Meadows Mere Nursery School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 17/03/2004 Inspector Name Stacey Sangster

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Meadows Mere Nursery School Setting Address 1-2 Alfred Road Kingsmere Eastbourne East Sussex BN23 6TA

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Ronald Cossey and Valerie Cossey Address 9 Brand Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN22 9PX

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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

The Meadows Mere Nursery School, is one of four in a chain of private nursery settings operating in East Sussex. It has been registered since April 1998. The premises are made up of two adjacent terraced houses that were adapted during their building to house the nursery. The accommodation is on two floors and comprises four rooms used for child care, toilets, a kitchen area, and an office. There is a large, secure, well- equipped garden for outdoor play. Children attending the nursery come from Eastbourne and the surrounding area and are a representative cross section of the local community. There are currently 151 children on roll, of whom 60 are funded three year olds and 18 are funded 4 year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting supports a number of children with special educational needs and there are four children for whom English is an additional language. Seventeen members of staff are employed to work with the children; of these ten

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Information about the setting

have a suitable early years qualification and five are undertaking NVQ training. The nursery is open on weekdays for 50 weeks of the year. It has Investors in People status and has successfully completed an accredited quality assurance scheme.

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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 nursery education offered by The Meadows Mere Nursery is acceptable and is of high quality. Children make very good progress toward all six of the early learning goals. The quality of teaching is very good. A curriculum is planned and delivered to ensure all children have access to a wide variety of resources, which are imaginatively used and organized to support each child's individual style and speed of learning. Staff have a very good understanding of the foundation stage. Plans are linked appropriately to the stepping stones. Staff employ a range of teaching methods to suit the needs of all children, which ensures children progress steadily and receive good levels of support. The assessment of children's progress is very good and identifies what children need to do next in order to make progress. Staff are particularly skilled at utilising children's different experiences to support whole class

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How effective is the nursery education?

learning. The setting is very well led and managed. Staff work very well together and understand their roles. Staff show commitment to the development of the setting and what it provides for the children and in turn are well supported with regular opportunities to undertake training. The recruitment and induction procedure is thorough and well thought out. The partnership with parents is very good. All parents are provided with a range of good quality information intended to keep them informed of their child's progress, ideas are provided to encourage parents to support topic work. Parents do not receive information relating to children's individual specific targets, when staff identify these as areas to be worked on. Parents comment positively about the care that their children receive.

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What is being done well?

• The staff have a good understanding and knowledge of the early learning goals, how children learn and develop. They provide stimulating and interesting activities that motivate children to learn. Children are highly involved in most activities. • Children have very good opportunities to develop their social skills and independence. They form positive relationships, are confident and behave very well, having developed a good understanding of the reasons behind different rules. • All children have very good opportunities to extend their vocabulary and develop their interest in reading and writing in practical ways. They confidently express themselves with good use of language.

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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 • Resources are very well maintained, are easily accessible to the children and are used imaginatively and creatively by staff to provide a wide range of purposeful activities that can be tailored to meet the needs of each individual child.

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What needs to be improved?

• There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: • the partnership with parents by sharing ideas on how to help children reach individual targets as well as supporting topic work and general progress.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

There were no significant weaknesses to report at the last inspection, but the following points for development were identified as areas for consideration. To further develop the planned programme so as to make more provision for continuity and progression of learning - this is now very much evident in the planning and assessment systems; To expand the music programme to provide greater scope for imaginative expression and stimulation -children have regular opportunities to express themselves with music through singing, dance and playing musical instruments.

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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: Very Good Children are very confident and demonstrate high levels of independence when completing tasks and selecting tools and resources. They show pride in their achievements and are confident about expressing their own views and feelings. Good levels of co-operation are displayed and children are kind and considerate toward one another. They are very well behaved and enjoy being given responsibility for daily tasks, such as tidying up.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children are very confident speakers and use language to inform, negotiate and to share their feelings. Most can identify letter sounds and some use this knowledge to attempt reading and writing simple words. Handwriting progress is good and many children write recognisable letters, which are correctly formed. They understand that words carry meaning and can be used for a variety of purposes. They enjoy labelling their work and making lists in role play.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy counting and most three and four year olds can to ten, with many counting beyond. Children are familiar with the names of 2D shapes and are developing a knowledge of 3D. Children are able to use maths to solve simple problems, for example how many more cups are needed at drinks time. They recognise concepts relating to size and measure and most can confidently place items in order in relation to their size. Many recognise written numerals and can put them in the correct order.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy exploring the nature table and investigate materials using magnifying glasses, touch and smell. They take part enthusiastically in design and making projects and are developing skills to predict how to best construct and join materials. Children use ICT with increasing confidence. They are developing an understanding of different cultures and how these relate to their friends when looking at the various festivals celebrated by their classmates.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children move with control and coordination in a range of imaginative ways. Most can manage fastenings on clothing and persevere with complex manipulative tasks. They recognise the importance of keeping healthy and the things that contribute to this. Children are gaining confidence with the correct use of large and small tools and handle them with increasing control.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

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

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children enjoy expressing themselves with singing, drama and art and all enthusiastically engage in singing. They explore the effects of mixing colours and comment on the changes that they see. Most children can accurately identify the correct colours and some are able to predict the outcome of combining two colours. The children are imaginative and animated during role play and drama activities and have many opportunities to express their ideas and feelings in a variety of ways.

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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 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: • Consider providing parents with more specific information about what their child needs to do next in order to make progress.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT

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 Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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