ABC Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 03/09/2003 Inspector Name Charlene Howlett

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name ABC Nursery Setting Address 11 Sandfield Road Headington Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7RG

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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

ABC Day Nursery opened in 1997. The nursery is situated in a residential area in Headington in Oxford, within walking distance of the John Radcliffe Hospital. The building, previously used as a residential home for the elderly, has been converted to create six base rooms over two floors. Children are grouped according to their age with the over three's using the rooms on the first floor. Additional rooms are available for the children's use, including a craft area and a play room. The nursery has a rear, enclosed outdoor play area, which has recently been upgraded to provide safe play surfaces. The nursery serves the local area. There are currently 65 children on the roll from birth to under eight years and 12 children aged over eight years. This includes 12 funded three year olds and 18 funded four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting currently supports one child with special needs and 25 children who speak English as an

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Information about the setting

additional language. The nursery incorporates an after school and holiday care service for school age children and is open five days a week from 7:30 am until 6:30pm all year round. Eight part-time and eight full-time staff work with the children. Half the staff have early years qualifications to NVQ level two or three. Three staff are currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives support from a teacher/mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and the Area Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.

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How good is the Day Care?

ABC Nursery provides satisfactory care for children aged from birth to eight years. The nursery offers a secure, comfortable and friendly child-care environment. The staff team consists of a balance of qualified and experienced adults and further training will ensure key staff hold appropriate qualifications for their role. The organisation of all aspects of the nursery continues to improve. However, the nursery needs to ensure that staff who are not cleared are supervised at all times

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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 and that babies have consistent carers. Most documentation is in place but some lack the necessary detail. Staff are deployed effectively in the nursery to provide appropriate care. Several aspects of the health and safety of children require immediate attention. The nursery offers children regular drinks, snacks and meals in generous quantities, but consideration needs to be given to the nutritional value of some meals. The nursery enables children to make good progress in all areas and is proactive in seeking appropriate support for children with special needs. It plans and provides a broad range of stimulating activities which develop children's knowledge and understanding. The quality of care and education for children aged three to five is

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How good is the Day Care?

very good. The effective planning and delivery of the early years curriculum enables children to progress in all areas. The nursery has a good relationship with parents. Most information about the children's care and welfare is informally shared with them and many parents comment on the nursery's friendly "family" approach. A set of statements and policies is made available to parents to read in the foyer of the nursery. There is no formal system in place to give parents information about children's progress.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

There were a number of actions raised from additional visits to the nursery in February, March and May 2003. The provider agreed to comply with Children Act Regulations; review staff deployment; provide appropriate play opportunities for children under two years; review safety procedures; comply with Fire Officer recommendations and review systems for recording essential information, such as accidents and medication. The majority of these have been addressed.

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What is being done well?

• The care provided for children aged under three is good. Staff develop good relationships with the children and they know them well. Children benefit from clear routines for playing, sleeping and eating. Staff spend time talking and playing with them and the children are confident and happy. The well-planned and stimulating range of activities for children aged three to five years promotes their learning and development. • The nursery continues to increase its play resources. There is a wealth of interesting resources for the three to five year olds which supports their care and learning. As far as possible, staff arrange the learning environment to enable children to have free choice in the materials they wish to use.

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What needs to be improved?

• the qualifications of key staff and suitability of persons having unsupervised access to children;

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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 • the deployment of staff to ensure babies have consistent carers; • the maintenance of the carpet in the baby room; • compliance with the Fire Officer's recommendations; • the provider's understanding and knowledge of good health and hygiene practices, including food safety, hygienic hand-washing procedures and sleeping arrangements; • the safety of the seating bench in the home play area; • the daily attendance record to ensure a record of visitors is maintained; • the content of meals in the nursery, to ensure they are properly prepared and nutritious; • the opportunity for parents to receive regular reports on children's progress.

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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 1 verify the level of qualification of the Manager and provide an action plan, if necessary, detailing how qualification requirements will be met and in what timescale. 31/12/2003

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

1 ensure persons who are not vetted do not have unsupervised access to children. 29/09/2003

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

2 develop and implement an action plan detailing how staff training and qualifications in the baby room will be met. 31/12/2003

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

2 organise allocation of staffing to ensure consistency of contact and continuity of care for babies. 31/12/2003

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

6 comply fully with Fire Officer’s recommendations. 29/09/2003 6 make safe the torn carpet and trip hazard between 13/10/2003

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

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 the baby room and sleep room. 7 develop your knowledge and understanding of good health and hygiene practices in order to prevent the spread of infection in the nursery. 29/03/2004

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

8 ensure that anyone responsible for the preparation and handling of food is aware of, and complies with, Environmental Health requirements. 29/09/2003

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by the time of the next inspection

Std Recommendation 5 make safe the low bench in the home play area on the ground floor. 6 develop the registration system to record details of all visitors on the premises. 7 ensure good hygiene arrangements are in place regarding hand washing. 7 improve the arrangements for resting children in order to reduce the risk of cross infection. 8 ensure that children are provided with a range of food and snacks that are healthy and nutritious. 12 provide opportunities for parents to receive daily feedback about a child’s day at the nursery, as well as regular information on their children's progress.

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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 nursery education at ABC Nursery is very good. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals with one weakness in Creativity. Children are confident communicators who enjoy informal relationships with staff. They are making excellent progress in writing and use their skills for a variety of purposes. Children enjoy exploration and use investigation techniques, to find out about the world in which they live. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff are knowledgeable about the early learning goals. They work well as a team, to provide a stimulating learning environment, that is rich in language and number. Staff plan a varied range of activities to provide children with learning opportunities relating to all areas of the curriculum. Assessments of children's progress are used to inform planning. Staff arrange toys and equipment within children's reach. However, the storage of tools

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How effective is the nursery education?

and materials limits opportunities for children to select their preferred resources when undertaking some creative activities. Leadership and management of the setting is generally good. The nursery owner operates informal systems of appraisal of nursery education and teaching. As staff receive limited formal feedback about their performance, they identify their own development needs and relevant training opportunities. Partnership with parents is generally good. Parents have access to information about the nursery and educational provision, via notice boards and policy documents. Whilst information about the children's day is shared informally with parents, they receive limited information about children's progress towards the early learning goals. Parents are not routinely encouraged to share records of their children's development and are not encouraged to contribute to them.

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What is being done well?

• Staff provide a stimulating learning environment that is rich in language and number. • Children are competent in writing. Three year olds are able to form recognisable letters and many are able to write their name. Children are using writing for a variety of purposes. • Children are learning about the world in which they live. Staff provide them with many opportunities to investigate and explore. • Children are developing mathematical concepts. They use mathematical language with confidence and are able to solve mathematical problems. • Children are very confident and sociable. They are forming good relationships. They behave well and show respect and consideration for

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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 others. • Staff work well as a team. They attend regular training courses to develop their knowledge and skills which are put into practice within the nursery.

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What needs to be improved?

• systems to provide parents with information about their children's progress and opportunities for them to contribute to assessment records; • opportunities for children to select their preferred tools, equipment and materials when undertaking creative activities; • formal systems of monitoring the standards of nursery education and teaching.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection systems of assessing and recording children's progress have been effectively developed. The issue about the monitoring of teaching, raised at the last inspection, remains.

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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 are confident, interested and motivated to learn. Staff are knowledgeable about each child and their personal circumstances and use this knowledge to develop children's self esteem. Staff provide children with positive role models of behaviour. Children are well-behaved, they can sit quietly and concentrate and know what is right and wrong. Children are developing independence, both in their self care and work. Children are learning about people's differences.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are confident communicators who use language to negotiate and express themselves. They enjoy books and use them well for stories and as a source of reference. Staff create a learning environment which is rich in language. Children are competent writers and write for a variety of purposes. Three year olds write recognisable letters and many are able to write their name.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Staff create an environment which is rich in mathematical language. Children are competent in number work and are developing their skills in calculation. Staff encourage children to use mathematical language and provide many enjoyable activities which stimulate the children's interest in mathematics. Children compare shape and size and use mathematical methods to solve problems.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Staff provide children with many opportunities to explore and investigate. Children are developing skills in computing and the use of programmable equipment. Children enjoy regular trips into the local community and are learning about the world in which they live. Staff provide children with a wealth of information about various cultures and children are learning to treat cultures and beliefs of other people with respect.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children move with confidence and have regular opportunities to undertake a range of purposeful outdoor activities. They climb and negotiate equipment with confidence and are developing an awareness of space. Children have access to a range of tools and equipment which they use with confidence. Children are learning about the importance of staying healthy.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are encouraged to explore colour, shape, texture and form using all their senses. They enjoy music and match movement to sound during their weekly dance class. Staff encourage children's imagination and children enjoy role play. They undertake a variety of creative activities using a range of materials. However, the high level storage of some equipment and materials restricts children's creativity in some activities.

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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 significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • develop systems to provide parents with information about their children's progress towards the early learning goals and allow them to contribute to these records; • provide children with opportunities to select their preferred equipment and materials when undertaking creative activities.

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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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