Bright Stars Childcare

Bright Stars Childcare Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY407050 Inspection date 06/09/2010 Inspector Mary Daniel

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Setting address Bright Stars Childcare Ltd, Green Lane, Frome, Somerset, BA11 4JW Telephone number 01373 451619 Email childcare@brightstars.org.uk Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Bright Stars Childcare has been registered at these premises since April 2010. The nursery operates as a private limited company from converted premises situated in the town of Frome, Somerset. Children have use of five main play areas, which include designated rooms for babies, toddlers and pre-school children. All these rooms are on the ground floor, with integral toilets, kitchen and sleeping facilities available. There is a staff room on the first floor and children have use of a fully enclosed outside play area.

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Description of the setting

Ofsted have registered this privately owned nursery on the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of 48 children aged under eight years at any one time, of whom 48 may be in the early years age group. There are currently 62 children on roll, of whom all are in the early years age group. The nursery is in receipt of government funding to provide nursery education, and there are currently 22 funded children on register.

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Description of the setting

Bright Stars is open between 8.00am and 6.00pm from Monday to Friday, all year round, closing only for Christmas and bank holidays. Children attending the nursery are mainly from the local community. The nursery owners employ an overall nursery manager, a pre-school teacher and nine additional staff, all of whom are qualified in childcare and early years education or are currently completing relevant training. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are settled, happy and well cared for and respond easily to the friendly, welcoming approach given by staff, which contributes to their developing confidence. Their individual needs are appropriately supported as staff get to know children well through ongoing liaison with their parents. Children enjoy their play and become involved in a wide range of interesting and motivating activities, which help to effectively support their learning and development through their particular interests. Evaluation systems are in place, which contribute to staff identifying the main strengths and weaknesses of the provision and help support their objectives of making ongoing improvements to the provision. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 ensure systems used to make decisions of suitability consistently use evidence from criminal record disclosures and identity checks  continue to develop the risk assessment systems to ensure they effectively cover anything with which a child may come into contact, such as within some play activities  continue to develop the planning and assessment systems to ensure the learning objectives of children's next steps of development are consistently identified and are securely based on their existing skills and abilities in all areas of their learning

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is promoted as staff update their awareness of safeguarding issues through appropriate training and suitable systems are in place to manage any concerns arising. Clear procedures are in place for recruiting new staff, which include the completion of relevant checks and an induction, although some systems of assessing staff suitability are not consistently implemented. Staff appraisal systems are in place, which helps to monitor and support their professional development and they continue to update their training, for instance through first aid and food hygiene courses. All staff have worked hard to make improvements to the setting and careful consideration has been given to making best use of all space available to maximise children's care and learning opportunities. This has significantly improved the play areas and as a result, children are cared for in very attractive, inviting play rooms where they have space

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the early years provision

to play comfortably. Play rooms are effectively organised to meet children's particular needs and provide different areas of play to support and encourage their developmental interests. For example, babies eagerly crawl into their cosy book corner with the soft hanging curtains, colourful lights and glitter twirls that attract their attention and they look through a range of easy to hold, hardback picture or soft feely books. Toddlers stretch out comfortably on a brightly patterned rug to push their cars and trucks around a track and pre-school children have great fun in the messy play room where they can paint a picture, splash in the water tray or experiment with sound as they play with a variety of musical instruments. This effectively helps children to develop their creativity and free expression. All children can easily access a lovely range of well organised, age appropriate toys and resources, which encourages them to make independent choices in their play.

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the early years provision

Daily risk assessments are completed and appropriate prevention, such as systems to promote children's security, are in place. Staff are observant of children and this contributes to them feeling safe, although assessments of some aspects of the provision, for example how children use certain play equipment within activities, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 are not yet fully established. All staff are involved in evaluating different aspects of the provision offered and the views of parents and children are also gained through use of questionnaires. This helps to support and inform the group's future action plans for continual improvement to help promote outcomes for all children.

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the early years provision

Children are valued and welcomed at the nursery and staff liaise with other professionals involved in their care, such as speech therapists, to ensure all their needs are well supported and that every child can participate in each activity at their level of ability. This effectively promotes the inclusion of all children. Liaison is also maintained with local schools, and reception teachers visit to meet the children starting school that year. This contributes to helping children have a smooth transition to their next stage of learning. Some links have been made with other play settings that children attend, and systems to maintain ongoing communication about their learning and development are being considered. Staff form friendly relationships with parents and systems to maintain ongoing liaison are implemented. For example, daily diaries are used in the baby room to keep parents informed of their child's activities and care needs. Newsletters are sent out

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the early years provision

to keep parents updated of events and changes within the nursery. Photos of children involved in the different play experiences provided are displayed and this helps to show parents how planned activities encourage children to learn through their play. Parents complete an 'All about me' form for their child, which helps give some information on their child's developmental starting points, and further opportunities to encourage parental involvement in their child's progress are being established. For instance through use of the recently introduced 'Focus topic activity' sheets, which informs parents of the objectives of the activities planned for each week and how these could be extended at home. This helps to give a consistent approach to children's play and learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children are keen to investigate the exciting play areas and become absorbed in the wide variety of activities. For example, babies explore and shake easy to hold containers filled with rice, pasta and glittery water, and smile as they pull along the activity caterpillar and hear the sound of the music that it makes. They like to feel the different textures in the animal farm babies book and stroke the rabbit's fluffy tail and the woolly coat of the sheep, which encourages their sensory exploration. Toddlers like to jump on the small trampoline or play in the nursery's outside 'Lavender Cottage' where they make 'tea' for their friends or just sit quietly with their toys. Children play with excitement in their outside 'den' area with the comfy seating, colourful windows and sparkly curtains. They learn to control the ride on cars and bikes as they start to manoeuvre them round an obstacle course or 'park'

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and outcomes for children

them in a line by the wall. They explore and discover as they find different farm animals hidden in a tray of hay and talk about the noises these animals make. These activities encourage children to use their imagination, socialize and develop their knowledge and understanding of the world and their communication and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 physical skills. Pre-school children show pride in their achievements as they roll out their sausages of play dough and they explore colour as they mix paints for their dinosaur and cow pictures. They share their play experiences with their friends at circle time when they take turns to talk about their ideas and activities they have done that morning. They are keen to think of objects beginning with their letter of the week. For instance, they think of snake, stickers and striped sock for the letter 's'. This helps each child to gain confidence within a small group and effectively

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and outcomes for children

encourages their language, listening and early reading skills. Children are provided a range of adult led and self-chosen play experiences. Their independent choices are encouraged well as they choose from a basket of laminated photos of different games and activities, which they then stick onto the three dimensional model of their 'thinking tree' that they helped to make. This helps them feel valued as they know their chosen activity will be provided.

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and outcomes for children

Planning and assessment systems have recently been reviewed and staff monitor and assess children's individual stages of development from their observations of their play. This supports staff in providing interesting play experiences, although systems of planning children's next steps of development are still being established to consistently identify clear learning objectives for each area of learning to promote all their future skills. Children enjoy a great range of nutritious, meals and snacks. For example, they have freshly cooked meals such as fish pie, vegetable pasta bake, Spanish chicken and rice or jacket potatoes with cheese. They tuck into their dinners with enjoyment and taste fruits from other countries, such as those included in the 'Handa's surprise' story that is read to them. Children have snacks of fruit during the day and have ready access to drinking water. Posters of fruit, vegetables and foods that are good for them are displayed around the play

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and outcomes for children

rooms. As a result, children's awareness of healthy eating is effectively promoted and they receive a balanced menu of meals.

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and outcomes for children

Children play happily outside, where they can use up their energy while having fun. For instance, as they rock on the see saw, ride their trikes or slide down the low slide. They like to follow the actions on the 'Sticky Kids' activity tape, which helps them to learn about controlling their body movements. The covered section of the outside play area enables children to play out in all weathers, so they benefit from fresh air activities all year round. This promotes children's well-being and ability to stay healthy and fit. Children learn about keeping themselves safe through topic related activities. For example, they talk about their holidays and learn how important it is to use sun screen in the hot weather to stop them from burning. They take part in regular fire drills and listen to the fireman and policeman who visit, which helps them learn to take care of themselves. However, some play activities are not always fully assessed to ensure children learn how to

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and outcomes for children

hold and use all tools and equipment appropriately. Clear security systems are in place at the main entrances, which helps to promote children's safety and staff are vigilant of arrangements for children leaving the premises and who is able to collect them. Children behave very well and learn to be kind and helpful. Staff act as good role models, maintaining a calm, reassuring atmosphere where children are regularly praised and encouraged for their achievements. As a consequence, children develop good self-esteem and play happily with their friends. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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Early Years Foundation Stage

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 2

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Stage

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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