Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bristol Stoke Gifford

Leapfrog Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY289385 Inspection date 18/03/2010 Inspector Angela Cole

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Setting address Simmonds View, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8HL

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Telephone number 01179 799977 or 07966 830403 Email bristol.stokegifford@busybees.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 0300 123 1231, 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: 0300 123 1231 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

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

Leapfrog Day Nursery, Stoke Gifford, is one of many nurseries operated by Leapfrog Day Nurseries Ltd. that is owned and run by the Busy Bees Group. It opened in 1997 and was re-registered in 2004. The nursery operates from a purpose built, open plan, single storey building situated within a residential area of South Gloucestershire, close to Bristol Parkway railway station. It is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.00pm all year round, excluding bank holidays. Children are grouped according to age and babies under one year have a self-contained area that includes a sleep room. Children aged one-to-two years, two-to-three years and three-to-five years have separate base rooms and craft areas. Each age group has access to the enclosed, outdoor play areas.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 126 children in the early years age range may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently children 131 aged from three months to under five years on roll, some in part-time places. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and a number of children learning English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are 16 members of staff working with the children. Of these, 12 staff hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a further qualification. The manager has recently acquired a National Vocational Qualification at level 4 in Children's Learning and Development. The nursery provides funded early education for three-and four-year-olds.

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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

The nursery routinely meets the needs of all children through recognising their uniqueness to provide an inclusive, welcoming and caring service. Children make good and sometimes very good, progress in their learning and development as they enjoy their time in the nursery. They choose whether to be indoors or outdoors for much of the day and are eager to be actively engaged in the choice of interesting play activities that are often well supported by staff. Overall, staff work in very close partnership with parents and carers to ensure that children's learning and welfare needs are met. The strong ambition and commitment of the staff result in in-depth reflection so that plans for the future are well targeted to bring about further improvement to the provision and outcomes for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 extend the staff’s use of small groups and challenging questions to maximise children's learning This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  enhance children's good progress towards the early learning goals by obtaining more information from new parents about the children's learning in all areas.

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the early years provision

The nursery's documentation is clearly organised and policies are revised to reflect the good practice in this setting. All adults left in sole charge of children are vetted and there is an effective system to check staffs' ongoing suitability. Comprehensive, in-house training gives staff an excellent understanding about the procedures for safeguarding in case of any concern about a child. The premises are secure and safe for children to freely move around as risk assessment is highly detailed and the responsibility of all staff. The premises are spacious and well divided into areas to give children a feeling of security. The high quality resources are attractively arranged in and out of doors for the children to use as they wish, including those that are rotated to effectively stimulate children’s interests. The bright, topical displays value the children's efforts and enhance their learning, for example, about the different backgrounds of families.

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the early years provision

Staff are qualified and motivated to attend additional training to further develop their practice and outcomes for children. They work particularly well together in each base area, being effectively deployed to support the children’s interests and ideas. The friendliness and confidence of the staff team result in children who are smiling and settled because they feel safe. The nursery has high regard to promoting equality and diversity so that all children’s learning and welfare needs are considered, including those learning English as an additional language. Staff diligently follow professional advice from local agencies to effectively support children’s additional requirements, such as special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents and carers are very strong. There is a good exchange of information between the nursery and families that enables staff to effectively meet children's individual needs. In-depth, settling-in programmes are offered to new families so they are invited to share details about their children, though not their stages in each area of learning. Ongoing information is shared through informal and diary feedback, regular letters and informative boards. Parents attend half- yearly sessions when they discuss and further contribute to their child's learning journals that are always available. Parents speak highly of the quality of care their children receive and the caring attitude of staff. They are very well involved in their children’s learning and share resources, such as family photographs and objects beginning with the week's letter. Where children attend other registered settings,

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the early years provision

good links are being built with some of these providers to contribute to the continuity of their learning and care.

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the early years provision

The nursery's leadership and management are highly effective in driving improvement. Ongoing, rigorous self-evaluation includes the views of staff, children and parents, including those on the parents' liaison group. The manager stimulates the enthusiasm of the staff and channels their efforts to good effect. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Excellent use is routinely made of rigorous monitoring so that areas of weakness have been systematically identified in order to build on areas of strength in the future. There have been very good responses to the recommendations made at the last inspection. These related to planning, observational assessment, learning support from staff and information for parents and carers about the children's activities and development. Target setting is now comprehensive and challenging; consequently outcomes for children are very good.

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and outcomes for children

Children arrive happily at the nursery and warm reassurances from staff with clear explanations about the day’s special activities help them to settle well. The children are motivated by the stimulating range of activities and play opportunities in free- flow indoor and outdoor play; these support learning in all areas. All children select activities and toys to use in their own way which fosters their growing independence well. Babies eagerly explore many 'treasure' baskets, mirrors and boxes of interesting toys that are arranged at their level; they are often able to be in or out of doors as they wish to play with exciting materials, such as sand, soil, shredded paper and musical instruments. Two-year-olds also access many sensory media. They are well supported by attentive adults to explore a wealth of art and craft materials including paint and glue. Small groups are used particularly well with these younger children, though not for older ones, to share stories and talk

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and outcomes for children

The children benefit from the staff's enthusiasm and offers of close interaction and involvement in their play. The joint, key persons have a secure understanding about the children’s ages and stages. As a result, they support individuals to gain self-esteem; they carefully plan in and outdoor activities based on close observations of children’s play and their expressed interests. They effectively record children's achievements in detailed, learning journals, along with next steps that are shared with parents. A new system of monitoring their progress towards each early learning goal is being adopted throughout the nursery to foster continuity of care. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good or very good progress towards the early learning goals. This is because staff, overall, have a secure understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage to support children’s learning through their play. Some

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and outcomes for children

staff effectively extend children’s learning through appropriate comments, questions and well timed intervention. As a result, children enjoy new challenges to create with different materials and effectively use their imaginations, for example, to build a 'monster car' from crates. Their learning is very well supported by the availability of resources to combine, such as adding water to previously painted fence panels to explore changes of colour.

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and outcomes for children

The children's good health and well-being are effectively promoted. Their understanding of hygiene is actively fostered through use of questions and posters reminding them to wash their hands. Children eagerly play in the accessible, outdoor spaces that contain high quality equipment and plentiful, natural materials. Active play helps children to develop their physical skills as they balance, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 run freely, manoeuvre wheeled toys and dig in the soil. Children gain an outstanding understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They frequently take part in emergency drills, practise road safety at a 'zebra crossing', climb on the challenging frames and handle large items with increasing control. Children have effective opportunities to explore their environment as they grow vegetables and go on occasional visits, for example, to the park.

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and outcomes for children

Children gain good skills for the future by concentrating on their chosen tasks. They have very good opportunities for making decisions and take responsibility by helping to prepare the play areas. Calm, friendly staff are a positive role model for the children. This helps them to be polite and learn to manage their own behaviour, for example, to negotiate sharing of toys. Staff are consistent in their regular use of distraction, praise and appropriate explanations. The children's language development is well fostered throughout the nursery, including for those learning English as an additional language. Staff talk with individuals throughout the day, offering new words and encouraging older ones to recall their play. Children gain good early reading and writing skills; they enjoy books, make marks with many tools, including chalks and learn to name their work. Children thoroughly enjoy using technology to support their learning; they operate bee

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and outcomes for children

robots and deftly use the computer mouse in matching games and stories. They are keen to solve problems by using numbers and positional language and confidently take one away in songs, such as 'Five little men in a flying saucer'. Children gain good self-help skills in personal hygiene and dressing for outdoor play; they take responsibility when organising their food and drinking water. Children are confident to make decisions, so are well prepared for moving from the nursery to school. They gain a strong sense of security in order to succeed in a stimulating, welcoming environment. 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 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 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 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 1 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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