Rocking Horse Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 07/07/2004 Inspector Name Susan, Helen Spencer

p.1

SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Rocking Horse Nursery Setting Address RLC NHS Trust, Alder Hey Hospital Eaton Road, West Derby Liverpool Merseyside L12 2AP

p.1

ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name NHS Trust Address Alder Hey Hospital Eaton Road, West Derby Liverpool Merseyside L12 2AP

p.1

ORGANISATION DETAILS

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

p.1

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.

p.2

Information about the setting

Rocking Horse Nursery is part of the Royal Liverpool Children's National Health Trust. It opened in 1994 and is located in the grounds of Alder Hey Children's Hospital. It provides care for 60 children aged from 3 months to under 5 years. There are currently 84 children on roll. This includes 14 funded three year olds and 12 funded four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. . The nursery serves children of Trust employees. They operate Monday to Friday from 06.45 to 18.00 hours. They provide an all year round service with the exception of bank holidays. The manager has the National Nursery Education Board certificate and has been managing the nursery since it opened. There is a named deputy, senior nursery officer and staff team of 22. All staff have early years qualifications. Rocking Horse Nursery is affiliated to the National Day Nursery Association. They

p.2

Information about the setting

have a Quality Counts Award. They also network with and are supported by the Early Years Development Childcare Partnership.

p.2

Information about the setting

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

p.2

How effective is the nursery education?

Rocking Horse Nursery provides good quality education which enables children to make very good progress towards the early learning goals in all six learning areas. The provision in most areas is excellent, and is very well-planned and organised. The quality of teaching is excellent. The staff are very good role models. They have very good relationships with the children and manage the children very well, having high expectations of their behaviour. The staff organise the resources very well, planning a creative and ingenious programme. The outdoor area is used effectively giving the children many interesting opportunities to explore and investigate. The staff encourage the children to be independent and provide challenging activities. The staff communicate with children very well, encouraging their curiosity, interest and enthusiasm. They ask them questions, helping them to explore and investigate.

p.3

How effective is the nursery education?

Children with special educational needs have access to a very well-organised language enrichment programme. Staff assess the children's learning against the stepping stones and early learning goals. The records, some of which are children's work, show clear progress and are easily available for parents. The leadership and management of the nursery is very good. The management team clearly motivates staff and is effective in developing a staff team committed to providing good quality education. The staff regularly attend interesting staff training events, such as Persona Dolls. They use the experiences to help in planning worthwhile activities for the children. The parnership with parents and carers is excellent. The parents clearly value the care and education which their children receive. The staff are approachable and parents appreciate being able to speak to the staff informally each day. The parents

p.3

How effective is the nursery education?

are able support the children's learning at home, as they receive information about current topics, such as holidays.

p.3

What is being done well?

• Staff clearly manage children extremely well. They set a very good example for children, being calm, yet interested and enthusiastic. They encourage children to concentrate and persevere in their tasks. • The teaching is excellent. The staff encourage children to be curious, and to investigate and explore. They plan an interesting and varied programme and have ingenious ideas to stimulate effective learning. • The staff team is excellent. It is well managed and the leadership is effective. There is a strong team spirit, and staff work very well together.

p.3

What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • The provision for communication, language and literacy is excellent. The staff introduce the children to stimulating, interesting language and vocabulary. The children clearly enjoy stories, and are obviously familiar with a range of good quality books. • Children with special educational needs are very well supported in the nursery. They are included in all activities, and also have the benefit of an excellent language enrichment programme. • Parents and staff have a strong partnership. They have very good relationships. There are excellent opportunities for sharing information about the children's progress and what they are learning.

p.3

What needs to be improved?

• the further development of the monitoring and evaluation of the provision.

p.4

What has improved since the last inspection?

Very good progress has been made since the last inspection in addressing the key issues. The nursery was asked to develop the assessment procedures to show the children's progress more clearly, ensure that short-term planning showed learning intentions, and to include more opportunities for investigating how sounds are made. The staff have changed their assessment records so that it is simple but effective. They are confident with the procedures which now fits their needs. They now use the local authority Foundation Stage Assessment Record which uses the 'stepping stones' as a guide to assessment. There are records of children's work available which include assessments and clearly show progress in learning. These are dated and are easily available for parents to see. Planning is effective and now shows what children are to learn from activities. These are related to the six areas of learning. The topic planning involves a range of

p.4

What has improved since the last inspection?

themes and projects, and it is evident in the teaching that staff know what children are intended to learn. Children now have excellent opportunities for investigating how sounds are made. The staff regularly draw the children's attention to different sounds in the environment, for example by listening to wind chimes and leaves rustling in the trees. The children make their own musical instruments and investigate how sounds are made with everyday objects, such as tubes and bottles.

p.4

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

p.4

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good This is a very good programme. The children are interested, motivated, inquisitive and curious. They are clearly well supported by the adults, and they show great concentration as they examine items brought form the beach. Their personal independence is very well fostered, as they help themselves to snack and set the tables for lunch. They choose activities freely and are able to work independently. The adults are very good role models, and the children behave well.

p.5

COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good The adults and children talk and listen to each other with interest and enthusiasm. The children use a wide range of vocabulary, which adults extend through all activities. They encourage the children to to enjoy stories and words, and to link sounds and letters. The children enjoy books and are obviously familiar with stories such as The Rainbow Fish. There are many effective opportunities for them to develop writing skills in the writing corner and role play areas.

p.5

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children are devloping skills of counting to ten as they count numbers of children for snack and how many should be in the role play area. They measure seeds as they grow, and make graphs of rainfall. They examine different ways of making shapes, collapsing and re-building boxes. They compare sizes of The Three Bears using good quality books, puppets and furniture. They are able to recognise simple patterns when they thread red and blue beads in sequence.

p.5

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good The children investigate, explore and identify living and natural objects such as birds, crabs and items from the beach. They construct delightful three dimensional undersea scapes, and make their own musical instruments. They explore their own environment as they visit the local hospital, or go to the shops to buy food for the fish. Celebrations are an important part of the programme as they make Easter bonnets, or sparkly pictures for Diwali.

p.5

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children move confidently and climb with good control and coordination. They enjoy the outdoors where they use wheeled toys, and practice skills of throwing and catching. The staff help them to persevere when learning to use a bat and ball. They handle paint brushes, pencils, spatulas and spoons with increasing control. They wash dolls clothes and peg the clothes on a washing line. They learn about the importance of wearing sunhats, and what food is good for teeth and bones.

p.5

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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

p.5

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children paint vibrant, colourful pictures about the Rainbow Fish, and make collages of 'Shiny Things'. They enjoy colourful mobiles and wind chimes, both indoors and outdoors. They listen to the sounds in the environment, such as birds and leaves rustling. Making musical instruments gives them opportunities to experiment with sound. Children develop their imagination in the role play area as they plan holidays in the travel agency. They describe spikey starfish and smooth stones.

p.6

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

p.6

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.

p.7

WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

There are no significant weaknesses to report, but considerations should be given to improving the following: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improve the following: • the development of the monitoring and evaluation of standards. 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.

p.7

WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

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

p.7