Soar Valley College

Toad Hall Nursery Ottershaw

Inspection report for early years provision

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Toad Hall Nursery Ottershaw

Unique Reference Number 120286 Inspection date 03 February 2006 Inspector Anne Jacqueline Nicholson

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Toad Hall Nursery Ottershaw

Setting Address The Old School House, Brox Road, Ottershaw, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 0HH Telephone number 01932 874286

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E-mail

Registered person Careroom Limited 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?

Toad Hall Nursery is one of 16 nurseries run by Care Room Ltd. It opened in 1997 and operates from two rooms within an old school house building in Ottershaw. It is situated in a residential area within easy driving distance of Chertsey, Addlestone, Woking and Weybridge. A maximum of 41 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08.00 to 18.00 for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure outdoor play area.

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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 There are currently 57 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. Of these 10, 3 and 4 year old children receive funding for nursery education. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs six permanent staff, a cook and four regular supply staff. Two of the staff, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications to level three. Three hold a level two qualification and are committed to completing additional training to gain level three qualifications. The nursery receives support from the Local Authority.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Older children enjoy a satisfactory variety of activities that help to promote their development of a healthy body. However the babies and toddlers under two years currently enjoy limited opportunities to participate in physical play activities inside, outside or by going for walks in the fresh air. Older children begin to display an awareness of the importance of following good personal hygiene practices. They gain an understanding of why they need to wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before eating food. Babies and children wash their faces and hands with flannels after eating their lunch. They demonstrate increasing independence in accessing the toilet area by themselves. However they do not have any privacy when using the toilet and the rubbish bin has no lid. Babies receive regular nappy changes. Staff follow good hygiene practices by using a new pair of plastic gloves for each change

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Helping children to be healthy

and appropriately disposing of the nappies. An implication for children and staffs health is that there is insufficient extraction facilities in the baby changing area and the smell from dirty nappies often lingers in their room. Any accidents that happen to children receive appropriate treatment from staff. They complete accident record sheets, request parents acknowledge these by signing them and then give parents a copy. Five staff currently hold paediatric first aid certificates. Children that require any invasive medicines for asthma or allergies receive this from the six staff who have undertaken Epipen training. Before children receive any medication, parents complete permission slips clearly showing the correct dosage and the administration times. Children's dietary needs receive consideration as parents record the food they cannot eat due to allergies, religious requirements or parental preferences on the

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Helping children to be healthy

registration form. Children receive a good variety of nutritional snacks throughout the year and the on-site cook ensures that food hygiene requirements are met. Older children ably demonstrate their skills at spreading and pouring at the snack table. They sit down and pour themselves milk or water and confidently spread butter on their crackers. They try for themselves prior to asking for support. Children sit at the table for lunch and tea and enthusiastically interact with each other and staff, who acknowledge this as a valuable sociable time for all. Babies eat together sitting in highchairs or on low chairs at the table. Staff sit with them and assist them with

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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 feeding depending on their individual needs. Babies sit in highchairs and low chairs around a table to eat. One baby was sitting in a chair too low for the table and this did not support his attempts at independent eating. Children receive encouragement to try and use eating utensils to feed themselves. Although they display various levels of competence at this they all demonstrate an eagerness to try. Staff effectively encourage children to drink plenty as water is accessible throughout the session and babies drinking cups remain accessible within their room.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children have sufficient space available to play either at tables or on the floor. Staff currently carry out regular reviews on how they organise the space to ensure it effectively provides plenty of play opportunities. Children over two years readily access resources on tables and from the low level shelving units around the room. Babies access satisfactory resources but at times these lack physical challenge and variety. Children's safety remains a priority and the nursery carries out regular risk assessments to ensure the building remains hazard free. The exterior door remains secure ensuring that no unauthorised visitors gain access. Children and staff participate in monthly fire drills to become familiar with the process of how to exit the building in the event of a fire or incident. The children's safety and welfare needs are met through there being clearly written child protection procedures in place. Parents receive and sign some information

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

highlighting the nursery's responsibility to pass on child protection concerns to the appropriate authorities. Staff demonstrate a sound basic knowledge of child protection and a few have also undertaken basic 'safeguarding children' training. The manager has undertaken advanced 'safeguarding children' training.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Both older and younger children enter to find their rooms set up with a varying range of resources and activities for them to freely access. Each room displays children's creative work, posters and pictures to provide visual stimulation. Currently the youngest children receive a more limited variety of activities and challenge within their room base than the older room. Current in the baby room children are very mobile and demonstrate the need for more stimulation and physical play opportunities. Younger children in the main room begin to receive an increase of activities and observations that support their developmental progress through the implementation of Birth to Three Matters. They enthusiastically enjoy participating in making coloured play dough, each waiting to take a turn to pour in flour and water and then stirring it. They ably attempt and complete inset puzzles and enjoy creating

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

shapes in the sand. Children receive encouragement to clear away before the next activity, for instance prior to going out to play or eating lunch. Implementation of Birth

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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 to Three Matters in the nursery is beginning to increase younger children and babies learning opportunities and enhance their natural developmental progress. Staff knowledge, understanding and confidence in implementing this is developing. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Children are making a sound progress through the early learning goals of the foundation stage. The nursery is now making steady progress with their planning and assessments to support this progress. Staff knowledge of how to implement the foundation stage is developing but the quality of teaching is variable with some staff more confident than others. Children separate happily from their carers as they enter the nursery. They receive encouragement to share with each other and take turns. They develop an awareness

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

of what is acceptable behaviour within the setting. Their personal independence skills emerging through attempting to try activities like putting on boots, coats and going to the toilet for themselves before seeking assistance. Although they receive plenty of encouragement, some aspects of the physical environment do not fully enable this, for instance the cramped coat pegs and open toilet cubicles. Children confidently sit down at the 'self service' snack table to pour themselves a drink or serve themselves a snack. Children enjoy daily opportunities to access pencils to create pictures and develop mark making and pre-writing skills. Children receive encouragement to write their own names on their work. Staff value their contributions and display their work around the room. Children begin to learn counting skills and number recognition by counting when they line up, days of the week, numbers of plates and shapes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Opportunities to develop their problem solving and comparison skills are more limited. Children participate in planned activities promoting other cultures and countries. Examples include Chinese New Year, Christmas, Hanukkah and Dragon boat festival. Currently their opportunities to observe positive images and resources promoting other countries and cultures are limited. Children discover about living things and staff support impromptu investigations, for instance when a spider is found in the setting. Children enjoy using the garden for physical play opportunities for instance running around with each, playing with ride-on trikes, hoops and balls. The garden is an area the nursery is planning to re-develop to increase the general condition and play opportunities available. Children receive daily opportunities to do a creative activity. Activities include cutting, painting, sticking, sand and water. They

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

also enjoy some imaginative play opportunities and this is an area that adapts dependent on the current theme. One example is the home area turning into a post office to provide another opportunity to promoting the theme.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. A clearly written equal opportunities policy is in place, shared with parents and implemented by staff. Older children begin to learn to value themselves and others through planned activities and topics, for instance discovering all about themselves and their families in topic work. Children observe limited positive visual images

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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 showing people with special needs, those from different cultures and labels in other languages. Children in the youngest room currently receive less play, resource and outside opportunities than those in the older room. Staff demonstrate an awareness of how to assist children with individual and special needs and give regard to the code of practice (2002) for the identification and assessment of special educational needs. Children and parents greet staff on first name basis and this assists in developing positive relationships. The behaviour management policy is available to parents in the operational information and all staff demonstrate an awareness of how to implement it. Older children receive instructions on what is acceptable behaviour in the nursery. Talking with children they demonstrate a good awareness of what they

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Helping children make a positive contribution

can and cannot do and how they should behave. They happily attempt to push the boundaries but respect what staff say without going too far. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. The quality of the partnership with parents is good. Parents receive a copy of the prospectus, observe information on the notice boards and receive regular newsletters. They receive written information about the complaints procedure, the process to follow if they have a concern and the response times they can expect from the setting. They share information with staff about their children on registration forms, through daily informal discussions and through attending the 'Parents evenings'. During the year, and on leaving the nursery, they receive parental questionnaires to complete. These highlight the positives as well as the areas parents would like to see an improvement in. The management collates this

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Helping children make a positive contribution

information and supplies parents with the findings and how the nursery will be addressing them in a newsletter.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit from a light environment made inviting and welcoming through abundant displays of children's work hanging from the ceiling and displays of work and posters on the wall. The nursery continually reviews how it organises resources and equipment to ensure it provides a variety of activities and opportunities for children to use when they arrive. Children begin to develop good relationships with staff who display caring attitudes. Parents and children benefit from the manager and staffs dedication to improving the provision and development of the policies and procedures. Staff undergo rigorous recruitment, vetting and induction procedures and demonstrate a strong commitment to developing themselves professionally by undertaking training. The provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides. The quality of leadership and management of the nursery education is good. The

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Organisation

nursery is working hard to monitor what it is producing and staff are committed to on going training to ensure their knowledge is up to date. The developmental plan ensures that the setting assesses the provision they provide, prioritises areas for development, setting themselves timescales to achieve this. Staff and managers

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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 evaluate practice and policies to ensure improvement continues within the provision. Areas they wish to further develop include recording methods, observations, the outside play opportunities and toileting. Staff work well together making steady progress with their implementation of the foundation stage curriculum and Birth to three matters framework.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last Children act inspection the nursery had to ensure (under standard 2 organisation) that staff ratios remain met at all times. Children remain safely supervised as staff ratios within the rooms and the nursery are now met and monitored. They had to ensure (under standard 2 organisation) that space and resources are organised to meet children's needs effectively. Older children can now independently access a variety of resources and receive a wide variety of opportunities each day. Progress in the baby room is more limited. They had to ensure (under standard 10 Special needs) that regard is given to the Code of Practice for the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational needs. Children with additional needs receive support from the nursery's Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and a staff member has current training. The nursery had to ensure (under standard 13 Child Protection) that all adults looking

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Improvements since the last inspection

after children in the provision are able to put the Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC) procedures into practice. Children's welfare needs are met through all staff having access to the nursery's child protection procedures and a sound knowledge on how to implement this. Three members of staff have recently undertaken child protection training. A recommendation was to ensure (under standard 3 Care, Learning and play) that a sufficient variety of activities and play opportunities are accessible to all children. Children now receive a greater variety of planned activities as the nursery is developing it's foundation stage and Birth to three matters implementation. However older children still receive more variety and learning opportunities than those in the baby room. A recommendation was to ensure (under standard 4 Physical Environment) that minimum space standards are adhered to in all areas. Fewer children now access

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Improvements since the last inspection

each room area and the nursery monitors the organisation of the age groups and the play areas to ensure they have sufficient space. A recommendation was to ensure (under standard 4 Physical Environment) that the equipment is kept clean at all times. Children now access resources that undergo cleaning on a regular basis. A recommendation was to ensure (under standard 7 Health) that children's privacy is respected in toilet areas. Children's right to dignity and privacy remains unaddressed as the toilet cubicles do not have doors and any one present can see them in this

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Improvements 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 area. A recommendation was to ensure (under standard 8 Food and Drink) that fresh drinking water is always available to children, including at mealtimes. Children now readily access water or their drinking cups as these remain available on low level surfaces for them to drink from whenever they want. A recommendation (under standard 9 Equal Opportunities) was to evaluate the equality statement, to ensure that it contains the necessary detail about how anti-discriminatory practice is actively promoted by all staff. Children, parents and staff are made aware of the equal opportunities policy and how this is implemented within the nursery. A recommendation (under standard 11 Behaviour) was to evaluate the behaviour and sanctions policy, and ensure that behaviour is managed in a way which promotes

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Improvements since the last inspection

children's welfare and development. Children receive information on what is acceptable behaviour within the nursery and display good manners and an awareness for each others feelings. Nursery Education To improve the Nursery Education the nursery had to secure staff knowledge of the early learning goals and stepping stones so that they can effectively teach the children and implement planning in all areas of learning. They had to ensure that planning and resources are effectively implemented to support the learning of all the early learning goals, especially in Mathematics and Creative Development. Children now benefit from staff undertaking training to increase their awareness on how to effectively plan and implement the foundation stage curriculum. Planning, details all areas of learning to ensure that children receive a wider range of activities and opportunities. Staff had to ensure that all children receive encouragement and are provided with

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Improvements since the last inspection

more opportunities to develop their personal independence e.g. pouring, cutting, sticking. Children can freely access the cutting, sticking and painting resources every day and staff encourage this. They receive encouragement to go to the toilet by themselves and to attempt putting on their coats and boots, however the toilets still remain as open cubicles and the coat pegs are cramped together. Staff had to plan more opportunities for children to develop an awareness of their local community and other cultures. Children now receive more planned opportunities to gain an awareness of people in the community and other cultures through theme work, visitors to the nursery and through the planning, incorporating the celebration of a wide range of festivals.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since April 2004 there are no complaints to report. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they

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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 can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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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): • improve the range of physical activities, resources and outside opportunities for younger children (under two years) as explained in Birth to Three Matters • improve nappy changing facilities and toilet facilities to prevent unpleasant odours after nappy changing and to ensuring the dignity and privacy of children using the toilets remains respected. • increase the opportunities for all children to observe positive images and participate in activities that promote equal opportunities and special needs by displaying positive images, objects reflecting non- stereotypical roles, racial, cultural and religious diversity and disability.

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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): • continue to improve staff knowledge and understanding of the Curriculum Guidance for the foundation stage, planning and assessments to ensure children's progress through the early learning goals. Ensure that daily plans highlight children's individual targets for learning. • further support children's personal independence opportunities by ensuring hand towels remain accessible at all times for hand drying and the rubbish bin is secure with lid and by ensuring their pegs are independently accessible.

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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:

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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 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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