Smawthorne Henry Moore Primary School, Castleford

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 20/05/2004 Inspector Name Jan Leo

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Horton Day Nursery and Nursery School Setting Address Horton Hospital Oxford Road Banbury Oxfordshire OX16 9AL

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Bramleys Nurseries Address The Old School School Road Ardington Oxfordshire OX12 8PN

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

Horton Day Nursery and Nursery School first registered in 1996. It is a private enterprise which forms part of the Oxfordshire based Bramleys Nurseries chain. The nursery is open from 07.00 until 18.00 all year round, with additional early starts by prior arrangement. It is located within the grounds of the Horton General Hospital approximately 1 mile from the centre of Banbury, and it operates from a purpose built, single storey building with parking immediately outside. Places are available to children of hospital staff and the surrounding area, and they are cared for in one of three rooms according to age and stage of development. At present there are 94 children on the roll of whom 18 are funded three year olds and 13 are funded four year olds. None of the children have special educational needs and none have English as an additional language. There are generally four members of staff working with the funded children and all

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Information about the setting

hold, or are currently studying for, a relevant childcare qualification. The group receives support from the Early Years Day Care Partnership.

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Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

The Horton Day Nursery and Nursery School provides good quality nursery education overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Mathematical development is both well planned and executed, and progress in this area is very good. There is a significant weakness in the area of creative development. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff form excellent relationships with children to help them settle, and effectively promote good behaviour by setting clear expectations. All staff contribute to planning to help them understand the expected learning outcomes and enable them to develop activities, but they do not make full use of observations to plan children's next steps. The staff work well as a team, join in with play and deploy themselves appropriately to help all children progress, and they make learning fun. Some of the learning tools however, are not used

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How effective is the nursery education?

methodically to benefit all children. The leadership and management is generally good. Effective procedures are in place to support staff at all levels and ensure they can continue with training. Regular internal quality control audits take place to monitor various aspects of the provision and weaknesses are addressed within set timescales. The nursery manager keeps herself up to date with the routine and activities to enable her to help if needed, but the curriculum is left to the room staff, and some weaknesses have not been addressed. The partnership with parents and carers is generally good. Parents and carers find staff very approachable and are made to feel welcome. They are provided with adequate opportunities to find out about the nursery day and their children's progress, and the exchange of information is encouraged. They can contribute to their children's learning through themes and topics, and by joining a parents

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How effective is the nursery education?

committee to formalise the exchange of ideas. Some of the information provided for parents is not accurate.

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What is being done well?

• Children are beginning to understand mathematical concepts and regularly participate in interesting practical activities to reinforce their understanding. • Staff build excellent relationships with the children to make sure they are well settled, happy, sociable and well behaved. The staff work well as a team to support all children, and ensure learning is relevant, interesting and fun. • The staff plan a varied programme of practical activities, with themes linked across the whole curriculum to add meaning in everyday contexts. • The staff form good relationships with parents and carers to ensure they feel

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 very welcome, and all information is shared to provide relevant experiences for their children. • Management and staff are committed to improvement. They are constantly working to raise standards through effective staff support systems, quality control monitoring and ongoing training.

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What needs to be improved?

• the use of observations of children's progress to help plan for children's next steps • the use of resources for both full and part time children to increase their mark making skills, to develop their independence, develop their imagination in role play, increase control and coordination and develop skills using technology • information for parents to be updated and kept accurate • the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching including adult intervention in craft activities to ensure children's individuality and creativity is fully valued and is not inhibited by adult expectations.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. No significant weaknesses were identified at the last inspection but the nursery was asked to consider how to continue and develop the high standard of teaching and learning. All staff are included in planning to ensure they know what each child is expected to learn. They deploy themselves well and build good relationships with the children so that all are happy to approach any member of staff for assistance if needed. The staff are encouraged to continue to update their knowledge and increase their skills by attending relevant training, and they work well together to support each other and share information to improve standards.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are lively and interested, and confidently move from one group of friends to another. They express themselves well and can organise their own play, cooperating well with their peers. They behave well. The children are developing respect and concern for living things and most understand how and when they need to be gentle. There are missed opportunities to fully develop independence by free access to resources and more responsibility at snack time.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Excellent interaction is used to ensure children feel valued and settled, and to help them develop strong thinking and reasoning skills. Children communicate well. Activities are planned effectively to help children practice early reading and understand the link between sounds and letters but staff sometimes devalue their efforts by taking over. Mark making equipment is provided but its use is not always promoted in free play and children are not routinely expected to mark or name their work.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children use practical mathematics within interesting, planned activities and they are beginning to understand the concept of numbers. Some can accurately indicate small numbers using their fingers. Children's understanding of position, shape, space and size is developed by good use of mathematical language by staff, across the whole curriculum. Children create 3D shapes using their own ideas and adapt their design to add stability.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children learn about the world around them through both planned and impromptu experiences that are closely linked across all areas of learning. They have access to some excellent computer programmes and the more able children can successfully navigate through the software using good mouse control, but use of the equipment is limited. Children can build models to their own designs but staff pre-select resources which can prevent children discovering the best tools and techniques for the job.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children have regular access to outdoors and learning is taken outside. All move competently in a number of ways in both free play and group activities, and they make good use of all the equipment. The children are showing an understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy and they remind others about safety. Children have limited access to a wide range of small equipment to support control and fully develop coordination.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Staff take full advantage of incidental learning opportunities to develop children's senses and they provide interesting themes reflecting modern life, in the home corner. Access to dressing up and resources for imaginative play are controlled by staff which hampers spontaneous development of children's ideas. Children enjoy singing and do so frequently throughout the day, and they interpret sound well. The attractive wall displays are all created or heavily influenced by staff.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• review the general organisation for the use of resources for both full and part time children to increase their mark making skills, to develop their independence, develop their imagination in role play, increase control and coordination and develop skills using technology • monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching including the level of adult intervention in craft activities to ensure children's individuality and creativity is fully valued and is not inhibited by adult expectations.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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