Treetops Queen of Hearts

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/03/2005 Inspector Name Mark Evans

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Queen of Hearts Nursery School Setting Address 122 Rockingham Road Rockingham Road Kettering Northamptonshire NN16 9AG

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Queen of Hearts Nursery School Ltd. 03055866

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Queen of Hearts Nursery School Ltd. Address Queen of Hearts Nursery School 122 Rockingham Road Kettering Northamptonshire NN16 9AG

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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

Queen of Hearts Nursery School opened in 1990 and is located on the ground floor of a converted Victorian house situated in Kettering. The nursery serves local families as well as those from a wide surrounding area. It operates from eight rooms and two reception areas. The nursery is open from 08.00 to 17.30 hours from Monday to Friday all year, except for public holidays. There are currently 167 children on roll, of whom 94 are funded 3 and 4-year-olds. The setting currently supports children with special needs and children who speak English as an additional language. Eleven full-time and nine part-time staff work with the children. Two staff have a teaching qualification and 14 staff have NNEB/BTEC qualifications in nursery nursing or equivalent. Two staff are currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The nursery receives input from a mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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Information about the setting

The nursery has achieved "Investors In People" quality assurance status, and the "Heartbeat" award for healthy eating.

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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 Queen of Hearts Nursery School provides nursery education where the children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Very good provision is made for children's communication language and literacy, their mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development. The quality of teaching is generally good. Many staff have sound knowledge of the foundation stage and use this to support children's learning. There are some missed opportunities with pre-prepared creative activities and for children's independence within routines. Organisation of small group work provides children with individual attention and effective opportunities to learn, using differentiation to set challenge. Planning indicates areas of learning and intended learning. The system of observation and assessment shows the progress of 4-year-olds, although this is not currently fully established for funded 3-year-olds.

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How effective is the nursery education?

Staff are good role models for children, they set consistent boundaries and manage behaviour very well. Key staff have good regard to the code of practice for the identification of children with special educational needs and provide excellent support for children identified with special educational needs. Leadership and management are very good. The well-motivated managers are very constructive to monitoring and progression of the educational programme and have support from the advisory team. There are systems in place to evaluate practice and develop service delivery and to appraise staff. The partnership with parents is very good. Parents have good quality communications from the setting about the educational programme. They are involved in monitoring children's' achievements with periodic meetings and sharing of reports summarising children's progress. The team has an extremely welcoming approach in working with parents and has developed very positive relationships.

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What is being done well?

• The organisation and quality of teaching for small group work is excellent. This provides children with sound opportunities to work at appropriate levels with sufficient challenge, differentiation being in place. Experienced staff have clear learning intentions; they ask questions to encourage the children to work things out for themselves, to think and make decisions. • There is very effective partnership with the parents, Staff are very welcoming, showing a commitment of interest in parents and their children, there are sound arrangements to share information on children's attainment and parents are encouraged to be involved in many aspects of the nursery

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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 school. • The setting special educational needs coordinator and key staff have very good understanding of and commitment to the procedures and support needed in providing an effective programme for children identified with special educational needs. • Staff provide very good, practical experiences for children to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world; they have excellent opportunties to study changes to living things and to explore and investigate natural materials and objects. • The staff group works very well as a team; they are effectively deployed to assist children engaged in activities and provide good support for each other when involved in group activities.

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What needs to be improved?

• the system for monitoring the progress of funded 3-year-olds and the system for planning children's next steps • knowledge of the foundation stage for less experienced staff.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made in tackling the key issue identified in the previous inspection report. This required that the setting develop the manageability of the records kept on the children's progress and attainment. The setting uses observations to record what children do; they complete assessments to show the progress of 4-year-olds and complete a periodic report for all children, which is shared with parents. However, assessment profiles to monitor the progress of funded 3-year-old children have not been fully established.

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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 show excellent levels of concentration and involvement in activities. They interact co-operatively within groups and behave well. Children are confident whilst separate from their main carer and are keen to communicate within group situations. Their personal independence is progressing well, although there are some missed opportunities within routine activities. Children are gaining awareness of their own community through some local visits and contact with various agencies.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children choose books for enjoyment and use them appropriately. Most children can recognise their name; more able children are linking sounds to letters and are able to form recognisable letters. They have good awareness that print has meaning and use opportunties to practise writing within their play. Children use language to express real and imaginative thoughts. They understand the elements of stories and use story language to recall the narrative.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are using mathematical language, for example big/small, more/less, and have knowledge of preposition. They recognise numbers of small groups of items; many can count confidently to 9 and some beyond this and they are recognising numbers as labels for counting and can anticipate the number following a given number. Children engage in activities that look at measurement and comparison of length. They are able to follow simple subtraction, for example, within songs and rhymes.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children have knowledge and skill to use tools effectively and have ability to operate information communication technology. They show great interest in the study of living things and patterns of change and are very keen to investigate objects and materials and how things work. Children select materials to design, join and shape. They have knowledge of others within the community and have developing awareness of other cultures. Children discuss their past experiences and of significant events.

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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: Very Good Children use resources and activities effectively to help their physical development. They choose various tools, having good control to make changes to materials, to form and construct. Children climb, balance and slide with apparatus and use this in various ways when challenged. They engage in healthy practices, including healthy eating and outside exercise. When involved in physical activities, children show good balance and spatial awareness and look at changes to their bodies when active.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children use role-play settings to enact their imagined experiences and also express their imagination within other activities, including painting and use of natural materials, and they respond to affects on their senses. There are some missed opportunities for challenge with pre-prepared creative activities. Children enjoy singing, can recall familiar songs and actions. They use musical instruments to explore sounds, to use rhythmically and enjoy the experience different types of music.

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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

• develop the system for monitoring the progress of funded 3-year-olds with clear indication of their achievements linked to the stepping stones and improve planning to show what children could usefully do next • further develop less experienced staff's knowledge of the Foundation Stage. 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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