La Petite Academy Ltd

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 07/05/2004 Inspector Name Georgina Walker

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name La Petite Academy Ltd Setting Address 10-12 Highfield Road Littleover Derby Derbyshire DE23 1DG

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name La Petite Academy Ltd Address 10-12 Highfield Road Littleover Derby Derbyshire DE23 1DG

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of 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 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

La Petite Academy Day Nursery opened in 1995, with the adjacent baby and out of school unit opening in 1999. It operates from converted retail premises in Littleover and the nursery serves the local and surrounding areas. The baby unit has two rooms and out of school children have their own room, age appropriate changing and toilet facilities and a shared kitchen. The main premises have five playrooms, kitchen/staff room, office and appropriate toilet and laundry facilities. There are currently 132 children from four months to eleven years on roll. This includes 25 funded 3-year-olds and 9 funded 4-year-olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions from two to ten. The nursery supports children with special needs and can support those who speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens five days a week all year, except Bank Holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year. Sessions are from 07.30 until 18.00.

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Information about the setting

Fourteen full time staff work with the children, twelve have early years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3. One staff member is currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from Derby City, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP). The nursery is owned by a four member partnership and one member works daily on the premises.

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Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

La Petite Academy Day Nursery offers a good quality provision where children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. In some areas, such as knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development, they are making very good progress. The quality of teaching is generally good. The staff have a very good understanding of the Foundation stage and what children are to learn from the activities. The curriculum planning provides a wide range of themes and topics to encourage children to learn, but these are not consistently continued. It does not cater for children who attend for minimal sessions. An observation and assessment system has been developed and this enables children's learning needs to be incorporated into planned activities, especially maths which has missed aspects. A range of resources and equipment are available to support the children's progress but these

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How effective is the nursery education?

are not always used flexibly or prepared in advance. A consistently calm atmosphere is maintained and the staff have a good rapport with the children, whose behaviour is very good. There are very good systems in place for supporting children with special educational needs. Leadership and management is generally good. The owners ensure all staff are involved in decision making and planning activities. Staff meetings regularly occur and staff are committed to the improvement of children's care and education. Training is encouraged and staff share their new knowledge. Staff work very well as a team to create a warm and welcoming environment in which children learn. They recognise the need to further develop children's access to outdoor play but are inconsistent when extending themes. Partnerships with parents are very good. Written information is provided on an ongoing basis and children's developmental progress is discussed and documents

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How effective is the nursery education?

regularly shared. Parents are invited to be involved with their child's learning.

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What is being done well?

• Children's opportunities to explore, investigate and learn about the world around them are very good. They become involved in activities, extended across the whole nursery, celebrating festivals and other cultures and continue to talk about their experiences and proudly show off photographs where they have dressed up or made artefacts. • Children's physical skills are well developed. The range of resources used both indoors and outdoors ensures fine manipulative experiences are very varied. Children respond to instructions to walk carefully to the large play equipment garden, but demonstrate good balancing skills on the wall. They recognise if they do not follow the safety rules they could hurt themselves and that their inappropriate behaviour could affect other children's safety.

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • Staff continue to access training and respond to new knowledge and support provided from EYDCP and therefore have a very good understanding of the early learning goals. They plan and evaluate activities and this ensures they know the focus of what children will learn. • Development and assessment record keeping is continually being reviewed and ensures staff can plan for individual children's needs. • Partnerships with parents are very good, ensuring that individual needs of the children are met overall.

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What needs to be improved?

• The planning to consistently include all aspects of learning and ensure that all children have the opportunity to access the full range of activities. • The use of resources and language to provide more consistent opportunities to develop children's experiences in mark making and mathematics.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made generally good progress following the previous inspection. They have responded very effectively to providing parents with information. Parents now have comprehensive information to retain and access to notice boards which contain details regarding the early learning goals and curriculum. Termly play plans are displayed, newsletters containing topic information are sent home and parents are invited to share initial and ongoing information regarding their child's development at home. Development and assessment record keeping has been further developed to include children's individual needs and these are used to assist future planning. The provision of regular opportunities for children to mark make, write list and use numbers in everyday situations has been addressed with access to resources and the inclusion in topics. Mark making resources are not always provided in such areas as the role play area. Once a topic has ceased the staff concentrate on

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What has improved since the last inspection?

relevant language related to the new topic, thus the children's knowledge is not continuously extended.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are interested, excited and motivated to learn. They are developing in confidence and are forming obvious friendship groups. Children are well behaved and purposefully occupied. They recognise the needs and differences of others, including younger children. They do not have consistent opportunities to serve themselves at mealtime, or make choices regarding the full range of messy play resources, to further develop personal independence.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children interact confidently with peers, adults and visitors. They discuss aspects of nursery and home life with good recall, vocabulary and use of sound. Children have access to and use a good selection of books for pleasure and research. They do not have consistent opportunities to mark make during free and structured play. However some children confidently write text for use on displays. Children see text around the playrooms, however some is written in upper case letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have many opportunities to engage in activities relating to number during planned themes and develop a wide variety of mathematical language and concepts. However this is not consistently used during free play or continued by staff once a topic is finished. Children count in response to staff requests and show confidence in their knowledge counting up to fourteen. Children do not consistently access the whole range of activities available to develop calculating, space and measurement.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children regularly explore and investigate a good range of objects and materials using all their senses. They compare artefacts, ask questions and listen to responses. They competently use the computer and have access to a range of programmable resources. They develop a good sense of time and place from engaging in themes and topics which include outings to the local area, and further extend these on their return. Topics include festivals from other cultures and beliefs to develop awareness.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have well developed physical skills from having access to and using an extensive range of resources. They competently use large or small paint brushes, dustpan and brushes and demonstrate good pencil control when completing alphabet sheets. They move confidently and safely around the premises. They have a good sense of space and are beginning to understand the changes to their body during exercise, preparation for outdoor play and are learning how their body works.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have restricted daily access to the art room to explore an extensive range of media and materials and to create two and three dimensionally. They express themselves and their feelings during play using word and facial expressions. They use imagination during role play and extend this into the book area. The rigidity of the routine results in music activities not being available to all children. Those who experience singing and music express themselves with obvious enjoyment.

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

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of 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 good quality overall. Children are making generally 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: THE KEY ISSUES

• Ensure planning consistently includes all aspects of learning and that all children have the opportunity to access the full range of activities. • Ensure continuous use of resources and language to develop children's knowledge, especially in communication, language and literacy and mathematics.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

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: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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