Castle Nurseries at Dunstanburgh Road

Dunstanburgh Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY104355 Inspection date 10/11/2009 Inspector Shirley Peart

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Setting address Dunstanburgh Day Nursery, 1 Bywell Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE6 2QN Telephone number 0191 2654546 Email pauline.batey@newcastle.gov.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 08456 404040, 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: 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

Children only attend this setting before and/or after the school day and/or during the school holidays. The judgements in this report reflect the quality of early years provision offered to children during those periods.

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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

Dunstanburgh Day Nursery was registered in 1991. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register, and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The group operates from purpose built premises situated in a residential area in Walker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The group uses three main rooms a lobby area and soft play room. There is access to two enclosed outdoor play areas. They are open five days a week, all year round from 8am until 6pm. Most children attending live in the local area.

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Description of the setting

The group cares for a maximum of 55 children aged from birth to under five years old at any session. There are 51 children on roll. The group 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 local authority manages the group. There are 17 permanent staff who work with the children. All staff hold a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from a teacher consultant from the local authority, health professionals and Special Educational Needs and Support Services (SENTASS).

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are very well cared for by an experienced and competent staff team. They have a very good understanding of the individual needs of young children, and implements the Early Years Foundation Stage framework very well. Therefore children's welfare and learning is effectively promoted so that they make excellent progress while in the nursery. The provision has made very good improvements to recommendations from the last inspection and the capacity for continuous improvement is good, as staff reflect on practice and have begun to use the self- evaluation process. Highly successful partnership with parents and good relationships with other professionals ensures that all children, regardless of their ability, receive the best possible chances to fulfil their potential.

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further?

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

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further?

 continue to develop systems for internal review and reflect on evaluations and practice, so that areas for improvement are identified in relation to the Every Child Matters outcomes  use everyday routines further to help children understand the benefits of adopting healthy lifestyles and reinforce their understanding of staying safe. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are effectively safeguarded as all staff go through the local authority recruitment, selection and clearance procedures before being allowed to work with the children. There is a clear induction procedure, with the staff access further training regularly and they have all completed first aid and child protection training. They have one-to-one meetings with the manager regularly, and students on placement clearly know their roles and responsibilities. The majority of the staff team have been in post for a number of years. They are competent and enthusiastic and work very well together so that children’s welfare, learning and development is highly supported. The premises are protected by a good security door system, although staff do have to regularly remind parents not to let unauthorised persons in as they drop off and collect their children. Relevant professionals carry out the local authority health and safety, fire safety and

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the early years provision

environmental health checks regularly. The manager has completed good risk assessments and staff carry out daily safety checks in their rooms and garden. They also monitor the temperature, check on babies when they sleep and record nappy changes, which all promotes children’s safety, health and well-being effectively. Recommendations from the last inspection have been addressed very well, which has improved the environment for the children, some documentation and planning systems. The manager has begun to use the Ofsted self-evaluation form appropriately, and has involved staff in this process. However, identifying and documenting areas for improvement and establishing how effective their practice is to promote the Every Child Matters outcomes is currently limited.

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the early years provision

All rooms within the nursery are extremely well resourced, equipped and organised, which ensures that a highly enabling environment is in place for the children. Therefore, they move around their rooms freely accessing a very good range of age appropriate, sturdy and safe toys and activities. Children also handle real and natural objects and use large and small ‘junk’ materials in activities, which teaches them that recyclable materials can be useful. Lovely displays of children’s work, photographs and captions, capture what children enjoy doing and show parents the exiting range of activities and events on offer, such as visits from fire fighters and ‘Zoo Lab.’ The environment is rich in signs, notices, diverse photographs and writing that reflect the different backgrounds of the children on roll. Staff support children with English as a second language very well, and they ensure that all cultural festivals celebrated by families, such as, Christmas and Eid

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the early years provision

are celebrated. This demonstrates a commitment to show that all cultures and backgrounds are included and respected.

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the early years provision

Staff have excellent relationships with parents and carers. An abundance of parents gave their views on the nursery and staff, which were all highly positive. Comments included ‘everything is brilliant,’ ‘my child loves his key worker’ and ‘if you have any troubles the staff will help.’ Most of all parents commented that they found their children were very settled and progressing well, and that they receive plenty of information regarding their child’s day and routines. Most parents know that the children’s achievement files are available, and their key person arranges planned times to go through these with them on a regular basis, which ensures This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 that they discuss and share what they know about the children effectively. High involvement with other professionals, such as health and SENTASS, ensures that individual programmes of care and education are followed through very well in the

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the early years provision

nursery, which benefits the children very well.

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and outcomes for children

Children know the routines and behave very well; they approach staff easily making their needs known and they receive plenty of meaningful, positive praise and enjoy receiving their stickers at the end of the day. Children are very well supported if they do get upset as staff are quick to notice and respond to children’s demeanour, therefore children feel safe and secure. Staff and children use phrases, such as ‘danger danger’ if children are doing something that could cause an accident, and staff offer simple explanations as to why children do not need to wear sun cream in winter, which children respond to well. However, there are some missed opportunities to reinforce children’s understanding about being healthy and staying safe through everyday routines to reinforce their understanding, for example, while eating, when hand washing or when getting ready for outdoor play.

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and outcomes for children

Staff are excellent with the children, they are highly motivated and inspire them to be active, inquisitive learners through their play. They clearly know the children in their care, how they are progressing and they routinely recognise and meet each child’s individual needs successfully. Exciting and interesting adult led and child- initiated play is promoted throughout the nursery. Staff recognise the ethos in the Early Years Foundation Stage, they know that this is play based and that planning needs to stem from the children’s interests. For example, in the three to five-year- old room when children walked about imitating robots the staff extended this interest by talking about them, used pictures and encouraged them to think about robots and how they work. The children then made sticky pictures using shapes and a large 3D model, which incorporated a number of areas of learning. Staff take note of what children do and build this into their planning. For example, when two-

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and outcomes for children

year-olds enjoyed dribbling glue staff initiated more free painting activities so that children could explore and experiment further by dripping the paint and using their hands. As they also enjoyed using glitter to make Halloween and rocket pictures, staff added glitter to play dough and sand, which helps children remain highly interested and engaged in what they do. Staff also recognise when babies and toddlers do not want to join in with whole group activities, but when they pick up books independently staff sit with them to read stories and look at pictures, which shows that they are responsive, to their individual needs. The staff record children’s progress in their individual ‘positive achievement’ files. The photographs, captions and samples of their art work show very good links to the aspects within the six areas of learning and how they plan for their next steps in a child’s learning.

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and outcomes for children

Babies clearly enjoy the social interaction at music time. They eagerly tap, bang shake and rattle the musical instruments while they sit together on the comfortable settee. Children have formed strong bonds with their key person and familiar This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 adults and warm natural interaction is apparent. All children, including young toddlers, are very confident and self-assured. They smile, shout hello, and wave, which demonstrates an extremely good sense of belonging. They are very excited when lunch arrives and guess what they might be having; they thoroughly enjoy their wholesome food which is prepared fresh in the nursery. Older children know the routines and children take turns to be a ‘special helper’ for the day. They learn extremely well by being actively involved in these routines as they count out the cups and plates for snack, they pour their own drinks and return their items after

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and outcomes for children

use, which supports their independence and autonomy extremely well. All children love to be outside in the fresh air. They manage to manoeuvre wheeled toys and control their movements very well, such as when they use ‘traffic lights’ to stop and go, which extends their communication and language and physical development extremely well. 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 1 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 2 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 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 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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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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