Honey Bears Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 04/10/2004 Inspector Name Shirley Delaney

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Out of School Day Care, Full Day Care Setting Name Honey Bears Day Nursery Setting Address Honey Bears Nursery 60-62 Station Road, Erdington Birmingham West Midlands B23 6UE

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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

Honey Bears Day Nursery registered in 1991. It operates from a converted retail premises in Erdington, within walking distance of a main high street and within easy access to bus routes across the city. There is no access to an outdoor play area. Regular outings for physical play are planned these include use of the play area at Osborne Nursery School, visits to local parks and play areas. There are currently 56 children on roll. This includes funded 3 and 4 year olds. The group is also registered to provide out of school care for 3 children aged from 5 years to under 8 years. The out of school service is provided to children who have siblings in the nursery and operates during term time only. The group supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs. The group is open 51 weeks throughout the year, excluding Christmas week and bank holidays. Operating between the hours of 07:30 and 18:00. Children can attend

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Information about the setting

for a variety of sessions. There are fifteen members of staff employed to work with the children, over half the staff members hold early years qualifications. The setting receives support from a teacher mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP). Several staff are trained portage workers and offer this service to children who have special needs within the setting. The nursery has been awarded the Gold Quality Framework Award and are currently working towards completing the success for under fives module.

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How good is the Day Care?

Honey Bears Day Nursery provides good quality care for children. They provide a warm and welcoming environment, within which children are happy and settled. Space and resources are organised to provide children with access to a range of

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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 play and learning opportunities. Children receive good support from staff who ensure procedures are in place to maintain children's security. Risk assessments and visual checks are regularly completed to monitor and review safety arrangements and the general condition of the premises and equipment. However procedures in place to identify and minimise hazards are not always effective and some areas of the property are not in excellent condition.

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How good is the Day Care?

Children learn about good health and develop good personal hygiene practices through the daily routines and staff support. Children are provided with independent access to drinks at all times and have regular nutritious meals and snacks. Staff promote equal opportunities, they recognise and make provision to meet children's individual needs. The setting has an inclusion policy and a positive attitude towards caring for children with special needs. Staff work alongside parents and other professionals to identify children's individual needs and are instrumental in formulating plans to assist children's development. Staff have a clear knowledge of child protection procedures. Children have access to a good range of activities and are provided with opportunities to make choices, use their imagination and explore their environment. Staff interact very well with the children. They participate with the children in the

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How good is the Day Care?

activities, talk to the children and help to extend their learning experiences. Staff encourage children to be considerate of one another and help children to share and take turns. Parents are provided good information about the setting. Good partnerships exist between staff and parents and there is a good system for exchange of information.

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What is being done well?

• Space and resources are well organised to support children's needs and promote their overall development. • Staff interaction with children is very good; staff listen to the children, give them clear explanations and talk to them about what they are doing. • Children are supervised at all times, with staff deployed effectively in order to provide good support to the children and ensure children's welfare. • Staff actively promote equality and treat children with equal concern. Staff make sure children with special needs are included in activities, that their individual needs are known, their development is planned for and there are good staffing arrangements in place to ensure children receive appropriate support. • Parents are kept well informed about their child's care, routine and progress. Good procedures and working practices are in place, which foster good

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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 partnerships with parents. Information is shared as part of a two way process to enable the needs of the children to be met; and keep parents informed about the group and service offered.

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What needs to be improved?

• the general maintenance of the building • the risk assessments completed to ensure all risks are identified.

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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 4 Continue to review and improve the general maintenance and condition of the premises. 6 Improve the risk assessment completed to identify hazards related to equipment installed to maintain an appropriate temperature and the general maintenance of the premises.

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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?

Honey Bears Day Nursery offers children good quality provision for nursery education. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in personal, social, emotional and moral development, communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development, with generally good progress in creative development. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff have an acceptable knowledge of the foundation stage curriculum and plan an interesting and stimulating range of activities although opportunities for free expression are not sufficiently exploited. Planning demonstrates what children are expected to learn, but does not specify provision for children at different stages of development, or demonstrate clearly that over time all aspects of learning are covered. Staff use a good system to gather information about children's attainments and this information is used effectively to

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How effective is the nursery education?

inform discussion with parents about their child's progress. Staff establish good relationships with children and provide children with praise and encouragement to encourage good behaviour. Leadership and management of the nursery are very good. Commitment to improving the provision is demonstrated through procedures in place to monitor and review the teaching programme on a regular basis. Staff are provided with good access to relevant training, including courses to extend their knowledge of the early learning goals, and supporting and planning for children with special educational needs. The partnership with parents is very good. They have access to a range of information about the educational programme. Parents value the opportunities to regularly share information and discuss their child's progress. They also value informal opportunities to talk to staff at the beginning and end of sessions, and find

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How effective is the nursery education?

staff friendly, helpful and approachable.

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What is being done well?

• Children have good opportunities to recognise numbers, count and develop an interest in shape and size. • Children are encouraged to develop an interest in books. They develop a good awareness of initial word sounds and good access to labelling in the environment, which help children to develop pre-reading skills. They are confident as writers and have skills with pencils and other writing tools. • Good planning overcomes the lack of outdoor facilities on site and means that children have good opportunities for physical development throughout the year.

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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 • Children develop good relationships with each other and with staff. Staff give lot of attention to helping children develop a sense of themselves as 'special' and help them develop consideration for other people. • There is a good approach to developing partnership with parents. Parents have opportunities to express their views about their child's needs and receive regular information about their child's progress. They are also kept well informed about current themes and the programme for children's learning.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunities for children to explore independently and to pursue their own ideas with a full range of creative materials, and to see that work they have created of their own ideas is valued. • the system for planning to ensure that overtime all Early Learning Goal's are covered and activities are differentiated to meet children's needs.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The nursery has made generally good progress since the last inspection. Planning has been regularly reviewed and now includes more detail of how children are grouped and identifies staff responsibility for teaching activities. However planning requires further review to ensure that over time all Early Learning Goals are covered. Children's access to outdoor play remains a priority for the group and they have made positive steps to provide regular physical play activities for the 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

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children show positive attitudes to learning, they demonstrate interest in new experiences and are eager to be involved in activities. They are able to sit quietly and concentrate when required. Children develop self-confidence and can talk about their feelings, their preferences and their families and demonstrate confidence in sharing their experiences in the group. Children have opportunities to value themselves as individuals and demonstrate an awareness of the needs of others.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children use language well to communicate with adults and other children. They listen to stories and to other people talking, and can respond to what they hear. Children learn that print is used to communicate. They develop pre-reading and writing skills through clear labelling of displays and storage areas and their use of the writing area. Children can recognise their own name and those of other children in the group. They recognise letters and can think of words using initial letter cues.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children learn to count and to recognise and order numerals from one to ten. Children recognise shapes and use positional language appropriately. They can compare objects by shape, size and weight. They are beginning to develop awareness of more and less and starting to compare quantities in some focused activities.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children develop an interest in living and non-living things. Children learn to attend to features of their environment and develop a sense of the past, present and future. The use of the daily weather chart encourages children to observe what they see around them. They are introduced to building and joining with different materials and have opportunities to discuss how to combine ingredients to make simple foods. Children find out about aspects of their own cultures and those of others.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good With the help of planned interventions by staff children have access to a wide range of activities and opportunities to promote their physical development. They learn how to use a good range of large and small equipment and move with control and co-ordination. Children experience movement in confined and open spaces and can adjust their body movements accordingly, as well as balance and hold positions. They also develop control with tools and materials requiring finer manipulative skills.

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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 learn about music and movement, they develop confidence in singing and dance. They involve other children in imaginative role play and introduce story lines. Children are introduced to different materials and techniques and can use line, shape and colour in their work but do not have enough opportunities to express their own ideas with the full range of materials, and displays do not reflect children's creative work when following themes they have chosen for themselves.

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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

• extend the range of opportunities for children to use a full range of creative materials to express their own ideas, and display some of the work which they produce when following themes which they have chosen themselves • improve the systems for planning to ensure that there is thorough coverage of the Early Learning Goals and activities are differentiated to meet children's individual needs.

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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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