Buttercups Nursery School Ltd

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/03/2004 Inspector Name Lisa, Marie Ellis

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Buttercups Preschool Nursery Setting Address Gull Coppice Whiteley Fareham Hampshire PO15 7LA

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Buttercups Pre-School Nursery Address Gull Coppice Whiteley Community Centre Fareham Hampshire PO15 7LA

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality and standard of day care in accordance with the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding; and that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

Buttercups Pre-School Nursery has been registered since 1998 and has been in its current premises since 2002. It is a privately owned, family run group that is situated in a community centre in Whiteley, Fareham. The nursery serves children from the local and surrounding areas and has systems in place to support children with special needs and those that have English as an additional language. The nursery is registered to provide care for 24 children aged from 2 years to under 5 years, although it the policy of the group not to admit children before they reach the age of 2 years and 9 months. There are currently 47 children on roll, of these, there are 29 children aged 3 years, of which 25 are in receipt of government funding and 13 children aged 4 years, of which 9 are in receipt of funding. The nursery provides full care and is open Monday to Friday from 08:00-18:00 for 50 weeks of the year. Children can attend on a full or part-time basis.

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Information about the setting

There are 7 staff that work with the children, 4 hold childcare qualifications and 1 is on training. The nursery is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance and is in the process of completing their accreditation scheme.

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How good is the Day Care?

Buttercups Pre-School Nursery provides good quality care for children. Over half of the staff hold childcare qualifications and most of them attend training workshops to increase their childcare knowledge. The nursery has an effective operational plan that is implemented into daily routines to ensure the smooth running of the group. The nursery is bright, clean and well laid out, with a separate room for quiet activities such as books and a computer. Children are able to choose their own resources from low storage to access a very good range of stimulating and challenging equipment. Most of the required documentation is in place. Staff give the safety of the children a high priority and ensure the premises are safe and well maintained on a daily basis. Staff encourage good hygiene practices, such

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How good is the Day 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 as hand washing to promote the health of the children although there is not always a qualified first aider in the nursery. Children are provided with balanced and nutritious snacks and a hot meal and have free access to a water cooler to help themselves to drinks. Staff are aware of the procedures to follow should they have concerns over a child's welfare. A wide variety of well planned activities are provided that enable children to progress in all areas of learning. Staff sit with children at their level and appropriately question them to extend activities. All children are treated with equal respect and are given access to appropriate toys and equipment that reflects diversity. Behaviour in the group is very good with staff acknowledging and praising positive behaviour to

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How good is the Day Care?

encourage the children to continue to behave well. Staff work in partnership with parents and carers to ensure the well being of each child as an individual. Parents are fully informed of their children's progress through a variety of means, including the use of the home link books, attendance at happy hour and appointments at open evenings.

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What is being done well?

• Staff greet children and parents by name on arrival to make them feel welcome. Children's work is displayed all round the walls to decorate the rooms and value children's achievements. The rooms are warm and well maintained to provide children with a comfortable environment. • The nursery is very well resourced and has a wide range of bright, clean and stimulating equipment both indoors and outside that covers all areas of learning. Equipment is stored in low-level, labelled boxes that allows the children to self-select their own resources, increasing their personal independence. • Very good systems are established to ensure the children's safety while in nursery. The building is monitored by CCTV and parents and visitors announce their arrival over an intercom system. Daily risk assessments are undertaken and a full annual assessment is carried out by the nominated health and safety representative. All safety precautions are in place to reduce

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What is being done well?

the risk of accidents. • Children are taught to self-discipline. The basic rules are depicted in words and pictures to help children learn the boundaries, such as how many children can safely play at an activity at once. Children use the movable pictures when they choose an activity and remind each other of the rules, for example, 'it's quiet time, so we can't play with the instruments yet'. Staff praise and reward positive behaviour by the use of stamps so children gain a positive sense of self and take pride in their achievements. As a result, behaviour is very good.

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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What needs to be improved?

• the systems for ensuring that there is always a member of staff with a current first aid certificate on site • the documentation to include Ofsted in the complaints procedure and written consent from parents for seeking emergency medical treatment.

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CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION

All registered persons must comply with all conditions of registration included on his/her certificate of registration. As a result of this inspection conditions of registration have been imposed / varied / removed and a new certificate of registration will be issued.

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 7 Ensure at least one member of staff with a current first aid certificate is on the premises or on outings at any one time. 14 Request written permission from parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment and include Ofsted on the complaints procedure as the regulatory body.

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by the time of the next 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

Buttercups Pre-School Nursery provides high quality education where children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. Quality of teaching is very good. Staff have a clear understanding of the early learning goals and are all involved in the planning which is comprehensive and directly linked to the stepping stones. Plans and assessments are well used to ensure equal coverage of all six areas of learning to enable children to be involved in a balanced range of activities that helps them to progress. Staff use equipment on a rota system to provide children with a variety of learning opportunities. Leadership and management is very good. The staff team work well together and are keen to participate in training to keep up to date with childcare and educational issues. Staff have regular appraisals and supervision. They all have written job descriptions and contracts of employment to ensure they are clear of their roles and

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How effective is the nursery education?

responsibilities. Although staff verbally evaluate activities and topics, these are not yet written and therefore do not directly link to the stepping stones. Partnership with parents and carers is very good. They are provided with a very detailed prospectus that outlines the Foundation Stage of Learning and explains the stepping stones and early learning goals. They receive regular information about what is going on in the group through the notice board, newsletters, home link books, daily verbal feedback and the happy hour sessions. Parents are welcomed into the group and are involved in their children's learning by helping out with topics such as Diwali and music lessons. They have access to their children's records of achievement at any time and receive a written progress report after their child has been in the group for half a term. Parents are encouraged to share what they know about their child by completing a detailed information sheet of what their child can

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What is being done well?

• Excellent use is made of the outdoor area, providing children with a broad range of learning experiences. There is sand, water and shingle for them to explore as well as musical instruments, books and a home corner to investigate. Children have made their own animals and put them into hibernation and staff have helped children make weather gauges to increase their understanding of nature. • Staff know each child as an individual and complete worthwhile assessments to identify any areas of concern or where children could be provided with more challenges. These assessments are used in future planning to ensure children receive appropriate support and guidance. • Children invite their parents into the nursery on a termly basis to spend an

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 hour with them showing them their work and progress files. Parents and children enjoy this 'happy hour', as children are proud to show their work and parents can speak to staff about their children's progress. • Children are developing an awareness of other countries in the world by learning greetings in a wide variety of languages. Each week they are taught to say 'hello' in a different language and all say it at registration time when their name is called. Children are also enjoying learning basic French such as counting.

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What needs to be improved?

• the evaluation systems to link to the stepping stones.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection there were two points for consideration which related to further developing opportunities to expand the children's awareness of different beliefs and to further develop activities that enable children to question why thing happen and how things work. The nursery has made very good progress in these areas and has continued to expand coverage of religious festivals and has invited outside speakers into the group to discuss them. They have added to their multi-cultural equipment to help children learn about different festivals, celebrations and beliefs. Staff have developed investigation areas both indoors and outside to encourage children to explore for themselves how things work and why things happen.

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What has improved 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; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children confidently enter the nursery and independently choose equipment, showing high levels of involvement in activities. They are very good at taking turns and sharing and work well together to get jobs done, such as packing away toys. Children are responsive to staff and have formed good relationships with their peers, regularly seeking each other out for play. They show excitement when presented with new activities and sit still and listen to what they are expected to do.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy listening to stories and participating in songs and action rhymes. They regularly look at books, handle them correctly and make up their own stories from looking at the pictures. Children are confident speakers and regularly talk in group situations about their personal experiences. Most children are able to recognise their written name and many can identify individual letters. Children enjoy using pens and paper and often attempt to write in free play situations.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children use mathematical language in everyday situations and regularly count out what they are doing, for example, using one penny to buy one bun in the home corner. Children have a good understanding of positional language, using words such as in, on and under during role-play. Children are beginning to understand basic calculation such as subtraction. They know that if you take away, you end up with less. Most children are able to recognise and correctly name a variety of shapes.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are learning about the world around them through well planned and interesting topic work. They are beginning to understand life cycles and are currently observing tadpoles and caterpillars to see what they grow into. Children are able to perform simple functions on the computer such as clicking and dragging. They have a good understanding of past and present, often talking about recent birthdays and a visit to the local school to see a travelling farm.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children competently engage in activities that require hand-eye co-ordination such as threading and using peg boards. Their gross motor skills are developing well with the regular use of climbing, sliding and balancing equipment. Children demonstrate good levels of spatial awareness, they are able to judge space well and move round the room and the garden safely. They participate in a range of physical activities that develop their control and co-ordination such as skittles.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy musical activities and are eager to be involved in music lessons. They are keen to use instruments and participate in a range of songs and body movements. They have regular access to instruments both indoors and outside and are aware of the different sounds they make. Children show their imaginations in the home corner, where they have made some of the resources such as cakes and biscuits. They act out roles from their own experiences and make up their own stories using props.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

There are no significant weaknesses to report, but considerations should be given to improving the following: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • further develop the evaluation system to show how they are linked to the stepping stones to ensure children continue to progress towards the early learning goals.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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STANDARD 1 - SUITABLE PERSON

Adults providing day care, looking after children or having unsupervised access to them are suitable to do so.

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STANDARD 2 - ORGANISATION

The registered person meets required adult: child ratios, ensures that training and qualifications requirements are met and organises space and resources to meet the children's needs effectively.

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STANDARD 3 - CARE, LEARNING AND PLAY

The registered person meets children's individual needs and promotes their welfare. They plan and provide activities and play opportunities to develop children's emotional, physical, social and intellectual capabilities.

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STANDARD 4 - PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

The premises are safe, secure and suitable for their purpose. They provide adequate space in an appropriate location, are welcoming to children and offer access to the necessary facilities for a range of activities which promote their development.

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STANDARD 5 - EQUIPMENT

Furniture, equipment and toys are provided which are appropriate for their purpose and help to create an accessible and stimulating environment. They are of suitable design and condition, well maintained and conform to safety standards.

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STANDARD 6 - SAFETY

The registered person takes positive steps to promote safety within the setting and on outings and ensures proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents.

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STANDARD 7 - HEALTH

The registered person promotes the good health of children and takes positive steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate measures when they are ill.

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STANDARD 8 - FOOD AND DRINK

Children are provided with regular drinks and food in adequate quantities for their needs. Food and drink is properly prepared, nutritious and complies with dietary and religious requirements.

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STANDARD 9 - EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The registered person and staff actively promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children.

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

The registered person is aware that some children may have special needs and is

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NEEDS AND DISABILITIES)

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 proactive in ensuring that appropriate action can be taken when such a child is identified or admitted to the provision. Steps are taken to promote the welfare and development of the child within the setting in partnership with the parents and other relevant parties.

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STANDARD 11 - BEHAVIOUR

Adults caring for children in the provision are able to manage a wide range of children's behaviour in a way which promotes their welfare and development.

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STANDARD 12 - WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS AND CARERS

The registered person and staff work in partnership with parents and to meet the needs of the children, both individually and as a group. Information is shared.

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STANDARD 13 - CHILD PROTECTION

The registered person complies with local child protection procedures approved by the Area Child Protection Committee and ensures that all adults working and looking after children in the provision are able to put the procedures into practice.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

Records, policies and procedures which are required for the efficient and safe management of the provision, or to promote the welfare, care and learning of children are maintained. Records about individual children are shared with the child's parent.

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STANDARD 14 - DOCUMENTATION

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000; and Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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