Play Away Day Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 21/10/2004 Inspector Name Susan, Helen Spencer

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Play Away Day Nursery Setting Address Langdale Road Runcorn Cheshire WA7 5PY

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REGISTERED PROVIDER 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 Play Away Day nursery was opened in 2001. It operates from a purpose built nursery centre in the old town part of Runcorn. It serves the local community and wider area.It is registered to take 70 children. There are currently 77 children aged between six months and four years on roll and they attend for a variety of sessions. There are 25 funded three year olds but no funded four years olds. The setting supports children who are identified as having special educational needs. No children speak English as an additional language. The setting opens from 08.00 to 18.00 five days per week. It is open all year round, except for bank holidays. Twenty one staff work with the children. They all have early years qualifications. The setting has received support from a teacher from the Early Years Development and Childcare partnership.

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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 provision for nursery education at Play Away Day Nursery is good-quality overall which enables children to make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. Provision for their personal, social and emotional development, communication, language and literacy and physical development, is particularly well-planned and they make very good progress in these areas. The quality of teaching is generally good. Staff are very caring and have very good relationships with parents and children. They are sensitive to each individual's needs. Staff interact well with the children, e.g. to encourage their role-play. Children's behaviour is very good because staff use praise very well, are quick to spot possible problems and deal fairly with them. Staff create a bright environment for children to play in and use most resources well to help children learn. Planning is closely linked to the Stepping Stones' though music sessions could be planned in

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How effective is the nursery education?

more detail. Staff observe children carefully and record their progress. These notes are recorded against the 'Stepping Stones'. Every child has a book in which detailed notes are made and shared with parents. Written reports about their child's progress in the six areas of learning are given to parents annually. The leadership and management are generally good. The room manager provides strong leadership and has built a good team of staff. At present teaching is only informally monitored and so management do not have a clear picture of the strengths and areas for development in provision. The nursery has a very clear commitment to improvement. It uses training opportunities well to broaden staff's skills. The partnership with parents and carers is very good. Parents think highly of the nursery and the care their child receives. They receive good levels of information about what their child has learned so that they can help at home. Reports and the

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How effective is the nursery education?

'My life at Play Away' are particularly well received.

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What is being done well?

• Staff have built positive caring relationships with children and parents which helps children settle well and feel 'at home' in the nursery. • All of the work produced by the children is valued and displayed by staff which encourages the children to express themselves, especially in painting and mark making. • Children enjoy listening to stories and join in well with the parts they remember. • Children gain a broad understanding of the world through a range of topics,

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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 celbrations and festivals. • The nursery keeps parents well informed about their child's progress.

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What needs to be improved?

• the planning of music sessions so that children have opportunities to express themselves musically. • the use of the full range of technology available to the nursery staff. • the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning so that management has a clear idea of the strengths and areas for development of the nursey provision.

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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 because they understand that the staff know them as individuals and care for them. They want to show the work they have done, like the diva pots. They celebrate each other's 'stickers' for good work or behaviour. Children behave well because good behaviour receives praise from staff. They talk in detail about their group and know who is in their family. Their curiosity about the world around them is aroused because they do lots on interesting activities.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children communicate their needs well and are listened to by staff. They speak clearly using short phrases and sentences. During 'the three little pigs' they join in happily with the repeating lines. Children enjoy stories and listen attentively often recalling characters and plot well, e.g. they remembered the hair from 'Molly's hair' when painting it. They like to make marks in role-play and chalking on the wall outside because staff are interested in what they have written and value it.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Most children accurately count five objects and in a group count to 20. They use numbers in their play quite well. They identify the basic colours and flat shapes, circle, square, triangle and rectangle. Children use their mathematical language and knowledge in their play, e.g. Does the letter fit in the envelope? They thread beads and cotton reels and compare the lengths but there are too few opportunities for children to talk about 'more', 'less' and 'the same as' or split groups.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Staff make good use of the locality and trips out to help children understand more about the world around them. They collect conkers, observe the weather and use words associated with houses and streets. Children have access to tape decks and other technology but they do not always work. A good range of religious festivals and other events is celebrated by the children. Children make models from 'junk' and construction kits, e.g. making towers taller than themselves.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children run, jump and hop with good control. They run around playing the 'colour hoop' game and avoiding each other. Most climb the steps of the slide smoothly and all crawl through the tunnel. They ride tricycles and use prams carefully avoiding oneanother. Some show good skills throwing and catching a large ball. Children handle small tools well. They scoop sand, draw shapes and thread beads well. Most paint their candle well keeping inside the lines they have drawn.

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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: Generally Good Children have good opportunities to use different types of paint in their artwork. They make solid shapes from clay, like the diva pots, and 'junk'. Children sing well and join in with action songs. They like to play instruments but this is sometimes not well planned. Children play for long periods in the role-play area because good interventions by adults help them invent new things to do. They 'huffed and puffed' joyfully whilst playing 'the 3 little pigs'.

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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

• devise and implement a rigorous system of monitoring and evaluating provision • ensure that children have opportunities to use the full range of technology available in the nursery • improve the planning of music sessions. 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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