The House Of Rompa

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 21/09/2004 Inspector Name Susan, Helen Spencer

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name House of Rompa Day Nursery Setting Address Holly Road Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 1LN

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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

House of Rompa is a 47 place day nursery for children aged from birth to five years, which is housed in a mobile building in the grounds of Wilmslow High School, Wilmslow. It has occupied this situation for approximately seven years having outgrown it's previous premises. Children attend from various locations due to the nursery's proximity to the A34. The nursery is open from 07:45 to 18:00 hours, Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks of the year. There are a number of staff in possession of NVQ level three, and a further number in training for the levels two and/or three. More than 50% of staff hold a recognised child care qualification. Children are accomodated in four group areas : baby, tiny tots, tots, and pre - school. The outdoor play area comprises a combination of paved, grassed, and barked areas. There are currently 43 children on roll, of whom none have special educational needs, and one child with English as an additional language. The nursery is in

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Information about the setting

receipt of funding for three and four year old children. A teacher comes in for one session per week to teach French.

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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?

The House of Rompa Day Nursery provides a happy, warm, welcoming environment where children are making generally good progress in all six areas of learning. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff have good relationships with children. They foster well the children's self-esteem through praise and encouragement. Staff have appropriate expectations of children's behaviour, hence children are very aware of how they are expected to behave. Plans indicate the activities for each of the six area of learning. These activities generally sustain the children's interest. The plans do not make it clear what children are intended to learn during these activities, and at times staff miss opportunities to extend fully the children's learning. Regular assessment records are kept on the older children's early reading skills, but assessments on other areas of learning are less frequent. Development records do

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How effective is the nursery education?

not currently link to the stepping stones for learning and make it difficult for staff to plan effectively individual children's next learning steps. Leadership and management are generally good. Staff are very aware of their roles and responsibilities. Regular appraisal meetings are held and staff are encouraged to develop further their practice through ongoing training. The monitoring and evaluation of the nursery is generally informal, though the management is clearly committed to improving the care and education of funded children by ongoing developments. Partnership with parents and carers is generally good. They are well informed about the nursery and its provision. However, the curriculum plan, although on display, is not easily accessible to parents. Staff are warm and friendly, and happily share information about the children's development. Parents have access to their child's development file and annual parents' meetings are held.

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What is being done well?

• Children are happy and confident. They form good relationships with staff and their peers, they learn to take turns, share, care and respect each other. • Staff manage the children's behaviour well. They very effectively foster this through a consistent approach, warm relationships, praise and encouragement. • Parents are welcomed into the nursery and have a very positive view of the provision. These clearly help the children feel settled, safe and secure. • The management has an open door policy, listens to parents and staff and is committed to constantly striving to improve the provision.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the planning so that all staff understand the learning intentions of the planned activities to ensure they ask appropriate questions, introduce new vocabulary and extend the children's learning • the opportunities to raise children's independent skills by enabling their access to resources and practising of more difficult skills such as serving themselves at snack times • the provision of more opportunities for children to recognise letters and link sounds to letters. In addition, encourage pre-writing skills within a variety of situations such as during role play • the more regular recording of each child's progress in the areas of learning so staff can plan the child's next learning steps.

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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 developing in confidence and happily engage in activities, many concentrating for sustained periods of time. They manage their own personal hygiene well, developing their independence, although opportunities to develop this further by greater access to resources and opportunities to serve their snacks are at times missed. Children are developing good relationships with their peers, they take turns and share. They generally behave well and recognise and understand the boundaries.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children are encouraged to express their needs, talk about themselves and listen to others. They listen with enjoyment to stories. Many often sit quietly looking at books, handling them carefully and correctly. They know print carries meaning and most recognise their own names. Although children participate in some activities to develop their pre-writing skills, there are too few opportunities for them to recognise and form letters, and to link sounds to letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are developing counting skills. Many can count to five and some older children can count to ten and beyond. They use practical experiences to develop number skills by counting the number in the group and singing songs and rhymes. Older children are starting to recognise and sequence very simple patterns. Children are beginning to use and understand language such as more or less. However, they have too few opportunities to use mathematical language to describe shape, size and position.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children show an understanding of past and present events and recall these experiences within conversations. Many can describe significant personal events. Children use simple construction kits and tools, and the use of everyday technology is appropriately managed to ensure children gain from its use. However, there are missed opportunities to encourage the children's curiosity so that they ask questions about how things work and why things happen.

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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: Generally Good Children are learning the importance of staying healthy. They show a growing sense of spatial awareness and control during outdoor play, developing well their throwing and catching skills. They use a range of wheeled vehicles competently. However, there are some missed opportunities to develop the children's climbing and balancing skills. Indoors, children negotiate space carefully with growing confidence, and are developing well their fine motor skills when using a range of tools.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children use a range of creative materials. They enjoy tactile experiences when, for example, searching in a container of shredded paper, and when feeling a cornflour and water mixture. Children like singing familiar songs and rhymes, including songs in French. In role play they use the props available in the home corner to act out situations. However, children do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their creativity and imagination during role play and when exploring materials.

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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

• identify the learning intentions of the planned activities • increase opportunities for children to develop their independence • provide more opportunities for children to recognise letters, link sounds to letters and use pre-writing skills during activities • regularly record each child's progress in each of the areas of learning and use this information to plan the next steps in their learning.

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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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