Ysgol Gymuned Llannerch-y-medd

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 26/05/2004 Inspector Name Mandy Black

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Alanbrooke Nursery Setting Address 40 Regt. RA Building 24G Alanbrooke Barracks,Topcliffe Thirsk North Yorkshire YO7 3EY

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Alanbrooke Nursery 10622234/0

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Alanbrooke Nursery Address 40 Regt. RA Building 24G Alanbrooke Barracks,Topcliffe Thirsk North Yorkshire YO7 3EY

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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

Alanbrooke Nursery is committee run, with a supervisor employed to take responsibility for the daily running of the group. It has been registered since 1995 and is located in a converted accommodation block within Alanbrooke barracks, which is close to the town of Thirsk. The nursery accommodation consists of four rooms for the children, who are cared for in age appropriate groups, toilets, a fully fitted kitchen, milk kitchen, creative play rooms and an office. There is an enclosed outdoor play area with grass and a rubber safety surface fitted. The nursery serves children from the local community which includes civilian families as well as those serving in the Army. They are currently caring for 81 children of which 21 three year olds and 5 four year olds are in receipt of nursery education funding. The nursery currently offers care for children with special educational needs; there are no children for whom English is an additional language. There are 15 members of staff

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Information about the setting

working with the children on a full or part time basis, all of whom are experienced and hold a relevant childcare qualification. Qualified teacher support, advice and training is provided by the Local Authority. Opening times are from 09:00 to 15:00 from Monday to Friday, mainly during term time. The nursery is a member of the Pre School Learning Alliance.

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How good is the Day Care?

Alanbrooke Nursery provides good quality care for children. The premises are warm, bright and welcoming to children and families. There are a broad range of toys and equipment available to meet the developmental needs of all children attending which are attractively presented and promote children's independence. There are regular opportunities for children to enjoy outdoor play and develop their physical skills in all age groups except for the very youngest children in the nursery. Children are cared for in their key worker groups which ensures consistency of care. Management demonstrate an excellent commitment to staff development. A strong emphasis on children's safety is highlighted through the good security procedures observed; the collection of children is well managed by staff. High priority is given to all aspects of hygiene throughout the nursery; staff ensure that all

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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 written procedures are effectively implemented. Children are provided with healthy and nutritious snacks; drinks are easily accessible at all times. Close and caring relationships have been established between staff and children in all age groups. Children are confident, well absorbed, happy and settled. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of their child protection responsibilities. Children with special needs are fully included in all activities; experienced staff work effectively with parents and other professionals to ensure that they make significant progress. Children behave very well; staff manage behaviour positively and skilfully in accordance with the age and understanding of individual children.

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How good is the Day Care?

Staff have established very good relationships with parents and communicate well verbally; written information is attractively presented and user friendly. The nursery have a well organised approach to documentation, information is regularly updated and stored securely; confidentiality is maintained at all times.

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What is being done well?

• An excellent commitment to staff development; all staff hold a relevant qualification and are supported and encouraged to attend a wide range of workshops and short courses that will support them in their work. • Relationships between children and staff are very close and caring; all children are very settled in the relaxed and homely environment. Babies respond well to the smiles, cuddles and conversation from the staff and enjoy playing with a range of stimulating resources. Older toddlers are well supported by the staff and encouraged to participate in many creative activities including music, action rhymes and art; they are given freedom to explore, make choices in their play and are having fun. Two year olds are well settled and very absorbed in their activities; staff successfully engage children in conversations and stimulate their development as they talk about colours and numbers. Older children are confident and very enthusiastic; they

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What is being done well?

are encouraged to be independent and make their own choices from the easily accessible resources. • The nursery environment is warm, bright and visually stimulating. The organisation of space and the well presented activities and resources ensure that all is very inviting to children. • Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff are consistently positive in their approach and show respect for each other as well as the children. This enables children to learn by example and is reflected in the way they interact with each other. • Partnership with parents is very good and has a positive impact on the high level of care provided for the children. Staff and parents have very close and supportive relationships and share all information relating to the children.

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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 Feedback confirms that parents are very happy with the quality of the care their children receive.

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What needs to be improved?

• outdoor play opportunities for children under 18 months.

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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 Increase outdoor play opportunities for children under 18 months.

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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?

Alanbrooke Nursery provides a welcoming environment where children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. They make very good progress in their personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy, mathematical, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical and creative development. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff skilfully support children's learning through their enthusiastic and interesting explanations. They provide many opportunities for children to choose and offer suggestions or additional resources to extend their play. Very good support is provided for children with special needs; experienced staff work well with parents to address their specific needs and ensure that achievable targets are met. Staff are excellent role models for behaviour; they set a good example to children. Children's confidence and self esteem is fostered through

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How effective is the nursery education?

constant praise and positive comments provided by staff. The organisation of resources promotes independent learning in the attractive and stimulating environment. Leadership and management is very good. Staff work well together and demonstrate excellent team work; they evaluate their work regularly, highlighting areas for development in the future. Senior management are very supportive to nursery staff and encourage them to develop professionally through attending many training courses and workshops, which enhances the nursery provision. Partnership with parents is very good. Parents are provided with good quality information about the nursery curriculum. They have regular opportunities to discuss their children's progress and achievements, at open sessions, parents evenings and through their close links with their children's key worker. Displays, notices and interest tables encourage parents to easily identify themes in nursery and become

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How effective is the nursery education?

actively involved, which creates a valuable link between home and nursery.

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What is being done well?

• Children's personal, social and emotional development is given high priority; they are confident, settled and secure and have established good relationships with staff and each other. • Children enjoy expressing themselves through music and singing and staff ensure that this is included in a variety of ways; they confidently sing as a group or individually, experiment with musical instruments in their music maker sessions and explore different ways of moving with their weekly visiting dance teacher. • Children with special educational needs are well included in all activities. Staff find out all they can about children's specific needs, and work in

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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 partnership with parents and outside agencies to ensure that children gain as much as possible from activities. • The nursery environment contributes positively to children's learning. The bright and colourful displays of children's own art work help to promote children's self esteem; the easily accessible resources encourage children to be independent and the activities are attractively presented and inviting to children.

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What needs to be improved?

• continual enhancement of all areas of the nursery educational provision

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection. Areas for development which were raised, included providing further support for children as they develop their knowledge of letter shapes and sounds. This is now well included at each session, in addition to the planned phonic sessions which focus on a particular letter each fortnight. Children are provided with many examples of upper and lower case lettering which are used in displays, place mats and labelling. Children have many opportunities to develop their own creative ideas as they participate in a varied range of child centred activities where they can make their own decisions and freely access resources. There is a strong emphasis on children's own work in nursery displays in addition to more directed examples.

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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 display high levels of interest and are very focussed on activities of their choosing. They relate well to staff and their peers, form close attachments to others and play well cooperatively with the train set, the dolls house, and as they take turns using outdoor toys. Children are very independent and confidently perform developmentally appropriate tasks such as wiping the table before snack time and carefully pouring out drinks from the jug.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are articulate and use vocabulary well; they initiate conversations and ask questions with confidence. They are developing a good understanding of letter sounds and take part in a range of activities to reinforce this learning. Older children recognise familiar words; most children recognise their names on their placemats. Children listen with great interest to stories in small and large groups, making suggestions about what might happen next.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children count regularly at each session; younger children can count to 10 whilst older children can count to 20 and beyond. They participate in many regular planned activities to improve their awareness of number problems using number pots, appropriate IT and their weekly baking sessions. Children have a sound knowledge of and are able to match shapes by recognising similarities. They use size language well as they compare themselves to the very tall tower they have made from Duplo bricks.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children use construction materials well and often build with a purpose. Well planned activities help children differentiate between past and present such as the museum display with items such as a very old camera. Children confidently operate the computer and understand simple educational programmes. They enjoy using a microphone, operating the cassette player and using a magnifying glass. Children have good opportunities to explore living things as they plant beans and observe wood lice.

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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 persevere as they learn throwing and catching skills using bean bags, hoops and balls. They access a good variety of small and large equipment to develop their fine and gross motor skills. Children adjust speed and avoid obstacles as they ride wheeled toys on their 'roads' during outdoor play. They show an awareness of their needs in relation to health and hygiene; they wash their hands to 'get the germs off' and comment on how hot and thirsty they are after playing outside.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children have excellent opportunities to sing, enjoy dance, action rhymes and experiment with sound and rhythm. They engage well in imaginative play, introducing their own narrative as they act out a range of scenarios. A wide variety of child centred activities stimulate children's own creativity and they enjoy sensory experiences as they explore gloop, collage materials and smell the scented dough.

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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: • Continue to enhance all areas of the nursery educational provision 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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