Little Buds Private Day Care Nursery

Little Buds Private Day Care Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY400530 Inspection date 05/07/2010 Inspector Rachel Ruth Britten

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Setting address 21 London Road, NEWCASTLE, Staffordshire, ST5 1LQ

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Telephone number 01782812542 Email janet.1@ntlworld.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

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

Little Buds Private Day Care Nursery registered in 2009. The setting is privately owned and operates from a converted business premises situated centrally in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Children are cared for within four rooms located on two floors. There are secure areas available for outdoor play. A maximum of 44 children aged up to eight years old may attend the setting at any one time. The setting is open five days a week from 7.30am to 5.45pm all year round, with the exception of bank holidays and a week for Christmas. Overnight care is also provided between the hours of 6pm and 6am. A maximum of 44 children may attend the setting during the day and a maximum of 12 places are available for overnight care. Children attend from the local community and surrounding areas.

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Description of the setting

There are currently 15 children on roll, aged from eight months old to two years old. All of these are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The setting receives funding for nursery education. The nursery is registered by Ofsted on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register and care is offered to children aged over five years old. The setting supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The setting employs six members of staff including the manager. One member of staff has Qualified Teacher Status. Two staff are qualified to level 3 in early years and one member of staff is qualified to level 2. The remaining two staff are working towards a recognised early years qualification. In addition, the setting employs a maintenance manager. The setting receives support from the local authority early years advisory team.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The setting satisfactorily meets the unique needs of each child. Skilled staff and stimulating play resources support every child, so that no group or individual is disadvantaged. Children make sound progress in their learning and development, although assessments and priorities for next steps are not yet made or shared with parents and other involved child carers. Children are adequately safeguarded and their welfare is suitably promoted, despite omissions in the required policies and procedures of the setting. Leaders and managers show commitment to ongoing training and review, but no clear plans for improvement have yet been made.

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further?

To fully meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 obtain information from parents before admission about who has legal contact with the child and who has legal parental responsibility (Safeguarding and 10/08/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 promoting children's welfare)  ensure that the safeguarding children policy includes the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse being made against a member of staff (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 10/08/2010

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further?

 develop and implement an effective policy about ensuring equality of opportunities and for supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 10/08/2010

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further?

 ensure that there is a named deputy able to take over in the absence of the manager (Suitable people). 10/08/2010

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further?

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

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further?

 clarify the complaints policy and procedure for parents and staff  notify all people who work directly with children that they are expected to declare all matters which may affect their suitability to work with children  make clear and regular assessments of children's progress in each area of learning and plan individually for the next steps they need to take in their development  engage in regular cycles of reflective practice and review, making clear action plans and priorities for continuous improvement based on the views of all users.

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the early years provision

Overall, the setting adequately safeguards children and promotes their safety. There are safe practices employed for seating, door security and outside play, so that children can be active, yet safe. Policies and procedures, such as risk assessments, fire drill records, daily registers and accident, medication and incident records are reviewed and support children's safety and health effectively. Policies are available to parents in the nursery prospectus and accompanying regulations. However, there is no equal opportunities policy in place and the safeguarding and complaints policies have omissions and are unclear. In addition, information about legal parental responsibility is not obtained at enrolment. These weaknesses compromise the effective safeguarding of children. Staff are suitably vetted, inducted and supported to keep children safe, but staff have not been clearly advised of their responsibility to disclose any matters which could compromise

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the early years provision

their ongoing suitability. In addition, there is no named deputy and key workers are not clearly established or communicated to parents and children. This compromises children's well-being when there are staffing pressures, such as illness.

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the early years provision

The setting engages well with parents and provides them with daily written and verbal feedback about their child's well-being and progress. Parents complete details of their child's starting points, so that appropriate, stimulating and varied This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 activities can be planned, which extends each child's progress. Photographs from home are displayed, so that staff can help children to feel valued and special for the families they come from. Strategies for behaviour management and progress with diet and toilet training issues are already being effectively employed and shared between parents and nursery staff. This gives parents great confidence in the setting. Partnerships with others providing childcare are not yet in place because children attending do not use any other providers concurrently and they are not making transitions to pre-school or school. Similarly, no children on roll

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the early years provision

have specialist input relating to health, disability, social or learning needs. Nevertheless, managers demonstrate commitment to partnerships with other providers and they intend to freely share assessment and next steps documents when these are started, in order to secure consistent and complementary care for each child.

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the early years provision

Within the setting, there is effective and efficient use of resources. Sensory, natural, sustainable and open-ended play materials are available at child height, where they are easy to choose and use. However, some displays are too high to enable children to use and enjoy them. Access to the outdoor areas is carefully organised to ensure the safety of young children, but it is not possible to provide for children to freely flow indoors and out. Nevertheless, children now benefit from gardening, physical, problem solving and messy play opportunities outside. Staff and leaders work hard together to identify areas of weakness and to prioritise improvements. For example, they are adapting the baby and toddler environment, to provide more active challenges for toddlers without compromising supervision. They are continuing to improve their levels of professional qualifications to better understand how best to promote children's learning and development. They use

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the early years provision

closed circuit television to review practice as well as provide security. However, they have not yet started to use self-evaluation documents to formally plan and prioritise improvements.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy the setting and are making adequate progress. They are warmly greeted and are settled into the baby area upon arrival. The presently small roll means that the two plus room and the pre-school room were not seen in use on the day of inspection. The baby room environment is adapted to help new children settle and to ensure their safety. For example, a cosy safe area is provided by the den, cushions and ball pool. Positioning seats support babies who are not yet walking. Children are taught to stand still with their water bottles and toothbrushes. However, some toddlers want to climb on the high chairs and keep trying to move into the messy eating area, which is blocked with toy boxes when adults are unable to supervise it. Toddlers and two-year-olds are helped to understand the routines of the day through regular explanations of what is happening and the use of songs for 'tidy up time'. Two-year-olds have

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and outcomes for children

photographs of their families and countries of origin displayed and can feel that their family cultures are referred to and valued in the setting. As a result, children feel they belong and are occupied and settled most of the time. All children have good opportunities to choose and use problem solving toys, such as stacking cups, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 blocks and shape sorters. Their speech and language development is encouraged well because staff model clear speech to them, they utilise simple books and make clear references to the objects, displays and toys around. Staff encourage children constantly to 'use your words', by offering them choices to say what they want.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy a sufficient balance of indoor and outdoor activity and are kept safe in the sun, as they climb, crawl through tunnels, slide, pedal, rock and investigate with water. They are active and healthy, benefiting from nutritious food and drink, gardening activities, fresh air and physical exercise. However, they are not yet accessing a wide range of mark-making, role play and creative activities outside. They confidently move around the indoor setting and are increasingly gaining independence skills. For example, they fetch and put back their water cups, choose which potty they want to sit on, wipe their faces after lunch, wash their hands after every nappy change and brush their own teeth. Staff are proactive and effectively promote good behaviour. They are patient, clear and positive with every child, calmly helping them to share toys, play safely and to consider others. They engage each child to listen and look at them before explaining why we do not

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and outcomes for children

climb in the boxes or throw toys because we can hurt ourselves or others. They use touch and comfort to diffuse frustrations and to help children become more aware of their bodies. Staff praise children generously when they display good social behaviour and repeat back to them clearly what it is that they are pleased with, for example, 'good talking', 'good helping' and 'good sharing'. Sensory toys, massage and treasure baskets are also used well to help engage small children to use their senses. Strategies, such as star charts and rewards are successfully helping some children to make progress with challenging areas, such as trying foods, sharing and toilet training.

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and outcomes for children

Staff are observing what children can do and are planning appropriate activities based on the six areas of learning. They are making photographic and written records of children's activities and progress and using information from parents about what children can do on entry. They are not clearly planning activities based upon individual children's observed interests and identified needs. This is because they are not yet making clear assessment summaries of progress or next steps plans to focus their input for each child. Nevertheless, transitions between rooms are carefully and sensitively undertaken, so that children are confident with the staff and environment. Staff intend to implement summative assessments and next steps planning, to help with transitions between key workers and rooms. They plan to devise ways to ensure that assessments are also shared and used at transitions to school and between other childcare settings or involved professionals.

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and outcomes for children

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 3

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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 3

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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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