Kids Planet Gables

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 26/01/2005 Inspector Name Susan, Helen Spencer

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Fisherfield Farm Nursery Ltd Setting Address 34 Bagslate Moor Road Norden Rochdale Lancashire OL11 5XT

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name Fisherfield Farm Nursery Ltd 03204227

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Fisherfield Farm Nursery Ltd Address Fisherfield Farm Hargate Avenue Rochdale Lancashire OL12 6BT

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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

Fisherfield Farm Nursery Ltd, The Gables Nursery, has been registered with Ofsted since June 2001.It occupies a converted bungalow in the Norden area of Rochdale. The accommodation comprises entrance foyer, four main rooms used for childcare, toilet and nappy changing facilities, kitchen, staff room and office. There is an all weather grassed safety surface providing outdoor play throughout the year in the side garden area. The Nursery is part of the Fisherfield Farm Nursery Group and is registered to provide care for 49 children aged from 3 months to 5 years. The children are catered for in four age groups in separate rooms namely, babies, toddlers, 2-3's and pre-school. There are currently 76 children on the register, this includes 9 funded four-year-olds and 15 funded three-year-olds. None of the funded children have identified special educational needs or speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

Three full-time staff (qualified to NVQ level II or higher) work with the funded children. They are assisted by a part-time qualified French teacher and a peripatetic teacher who teaches the children physical development once a week. There is also a nusery manager and a deputy manager who are supernumerary on site and an area manager who visits once a week. The Nursery is open Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 18:00. It closes for statutory Bank Holidays and over the Christmas and New Year period.

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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?

Fisherfield Farm Nursery Limited, The Gables Nursery provides high-quality nursery education which enables the children to make very good progress in all six areas of their learning. The quality of teaching is very good. Staff have a clear understanding of the foundation stage and goals for children's learning. They plan and provide a good range of activities with a clear focus on what it is hoped children will learn. They also identify the next steps for children's learning. Staff use very effective questioning to encourage children to think for themselves and to express their own ideas. Staff carry out rigorous assessment of the children's progress and attainment. Staff in the main use good methods to teach the children, however, occasionally whole group focused activities are less effectively organised and children's names are not always written beginning with a capital letter. The nursery is particularly well led and managed with a good infrastructure of

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How effective is the nursery education?

support from within the company. A very good level of communication exists between staff and management. The nursery has the Investors in People Award which endorses the high priority given to professional staff development. Regular staff appraisals and supervisories take place. The staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities. The nursery works very well in partnership with parents and carers. A brochure gives good information to parents and carers about the nursery and how it operates. Parents and carers are kept well informed of the progress that their children are making through regular parents' evenings when they discuss with keyworkers the progress that their children are making. Parents and carers are effectively encouraged to support their children's learning. A newsletter goes home every six weeks suggesting how children's learning can be extended through activities at home. Parents and carers are also involved in a shared reading scheme.

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What is being done well?

• Staff make very good use of their conversations with children by asking questions that encourage the children to think for themselves and to practise using language to express their own ideas. • Staff plan very good activities which stimulate the children's interest in living things and the natural world. The children learn to look after the nursery pets, they look closely at snails and bugs using spy glasses and enjoy exploring a wide range of natural objects. The children's understanding of the wider world in which we live is also actively promoted. Staff plan regular trips out of the nursery not only into the local environment, but also further afield, such as trips to Eureka and Wigan Museum.

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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 • The nursery benefits from a very good infrastructure of support which exists from within the Fisherfield Farm Company. Staff meet regularly to share ideas on planning and there is an extensive programme of in-house training for nursery staff. There is a very good level of communication between senior management and the Gables Nursery management and sta+ff team, sharing their expertise and working together for the benefit of all the nursery children.

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What needs to be improved?

• the organisation of some focused activities • how staff write children's names for them to copy

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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 The children are learning to be sensitive to others. They have had a visit from a blind person with his guidedog. They learn about different cultures. They play well together in small groups, for example, talking to each other using puppets. They are also learning to express their feelings using the puppets. They concentrate for good lengths of time, for example, when counting plastic bears. Occasionally, the children get restless when joining in whole group activities if they have to wait.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Very Good Children recognise letters and the sounds they make. They learn about a phonic each week. The staff use questioning very well to encourage the children to express their thoughts and ideas. The children are learning to handle books well at nursery and through a shared reading scheme. They have good opportunities to make marks on paper and are learning to write their names.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children have good opportunities to practise their mathematical skills, for example, matching and sorting using peg boards. They enjoy experimenting with volume in the water trough. They learn about spacial awareness when building with large constructions blocks. The children are becoming good at counting, for example, ingredients when baking. They know several number songs. Their learning is effectively extended into carrying out simple number operations using plastic bears.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Very Good The children have very good opportunities to develop their curiosity. They investigate natural objects and observe living things, such as snails and nursery pets. Children's awareness of the wider world in which we live is enhanced by visits from people, such as the fire department. They go on trips, for instance, to the garden centre. The children use the nursery computer well to support their learning. They build using construction sets and boxes.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good The children are learning to move imaginatively with good awareness of space. They have good body control when exercising and dancing to music tapes. The children have good manual dexterity. They use tools with very good levels of control, such as knives and forks at lunch time. The children learn about personal hygiene and keeping healthy through topic work. They have weekly physical development lessons with a peripatetic teacher. They also have swimming lessons.

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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 The children use their imagination well, for example, when painting or playing with puppets. They have very good opportunities to use their senses, for instance, tasting milkshakes and exploring shaving foam. They enjoy dancing to taped music and freely experimenting with musical instruments. They have good opportunities to freely express their ideas using paint, crayons, papers and collage materials. They work well in two and three dimensions using a wide variety of techniques and media.

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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: • There are no significant weaknesses to report, but consideration should be given to improving the following: •• the organisation of whole group focused activities to ensure that all children are involved and that their interest is fully sustained • make sure that children's names are always written using appropriate upper and lower case letters.

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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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