Riverwalk School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 11/05/2004 Inspector Name Lisa-Marie Jones

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Buffer Bear at Mayday Setting Address Mayday University Hospital, 530 London Road Thornton Heath Surrey CR7 7YE

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Buffer Bear Limited Address 7 Valpy Street Reading Berkshire RG1 1AR

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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

Buffer Bear Nursery at Mayday has been operating since October 1999. It is situated in the grounds of Mayday Hospital in Croydon. The nursery is open each weekday from 06:45 until 18:30 throughout the year, only closing for bank holidays. The nursery offers full day care for children aged 3 months to 5 years. Currently 64 children are on roll and are drawn from staff working in the hospital and the local community. The children's hours of attendance vary to suit the working hours of their parents. There are currently no children attending who have identified special educational needs and one child who speaks English as an additional language. Six children receive funding for nursery education four are three and the others are aged four. The nursery is based in a converted ground floor building with an adjacent outdoor area. Children are grouped, according to age, into four separate groups. The nursery currently has 12 full time and 3 part time members of staff.

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Information about the setting

Additional/cover staff are used from the nursery's own bank of supply staff as and when needed. All staff hold, or are working towards early years qualifications. The nursery do have support from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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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?

Buffer Bear Nursery provides education where children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Children make good progress in knowledge and understanding of the world, physical, and creative development. Teaching is generally good. Staff know children well and have very good relationships with them. Staff plan a wide range of activities and make learning fun for the children. Staff are competent at managing children's behaviour and set realistic boundaries. Staff communicate with children well. They have a good understanding of the early learning goals but need to develop the use of observations and children's assessments to aid planning. Staff need to ensure that they provide opportunities for children to fully explore communication, language and literacy and mathematical problems according to their ability and have opportunities to explore real life experiences through their local community.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Leadership and Management is generally good. The setting is clearly managed with the manager taking responsibility for the organisation and deployment of staff. Staff are responsible for the written planning and a specialist teacher oversees the end result. The manger is committed to improvement and is aware of the strengths and areas of improvement that need to be made in the nursery, but needs to implement effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the education and the setting in order to do this. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents stated that they were very happy with the standard of care and education the group provides. Parents felt they could approach the staff with any concerns. They stated that they receive sufficient information / meetings on their children's individual progress and events within the group. They also felt that they could participate in the group if they wished to do so.

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What is being done well?

• The garden area is an extension of the indoor class room. Children explore the natural world with enthusiasm and are developing a sound knowledge of things that live and grow. They take pride in caring for things they have planted and grown. • Children are very independent and take the lead for activities. Curriculum plans are flexible to allow the children to do this, and staff encourage the children to 'think and do' for themselves by ensuring resources are available to them, to self select.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunities to explore the local community

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • children's assessments • staff's knowledge and understanding of communication, language and literacy and mathematical development.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The nursery has made generally good progress since the last inspection. The nursery sessions have been reorganised to allow children greater opportunity to develop skills as independent learners, children are seen to initiate and choose play activities for themselves and ask for adult support. Staff do not give children worksheets to promote literacy skills, but instead use everyday activities to promote and develop these skills. Staff still need to increase opportunities to practice writing and to ensure that the able children are offered more complex activities. Staff are beginning to promote mathematical development through daily activities eg how many pieces of orange do you have. Staff still need to include simple calculation and problem solving activities and ensure older children have opportunities to try more difficult mathematical problems. The use of children's assessments and observations needs to be used to inform

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What has improved since the last inspection?

planning for children's individual progress. This is an action from the previous inspection.

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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 happy, motivated and interested in their learning. They form good relationships, and are beginning to take turns and share. They are developing skills to manage their own behaviour and to understand right from wrong. They are independent in their learning and have good self help skills. Children explore cultures and beliefs of others and themselves, but do not have any opportunities to explore the community around them to make their learning experiences real.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children and adults talk freely and confidently to each other. Children enjoy looking at books, know how to handle them and enjoy having stories read to them. Some children are able to write their own names and can link sounds to letters, however there are limited opportunities to practice writing skills and staff don't always set challenging activities for the more able children.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children can count confidently up to ten and older children beyond 20. Children have a good understanding of shapes, space and can compare size and quantity. Staff are beginning to ensure children have opportunities to recognise numbers and use maths in everyday activities, however resources are not organised to enable children to explore simple addition and subtraction and problem solving activities independently.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children are very interested in how things work and they design and construct purposefully and confidently. The children explore the natural world with enthusiasm and are developing a sound knowledge of things that live and grow. Staff provide a good range of materials and activities for children to explore with all their senses. Children can recall past and present events and show an understanding of time and learn about the cultures and beliefs of others.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children move confidentially with control and co-ordination and have opportunities to ride bikes, use tunnels, trampolines and play with bean bags, hoops and balls and take part in weekly sports lessons from specialist teachers. Children are developing their fine motor skills with the use of pencils, rolling pins, scissors etc. Children have many opportunities to recognise the importance of staying healthy and bodily awareness, which is supported through topics, daily activities and routines.

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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: Very Good Children confidently use their imagination in role play, music and in the development of their own ideas during creative activities. They know their colours and are able to match and mix, to experiment with colours and textures. They are given regular opportunities to take part in painting, sticking and other creative activities independently.

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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

• Develop staff knowledge of the foundation stage particularly within the programmes for communication, language and literacy and mathematical development to ensure that children have access to the appropriate resources and activities for their age and ability. • Develop the current system to monitor children's progress in all areas of learning and use it to inform planning for the next stage in children's development. • Within the programme for personal, social and emotional development ensure children have opportunities to explore and find out about the community around them through real or first hand experiences.

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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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