Playhouse Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 12/03/2004 Inspector Name Sharon Waterfall

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Playhouse Nursery Setting Address 190/192 Fenside Avenue Styvechale Coventry West Midlands CV3 5NJ

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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

Playhouse Day Nursery opened in 1994 and is situated two miles from Coventry city centre. The nursery operates from a two storey converted commercial building. The baby unit is on the ground floor; toddler and pre-school rooms are on the first floor. There is a safe outdoor play area and meals are provided on site. The nursery serves the local area. There are currently 57 children on roll. This includes six funded three year olds and four funded four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports children with special educational needs, and who speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens five days a week all year round except for public holidays.Sessions are from 08.00 to 17:30; part time sessions are also available. Eleven full and part time staff work with the children. Eight have Early Years qualifications. Five staff are currently on training programmes. The setting receives

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Information about the setting

support from a teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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How good is the Day Care?

Playhouse nursery provides satisfactory standards of care overall for children aged 0-5 years. The environment is organised to support children's learning and provides a warm welcome for the children attending. The staff group work consistently, with regular staff meetings, an induction process and a staff appraisal encouraging staff development through training. All relevant documentation is in place, with some requiring further development. Staff have a good awareness of ensuring children are safe within the premises. Effective risk assessments are completed for the premises and any outings undertaken, though evacuation procedures require further assessment. There are comprehensive procedures in place to safeguard the children's welfare, which are

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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 shared with parents. Children respond very well to the positive behaviour strategies. The baby room children engage in a wide variety of interesting and stimulating activities that help them to reach all areas of development. Throughout the setting children are separated into relevant age groupings enabling staff in the main, to plan and provide appropriate activities, taking into account the ages and individual abilities of the children. Within the pre school staff spend time directly supporting the children's play and plan in line with the Early learning Goals. The staff support children with special needs well and ensure they are fully included within the activities. Behaviour strategies are very positive and children respond very

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How good is the Day Care?

well, they are learning acceptable behaviour and social skills. There is not currently a key person system in operation. There are appropriate procedures for exchanging information with parents, on a daily basis both written and verbal communication and through parent's evenings annually. Procedures are in place to gain parents opinions on the service during the year.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to ensure that on a daily basis there were a sufficient amount of qualified staff on the premises, to record visitors attendance, to make hazardous substances inaccessible and to implement a medication policy. The setting has put all the required actions into place with the staff rota evidencing that a sufficient number of qualified staff are present on a daily basis and all staff are either qualified or currently working towards a qualification. A visitors book is present in the entrance foyer and all visitors are asked to sign in and out. The cleaning chemicals from the toilet area have been removed and are now all locked away and a medication policy has been devised and implemented, it is available to parents on notice boards throughout the setting.

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What is being done well?

• Staff use their knowledge of child development to identify and support children’s individual needs and ensure that children are included within the activities provided. • Children respond well to the positive and consistent way behaviour management is applied throughout the nursery. The older children are aware of appropriate social skills and the staff promote positive behaviour through praise and reward. • There are a range of comprehensive policies and procedures, which ensure that children's welfare and safety are actively promoted. Staff are vigilant of children's safety throughout the environment, with all policies and procedures being implemented consistently and shared with parents.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the implementation of an appropriate key person system • the further development of organisation and opportunities for play appropriate for two and three year olds • the frequency of evacuation drills • the revision of two policies to reflect current practice within the setting.

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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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The Registered Person must take the following actions by the date shown

Std Action Date 2 Develop an action plan stating how the criteria for a key person system will be met and deployed. 31/03/2004

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 3 Further develop the opportunities for children aged two to three years to engage in a range of activities that are appropriate to their stage of development. 6 Ensure the setting meets any recommendations made by the Fire Safety Officer, in this case the regularity of emergency evacuations. 9 Revise the equal opportunities policy to ensure that it is consistent with current legislation and guidance. Ensure that this is understood and implemented by all staff. 11 Ensure the written behaviour management policy reflects current positive practice within the setting.

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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?

Playhouse Nursery offers interesting activities through which children enjoy learning. They enable three and four year olds to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Teaching is generally good with staff's knowledge of the foundation stage and supporting stepping stones providing a varied range of activities being planned for the six areas of learning, although some elements require development such as, children to be more independent learners, planning and staff questioning and extension of conversational skills. The children are assessed regularly, though these assessments currently do not link formally into the short term planning. They are used to identify and support children with special educational needs and children with English as a second language. The resources are well used within the setting and both the indoor and outdoor environments are organised to support children's

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How effective is the nursery education?

learning, with some resources being independently accessible. Behaviour management is consistently applied and the children respond well to the set routines and the many positive strategies used by staff. Children have focus throughout the sessions and their attention is quickly gained. Leadership and management are very good. There is an effective management structure in place, with systems that consistently monitor and evaluate the provision. All staff are involved with the planning and there is a real commitment to staff development through training. Their development is assessed through the appraisal system and training plan, which works well for specific training needs and responsibilities. The group assess the activities planned through evaluation and children's progress and discussion with their advisory teacher. Partnership with parents and carers is generally good. They are given information

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How effective is the nursery education?

verbally on a daily basis and formally through an annual open evening, though this could be more frequent.

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What is being done well?

• Excellent use of practical mathematics throughout the session has enabled the children to learn and understand many mathematical concepts which they use within their own play, such as pattern, weight, length and shape. • Both three and four year olds have many opportunities for mark making and pre writing skills, they understand that writing has a variety of meanings such as stories and lists. Many children can write their own names and are beginning to recognise letters and write some in a recognisable form. • Leadership is very good, there are many structured systems in place and those procedures ensure staff are supported and their personal development is improved by training and many delegated responsibilities.

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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

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What needs to be improved?

• the inclusion within planning of children's individual needs and targets identified through the assessment and evaluation processes • the development of further opportunities for children to be independent within social skills • the development of staff's knowledge to extend children's conversational skills and questioning abilities for children's thinking.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made generally good progress in applying the action plan set at the last inspection. They were asked to: Ensure planning covers all criteria for learning and balances in all areas, making better use of resources and makes clear what children should learn. The planning is in line with the Foundation Stage and covers all six areas of learning. It is broken down into medium and short term planning, which identify the area of learning and the specific stepping -stones. It also shows how resources are used and planned and whether the activity is adult or child led. Ensure plans take into account the individual needs of all children using information from attainment and progress records. There are evaluation and assessment procedures in place, though at this time there is no evidence that they link directly back into the planning and address children's individual learning needs. Ensure physical needs of older three and four year olds are taken into account,

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What has improved since the last inspection?

specifically balancing and climbing and large physical control and skills. Improvements to physical play have been made since the last inspection, resources for balancing and control skills have been purchased such as stilts and balancing beams. The setting provides an optional dance/music session once a week, though most pre school children attend the session. The group visit a local park for large skills such as climbing and take walks in local woods. Enable children to take greater initiative in their own work. Develop provision for role -play. The children have free play periods where they are able specify what they wish to play with; when activities are set out they move freely from one to the other. They enjoy having responsibilities and helping staff take lessons, choosing questions and setting tasks for their peers. The group have purchased many resources to develop the role -play provision including dressing up outfits, dolls and home corner equipment.

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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 The children respond very well to the familiar nursery routines and understand the need for taking turns and sharing. They co-operate extremely well during play and are considerate of each others needs. Although the children are able to use their independence many areas, they are not able to freely choose from resources around the environment. The children have growing confidence and enjoy working in groups, holding conversation and directing each other.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good The children have a very good ability for verbal communication and conversational skills, they share information with each other and are able to share jokes. Older children recognise many letters within their name and are beginning to learn other basic words. Many of the children can write there own names and have excellent opportunities to practice pre writing skills for many different reasons. They enjoy books either for stories or information and recall stories in their own language.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children are able to understand and use many mathematical concepts within their own play such as addition, subtraction, shape, pattern and comparison. The many practical activities aid them in every day use, many of the children count easily to twenty and are learning to recognise the numerals up to ten. They recognise shape within their environment and use positional language to describe where things are.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good The children are learning to explore their local environment, they learn about growth and to compare similarities and differences. They enjoy sharing details of their lives and are able to place their families within it. They are able to explore and investigate many different textures, forms and materials, through a range of activities. The children are developing their awareness of customs, cultures and beliefs from celebrations and the many positive resources.

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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 are progressing well in their co-ordination in movements such as balancing, using wheeled apparatus and climbing, though this could be developed more throughout the year. The children are quite adept at using small tools and can complete complicated manipulative activities well. They enjoy relaxing to music and can direct their bodies in purposeful movement to music. Most children are independent in their personal hygiene and have an understanding of the bodies needs.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children expand their own ideas and imaginations freely throughout many of the activities, using experiences that are familiar to them and abstract ideas. They express themselves and communicate well through discussion and role -play and are using their senses to respond to a variety of exciting mediums. They partake in regular music sessions, enjoying familiar songs, learning about many different instruments and types of music.

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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

• Ensure planning takes into account children's individual learning needs and targets as identified through the assessment and evaluation procedures. • Develop opportunities for children to be independent learners through accessing more of their own resources and within some social areas. • Further develop staff's knowledge of suitable questioning skills and their ability to extend children's conversational skills.

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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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