The Townsend Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 22/02/2005 Inspector Name Sheila Dawn Flounders

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name The Townsend Nursery Setting Address Stretton Grandison Ledbury Herefordshire HR8 2TS

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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

The Townsend Nursery is a privately owned, sessional group. It opened in 1999 and operates from three rooms, spread over two floors, in the Victorian wing of a Queen Anne farmhouse, which was specially designed as a nursery. It is situated in a rural location midway between Ledbury and Hereford. A maximum of 19 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 09.30 to 12.30 during term time only. All children have access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area and the farm gardens, with many activities based on the use of the outside environment. There are currently 22 children aged from 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these, 11 children receive funding for nursery education. Children attend mainly from the local area with some also attending from considerable distances away. The nursery is able to support children with special educational needs or those who speak English

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Information about the setting

as an additional language. The nursery employs two regular staff, who work alongside the owner and two support staff. The proprietor is a qualified teacher and one other staff member holds an appropriate early years qualification, with another currently working towards one. The nursery is supported by a mentor teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership. The owner is also an active member of the local partnership.

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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 education provision at the nursery is acceptable and of high quality, with children making very good progress towards the early learning goals. The teaching is also very good and staff have practical experience of the curriculum. Planning is done by the whole staff, ensuring that topics flow well into each other and aspects can be revisited easily. Challenge is included constantly, with staff posing questions and aware of what individual children need to work on next from their detailed ongoing assessments. They use a wide variety of methods, such as repeating activities for reinforcement, whole or small group, adult or child led and giving specific instructions. Children are given time to ask questions. Staff are positive role models and the children generally behave well. The proprietor provides very good leadership and management, being available daily to parents and holding discussions with staff before and after the session to

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How effective is the nursery education?

ensure they know exactly what to do. She includes staff ideas and opinions in the development plans and conducts appraisals to identify their training needs. She is present through each session to constantly monitor and evaluate the provision, also seeking opinions from staff, parents and the mentor teacher. She is committed to improvement, seeks to maintain high standards and keeps in touch with educational developments. The partnership with parents is also very good. They are provided with good information about the setting via letters, visits and the notice boards. They are informed of their child's progress through the items they bring home, daily contact with the staff, end of term reports and a parents evening. A detailed entry profile allows them to share their knowledge of their child, which is added to by comments at the end of reports. They are involved in their child's learning when helping with

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How effective is the nursery education?

trips, reading the daily books, sending in items for topics or supporting the committee or fundraising events.

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What is being done well?

• Children have access to a wide variety of activities each session such as making jelly frogs and ice frogs for later comparison, making slime, playing circle games outside, singing rhymes, listening to a story, visiting the role play clinic, discussing shapes and the days of the week in one session. • The staff work very well together as a team, they are involved in all aspects of the nursery provision, aware of their designated role for the session and pass on their enthusiasm to the children. • Children have access to a unique educational environment - inside with a homely feel, yet providing a range of child centred activities and resources and outside with two separate garden areas used at different times of year

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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 and easy access to the farm walks which enable the children to find out so much about the natural world. • Parents all make very positive comments about the provision, they choose to send their children to this type of nursery and are very supportive of the staff.

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What needs to be improved?

• the two year planning cycle, to accommodate children who attend for three years • the variety of climbing equipment in the outdoor area.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The nursery has made very good progress since the last inspection. Then they were to: 'further develop children's awareness and understanding of technology'. Following on from the inspection they purchased a programmable roamer, which was fully utilised in the curriculum in ways that ensured the children wanted to use it. The use of technology in role play was also encouraged, so that children model the use of items such as cookers, tills and telephones. More recently a computer has been purchased, which is well used by the children and always available.

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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 Children confidently speak to the group, are excited and eager to try experiences and learn from them. They discuss their feelings and give their opinions. They get on well together and begin to show sensitivity to others. They take turns and play co-operatively, especially in the garden. They are aware of the group routines and boundaries. They care for their own needs, select resources and work independently. They learn of their own culture and community from visitors or local trips.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good They make realistic suggestions to questions, have social conversations, describe their experiences such as what jelly feels like and learn new vocabulary in topics, songs and stories. Phonic bags introduce young children to letter sounds, while older children easily suggest words from initial letters. They access a range of books, through stories and home reading. They write in role play situations, label their work or trace writing with the most able writing with correctly formed letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good All children are confident and frequently use numbers to five, with older children going on to ten and beyond. They know the number order and can identify which one is missing and where numbers belong in a line. They use addition and subtraction in rhymes daily, confidently using their fingers for the numbers. They use language like big, little, smallest, largest, forwards, backwards and sideways. They know features of two dimensional shapes well, with older children learning three dimensional.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good They explore and investigate by planting, making jelly and cooking. Similarities and differences in animals are studied, with the local environment used to find out about the natural world. They construct with large items to make scarecrows and small items like lego bricks or clay. The computer and other technology is well used, with good mouse control shown. Children talk about recent events, their homes and families. Links with a nursery in Africa make them aware of the culture of others.

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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 very good experience of larger movement in the garden daily when they run around, balance, climb, swing, slide or push and pull the trolley. They are aware of space indoors and out, negotiating around each other. They learn about health and their body in topics and when doing brain gym exercises. They daily use a range of small equipment like straws, a stapler, chopsticks, paintbrush, pencils and the computer mouse, with which they all show increasing levels of skill and control.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have unusual opportunities to explore media and materials in two and three dimensions when making frog mobiles, ice frogs, rabbits from tubes, gerbil puppets or whole group printing on sheets. They enjoy singing and action rhymes daily and experience instruments regularly. They use their imagination in role play such as the baby clinic, vet or restaurant and can express their ideas and feelings when using puppets, listening to music, tasting food or through discussions at circle time.

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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 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 : •• varying the rolling two year programme, to accommodate those children who attend the nursery for three years.

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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 Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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