The Village Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 15/03/2004 Inspector Name Anne Walker

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name The Village Day Nursery Setting Address 26 Town Street Bramcote, Beeston Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG9 3HA

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The partnership of The Village Day Nursery

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Village Day Nursery Address The Village Nursery 26 Town Street, Bramcote Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG9 3HA

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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

The Village Nursery opened in 1986 and was taken over by the current proprietor in 1995. It operates from a converted school and children are cared for in two buildings with a separate building for the office and staff facilities. It is located in the village of Bramcote situated on the outskirts of Nottingham and close to Nottingham University.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 83 children on roll. This includes 14 3-year-olds and 11 4-year-olds children who are in receipt of nursery education grant funding. Children attend for a variety of full and part-time sessions across the week. The setting currently supports 2 children with special needs and has suitable systems in place to support children who speak English as an additional language. Opening hours are 07:30 to 18:00, Monday to Friday all year round, with the exception of bank holidays and Christmas. 18 full and part-time staff work with the children. Of these 13 have a child care qualification. There are also 4 trainees who are working towards qualification. Additional training opportunities are accessed via the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, and Breedon House training courses. The setting is currently working towards the "Investors in People" award.

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How good is the Day Care?

The Village Day Nursery provides good care for children. There is a well qualified workforce. Managers provide opportunities for staff to continue to develop their skills through training and mentoring. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the National Standards and the policies and procedures of the nursery through their practice. The child protection policy has not been reviewed to check it is in line with the reviewed standards and managers have not fully developed systems for checking the health of new staff. The buildings and grounds are maintained to a good standard, are attractively decorated and display children's work which offers a welcoming

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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 atmosphere to children and families. Good levels of staffing and clear procedures followed by staff, ensure that children's safety is given due regard, both on and off the premises. Children learn about good hygiene through daily routines and topics. Good procedures are followed when changing nappies, staff wear protective gloves and aprons and these are changed and the changing mat cleaned after each use. The children enjoy the meals and snacks which are nutritionally balanced and offer regular portions of fruit and vegetables. Staff plan effectively across the nursery for children's play. Each area provides a broad range of activities that foster all areas of children's development, offering an inclusive approach for children who have special needs so that they fully participate

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How good is the Day Care?

in activities. Children are kept busily occupied and engage in their play enthusiastically. There are good relationships between children and their carers. There is a good range of information to keep parents informed about the nursery and parents' representatives meet with managers to discuss a range of topics.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to ensure there was some domestic style furniture in the babies' group rooms and to ensure there was a daily system of registration for staff. Both these issues have been addressed satisfactorily. Both areas for under 2's now have a chair where staff can sit comfortably to feed or nurse young children. They also have a child sized table and chairs and mirror with grabbing rail to encourage babies who are learning to stand and walk. They have established a daily system where staff log their attendance on the premises and this has been maintained.

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What is being done well?

• Provision for the babies and children under 2 is very good. Space and facilities are well organised so that mobile and non-mobile babies are cared for separately and designated areas for changing, preparing feeds and rest are easily accessed. Staff give good attention to meeting babies' individual needs for eating and sleeping and liaise effectively with parents on a daily basis. • Staff have a good understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures and reflect this in their practice. This is very apparent with regard to behaviour management. Staff work consistently across the nursery to employ positive strategies. They are good role models and treat children respectfully, consequently children are happy, secure and valued. • The parents' committee enables them to have a forum to express their views and wishes as a group and for the nursery managers to take account and ensure they are providing the service the parents require.

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What is being done well?

• The nursery has very good procedures in place to support children with special needs. Staff are committed to offering an inclusive approach. They

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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 work in partnership with parents and other professionals to meet the ongoing needs of the children.

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What needs to be improved?

• the systems to check that staff are mentally and physically suitable for their post; • the child protection policy to ensure it is in line with the National Standards and the Department of Health advice.

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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 1 Improve systems for checking that staff are physically and mentally suitable for their job. 13 Review the child protection policy to ensure it is in line with the National Standards and the Department of Health guidelines, “What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused.”

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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 Village Nursery provides good quality education where children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. They make very good progress in personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy, physical and creative development. Teaching is generally good. Staff have a sound knowledge of the foundation stage curriculum and plan a broad range of activities. These are thoughtfully presented, engage children's imagination and are flexible enough to adapt to their interests. They allow children to make choices and to repeat and practise skills which are being newly learnt. A strength of the teaching is the good relationships that exist between the adults and the children. Staff listen to and value what children have to say and foster their self esteem well. Consequently children are happy and ready to learn. There are currently no children with special educational needs or for whom

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How effective is the nursery education?

English is a not their first language, but there is an effective system in place to provide appropriate support. Changes have recently been made to the format for observing and recording children's development. These have not been fully implemented and staff do not make the best use of their observations to inform the planning for children's next steps in learning. Leadership and management is generally good. The proprietor who is teacher trained participates in the planning of the curriculum with the staff. She and her manager work alongside staff, are regularly involved with the children and able to observe the delivery of the curriculum. Good opportunities exist for staff to develop their skills. Partnership with parents is generally good. They are kept well informed about nursery routines and topics and are able to be involved in a parent committee allowing them to put forward ideas and comments. They meet with the key worker to

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How effective is the nursery education?

discuss their child's progress but their knowledge is not always used to inform future planning.

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What is being done well?

• The children are motivated learners who take part in activities with enthusiasm. They have good levels of concentration and display persistence to a task of their choosing and during group times. • Children enjoy books and are able to listen attentively during group story times. They access books independently and handle them with care. Children demonstrate an understanding that print carries meaning and is read in English from left to right and top to bottom. • The children handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control. They have good hand/eye co-ordination

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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 when using the computer, doing jigsaws and using items such as scissors and pencils. • Staff's organisation and planning of the curriculum allows children regular and frequent opportunities to practise and consolidate their learning. • Staff plan effectively to cover all 6 areas of learning but have a flexible approach to the delivery of the curriculum. They respond to spontaneous issues or interests that children bring, such as a moth brought in by one of the children, or sudden changes in the weather such as snow.

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What needs to be improved?

• the use of records and observations to evaluate children's development and then using these to inform the planning for children's next steps in learning • further opportunities for parents to contribute to development records and share what they know about their child.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to provide further opportunities for children to see and practise mark-making, writing letters and numbers during activities such as role play. They have made very good progress in addressing this. The nursery has a variety of signs, such as numbers of people to be at a computer. This give children practical opportunities to see, learn and develop their knowledge of letters/words and numbers. They have number lines and alphabet posters, both of which are effectively used by staff. Throughout the day children have regular access to a writing table that is well resourced and has good adult support. This gives children good opportunities to practise and explore writing and mark-making. The role play area has writing materials so that children can practice writing for a purpose. This was well supported by a member of staff, who was helping children write shopping lists.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

They also agreed to provide further activities in which children can build models and make their own imaginative items by selecting and using equipment independently such as paper clips, tape, scissors, boxes or paper. There is a now a well resourced technology bench which includes all the aforementioned items and more. Children access this well. Planning and curriculum delivery includes regular opportunities for children to build models and create their own imaginative items. Although in the same room, the technology bench was a separate activity from the box-modelling and staff did not encourage the older children to explore other ways of joining their materials by accessing the technology bench. They missed opportunities to encourage greater problem solving skills for children who were very competent with glue and sellotape.

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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 make choices and decisions in their play. They operate independently within the nursery but confidently seek adult support when needed. Their levels of concentration are good and they persist at tasks. Older children manage their personal hygiene well and younger children have good developing skills in this area. Children relate well to their carers and each other. They understand boundaries and contribute to their environment by tidying away and laying the table for lunch.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good They enjoy stories and rhymes and are able to listen attentively and participate with verbal responses. They recreate familiar stories and have begun to create their own stories working as a group. All children are developing a knowledge of letter recognition and their sounds. Most 4-year-olds are beginning to link sounds and recognise familiar words. They are confident mark makers and demonstrate increasing control when using pencils. Most of the older children can write their names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Most children count and recognise numerals to 10, some older children can count beyond this. Older children are beginning to develop an awareness of simple number operations. They are interested in creating patterns and sequences. Children recognise and name shapes and are able to select appropriate shapes when constructing a pre-decided model.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children enjoy using the computer for a variety of tasks. Older children use the mouse well and have begun to use the keyboard. They have a growing understanding and interest in the cultures and beliefs of others and have an impressive command of the French language. They are keen participators in construction activities as well as developing their own models using scrap materials. Older children do not sufficiently explore additional materials available for joining and assembling.

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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 are competent users of tools and materials and demonstrate good hand/eye coordination in their use, showing increasing control, for example when using scissors. They enjoy being active and use large body movements to jump, climb and run. Children travel around, under and through equipment, moving with control and coordination. Older children are beginning to observe the effects activity has on their body. They understand some good practices that contribute to their health.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good They sing songs and rhymes enthusiastically and have a wide repertoire. They are able to use their body responsively to music, tapping rhythms or during music and movement. Children explore a wide range of art materials to create drawings, collages and three dimensional structures. They regularly have clear intentions of what they are trying to achieve or express through their chosen media. Children play imaginatively and 4 year-olds play cooperatively in small groups during role play.

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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

• Use the records and observations to evaluate children's development and to inform the planning for children's next steps in learning.

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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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