Jack and Jill's Nursery

Jack and Jill's Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Jack and Jill's Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY293883 Inspection date 04 November 2005 Inspector Gillian Jefferson

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Jack and Jill's Nursery

Setting Address Jack & Jills Nursery, Sydenham House, Monkswick Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 3NU Telephone number 01279 444425

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E-mail

Registered person Felicia Bolanle Adeyinka 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?

Jack and Jill's Nursery is privately run by Ms Adeyinka. It re-opened in 2004 under the current ownership and operates from rooms in purpose built premises. It is situated near the centre of Harlow. A maximum of 26 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:30 to 17:30 for 52 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 74 children from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 33 children

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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 receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs, and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs ten staff. Eight of the staff, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two staff are working towards enhanced early year’s qualification. The nursery receives support from the Local Authority and is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance (PSLA).

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children stay healthy because practitioners have a generally sound knowledge of current and appropriate environmental, health and hygiene guidelines, policies and procedures. The high number of staff trained in first aid helps them ensure they can respond to accidents and emergencies appropriately. Staff are aware of and implement simple good health and hygiene practices, modelling them for the children to copy. Children learn to wash their hands at appropriate times and use tissues for themselves to minimise the spread of infection. Children are well nourished, with a range of foods provided for breakfast and snack times, that provide a balance between healthy and less healthy foods. Staff gather detailed information from parents to ensure the children's dietary requirements are met. This information is readily available to support staff at meal times in ensuring children do not have access to food that does not meet their dietary requirements.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children who stay for the lunch club or all day bring packed lunches with them from home. These are stored safely in the nursery's kitchen. All children have easy access to water throughout their time at the nursery. Water is stored in jugs with plastic mugs, where children can help themselves to additional drinks if they require them. The children enjoy physical activity each day outside, or inside when the weather is not suitable. They are energetic and are generally sufficiently challenged by the range of equipment and tools provided, although the more able would benefit from more challenge in some areas of their physical development, such as for climbing. Some activities that are provided to develop the children's hand-eye coordination are also occasionally too advanced for their skills, such as weaving paper activities which made the children reliant on the staff to achieve a piece of artwork. However, most

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Helping children to be healthy

children are making very good progress in their physical development, especially in their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills through regular activities, such as threading. Children learn about healthy living through planned activities and by being encouraged to be active each session. They are able to rest and sleep according to their needs, with staff providing cosy areas on demand.

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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

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children are cared for in a welcoming, secure and safe indoor and outdoor environment, that is suitable for the purpose of day care and risk assessed each day. Staff are very mindful of the children's safety and implement policies and procedures well, particularly for arrival and collection, demonstrating a clear concern and appreciation for the children's safety. Children have access to suitable and safe equipment, and the risk assessment procedures are reasonably comprehensive but are being expanded further to enhance the group's practice. Children are not yet taken on outings, but staff are familiar with the requirements should this policy change. The children learn to keep themselves safe and avoid accidental injury, learning from watching staff, and have few accidents as a result. Children are well protected because staff understand their role in child protection and are able to put appropriate procedures into practice when necessary. Staff receive

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

ongoing training to support them in this and have access to the required contact information. The children benefit from being cared for by adults who are vetted and have relevant experience, knowledge and skills.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children are very confident and have a high level of self-esteem. Children develop very strong and positive relationships with the staff and lots of social interaction. However, the interaction used to support and promote the children's learning and development is quite variable. Some staff are very good and skilled in their interaction with the children, helping them to progress and develop well and learn through their play. Others, show inconsistency in their skills in promoting learning; being usually more effective when working with very small groups, although at times they are often aware of what learning could be achieved but do not interact with the children sufficiently to encourage them to progress. This inconsistency across the team, means that although the children's needs are met, their development and skills are progressed inconsistently. There are also occasions when the children are overly

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

directed in their work. Whilst most children show interest in what they do for most of the time, particularly when being appropriately engaged and stimulated by staff, there are often one or two not actively engaged in activities or watching and waiting to participate. The more skilled staff usually become aware of this reasonably quickly and work hard to re-engage the children in active play and learning opportunities. The children are very inquisitive and some staff ask questions to build on their interests, though this is not yet maximised by the whole staff team to make all learning relevant. Although the general organisation is not supporting all children in using their inquisitiveness to explore and learn, making some reliant on staff to focus on activities; there are occasions when the children successfully direct their own learning, such as getting their name cards to copy write their name onto a piece of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

paper. When engaged, the children demonstrate good skills and knowledge, particularly in their communication, language and literacy, and in using their

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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 mathematical knowledge and problem solving. The children have fantastic relationships with each other and with the staff. This helps them to feel safe and secure and settle well into the provision. Children successfully begin to distinguish between right and wrong, though they will at times behave inappropriately if disinterested in the activities on offer. Nursery Education The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. As previously described staff skills in promoting learning are varied and are therefore directly impacting on the children's achievements, which although in many cases they are making good progress towards the early learning goals, they could be improved further by more consistently appropriate and skilful interaction with staff. Children's attitudes and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

behaviour are also not yet consistently encouraged by the whole staff team. Children have very good early writing skills and are encouraged to use these by many staff. Their skilful hand-eye coordination further supports this area. Children count correctly and are encouraged to solve problems created in their play using mathematical thinking. Children enjoy a programme of activities to increase their awareness of the wider community and culture, such as visitors and celebrating festivals from different religions. Children have daily access to role play, music and creative activities, though these are occasionally over directed by staff. The children receive a balanced programme of planned activities and access to a range of resources that support their play and learning across all six areas of learning. However the inconsistent teaching shows some staff require additional support or training to improve their knowledge and understanding of foundation stage

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

to support them in more successfully promoting the children's progress and building on their interests. Staff do however successfully assess and record the children's achievements, and the management team is beginning to use this to inform the planning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are cared for by staff who work with parents to meet their individual needs and ensure they are included fully in the life of the setting, including children with special needs. Children feel safe and settled and have a strong sense of belonging. They develop a sound awareness of responsible behaviour and generally work harmoniously with others, particularly when supported by interaction of staff. Children make choices and take decisions about what activities to be involved in. Staff encourage children to develop a high level of self-esteem and respect for others. Children are sensitive to their own needs and those of others. Children generally receive appropriate support, and individual education plans are in place for children with special needs. The staff work closely with other professionals and parents to ensure that these children's needs are met. Children learn about wider society through a programme of planned activities that

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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 reflect various festivals and celebrations from a wide range of cultures and religions. This is being expanded into the children's everyday play and activities. They enjoy having visitors to the group that develop their knowledge of their local area, such as a visit from the crew at a local fire station. These activities help to ensure the children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. Partnership with parents is good. Parents are well informed about their children's progress and have regular chances to add their own observations and comments to the children's individual development records. Staff are on hand to give verbal feedback at the end of each session for parents who would like it. Parents are also made aware of themes and topics through planning and photographs available on

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Helping children make a positive contribution

the notice boards and displays. They are also encouraged to join their children on fundraising events such as the toddle waddle.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The staff have successfully maintained a stable environment for the children through a period of profound change through the recent re-registration of the group under the new management. The children will benefit from the robust recruitment and vetting procedures now in place. These will help to ensure children are well protected and cared for by staff with a knowledge and understanding of child development. All staff have a high regard for the well-being of all children and the adult:child ratio positively supports children’s care in this respect. Recently introduced appraisals are beginning to be used to support the management team in enhancing the staff team's interaction with the children to promote learning and improve the consistency in the quality of staff teaching skills and interaction. A review is being organised of group sizes, daily organisation relating to snack times,

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Organisation

staff deployment and how they contribute to children’s good health, safety, enjoyment and achievement and ability to take an active part in the setting; now that most documentation, policies and procedures have been finalised. The operational plan does however still need to be formalised and made available to parents. The policies and procedures are already available to parents and are working in practice to promote children’s health, safety, enjoyment and achievement and their ability to make a positive contribution. Overall, the range of children’s needs are met. Leadership and management is satisfactory. Although the management team have a focussed and clear idea of what they hope to achieve, and have accomplished a lot in the last ten months, this has yet to address how the provision for nursery education contributes to children’s progress towards the early learning goals. The strong management team demonstrate an enthusiasm and drive to accomplish the

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Organisation

required improvements in time, with the support of the other staff. A monitoring system is yet to be established to ensure the quality of nursery education is improved and then maintained in due course. However, the recent staff appraisals are beginning to be used to support them in developing the children's learning effectively.

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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

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Improvements since the last inspection

Not applicable, because this is the first inspection of day care and nursery education since registration.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration there has been one complaint relating to Standard 12: Working in Partnership with Parents, Standard 10: Special Needs, and Standard 3: Care, Learning and Play. The complaint related to confidentiality of information, recognition of developmental needs and meeting children's individual needs. Ofsted conducted an unannounced visit to the provision on 30 June 2005. Following our visit Ofsted is satisfied that the provision was meeting Standards 10 and 12, however the provider was given 3 actions to complete as follows: Standard 2: Organisation - ensure all policies and procedures are in place and all staff understand and have access to them; Standard 3: Care, Learning and Play - ensure that observations and other information is used to help plan appropriate activities for the next steps in children's development and learning; and Standard 14: Documentation - ensure that all written records are kept on the premises at all times. A satisfactory response to the actions

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Complaints since the last inspection

was received and the provider remains qualified for registration. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they 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 children's independence and active involvement in activities that appropriately challenge and help them to acquire new knowledge and skills, across all abilities and particularly within their art and creative work • complete the organisation of the operational plan to support staff in using it as a reference document and make it available to parents

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 • review the day to day organisation and deployment of staff in supporting children in learning from their everyday activities and play and being able to persist at activities, for example by minimising the disruption to the children's learning and play caused by the snack times.

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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): • improve the consistency in the quality of teaching; ensuring all staff have a clear knowledge and understanding of the foundation stage and how to use assessment in helping to plan and provide opportunities that build on what the children already know and can do, to prompt them towards taking the next steps in their development • implement procedures to effectively monitor and evaluate the provision, to support them in continuing to maintain and improve the quality of the nursery education experiences for children.

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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: 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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