Good as Gold Child Care Centre

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 14/02/2005 Inspector Name Susan, Helen Spencer

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Good as Gold Child Care Centre Setting Address Gaghills House Gaghills Road Rossendale Lancashire BB4 9BB

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Beryl Nugent and Anne-Marie Rawcliffe Address Gaghills House Gaghills Road Rossendale Lancashire BB4 9BB

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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

Good as Gold Child Care Centre is a day nursery located in Waterfoot, Rossendale in Lancashire. It is open from 07.30 to 18.00 from Monday to Friday all year round [bank holidays excepted]. The nursery currently employs 17 staff, 13 of whom are qualified. The setting provides funded nursery places for 35 children and supports those children who have special educational needs.

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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?

Good as Gold Child Care Centre provides good quality nursery education where children make generally good progress overall towards the early learning goals. They make very good progress in personal, social and emotional and mathematical development. Teaching is generally good. Staff plan a generally good programme of activities that the children find stimulating and enjoyable. However, weaknesses in assessment means that planned activities do not always build on what the children already know and lack challenge. Staff manage the children well and have high expectations of their behaviour. Resources are generally good. They are well labelled and the children have access to a wide range of both fiction and non fiction books. However, the children's access to equipment to develop their physical skills is inadequate. Although staff know the children well, the children's progress towards the early learning goals is not plotted.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Leadership and management is generally good. The staff are aware of their own roles and responsibilities. Staff work closely as a team. They continually review procedures and practice to identify strengths and weaknesses of the setting, but have failed to identify weaknesses in the areas of learning, partnership with parents and the quality of teaching. Partnership with parents is generally good. The parents are provided with good quality information about the setting, its provision and the areas of learning. Staff talk to parents at the beginning and end of every session, but weaknesses in assessments means that information given at this time is inaccurate. Staff have started to give newsletters to parents, with ideas of how they can help at home. Parents report that they have had concerns about communication in the past but recent changes have resulted in more information being passed on to them about

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What is being done well?

• The programmes of learning for personal, social and emotional development and mathematics. • Activities planned are exciting and stimulating for the children and they are developing a love of learning. • Staff are cheerful and work alongside the children as they learn. • Staff work well as a team, with each being aware of their own roles and responsibilities.

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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?

• assessments of the children's attainment and progress to ensure that each child's progress towards the early learning goals is clear • partnership with parents to ensure that they are involved in the assessments made on their children and are well informed of their progress • the children's access to a wide range of equipment that will enable them to develop their physical skills appropriately • the programme for the development of the children's communication, language and literacy skills to enable them to develop independence in their early writing • the programme for the development of the children's knowledge and understanding of the world to ensure that they have the opportunity to develop a sense of time and to develop their independent designing and making skills • the programme for the development of the children's creative skills when music making.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Progress in addressing the points for consideration from the previous inspection is limited. The setting was asked to respond to three points. The setting has developed the programme for the development of the children's personal, social and emotional development to ensure that they are now given more opportunities to take responsibility. However, weaknesses still exist in the quality of teaching and partnership with parents.

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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: Very Good The children are developing well in independence when they dress themselves for role play and wash their own hands for baking activities. Behaviour is very good. The children are very calm during the course of the session and the older children are beginning to settle their own arguments. The children are developing a sense of community when making visits to the local hospice and raising money for charity.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good The children communicate well with each other and the adults that they work with. They use imaginative langugage when playing with spaghetti. The children are beginning to hear, say and recognise letters of the alphabet when working on the computer. Reading skills are developing well. The children regularly choose reading as a free choice activity. The children are not beginning to write their own names or simple captions using their phonic knowledge for spellings.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children recognise numbers with ease when weighing ingredients to bake and when using number cards. They count reliably when counting the number of cups that fill a large container when working in the water. The children use mathematical language including heavy, light, more and less when weighing sugar for cakes. They are able to match shapes when working on the computer. The children are beginning to calculate, relating addition to combining two groups of objects.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good The children explore the properties of ice and are thrilled when they realise that their warm hands help to melt it. The children ue technology well in their role play and use a microphone to sing into to make their voice louder. They make bird cakes, discussing why we need to feed the birds in winter. The children are not developing a sense of time, or developing their designing and making skills independently.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children move well as a group outside. They move with control across footstep stepping stones and negotiate space successfully with a wheelbarrow in the role play garden centre. The children use a range of tools and materials with increasing safety and control, using knives to spread icing on a birthday cake. The children are not developing their throwing, catching, pedalling or balancing skills appropriately.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children explore colour mixing when using blue and white playdough together. They have free access to painting easels, mixing their own paints. The children work imaginatively in role play, taking on the roles of adults. They respond with all their senses when working with spaghetti. The children do not explore how sounds can be changed with musical instruments.

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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

• improve assessment procedures to ensure that each child's progress towards the early learning goals is plotted regularly. Share these with parents • improve the children's access to equipment which will enable them to develop a wide range of physical skills • ensure the coverage of the areas of learning provides appropriate challenges to enable children to make progress

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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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