Woodlands Nursery

Woodlands Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Woodlands Nursery

Unique Reference Number EY306586 Inspection date 12 December 2005 Inspector Susan Victoria May / Margaret Moffat

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Woodlands Nursery

Setting Address 2 Wakefords Corner, Sandy Lane, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire, GU52 8DB Telephone number 01252 624332

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E-mail

Registered person Highbreeze Ltd 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 good. 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Woodlands Nursery is a privately owned provision and has been registered under its current owner since June 2005. It operates from a single-storey premises in a residential road in Church Crookham near Fleet and stands in its own grounds. Children who attend come mainly from the local area. There are currently 61 children on roll. Of these, 17 receive funding for nursery education. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports

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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 children with special needs and is able to support children for whom English is an additional language. The group opens five days a week during the year, with the exception of Christmas week and bank holidays when it is closed. Sessions are from 08:00 to 18:00. There are 13 members of staff who work with the children. Over half of the staff hold relevant childcare qualifications.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children thrive because staff follow policies and most procedures effectively to meet the children's physical, nutritional and health needs. Children show developing body awareness and begin to recognise their needs. For example, older children know when they are tired and need to rest quietly. Staff are sensitive to younger children's needs and follow routines in line with parent's wishes to ensure their needs are met. Children are confident and demonstrate increasing independence in their personal care; staff promote children's understanding of good hygiene through best practice. Children explore, test and develop physical control in daily indoor and outdoor experiences. Staff have knowledge of the Birth to three matters framework and a clear understanding of each stage of development. This means the youngest children are confident to try out new skills, ask for help when needed and set their own limits

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Helping children to be healthy

within the safe environment. Older children enjoy physical exercise, participate enthusiastically in free play, and take part confidently in organised activities such as the music and movement session. Opportunities to increase control and co-ordination are available daily through a variety of activities. For example, in the outdoor play area where children use wheeled toys, negotiate a path of their choice and climb on and around equipment. Children begin to understand the benefits of a healthy diet. Staff take account of parent’s wishes and the children's preferences to provide nutritious meals and snacks that appeal to children and meet their dietary needs.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are secure within the environment and staff follow most procedures effectively to keep children safe. Children demonstrate a growing understanding of keeping themselves safe and are clear about the expectations of staff. However, fire safety procedures are not effective to ensure children clearly understand how to evacuate the building. Children independently access appealing equipment and resources, which they choose from a broad range of high quality toys and equipment, that meets safety

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 standards. This provides opportunities for children to explore and investigate in a secure and challenging environment. Staff carefully monitor toys and activities that are appropriate to the children's age and stage of development. Regular communication with parents contributes to children's safety. Most staff have a satisfactory knowledge of child protection issues if there are concerns about children. However awareness of the procedures to follow if allegation are made against staff are not in place.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are developing confidence and self-esteem; they are beginning to form good relationships with adults and other children. They are becoming independent and make choices in the positive environment. Babies receive good support from the staff and benefit from the individual attention and daily routines in place. They are happy and contented in their environment. They have opportunities to experience and enjoy items such as activity toys, painting, sit-and-ride and books. Babies' early communication skills are developed through staff constantly talking to them, responding to their sounds, and introducing them to sign language and action songs. Children in the toddler room play happily alongside each other and ask for help from staff when required. They are developing social skills through group activities such as story time and ‘who can we see at nursery today?’ activity. They choose from

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

resources that are suitable for their age and stage of development, such as building bricks, play dough and puzzles. Children benefit from repeated activities to encourage colour and shape recognition and are confident when taking part in this large group activity. The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children are eager, confident and keen to participate in the pre-selected activities. Staff ask questions to help the children think and children engage easily in conversations in small and large groups. Children participate in story time and are beginning to predict some text. They especially enjoy using the puppets to adopt the characters in stories. The choice of books is good and the use of reference books to support topics helps to increase the children’s understanding of the wider world. Most children are able to name simple and complex shapes, colours and numbers and many are beginning to notice and match

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

patterns. Many of the younger children can count confidently to five and older children to ten and beyond. Older children recognise written numbers to ten, for example on the attractive posters and wall displays. Children enjoy using malleable materials like dough and sand, and staff value their creative efforts. Most children are able to use small tools and equipment with confidence and with increasing control. They access pens, pencils, paintbrushes, rolling pins and cutters, construction toys and scissors regularly. Staff offer appropriate support to ensure all children have opportunities to develop skills to use these types of equipment.

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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 Staff have a clear understanding of children’s skills, interests and needs. Planning by the senior staff provides a good balance of adult and child led activities to allow the children to develop at their own pace in the setting, However, less consideration is given to planning for the six areas of learning through every day play outdoors. All staff are involved in monitoring and recording of children’s achievements and developing evaluation practices to help improve the quality of teaching.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. All children are welcomed and play a full part in the nursery day because staff value and respect their individuality and the family circumstances for each child. Children behave well and are polite. Staff and older children support younger children in sharing and turn-taking. Staff have high expectations and consistent boundaries for the children, which helps them to learn negotiation skills. Staff demonstrate an extremely positive approach to help increase children's understanding of right and wrong and children respond well to reminders to care for each other, resources and the environment. There are effective procedures in place to support children with special needs. Children have opportunities to learn about themselves and each other through topic work, everyday and planned activities. They explore the local area and develop a sense of community through visitors and outings. For example, regular trips to the

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Helping children make a positive contribution

library and visits from local the nurse and police. This fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Partnership with parents and carers is good. A strong partnership with parents contributes significantly to children's well-being in the nursery. Staff actively seek parent’s views about the children's needs and interests before and during their time at the setting. Staff ensure all parents know how their children are progressing and developing. Children benefit greatly from the involvement of their parents, thereby contributing to their good health, safety, development and learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children are well protected and cared for by staff who have a sound knowledge and understanding of child development. Children receive appropriate care, support and attention from staff, contributing to them feeling happy, settled and secure. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Staff record and maintain children’s developmental records regularly. All staff have input into topics, the room leaders are then responsible for ensuring they provide appropriate learning opportunities for the children. Staff work well as a team and senior management give consideration to allowing time for planning, although less so to record observations of children in order to help inform future planning. An appraisal system is in place to effectively identify the training needs of the staff thereby contributing to the continuing development and

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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 improvement of the care and education of all children. The premises are sufficiently organised, providing a welcoming and spacious environment for children to explore freely. Indoors and outdoor space is set up to provide a variety of play opportunities. Staff have procedures in place to never leave children unsupervised with persons not vetted. This contributes to children’s health, safety, enjoyment, achievement and ability to take an active part in the setting. Most required documentation that contributes to children’s health and well-being is in place. However, not all attendance records are accurately maintained to keep children safe at all times. Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted since 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 good. 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 good.

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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): • practise fire procedures regularly to ensure all children are familiar with the evacuation plan. • devise and implement a child protection procedure in the event of an allegation of abuse made against a member of staff

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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 • devise and implement procedures to ensure attendance records are accurately maintained and up to date at all 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): • include when planning for outdoors, the six areas of learning,to extend children's learning through everyday play • ensure staff are provided with regular opportunities to make observations of the children to help inform future planning

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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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