Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

305125 Unique Reference Number 02 October 2006 Inspection date Ron Goldsmith Inspector

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Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

Curzon House, Wrexham Road, Eccleston, Chester, Cheshire, CH4 9DQ Setting Address

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Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

01244 675712 Telephone number JIGSAW@CURZONHOUSE.CO.UK E-mail Claire and Michael Doyle Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery

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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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?

Jigsaw Curzon House Day Nursery opened in January 1999. It operates from a two storey building situated within the grounds of the Holiday Inn Hotel, in the Eccleston area of Chester. Children are accommodated within seven rooms, according to age.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 117 children from two months to five years on roll. This includes 20 funded children. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens five days a week for 51 weeks of the year, between the hours of 07.15 and 18.15.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The number of full-time staff is 18, including the manager who is supernumerary, and eight part-time staff work with the children. Most of the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ

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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 Level 2 or 3. Two members of staff are currently working towards, or completing, a recognised early years qualification. A cook and cleaner are also employed.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children have a healthy balance of rest and exercise which supports their physical and emotional well-being. All children have daily timetabled outdoor play sessions. They enjoy opportunities for fresh air and exercise and eagerly participate in activities playing ball, running or singing nursery rhymes in a large circle. All children are offered the opportunity to have a good rest at the middle of the day whatever their age so that they do not get overtired. Small babies sleep according to their individual routines and are well supervised when sleeping with regular, monitored checks, which are recorded.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy the indoor space to move around in and learn to use this space safely when changing places from one base area to another to select different activities. Babies learn to touch and feel textures as they sit in or hold shredded paper or spaghetti, developing good hand and finger control. Children receiving nursery education enjoy playing hide and seek outside and have regular activities to develop skills, such as throwing and catching a ball or balancing on foot stilts to develop good control and balance.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are looked after in a clean and healthy environment. All children have access to hand washing facilities and talk about a recent project they have taken part in to understand how important this to remove all the germs. However, the procedure to wash hands does not help to prevent cross contamination and the spread of infection, because some children share bowls of water to wash hands in. All staff are qualified to give first aid should a child have an accident. Emergencies and the giving of medication are handled competently in partnership with parents.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children eat food which is very nutritious and well prepared by a cook, using fresh ingredients and containing no unwanted additives. Staff ensure children's individual dietary needs are met with similar or different dishes according to requirements. Meals are organised from a newly built modern kitchen and include fruit and vegetables daily to contribute to the 'five a day' recommended healthy eating scheme. However, access to the kitchen by staff is insufficiently controlled and the morning snack is given to children without suitable bowls or plates. Children have sufficient drinks to quench their thirst and milk to strengthen their teeth.

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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 environment that offers good facilities for a range of activities. The rooms are attractively decorated with large colourful friezes depicting various scenes. Children's art work and pictures of children playing and learning in a variety of situations, are displayed. Resources are of very good quality and maintained in a good state of repair and cleanliness. There is a good variety of choices for children with equipment being easily accessible and well organised.

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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 The open plan arrangements on the ground floor allow for flexibility in the way children are accommodated on the premises and supervised. Two and three year old children who use the first floor are able to cope well with the stairs. All children make good use of the variety of interesting outdoor areas which can be accessed easily from the nursery. Staff make sure the premises are safe and secure using a daily check list. They have a good understanding of the level of supervision needed for children of different ages and capabilities and children are allowed to be adventurous within certain safety boundaries. For example, some trees and shrubs offer them an additional resource for physical activities and for exploring the natural environment, and they make use of this. This encourages children to learn to play and move

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are safeguarded well by the child protection procedures. All staff attend training on recognising the signs and symptoms of abuse. Staff establish a two way system of sharing information about accidents and incidents with parents so concerns are discussed and explanations given. The manager understands procedures for dealing with allegations of a serious nature that need to be referred to other agencies for investigation and how to keep the regulator informed. Information about these procedures are shared with parents.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Rigorous planning is used to support children’s excellent all round development. Children participate in an extensive range of activities over time which are often linked to topics or themes, such as Autumn, to help them make connections. A high quality balance of staff-led and child-led activities is provided. Learning and skills are reinforced through exemplary daily routines and there is exceptional access to varied resources. Staff record what children do and note their responses to help with regular assessments of progress. These are then used to plan the next steps, in partnership with parents. This approach is applied throughout the nursery with all age groups, providing a play environment which is of high quality and which is rich and stimulating for all children.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children throughout the nursery respond positively to the very approachable staff who listen to them well, and give appropriate cuddles for reassurance, and create a calm and friendly atmosphere. Babies settle well with key workers and toddlers chat confidently to staff who understand their different personalities and interests well. Young children enjoy making marks on paper with paint, sometimes painting themselves. They enthusiastically enjoy songs and music, creating their orchestra with simple instruments. Young children are thrilled by the experience of playing in the sensory room, watching the moving lights, enjoying handling the contents of the story bag, which includes squirrel puppets, books and natural resources such as nuts, as they talk about Autumn. Babies explore the texture of different materials as they sit in piles of shredded paper smiling and wriggling about with delight. Babies explore a wide

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

range of different objects collected for exploratory play with staff responding to their gestures or sounds or eye contact. Older children start to copy their names to label pictures. All children enjoy sharing books and listening to stories.

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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 The quality of teaching and learning for children receiving funded nursery education is good. Children make good progress towards the early learning goals. The well written medium term plans cover all aspects of the six areas of learning which create planned weekly and daily activities. Resources are used well. Staff establish positive relationships with children, helping those who are new to settle, making them feel secure and being aware of their individual needs. All children arrive happy and eager to participate. Close and caring relationships increase children's sense of trust and help them develop a strong sense of self. Early communication skills are extremely well supported through high quality adult-child interactions and children are confident.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children begin to make sense of the world and express their ideas as they join in a diverse range of exploratory and sensory experiences, for example, talking about autumn, comparing and talking about the different colours of leaves or about their paintings. They are excited and vibrant as they engage in making the shapes of different animals, moving to accompanying music.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children play well together, learning to take turns and help each other to make constructions or in small world play. They sustain interest in their self-chosen activities, such as play dough, for long periods and listen well to each other at news time. Staff ask children good questions to help them recall past events and extend their narrative, such as when they talk about what they have done at the weekend. Children use good vocabulary and actions to describe how mum has bought them new shoes or their visit to the park. Children take an interest in reading words as they share picture books.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children take an interest in playing games which help them to recognise numbers. They sit down or stand up when certain numbers occur and they are confident and eager to recognise other numbers in the game up to 10. They like to sing number songs, learning to add one on or take one away. Children have many opportunities to explore shape, pattern and size in planned and free play activities but staff do not always use every day opportunities to challenge such children to develop their problem solving skills further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children enjoy using the play food to make pretend meals and act out different roles, making chocolate cake, to which staff respond by saying 'yummy'. They use their imagination as they play with cars or adopt the role of mum or dad. Children explore colour, shape and texture with a range of materials. For example, they create regularly and draw and paint, comparing the pictures they have made of one another. Children learn to use the mouse to operate simple programs on the computer.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff use a good assessment system and plot children's progress towards early learning goals using regular observations during both planned and unplanned activities. Plans indicate how activities for individual children can be extended and used to inform the next steps. However, staff generally know children's capabilities well because the group is small and they have good knowledge of stepping stones to inform their practice.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is fostered. They are individually welcomed by their staff and settle down confidently to play or explore their environment. They develop self-esteem because they are given choices and are involved in decision making, such as which activity they are going to choose, how many children can be involved and who they will choose to play with.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave well because the staff use positive methods to encourage this, such as setting a good example themselves, rewarding good behaviour with praise, and having appropriate expectations of children according to their ages and capabilities. When children occasionally behave inappropriately ripping a painting or pinching, staff explain how this could hurt someone or make them feel bad, so that children learn the consequences of their actions. Children learn to be patient and wait their turn at snack time. They are encouraged to tidy up and to take responsibility for their environment.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff vary activities to meet individual needs and ensure all children have a turn so no one is left out when playing games. Resources are easily accessible so that both boys and girls have equal chances to choose what they wish to play with. Children learn through topics and discussion, such as European Day, to identify similarities and differences which helps them to appreciate diversity and to respect all people equally. They have opportunities to celebrate special events in their own lives and learn about the cultures and languages of others.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good. The entrance area is used very well to display information for parents and to create a welcome. There are pictures of all the staff and information about their qualifications and training. A copy of the nursery's policies and procedures is accessible for reading. In the rooms, displays, plans and photographs of children at play with a caption about what they are learning, ensures parents develop a good understanding of the 'Birth to three matters' framework and the Foundation Stage.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Parents appreciate the comments in the daily diary and find it useful to write in it on occasions when they do not have time to stop and talk. Parents are able to contribute their views on children's progress or to discuss their child's development record or progress towards the early learning goals, using the system progress records established by the nursery. The parents of children receiving nursery education also bring in resources and artefacts for topics.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit from highly qualified and skilled staff who are effectively inducted and who regularly, reflect, monitor and improve the quality of care and education.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. Staff work effectively together to ensure that children are provided with high quality care and education. The excellent relationships between the staff ensure the nursery offers a rich, varied and imaginative environment for all children. This ensures that children are cared for in a rich learning and caring environment. All staff are highly

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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 qualified and have a wealth of experience; they are extremely well motivated and continue to attend many training courses. This has a positive effect on children's learning and welfare. There are good systems for checking the suitability of new staff and for supervising visitors or students which keeps children safeguarded. Ratios are met through good organisation of rotas and forward planning.

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Organisation

Children are safeguarded as the provider makes rigorous checks to ensure staff suitability before they are employed. The effective appraisal system ensures that the nursery's comprehensive policies and procedures are consistently applied. All staff are committed to continuous improvement and development. The premises are very well organised, and available space is well planned to maximise play opportunities for children. There are good record keeping systems and thoroughly written policies and procedures which are put into good practice by staff for children's welfare and development. However, the record of complaints which the provider has devised is not sufficiently kept to allow the provider to show parents details of any complaint which may be made to or about the setting.

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Organisation

Overall, the provision meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There were five recommendations arising from the last inspection. The nursery agreed to:

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Improvements since the last inspection

develop staff's knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice and provide resources to reflect positive images of cultural diversity, gender and disability. Maintain confidentiality when recording medication administered to children and make sure that parents sign all entries. Make sure that all fire doors are not obstructed and remain clear at all times. Make sure that strategies for dealing with children's behaviour are understood and consistently applied throughout the nursery. Restrict the number people entering the kitchen and make sure children have access to fresh drinking water at all times

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Improvements since the last inspection

The provider has carried out all the recommendations. Staff have appropriate levels of understanding about equal opportunities and resources reflect positive images of diversity. All records maintain confidentiality. All fire doors are unobstructed. The strategy for dealing with children's behaviour are understood and applied consistently throughout the nursery. The last recommendation has not been sufficiently well enforced and is raised again as a recommendation in this report. All the measures taken improve safety for children and provide reassurance for parents which improves relationships.

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Improvements since the last inspection

In the nursery education inspection the provider agreed to organise large groups within the new pre-school room. The pre-school room now divides children into two smaller groups and operates a key worker system to ensure effective care and education is delivered.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since April 2004 Ofsted has received one complaint raising concerns about National Standard 2 (Organisation). It was alleged that there were insufficient ratios of staff to children in the mornings. The concerns were investigated by an inspector during an unannounced visit on

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 17/05/2006. Observations were made, records examined and interviews carried out. Evidence indicated that National Standard 2 continued to be met. The provider continues to be registered.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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): • ensure effective hand wash procedures are in place for all children • improve hygiene by ensuring that access to the kitchen area is restricted and suitable plates are provided for children's snack time • ensure that a system to record or log any complaints is established, in line with guidance and regulations made in October 2005, and this is shared with parents who may wish to see it.

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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): • continue to use and develop everyday opportunities to support children's learning.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) 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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