Fircones Child Care Centre

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 09/07/2004 Inspector Name Shirley Delaney

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Fircones Child Care Centre Setting Address Firs Primary School Dreghorn Road Birmingham West Midlands B36 8LL

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Fircones Child Care Centre Ltd Address Firs Primary School Dreghorn Road Birmingham West Midlands B36 8AL

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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

Fircones Child Care Centre registered in 1993. It operates from a modular building within the grounds of Firs Primary School, Firs Estate, Birmingham. Located within easy access of main bus routes across the city. The group serves the local community and is open to the children of parents who are willing to commute across the city. There are currently 41 children on roll. This includes 16 funded 3-year-olds and 4 funded 4-year-olds. Children can attend for a variety of sessions. The group presently supports children with English as an additional language and children with special needs. The group is open each weekday during school term time, providing full time places, a wrap around service and mornings and afternoon sessions. There are five members of staff working with the children, supported by students. All members of staff hold early years qualifications and supporting adults are currently on training programmes.

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Information about the setting

The setting receives support of a teacher mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) and has been awarded a gold quality framework award.

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How good is the Day Care?

Fircones Day Care Centre provides good quality care for children. The nursery provides a welcoming environment for the children and their parents. Information is made available to the parents in the entrance area regarding the operation of the nursery and the organisation of the children's care, and learning. Children are provided with easy access to a good range of toys and equipment in a well planned area. Children are grouped in one large group and organisation of the children in smaller key work groups may provide children with more individual staff

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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 support. Staff are aware of policies and procedures are in place to maintain children's safety and security. Children are encouraged to learn about good hygiene practices through daily routines and staff support. They are provided with snacks and a drink as part of the daily routine and children attending for the full day have a packed lunch supplied by parents. Children's individual needs are met appropriately. Staff have a positive approach to including children with special needs and children with special needs are well supported in the group. Child protection procedures are in place and staff have appropriate knowledge of their responsibilities, however the policy is incomplete. Children have access to and benefit from a wide range of activities which support

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How good is the Day Care?

their play and learning. Access to the outdoor play area is provided as part of the daily routine, this area is well equipped and provides children with the opportunities to participate in a range of physical activities. A behaviour management policy is in place and known to staff, however staff's approach to managing children's behaviour is not always consistently applied, although recent strategies developed in the group are beginning to help children's understanding of behavioural expectations. Partnership with parents is good. Information is shared as part of a two-way process and parents are made to feel welcome in the nursery.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

At the last inspection the setting agreed to: ensure that there is a written behaviour management statement; ensure that there is a written child protection statement based on Area Child Protection Committee procedures; ensure the complaints procedure includes the address and telephone number of the regulator; develop an operational plan and make available to parent and ensure risk assessments are conducted and reviewed as required. A written behaviour has been drawn up and is known to the staff group. The complaints procedure has been revised to include the address and contact number of the regulator. An operational plan is in place and can be made available to parent. Risk assessments are now conducted and regularly reviewed. A written child protection policy had been drawn up, however it does not cover all aspects.

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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. The room is planned and set out to provide opportunities covering all area's of learning and resources are made easily accessible to the children. • A warm and welcoming environment is created for the children and parents. Staff ensure the premises are well maintained and are constantly looking at ways to expand and extend the provision for the children. Children benefit from recent investment and extension to improve the equipment in the outdoor provision.

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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 • Staff are deployed effectively to ensure the safety and welfare of the children. Children are supervised at all times and staff follow procedures in order to identify and minimise hazards effectively. • Parent's are kept well informed about their child's care, routine and progress. Good procedures and working practices in place foster good 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. • Documentation is well maintained, kept appropriately and stored securely, and Ofsted is kept informed of changes.

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What needs to be improved?

• the organisation of children into small key work groups • the equal opportunities procedure to demonstrate how equal opportunities is reflected in practice and is consistent with current legislation and guidance • staff management of children's behaviour to promote consistent and appropriate strategies in line with the behaviour management policy.

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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 2 Provide a key person to co-ordinate information about individual children needs and development, and decrease the time children spend in one large group. 9 Review and update the equal opportunities policy to demonstrate how equal opportunties is reflected in practice and is consistent with current legislation and guidance. 11 Develop strategies for managing children’s behaviour appropriately and

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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 ensure they are consistently applied.

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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?

Fircones Child Care Centre offers children good quality provision in a bright and welcoming atmosphere. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and physical development, with generally good progress in all other areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Planning clearly sets out what children are expected to learn and makes good provision for children at different stages of development. There is a very good system to gather information about children's attainments and this is used effectively to inform discussions with parents about their children's progress. Staff have a generally good knowledge of the early learning goals and use plenty of questions and comments to encourage children to explain and to talk about things happening beyond the here and now. However they do not always expand children's self-initiated learning. Staff have introduced new

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How effective is the nursery education?

arrangements to manage children's behaviour but there are still some weaknesses in organisation of activities and interaction with children. The leadership and management of the playgroup are very good. There are good procedures to evaluate provision and identify strengths and weaknesses through staff appraisal, evaluation of plans and self-evaluation of individual and whole nursery performance. Through the review and redevelopment of the planning and assessment system, the nursery shows commitment to improving provision and monitoring children's progress. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents appreciate being able to attend regular parent's evenings to find out about the educational programme and discuss their children's progress in nursery and at home. They also value informal opportunities to talk to staff at the beginning and end of sessions, and find staff friendly, helpful and approachable.

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What is being done well?

• There is a very good approach to developing children's skills and understanding in early literacy. Children are encouraged to develop interest in books, confidence as writers, skills with pencils and other writing tools and awareness of sounds in words. Taken together, these provide children with a firm foundation for learning to read and write. • Staff include plenty of opportunities to enable children to develop an interest in the natural world and features of their environment, making good use of the grounds and the local area. They develop children's sense of the past in planned discussions and also in exchanges prompted by objects linked to past events. • Good planning and good facilities mean that children have very 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 opportunities for physical development throughout the year. • Children benefit from a thorough introduction to all aspects of mathematical development and staff make good use of practical situations to extend children's understanding. • The nursery has developed a good system for planning and assessing children's progress which takes into account the wide range of ages and abilities and builds up a lively and informative profile of individual children's achievements.

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What needs to be improved?

• opportunities for children to use their initiative, particularly when working in three dimensions creatively or constructing for a purpose • the management of whole group times, so that children maintain attention • ways of interacting with children when their behaviour or responses do not match staff's expectations.

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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 reviewed and redeveloped and now represents a particular strength of the setting. Staff have introduced new strategies to reduce noise levels and these are proving successful. They are very aware of the difficulties of accommodating children with a wide range of ages and stages of development in one room and give careful consideration to how these difficulties can be overcome. The new arrangements for story time and registration have improved children's concentration in these sessions, but children sometimes find it difficult to maintain attention in whole group times.

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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: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in personal, social and emotional development. They show positive attitudes to learning, showing interest in new experiences and becoming involved in activities. Children develop self-confidence and can talk about their feelings, their preferences and their families. They learn to look after their personal needs but do not have enough opportunities to solve problems and take the initiative in the course of those activities where adults direct what happens.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children make very good progress in communication, language and literacy. They use language well to communicate about what is happening. They listen to stories and to other people talking, and can respond to what they hear. Children learn that print is used to communicate. Older children can write their names, identify initial letters and think of rhyming words, while younger children can use initial letter cues to recall words and show awareness that words are made up of discrete letters.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children make very good progress in mathematics. They learn to count and to recognise and order numerals from one to ten and older children can also match numerals to quantities. Children learn to compare quantities and find totals and older children show awareness that the total must increase if new elements are added to the group. Children can use size and position language appropriately to identify objects and can compare objects by attending to differences between their shapes.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in knowledge and understanding of the world. They develop interest in living and non-living things and are starting to predict what might happen to them in processes in which they are involved. Children learn to attend to features of their environment and develop a sense of the past. They are introduced to building and joining with different materials but do not have enough opportunities to experiment with a variety of construction techniques.

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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 make very good progress in physical development. With the help of planned interventions by staff, 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 develop control with tools and materials requiring manipulative skills, such as pegs and musical instruments.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children make generally good progress in creative development. They learn how to make sounds with musical instruments and can use them to play loudly or quietly. Some are also able to sing and play instruments rhythmically at the same time. 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, particularly when working in three dimensions.

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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

• improve staff familiarity with the early learning goals relating to children's independent learning, so that children have more opportunities to make choices in activities, solve problems and work things out for themselves • review arrangements for whole group times so that children maintain attention • continue to develop staff's skills in responding to children when their behaviour or comments do not match 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 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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