The Premier Nursery Education Centre

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/12/2003 Inspector Name Frank William Kelly

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name The Premier Nursery Education Centre Setting Address 197a Sussex Road Southport Merseyside PR8 6DG

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Mr Leonard Mann & Mrs Carol Mann Address 30 Irton Road Southport Merseyside PR9 9DY

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ORGANISATION 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

The Premier Nursery Education opened in 1997. It operates from 2 separate units on the same site which consist of a interconnecting baby room and toddler unit and a nursery school room that provides care for children aged 2 to 5 years of age. The setting is based within converted chapel buildings situated in the Norwood/Meols Cop area of the town of Southport. The setting serves the local area. The nursery is registered to care for 46 children aged 0 to 5 years. There are currently 52 children from 1 to 4 years on roll. This includes 6 funded 3 year olds and 1 funded 4 year old. Children attend for a variety of full and part time sessions. Two children have special needs and the group supports children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens 5 days a week, all year round. Sessions are from 08:00 to 18:00. There are 12 full time and 1 part time staff who work with the children. 10 have early

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Information about the setting

years qualifications and 2 who are currently on training programmes. The setting has completed a National Day Nursery Association (NDNA), Quality Counts, Quality Assurance Scheme. The nursery receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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How good is the Day Care?

Premier Day Nursery provides good care for the children. The nursery is well organised and uses extensive documentation to support the care of the children. There is a high ratio of qualified staff who care for the children in developmentally appropriate groups. The nursery is clean and well maintained, with a child orientated feel that the children contribute to through the displaying of their art work. The nursery has a very good selection of toys, books and equipment which are easily accessible to children of all ages. The children enjoy making personal choices

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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 during their independent play. Many of the resources are reflective of today's society and enhance the children's understanding of their wider world. Health and safety policies are generally implemented well, with staff supervising the children at all times and making security of the premises a priority. A system for completing daily risk assements would enhance this further. There are policies and procedures which support good health and hygiene. However these are not always consistently implemented. The staff plan and provide the children with a range of activities and experiences that promote their learning. There are good systems in place for supporting children with special needs to take part in every day activities. The children play happily, and

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How good is the Day Care?

are confident interacting with their peers and the adults present. Staff generally manage the children's behaviour appropriately. The children are responding to the boundaries and learning to share. Good formal and informal communication is maintained with the parents on a daily basis which promotes appropriate care for the children. Parents are familiar with procedures and routines, and have relaxed and friendly relationships with the staff.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to revise documentation, methods of maintaining attendance records and revise policies for child protection and behaviour management. Since then they have devised a registration system that records the exact times of the children's attendance and identifies the adults responsible for caring for the children. They have revised the policies and procedures so that staff are now familiar with the designated members of staff responsible for behaviour management and child protection. Staff induction and training support are in place to support staff's understanding. All documentation and records required to support the safe care of children are appropriately maintained and available for inspection.

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What is being done well?

• Children have good relationships with their carers. They are relaxed and confident in their environment and settle quickly. • Staff plan a variety of play and learning experiences that enable the children to progress in all areas of their learning. They provide good support for children with special needs to take part in every day activities. • Children's access to resources is very good. It is well organised so that all children are able to make independent choices from a good variety of well maintained toys and activities. The children enjoy making independent choices.

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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 • Resources are well chosen and reflect the diversity of today's society, including differing family structures, cultures, and disability. Books in particular present information, and images that children can associate with and which enhance their understanding of their wider world. • Parental partnership is good. There are good systems in place for sharing information both formally and informally. They encourage effective partnership and provide a good base where the children's individual needs can be met with care.

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What needs to be improved?

• the daily risk assessments • the implementation of policies for health and behaviour management.

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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 Revise induction and appraisal systems to ensure the consistent implementation of policies and procedures.

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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?

The Premier Nursery Education Centre is a supportive and caring nursery in which children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals in all areas of learning, except for personal, social and emotional development, and knowledge and understanding of the world, where their progress is very good. The children are becoming independent learners and have many valuable opportunities to learn about different cultures and beliefs. The educational programme is supplemented well by outings which enhance the children’s experiences. Opportunities are sometimes missed to help children understand about health and bodily awareness. The quality of teaching is generally good, and staff make good use of the attractive range of resources and equipment to promote the children' learning in all areas. Staff have a sound knowledge of the foundation stage. Planning covers all areas of learning, and is informed by detailed assessments, based upon the stepping-stones

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How effective is the nursery education?

to the early learning goals. These are used regularly to inform parents and carers of their children's achievements and progress. However, some staff sometimes miss opportunities to challenge the more able children. Children take an active part in choosing daily activities, and there is a good balance of child initiated and adult led learning experiences. The partnership with parents and carers is very good, and contributes positively to the children's attainment and progress towards the goals. Staff foster strong home-nursery links which help parents to feel very involved in their children's learning. The leadership and management of the setting is very good and is committed to ongoing improvement. The management effectively evaluates the quality of nursery education and addresses identified weaknesses. Good induction procedures and ongoing training in early years issues are helping to form a strong staff team which

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How effective is the nursery education?

contributes to the generally good progress children are making.

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What is being done well?

• The leadership and management have a clear vision for continual improvement, and a good knowledge of how to promote a broad and balanced curriculum. The management are effectively addressing identified weaknesses and staff are encouraged to access training on early years issues, which has beneficial effects upon the children's progress towards the goals. • Staff use the very good range of attractive resources well to provide an interesting and varied selection of activities which support children's

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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 development and progress in all areas of learning. • Children with special needs are supported well and the staff effectively encourage the children's language skills. • The children have access to a range of good computer programmes, which are used well to support their learning in many areas; for example, they play games which help them learn about shape, number, positional language and letters. • The staff offer a varied programme of activities in a well organised and attractively decorated room, and they encourage the children to independently choose activities. • Written assessments give a clear and detailed profile of the children's achievement and progress through the stepping -stones to the early learning

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What is being done well?

goals, and are used well to regularly inform the parents and carers about their children's attainment and progress.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunities for children to learn about health and bodily awareness, such as washing hands before snack time, after blowing their nose or playing outdoors and the opportunities to help children learn about the changes to their bodies after exercise. •• the way that some staff interact with and question children so that there is sufficient challenge offered to older and more able children • the opportunities for children to use their emerging mathematical knowledge to solve simple problems.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The nursery has made very good progress in addressing the five key issues from the previous inspection. The planning now gives an overview of the planned programme and staff evaluate the effectiveness of individual activities and use this information to adapt future planning. There is a system in place to ensure that the full range of stepping stones towards the goals is being worked towards. The assessment process is now firmly based upon the stepping stones to the early learning goals for all areas of learning and identifies individual children's learning needs. The member of staff with lead responsibility for supporting children with special needs has accessed training on current legislation which supports her role. Children with special needs are well supported by the setting. The setting now plans regular opportunities for children to develop their physical skills, especially in the use of mobile toys. There are daily opportunities to use a wide range of mobile toys which

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What has improved since the last inspection?

offer varying degrees of challenge. This helps children to develop co-ordination, control and a good sense of the space needs of themselves and others. Weather permitting, the staff supplement the opportunities for physical play with regular visits to the local parks, which extend the range of large equipment available to challenge the children's climbing skills. The smaller equipment is used well to help children

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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 develop and make progress in their more precise movements. Children now have more opportunities to explore sound using a range of percussion instruments, although the opportunities for creative expression in music and dance remains limited. Since the previous inspection the setting has also been awarded the "Quality Counts" quality assurance award.

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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: Very Good The children's progress in this area is very good. They confidently and enthusiastically choose from a wide range of activities and concentrate well independently for extended periods on adult led and self-chosen tasks. The children's behaviour is generally good, although staff sometimes miss opportunities to challenge unwanted behaviour. They are learning to think about their own needs and those of others during topic work using a good selection of resources.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good The children's progress in this area is generally good. They are learning about letter sounds and names, and chat about life at nursery and at home, and staff support to children with language delay well. Some staff miss opportunities for children to question sensitively to help children express their thoughts, and sometimes miss opportunities to help children learn that in English, text is read from left to right. Children are learning to recognise their own name, and to practice mark making.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children's progress in this area is generally good. Staff sometimes miss opportunities in the daily routine and in planned activities to help more able children use their emerging mathematical knowledge to solve practical problems which would help them learn about comparing numbers and simple addition and subtraction. Staff use a wide range of good quality equipment and practical activities to help children learn to recognise numerals, shapes and to use the language of position.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good The children's progress in this area is very good. They use a computer with a variety of educational programmes to support their learning. Some staff miss opportunities to foster a curious attitude in the children and to stimulate children to think about why things happen and how they work. Children are learning to value all cultures, and are developing a strong sense of time and place, and are making progress in their designing and making skills using a variety of construction kits.

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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 The children's progress in this area is generally good. They are developing co-ordination and control using large and small equipment such as mobile toys which offer varying degrees of challenge and help children learn about space. Opportunities are sometimes missed to help children learn about hygiene such as hand washing, and bodily awareness such as changes to their bodies after exercise. Good use is made of indoor and outdoor play areas and outings to enhance the children's physical skills.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good The children's progress in this area is generally good. Children express themselves well in simple songs, painting, collage, printing, tactile and imaginative play using good quality resources. Some staff have a limited understanding of how to promote the use of imagination in movement and dance. Children sing a wide range of songs and enjoy percussion instruments. The staff support craftwork without over directing it and allow children time to become engrossed in their tasks.

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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

• provide more opportunities for children to learn about health and bodily awareness, such as when to wash hands, and the changes to their bodies after exercise •• improve the way that some staff interact with and question children so that there is sufficient challenge offered especially to more able children • provide more opportunities for children to use their emerging mathematical knowledge to solve simple problems.

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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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