example, there are no robust systems in place to track, monitor and analyse the quality of the provision or to check how well staff implement the policies and procedures. This fails to ensure that children's health requirements are adequately addressed and culminates in a breach of the regulatory requirements in relation to the safe administration of medicines. In addition, while some activity planning is based on play based observations, children's records show that this is not consistent practice throughout the nursery. Therefore, it is not always clear how well adults support learning and tailor activities to meet the needs, interests and abilities of individuals and different groups of children, such as those who have English as an additional language.

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the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The nursery works in partnership with a range of others, for example, they work with the local authority and happily engage with a range of early years specialists whose role is to support the care and learning of individual children. In addition, they do their best to build respectful, flexible and supportive relationships with the children's parents. Parents have access to written information about the setting and open channels of communication at the start of a placement enables staff to positively address children’s individual care plans. However, systems to engage and fully include parents in planning for children’s future learning and development are not embedded in the daily practice.

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and outcomes for children

The children are happy within the welcoming nursery environment. They play harmoniously with their peers and have secure relationships with caring adults who actively support their self-esteem by offering praise and encouragement. Consequently, this aids the settling-in processes and transitions from home. The children are developing many of the personal qualities that enable them to take responsibility for small tasks and develop skills for the future. For example, the children's awareness of risk and safety is promoted well and they develop safe levels of independence, such as tidying away toys and sweeping-up sand.

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and outcomes for children

The children generally achieve and enjoy through the deployment of resources. They are consistently occupied and stimulated as they participate in activities that encourage investigation of different materials and concepts, for example, mark- making, painting and modelling. They particularly enjoy dressing-up, role-play and use of the newly acquired computer. The children have good concentration and demonstrate thoughtful social skills as they patiently wait for their turn to complete activities, which support problem solving, reasoning and numeracy along with the identification of some simple initial sounds and letters.

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and outcomes for children

Members of staff talk and listen to the children in order to support their receptive and expressive language development. Although learning resources and scripts that positively support linguistic diversity are not abundant, staff demonstrate a positive attitude towards linguistic diversity by learning some essential words of children's home languages. The children have some opportunities to share the responsibility for decision making, such as deciding what toys to use and when to access outdoor play. In relation to outdoor play, staff make good efforts to provide clothing and equipment that allows children to go outdoors whatever the weather. Consequently, children develop a healthy attitude towards exercise and their climbing skills, balance and spatial awareness is well nurtured. However, the learning opportunities offered by the outdoor environment are not fully considered and do not provide a range of rich, meaningful and engaging experiences, which

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and outcomes for children

address all areas of the early years curriculum.

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and outcomes for children

Babies and younger children enjoy access to a range of sensory resources including treasure baskets and heuristic play provision, which encourages investigation and exploration. In addition, young children benefit from daily opportunities to share and enjoy a wide range of books, rhymes, singing activities This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and use of musical instruments. This coupled with the ongoing positive affirmation of their verbal and non-verbal communication helps to develop confidence and heighten self-esteem. Overall, the children feel safe and secure; they snuggle-up to familiar staff and confidently move around the setting demonstrating their increasing mobility and ability to make controlled, purposeful movements. 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 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 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 4

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 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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