Abacus Day Nursery and Pre-School

Abacus Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 511192 Inspection date 03/11/2009 Inspector Caroline Hearn

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Setting address Westside, Oxford Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1XB

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Telephone number 01635 550134 Email abacus@completechildcare.co.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 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

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

Abacus Day Nursery is privately owned by Kingsclere Nurseries who run a chain of seven nurseries. They have owned Abacus since 1998. It operates from a detached building and is set out over two floors. On the first floor is the baby room for children up to one year and the baby toddler room for children aged from one to two years. On the ground floor they have the two to three years room and the pre- school rooms for children aged from three to five years. The nursery is close to Newbury town centre and is used by families who live outside the immediate area as well as those who live locally and in the nearby villages. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outdoor play. The nursery is readily accessible and supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the setting

The Nursery opens five days a week and is open between 8am and 6pm for 52 weeks of the year with the exception of Bank Holidays and a week at Christmas time. The nursery is registered to care for a maximum of 70 children. There are currently 60 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group.

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Description of the setting

There are 12 members of staff working with the children. Of these, seven hold a recognised early years qualification.

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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 owners of this nursery have recently reorganised and the new team have reflected on what is working well and have made changes to maintain the existing good practice. The management team have clear goals and processes in place for reflecting on their practice to ensure they are able to meet the ever changing needs of the children in their care. Due to this all children are making good progress in their learning and development.

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further?

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

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further?

 further develop planning to include increased opportunities for children to undertake outside learning  further develop children's profiles to ensure these clearly show each child's level of attainment. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The nursery has effective safeguarding policies and procedures. The manager takes the lead for child protection and she is clear about her role and how to ensure this knowledge is cascaded down to all staff. They also ensure all new staff are fully vetted and references are fully checked. Staff have considered any hazards that the environment may present to children and taken appropriate steps to minimise these. Detailed risk assessments are undertaken on all areas and staff are also skilled at noticing and removing hazards, such as children leaving toys in walkways.

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the early years provision

The well-established management team at this nursery work together with the staff team to reflect on their practice. As a team they review all areas of their work to ensure they continue to meet the ongoing needs of the children. Awareness of issues of equality and diversity underpin everyday practice, staff get to know each child very well and understand how to meet their differing needs and promote fully inclusive practice. The nursery has a special educational needs coordinator and she has a clear understanding of her role and how to support other staff though the process of identifying and supporting children with special educational needs.

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the early years provision

The nursery has a strong partnership with parents and they provide parents with many different ways of becoming involved in their children's time at nursery. Parents are invited in during the day to talk with their child's key person about their child's learning and development. Parents enjoy being able to discuss their children but also to see them playing and interacting with the other children. The nursery also sends out regular newsletters to parents to keep them abreast of current issues.

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the early years provision

The nursery is well resourced and in all rooms a selection of the resources are stored at child height to allow the children freedom of choice during their learning and play. Throughout the nursery, children's work is attractively displayed. This clearly shows that the staff value the children's efforts and helps the children to feel a valued member of the nursery.

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and outcomes for children

Children all undertaken a wide range of activities. These are planned by staff and well reflect the children's interests. Children are offered a balance of planned and free play opportunities. Staff are skilled at knowing when to intervene and when to allow children time to problem solve. This is reflected in all areas through activities such as, the children working out how much money they would need to buy the fruit and vegetables in the role play shop to tackling zips on coats prior to outside play. This well promotes the development of the children's ability to think critically and problem solve. Children in all areas enjoy story time and staff use these sessions to develop the children's different skills, such as asking them to pick out the rhyming words in a story. Within all areas children's creative skills are evident. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

In the pre-school room the children have made paper-mâché fruit and vegetables for their home corner role play shop.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery make daily use of the outside areas and in the summer months the pre-school room has a free flow access to the garden with some traditionally indoor resources such as the home corner being taken outside. This use of the outdoors for learning is not currently extended for the other age groups and for the pre-school room during the rest of the year.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery has recently implemented new systems for recording children's learning and development. Whilst these records have many strengths, such as increased space for parents to be involved in the ongoing assessment of their children, they do not clearly show each child's level of attainment. This information is recorded but has to be unpicked from the observations. Once this information is un-picked it is clear that all children are making good progress and their individual developmental stages are catered for in the planning and implementation of activities.

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and outcomes for children

To give children a greater understanding of the wider world the nursery takes them to visit the local senior citizens' home to sing songs and take them food gifts at both Harvest and Christmas time. These simple activities allow children to see peoples differing needs and how they can support others. Children's behaviour is generally good and staff act as positive role models reminding the children to say please and thank you to each other.

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and outcomes for children

Mealtimes in all areas are a social occasion with the children sitting together chatting about their day. Older children are encouraged to dish out their lunches and staff are on hand to support them with this task. Babies' eating and sleeping routines are followed which helps them settle into to the new surroundings when starting nursery. The nursery has clear policies and procedures relating to health and hygiene which cover all areas from nappy changing to excluding children who have been unwell. These procedures are effectively put into practice by the staff which helps prevent the spread of infection. 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 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 2 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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