St John Fisher Catholic Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/11/2004 Inspector Name Claire, Alexandra Parnell

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name City Way Day Nursery Setting Address 18 City Way Rochester Kent ME1 2AB

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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

City Way Day Nursery is a privately owned multi-functional nursery. The nursery has been registered since 1999. The nursery is situated on the main road into the town of Rochester. The nursery offers the use of four play rooms for different ages and functions including a baby room, toddler room, pre-school room and the sessional pre-school and after school club. There is also an office, kitchen, and toilets for children and staff. The nursery operates all year round. The facility for child care is open from 07:30 until 18:00 Monday to Friday. The breakfast club operates from 07:30 until 08:30; after school club from 15:15 until 18:00 and pre-school sessions from 09:15 until 11:45. There is also the facility of a holiday club during school holidays from 08:00 until 18:00. There are currently 91 children on role. Of these 16 children are funded four year olds and 18 children are funded three year olds. The staff presently care for four

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Information about the setting

children with special educational needs and 14 children with English as an additional language. Eighteen members of staff are employed for the nursery, of these 17 staff hold relevant qualifications. The nursery accepts children for neighbourhood nursery placements. They are currently working towards the Medway Kite Mark Accreditation. The nursery gains support and advice from the area SENCO, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, Kidsclub network and the local health visitors.

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How good is the Day Care?

City Way Day Nursery provides good standards of day care. The nursery is organised well with highly qualified staff working flexibly together. The children have access to good space and equipment, with activities provided at table

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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 and floor level. Every child has access to the outdoor area daily. Children can be independent in their play and meet their own needs through independent selection of equipment and use of toileting facilities. However, the toddlers are unable to directly access hand washing facilities within their own room. The documentation for the nursery is held securely and confidentially. However some aspects of documentation needs to be extended and made more accessible. The children are cared for in a safe environment. There are procedures in place for the security and collection of children. Full training and advise has been taken regarding fire systems in the nursery. Procedures for high levels of hygiene are in place throughout the children's day, although this needs to be assessed and

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How good is the Day Care?

checked more regularly with regard to the hygiene in the children's bathrooms. Children are given a good range of home cooked meals and a variety of snacks, including some that they have prepared themselves. The staff endeavour to meet each child's individual needs through the use of relevant information and resources throughout the day. Systems are implemented well to protect children from harm. A full range of activities and resources are pre-selected for children, although the children can request and select their own equipment. The children are encouraged to respect and reflect different people's beliefs, culture and religions through activities and resources. The nursery uses many strategies to recognise and challenge behaviour. The partnership with parents is good, with a full range of information available to them, as well as the children's details regularly updated. A parent's panel supports

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How good is the Day Care?

the nursery's aim for effective communication.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the nursery was asked to extend the child protection procedures with information of the Area Child Protection Committee. The nursery now have details available regarding the Kent information but the Medway information has not been made available to date. this information is kept in the office. The nursery needs to make this information available to all staff and parents. The recommendation made from the investigation have all been met. The parents and staff both sign the details diary for each child in the baby room. The complaints procedure has been updated with Ofsted contact information and is now available in the new prospectus. The nursery needs to consider making this available to all existing parents as well as new parents. A list of policies and procedures is displayed on the parent's notice board and full copies are available on request from the senior staff. Some procedure and policies are explained in full in

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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 • The organisation of the nursery is effectively implemented. The staff work flexible, supporting each other in their roles and as a team. Every member of staff has the enthusiasm to want to improve the care of the children further. The staff team are well qualified and regularly attend training opportunities. They all interact with the children using good quality strategies and end with effective results. Staff are aware of each child's individual needs and strive to cater for these. They use the relevant information given by the parents to offer this care. The children can use the creatively planned space flexibly to extend their play both indoors and outdoors. • The children follow a flexible routine within all rooms, with special regard for

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What is being done well?

the youngest children's individual routines in sleeping and feeding. Children can make decisions, by accessing pre-planned activities from chosen equipment, particularly in the pre-school and after school club, although choice and decision making is endorsed in all rooms. • The nursery follows guidelines and assessed procedures to allow the children to play and be cared for in a safe and secure environment without diminishing their freedom to play and explore. Staff take on designated roles to ensure procedures are followed and evaluated. Outings are planned and risk assessed depending on the location and age. Effective procedures are in place for security and the safe collection of the children.

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What needs to be improved?

• the documentation; to update some procedures with relevant designated staff names, to provide a system to inform parents of when medication was administered, and to extend the Area Child Protection Committee information to parents • the opportunities for the toddlers to experience more frequent messy and manipulative activities • the provision for hand washing facilities in the toddler room • the full implementation of hygiene procedures, particularly with tissues and toileting equipment in the children's bathrooms.

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inspection or 1st April 2004 whichever is later.)

A complaint was made to Ofsted in July 2004 regarding the care, learning and play within the nursery, particularly concerning the babies, under standard three of the National Standards of Day Care. The complaint was made regarding the hygiene within the nursery environment and the level of care provided. An unannounced inspection took place to investigate the concerns. the following recommendations were made to promote good practice.

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inspection or 1st April 2004 whichever is later.)

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 1. Ensure the daily diary within the baby room is signed by both parents and staff. 2. Update the complaints policy to included Ofsted contact information for parents 3. Make parents aware of the complaints procedures 4. Find ways to provide parents with information about all policies referring to the nursery. After the investigation the provider remained suitable for registration. The case was closed and no further action taken.

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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 2 Update the child protection procedures and behaviour management procedures with named designated members of staff. 3 Introduce more frequent messy and manipulative activities to the toddler room. 4 Consider the provision of hand washing facilities in the toddler room. 7 Implement a system to advise parents as to when medication was administered. 7 Ensure hygiene procedures are implemented fully, particularly with regard to the children's bathrooms. 13 Extend the area Child Protection Committee information to parents.

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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?

City Way Day Nursery is an acceptable provision and of good quality overall. The children are making generally good progress towards the Early Learning Goals. The teaching is generally good. The staff offer a flexible programme of activities which is carefully planned and linked to observations, evaluations and some differentiation for more and less able children's abilities. Staff's effective questioning extends thinking and learning, encouraging children to try new activities and experiences. Activity observations refer to achievements and are used to evaluate the children's levels of development and then inform the future planning. The children have positive relationships with each other and the staff. Most of the children show reciprocal respect and care for their peers, endorsed by the staff's relationships with each other, the parents and children. However, there is a lack of organisation and planning for large group activities, affected by some children's

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How effective is the nursery education?

challenging behaviour, therefore disrupting discussions or story time. There is also a need for further planning for children with Special Educational Needs and those with English as an additional language. The leadership and management is generally good. The staff team flexibly take on additional responsibilities to enrich the children's learning programme. The children's learning and connected activities are evaluated to assess the strengths and weaknesses, although sometimes there is little action carried out to improve some activities. The effective partnership between the two rooms that offers funded education, allows different opportunities but for the same end result. The partnership with parents is generally good. Parents have the opportunity to see daily information regarding their child's progress. They can discuss and meet with key workers to plan the child's next steps. However, there is limited information

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How effective is the nursery education?

about topics, to help parents extend their child's learning at home.

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What is being done well?

• The children are encouraged to be inquisitive and to explore and investigate all activities and resources. They have a very caring attitude towards living things and understand what they need to survive. The children constantly ask question as to why things happen and what makes things work. They have a clear respect for their own beliefs and understand that other people have differing beliefs and culture. They reflect this through celebrating festivals and religions. • The staff encourage children's interest in all activities and use effective questioning to extend the children's thinking and understanding. All the children are independent in their play and demonstrate good self help skills. They make decisions for themselves and use the choices to influence their

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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 learning. • The professional continuity between the two groups of staff enables the children to learn about the same topics but by using different strategies and techniques, resulting in similar observations. • The nursery staff are all eager to want to improve the educational provision for the children, and strive to make changes for the better.

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What needs to be improved?

• the planning, organisation and evaluation of large group activities • the staff intervention and effectiveness in large group activities • the child's role in creative role play situations • the opportunity for children to independently and correctly label their work and the extension of written explanation of their work • the further opportunities for children to count and recognise numerals in practical activities • the children's understanding of the effects of exercise and keeping healthy • the extension to the planning for children with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language • the further information for parents regarding themes and topics learnt.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The improvements since the last inspection are generally good. At the last inspection the group was given three actions. 1. to provide parents with information regarding topics and activities. The parents have daily information regarding the activities that their children have been playing with, and in-depth information about their achievements and development. However, parents gain only a small amount of information regarding the topic and theme that their children are learning about. 2. to develop aspects of Communication, Language and literacy with an emphasis on the linking of letters and sounds. The children now have many opportunities to listen to stories, make marks and begin early writing skills. They communicate effectively through talking gestures and expressions and link letters and sounds through a weekly letter followed through structured adult lead activities. 3. to develop strategies to ensure children are attentive in large groups. The children

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What has improved since the last inspection?

have many opportunities to meet in large group times, including stories, discussion and music time. Some of these opportunities are disorganised with little preparation. Some children's challenging behaviour disrupts other children's concentration and enthusiasm for the large group activities.

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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: Generally Good Children are independent in their play and with self help skills. They confidently try new activities and make decisions for themselves and can express their opinions openly as well as except other peoples opinions too. Most children show respect for each other and using polite language and gestures, taking turns and sharing activities and resources. However some children's challenging behaviour continually disrupts other children's play and learning, particularly in large group activities.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Most children show delight through expressions as a form of communication. They think about answers carefully before verbally replying reasonably. Most children retell and predict stories with verbal reasoning and role play, showing an understanding of the story line. They demonstrate their knowledge of linking letters with sounds with effective mark making. However, they lack opportunities to label their own work.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children demonstrate their understanding of sorting, by colour, shape and size. More able children understand and use positional language within their play. Children can make one more and one less than a number using resources in free play activities. They can also make totals of two numbers. Children recognise amounts without having to count the number. However, there are limited opportunities for children to count and recognise numerals during practical and outdoor activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children explore and investigate many properties and understand the importance of caring for living things. They notice differences and similarities in play and resources and constantly question why things happen. They construct using their own design and know which components are needed. Children use technology effectively, moving the mouse to gain further information. They express their delight at familiar events and understand the need to reflect and respect other people's celebrations.

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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: Generally Good Children understand the need to move safely and use equipment correctly, although they use their imagination with more complex movements. They use effective fine motor skills through construction, drawing, manipulative resources use large equipment well, using their strength and skills to propel, climb, manoeuvre, steer and balance. However, there is a limited emphasis for children to understand the importance of staying healthy and the effects of exercise on their bodies.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children use senses to explore different materials with touch, smell, taste, sound and sight and express their findings. They enjoy singing, particularly known songs with correct words. Some respond by clapping in time or using appropriate rhythm with instruments. The children freely represent using a good range of materials and media. However, there are some limited opportunities for children to lead their own play in role play situations and limited explanations of children's representation.

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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 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

• extend the planning, organisation and evaluation of the sessions with regard to large group activities, effective staff interaction in child lead activities and differentiation for children with Special Educational Needs and those with English as an additional language • implement further opportunities to enable children to extend labelling of their own achievements and the recognition of numerals and counting through all practical, structured and free play activities.

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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 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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