Life Daycare

The Little Champions Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY331444 Inspection date 30/07/2010 Inspector Rachel Ayo

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Setting address The Abundant Life Centre, Wapping Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 0EQ Telephone number 01274 307233 Email thelittlechampions@alm.org.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 assesses 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.

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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: 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

The Little Champions Centre was registered in 2006. It is a committee run organisation that operates from the Abundant Life Centre, close to Bradford city centre in West Yorkshire. Children who attend the day care provision have access to four rooms. There are an additional two community rooms, situated in a building opposite the nursery, that are used for physical play, additional activities and for the holiday club provision. Children have access to two large secure outdoor play areas, one which adjoins the pre-school and toddler rooms. The day care provision is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 50 weeks of the year. The out of school provision solely operates in the school holidays from 8pm to 6pm. The setting serves the wider community and parents who access the Abundant Life Centre.

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Description of the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 84 children may attend the setting at any one time, of whom, 68 children may be in the early years age group. There are currently 59 children aged from nine months to nine years on roll. The setting employs 14 members of staff to work directly with the children, all of whom hold an appropriate childcare qualification. One staff member holds the Early Years Professional status. The staff work on full and part time basis. In addition, support staff are used to cover when required. The setting works closely with their local authority.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The setting is highly effective. As a result of the excellent leadership and management, there is a strong, consistent commitment by staff at all levels to promoting children's welfare, learning and development. This is, unquestionably, successfully achieved overall. The highly effective organisation of space and resources meets all children's individual needs and fully enables them to develop independence and make choices, ensuring inclusion. A rich, vibrant and varied environment, coupled with meticulous individualised observational assessment and planning, means that children are eager to attend, show superb levels of curiosity and make significant gains in their learning. There is overall first class partnership working with parents and in the wider context, resulting in children's individual needs being met and continuity in their care and learning is generally promoted well. Reflective practice is outstanding and permeates throughout the provision to

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

ensure outcomes for children are continually improved.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  improve staff knowledge and understanding of managing young children's unwanted behaviour  enhance partnership working with other providers and the systems for sharing children's individual next steps with parents in order to fully promote continuity in children's learning and development.

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the early years provision

Utmost priority is given to safeguarding due to stringent policies and procedures and effective record keeping systems. Robust child protection procedures and superior risk assessments means that children are kept safe from harm and hazards are exceptionally well identified and minimised. Access to the premises and nursery rooms is monitored thoroughly, all staff wear identification badges and there are additional procedures for security, such as in the event of an intruder. Health and safety notices, safety equipment and effective staff practice further promote children's welfare. Children develop high levels of awareness of keeping safe, for example, through visits from the local police and fire service, engaging in role play and gentle reminders from staff. Robust, recruitment and vetting of staff keeps children protected, and comprehensive staff induction ensures they have an excellent awareness of their roles and responsibilities. Staff are highly qualified and

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the early years provision

effectively deployed to ensure that children receive good levels of support and attention. As a result, children thrive and develop high levels of self-esteem, confidence and self-assurance.

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the early years provision

There is an excellent commitment to inclusion with highly effective systems to ensure no child is disadvantaged and that the achievement gap is narrowed for individuals or particular groups of children. For example, staff attend training on how to support boys' numeracy and literacy skills and children's cultural identity and home language are highly valued and reflected in the setting. This is achieved through bi-lingual staff, signs, and staff learning basic words and displaying translation cards around the rooms. Staff unquestionably teach children about diversity. Innovative murals and posters reflect positive images of the wider world and children celebrate a wide range of festivals. An African children's choir visited the church and afterwards children talked about their visit, looked at books and listened to songs from the choir's CD.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents are exemplary overall. They are very much involved, such as through contributing to festivals and partaking in activity workshops. Channels of communication are generally extensive and highly effective. For example, there is a monthly newsletter, special moments board, a wide array of displays and notices, photographs and a website. Comprehensive information is shared by parents, for example, through them taking photographs and filling in questionnaires to help staff create 'all about me' books for each child. Children care for Barney Bear at home; parents are invited to take photographs and record his adventures. Open evenings and afternoons enable parents to meet with their child's key worker and staff use flip digital camcorders to undertake observations to share. Notices advise parents on what they can work on at home with their children, although this does not fully extend to individual next steps. The setting

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the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 have hosted art exhibitions to update parents on a new interactive whiteboard showing children's activities, observations and own filming projects on screen and to show children's work, including 3D objects. Parents’ comments are extremely complimentary about the service provided. Overall, the setting works effectively with others, although they have not yet fully established systems for working in partnership with all providers where children attend other settings.

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the early years provision

Self-evaluation reflects rigorous monitoring and searching analysis of what the setting does well and areas for development. Action plans are set as part of inclusion and environment audits, staff have weekly targets and appraisals provide excellent opportunities for personal development. Information from courses is effectively cascaded to the whole staff team and implemented purposefully to enhance practice. Staff are enthusiastic and highly motivated with the 'employee of the month' reward scheme, showing them that they are valued. The manager is exceptionally successful in inspiring them towards meeting and sustaining ambitious targets. Funding is utilised efficiently to ensure sustainability and greatly enhance outcomes, such as outdoors and there are exceptionally well targeted plans for the future. Parents are highly involved in sharing their views, such as through questionnaires and their comments are highly valued and have brought

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the early years provision

about change to certain aspects of practice.

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and outcomes for children

An excellent key person system, established through initial home visits, and effective routines and transitional arrangements for children moving rooms, ensures that children feel safe and secure. Their emotional well-being is highly fostered because staff continue care patterns from home, such as providing a discreet breastfeeding corner in the baby room for parents. Children are happy and highly inquisitive as they actively explore their environment and take part in an extensive range of innovative and exciting activities and outings which help them make excellent progress. Staff skilfully incorporate children's interests and next steps within their continuous provision and loosely planned themes. The pre-school children take the nursery camera home to capture what they have been doing and their favourite things, which helps inform planning for their next steps. Staff evaluate what they do, along with observations in order for them to ensure that

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and outcomes for children

assessment is rigorous and that children are provided with optimal challenge.

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and outcomes for children

Staff motivate and inspire children with their enthusiasm, excellent levels of interest and very effective questioning techniques and children respond to challenges with great enthusiasm. The resources and layout of the setting are outstanding in enabling children to play a dynamic role in their learning and develop excellent self-care skills. Extensive opportunities are provided for children to learn about nature and investigate a wide range of media. They observe ice and snow melting, create wood work models, explore the garden with torches as it gets darker during the winter months, care for pet mice, learn about the life cycle of the butterfly and study worms. Babies engage in sensory experiences through access to light mats and light fountains and as they readily explore the contents of the treasure baskets. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children behave very well as a result of overall effective support from staff,

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and outcomes for children

although incidents appropriate to young children's stage of development, such as biting are not always handled effectively. Relationships are very strong at all levels, as children readily approach adults and engage in small group activities with, or alongside their peers. The environment is rich in print and even very young children are learning to recognise their name through self-registration. Children learn about different forms of communication and technology by using excellent equipment, such as digital microphones, interactive white board, computers and the filming booth. This entailed children reading stories to their peers through a camera that transmitted to a television sited in another area. Children clearly have favourite stories as they confidently recall these by looking at pictures in the book or engaging in sequencing with picture cards. Staff expertly provide opportunities for children to use writing for different purposes, such as recording how many

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and outcomes for children

Children have excellent opportunities to gain fresh air and exercise and learn about healthy lifestyles. There is ready access to outdoors for children over two years and these areas are greatly enhanced through exciting activities and the provision of interesting resources. For example, staff created a seaside scene using large tarpaulin with sand and paddling pools, children explore bark and pine cones, weave materials through the boundary fence, build with, and climb on bales of hay and create water slides for cars using drain pipes. Young children show excellent physical skills and coordination as they push small tyres up the winding path, showing great delight as they reach the top and then attempt to roll the tyres back down. Children learn about oral hygiene, take part in healthy food tasting, and grow flowers and their own produce, such as broad beans, tomatoes, apples and raspberries. These are then used in meals along with food that children purchase

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and outcomes for children

Highly effective hygiene routines are modelled and encouraged by staff and notices and photographs remind children about good hand washing routines. The setting have recently attained the maximum five stars following a recent unannounced visit from environment health. Meals and snacks are nutritious, meet children's individual dietary needs exceptionally well and are continually reviewed. For example, the nursery menu has recently been adapted after the manager's attendance on training which included an audit of this. A broad range of leaflets and information is available for parents to encourage them to help their children to be healthy. 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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Early Years Foundation Stage

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 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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