Serendipitys Day Nursery and Pre-school

Serendipitys Day Nursery & Pre-School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY310715 Inspection date 21/10/2010 Inspector Sue Riley

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Setting address 52 London Road, New Balderton, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 3AH Telephone number 01636 679050 Email 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. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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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

Serendipitys Day Nursery and Pre-School registered in 2005. The day nursery is one of four privately owned nurseries. It operates from a large Victorian style house in an urban area, on the outskirts of Newark. The setting has access to three base rooms; an additional shared room, a kitchen, toilets and an enclosed rear garden, which is used for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 34 children aged under eight may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 65 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The provision has the facility to offer care to children aged over five years to eight years but currently only care for children aged under five years. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Children come from the local and wider communities. The nursery is open each weekday from 7am to 6pm all year round, closing only for main bank holidays.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a qualification. The manager is working towards a foundation degree in childcare.They are members of the National Day Nursery Association and they receive support from the local authority.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children settle very well in the nursery and receive an excellent level of care because the experienced qualified staff work very closely with individual children and their families. Excellent systems are in place to ensure that all children's individual needs are routinely met. Staff have a very good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how children develop and learn through play, they demonstrate that they fully understand the welfare requirements. Exceptional partnerships between parents and other agencies ensure individual children's needs are met and their protection assured. Successful steps are taken to self- evaluate its provision for children and the nursery demonstrates an excellent capacity to make continuous improvement and sustain its existing very high standards.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 enhancing the current system of collaboration with other providers to fully support children who attend different early years setting. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are very well protected because staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and know when to take action to safeguard children in their care. Staff are very aware of the possible signs of abuse and know what to do if they have concerns about a child. Children are protected as the well-qualified established staff team keep the premises very secure and supervise the children at all times. For example, they have a policy that only senior staff manage the access to the nursery so they are fully aware of who is on site at any time. The nursery has excellent recruitment procedures in place. Detailed risk assessments are carried out to provide a very safe environment. The whole staff team have been involved in the self-evaluation process, and have completed a very detailed evaluation of their setting. They complete monthly action plans which are very clear and achievable. The nursery has excellent monitoring systems in place for the

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the early years provision

many record keeping systems. The staff update policies and procedures appropriately. The manager routinely makes excellent use of a wide range of monitoring systems relating to the provision and outcomes for children. Children's well-being is significantly enhanced due to the exceptional organisation of this setting. This is due to the manager and her valuing and respecting her excellent staff team. Morale is very high and all staff take responsibility for what they do within the nursery.

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the early years provision

The excellent liaison with parents and carers contributes to improvements in children's achievement, well-being and development. The nursery places great value in ensuring that parents develop a sense of belonging to the setting and have a say in the care and well-being of their children. For example, the nursery has a parents' forum which meet regularly to discuss issues regarding the nursery. Parents and carers are encouraged to share what they know about their child when they first start at the setting. They complete information sheets and forms about what their child can do and their individual likes and dislikes. This information helps staff to have an excellent knowledge of each child's background and needs. The nursery has regular parents' evenings in which all parents are invited to spend time with the staff in discussing their child's development and progress. The nursery also holds workshops to enable parents to fully understand

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the early years provision

how they work and how their children learn through play. The nursery recently held a workshop especially for fathers, in which the fathers came into the nursery one Saturday and played with their child. The nursery is starting to develop further the effective working partnerships with other early years settings which some children attend. The partnerships with the schools that the children move on to are excellent. All staff are focused on helping all children to make very good progress in their learning and development, and in promoting their welfare. Parents speak very highly about the nursery and state that the key strength is the well- established experienced staff team and the home-from-home ethos of the nursery.

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the early years provision

Staff make the most of diversity to help children understand the society they live in. The resources are very good, fit for purpose and support children in their development. Children are taken out daily into the community, be it for walks to the park to feed the ducks or to attend the 'Stay and Play' sessions held at the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 local Methodist church. This aids towards children becoming aware of the society in which they live.

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and outcomes for children

Children make excellent progress towards the early learning goals. Staff provide a very wide range of activities that take into account children's individual learning needs. They provide a well-balanced day that contains suitable periods of time where children mainly follow their own initiated ideas as well as some adult-led activities. Staff plan what to have out with care and take account of each child's interests and learning needs. From the time they arrive, the children are eager to explore whatever is available to them and they meet every new challenge with a real enthusiasm. Through their interaction with the children the staff draw out learning and ensure appropriate levels of challenge are available for all. Children are very eager to play and join in with the activities; they get excited at what they are doing. Their levels of concentration are excellent as they are allowed to spend time at their own chosen activity and go back later to consolidate their own

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and outcomes for children

learning. Children have a lovely time outside with the large magnifying glasses looking for mini beasts and get excited as they find the spiders and their webs.

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and outcomes for children

Children's social skills and ability to communicate with others are rapidly enhanced, so that they are developing the underpinning skills needed for their future success. Older children have weekly French lessons and enjoy the activities that they participate in. They also learn signing as a different method of communication. All children behave very well as staff use appropriate strategies to encourage children's good behaviour, for example, distraction or positive praise. Children in the preschool room are aware of the tidy up routine, and respond when the staff start singing the 'tidy up song'. Children have lovely warm relationships with the staff and have lots of fun with them. They willingly approach the staff as and when needed, demonstrating that they feel safe. Babies settle very well when left by their parents and demonstrate they feel safe and secure with the staff. Children play lovely together and have definite friendship groups in place. They help and

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and outcomes for children

support each other whilst playing and are very caring towards each other. Children learn about keeping themselves safe through the discussions and activities provided. They have visitors to the setting as in the police and fire services who come and talk to the children about keeping themselves safe.

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and outcomes for children

Children follow very good hygiene practices as they take increasing responsibility for washing their hands appropriately throughout the day. They benefit from varied menus that take account of children's dietary needs and introduce them to a good range of healthy foods. Meals are cooked from fresh ingredients, and children learn table manners and social skills as they sit together for meals in small groups. Children enjoy their meals and eat very well. The older children demonstrate a very good awareness of healthy foods as they routinely talk about what they have eaten for their lunch. They receive a star for eating or trying different types of foods. Parents are also given recipes of the meals that the children enjoy. Children use and develop their small muscles and hand-eye control This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 in all that they do. Older children clearly demonstrate that they understand that

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and outcomes for children

they have to participate in warming up exercises before they do more physical movements to warm their bodies up. All children are starting to develop their awareness of diversity through activities and resources. They access a wide range of resources to help them positively explore and value differences and similarities in the wider world. They also go on trips out or are actively involved in activities in the local and wider communities to widen their knowledge. 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 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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