Fledglings Day Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 29/07/2004 Inspector Name Jenny Scarlett

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Fledglings Day Nursery Setting Address Little Heath Road Tilehurst Reading Berkshire RG31 5TY

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Louise Otty and Julie Collins Address Little Heath Road Tilehurst Reading Berkshire RG31 5TY

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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

Fledglings Day Nursery opened in 1992 and changed ownership in 2002. It operates from a self contained building in the grounds of Little Heath School in the village of Tilehurst near Reading. The nursery have two rooms and a large fully enclosed out door area. The nursery serves a wide geographical area. There are currently 29 children on role. This includes 13 funded 3 and 4-year-olds. Children attend a variety of sessions a week. The nursery supports children with special needs. There are no children attending who speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens five days a week all year round. Sessions are from 08:00 to 18:00. Seven staff members are employed to work with the children. Three have Early Years qualifications to NVQ level 2 or 3. Two staff have an advanced qualification in childcare. One staff member is currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from the Early Years Development and

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How good is the Day Care?

Fledglings Day Nursery offers good quality care for children. Staff develop good relationships with the children and parents. The management team are new since the previous inspection and demonstrate a sound knowledge of the requirements for registration and the National Standards for Full Day Care. All documentation is in place. However managers are yet to formalise the appraisal system for their staff. Staff give high priority to ensuring the safety of the children and consistently carry out procedures detailed in the policies for health and safety and child protection. Staff promote good standards of health and hygiene in their work and children are encouraged to become independent in their personal care. A good range of healthy meals and snacks are offered and staff foster the children's independence

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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 appropriately. Children develop confidence and are secure in their environment. The staff ensure the children have access to a wide range of interesting and stimulating activities with a well planned curriculum to promote and enhance the children's play and learning, indoors and outdoors. There is good support for children with special needs. Staff are caring and sensitive to the children's needs and children's behaviour is well managed. The staff have good relationships with parents. The parents support the nursery and liaise with staff daily. Staff record children's progress and share the information with parents. Parents receive good quality information relating to the setting, its policies and curriculum.

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What is being done well?

• The high ratio of qualified staff and staffs' commitment to updating their childcare knowledge and skills results in the nursery providing an effective play and learning environment where the children can progress, feel settled, are confident and generally happy. • Staff are aware of the individual needs of the children. Staff provide good opportunities for children to initiate or choose an activity for themselves thus encouraging independence and self reliance. • The nursery provides an effective play and learning environment for the children indoors and out. Children are happy and settled in their environment, they move around freely and with confidence. Staff plan first hand experiences that enable children to make choices as they develop their skills, knowledge and understanding. They support the children's care, learning and play well with a good range of activities that take place indoors and out.

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What is being done well?

• All children's work and achievements are valued. Their work is sympathetically displayed in all areas of the nursery. The rooms and play areas are well prepared and activities well presented to the children, encouraging their confidence to select play materials from a good range of resources. • Staff are vigilant of the children's safety indoors and out. They demonstrate an awareness of children's developing abilities which helps to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place.

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What needs to be improved?

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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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 Formalise the appraisal system to ensure staff training and development needs are identified, recorded and met.

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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?

Fledglings Day Nursery provision is acceptable and is of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. Effective teaching helps the children make very good progress towards all of the areas of learning. Teaching is very good with staff demonstrating sound knowledge of the stepping stones. The particular strengths in personal social and emotional development are due to the interaction from staff, engaging the children in suitable activities and nurturing their self esteem. Staff use good consolidation techniques through repetition questions and revisiting topics and activities to enhance the children's learning. The accommodation and resources are used well to support the children's learning. Planning of the curriculum is effective and covers the early learning goals and the stepping stones. However planning does not consistently show what needs to be included in the next steps for learning. The assessment systems are new and

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How effective is the nursery education?

staff are continually reviewing the assessments to ensure all learning is being acknowledged. There are effective systems in place to provide good support for children with special needs. Leadership and management is very good. There is good support from the management team. The owners have recently taken over the setting; they are experienced in childcare and have adjusted well to their new roles. A well structured management system and a shared understanding and commitment to early years is clearly visible. The owners know their staff well and utilise their individual strengths and skills within the setting. Staff work well as a team with clearly defined roles guided by a confident and well informed management. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are well informed about the nursery its routines and activities with good opportunities to speak to staff on a daily basis. Good quality written information about the provision is made available for all parents.

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What is being done well?

• Staff use very good strategies to promote good behaviour. They give children clear and consistent boundaries and help them to understand the impact of their behaviour on others. Their calm and consistent manner sets a very good example for children. • Children's personal social and emotional development is very good. They are confident, interested and able to work on their own. They enjoy the activities and make rapid strides in thier learning due to the staff demonstrating a good understanding of the individual needs and abilities of the children. • Staff set challenges for children that increase their thinking and skills with

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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 practical first hand experiences to explore and investigate. • Staff use good consolidation techniques through repetition questions and revisiting topics and activities to enhance the children's learning. • The accommodation and resources are used well to support the children's learning. Staff arrange the outdoor area, playroom and resources imaginatively to encourage the children to make decisions in their play and to be independent.

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What needs to be improved?

• develop a consistent assessment of where the children are in their learning so that staff can move them onto the next stage • opportunities to develop the children's independence at snack time.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Not applicable - The joint owners are new since the previous inspection.

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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 Children show good concentration skills and express their needs confidently. They are developing their independence skills and are confident to work in a variety of activities. Children are sensitive to the needs of others, and co-operate with each other. Children are praised in their work and play helping build their self-esteem and confidence. They confidently use their initiative to expand activities. There are some missed opportunities to develop the children's independance at snack time.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children interact and talk with each other and adults confidently. They readily invite and include staff in their play and activities. Children use language well to negotiate and express their ideas with each other and adults. Their spoken language and writing skills are developing well as a result of the good range of planned and spontaneous activities. There are good opportunities for the children to practise emergent writing and to recognise and write their own names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children count confidently up to and beyond ten and many recognise numbers up to nine. They learn to use numbers in everyday situations and show that they understand size and shape through practical activities. There are good opportunities to extend the children's understanding of matching and comparing. The children join in counting rhymes and songs. There are good practical activities to begin to solve problems such as design and building with boxes and dividing sand cakes into quarters.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Planned activities aid children to notice changes such as observing snails and exploring bugs and insects in the natural living garden. They build and construct with large and small bricks and play dough to extend their skills. Children talk about personal events in their own lives and are becoming aware of other cultures and traditions. There are good opportunities to develop the children's curiosity in the outdoor area. Children are confident in the use of technological 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: Very Good Children experience varied opportunities to promote their physical skills. They are advanced and skilled in their physical skills through well planned and spontaneous activities. Staff are on hand to provide support and encourage new skills such as road crossing. Children are able to control pencils, scissors and paintbrushes with a good range of activities to develop their manipulative skills. Children are confident in their independence skills and show a good awareness of basic hygiene.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children respond to new experiences and explore a variety of media and materials. Children express their ideas freely through a good range of activities including role play. Children draw on their own experiences and imagination as they pretend to drive to Disney Land. They join in singing enthusiastically and use their voices to distinguish between sounds. The outdoor play promotes good imagination as children are given good support to develop their ideas in creating tea parties with sand.

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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 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 key issues to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following:- • make greater use of promoting children's independence in activities such as snack time.

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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 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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