Elizabeth Fry School

Barnies Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 127004 Inspection date 02/02/2011 Inspector Stacey Sangster

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Setting address Bell 5, The Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6PY Telephone number 01622 872788 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

Barnies Day Nursery and Out of School Club has been registered since 1999. It is situated in the grounds of The Hop Farm Country Park near Paddock Wood.

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Description of the setting

The nursery operates from one room on the ground floor and one large open plan area on the first floor, which is divided into different activity areas. There is a large, secure outdoor play area available to all children. The nursery is open five days a week all year from 08:00 until 18:00.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is registered to care for 50 children at any one time and of these not more than 34 may be in the early years age group, and of these, not more than 16 may be under two years at any one time.

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Description of the setting

There re currently 43 children aged from six months to under eight years on roll. Of these 31 children are in the early years age range.

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Description of the setting

The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs eight members of staff who work with the children. All but one member of staff has a child care qualification. All qualified staff hold a minimum of a level three qualification or equivalent. Two of the staff are qualified to degree level and on of these holds the Early Years Professional Status. All staff working in the setting have a current first aid certificate and have a food hygiene certificate.

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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 make good progress in the setting. The settings capasity to improve is strong and development plans address key areas of weakness systematically and build on what the setting already do well. Targets set are realistic and are those which the setting recognise will make the most difference to the positive outcomes for children. Most documentation supports the practitioners in their work with children and reflects accurately the high quality care and education that is takeing place in the setting.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the evaluation of observation to provide a better assessment of how well children are making progress This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  share information more frequantly about childrens educational development and achievements and offer more specific support for extending learning in the home

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the early years provision

Safeguarding is given very high priority by this setting, its staff and management. The setting have robust and extremely thorough recruitment procedures including health checks. Contractually staff are required to inform the management immediately if anything changes that might impact on their suitability to work with children and all new staff are subject to a probationary period, which is extended if needed. Adults within the setting at all levels, receive regular training on safeguarding and the setting works cooperatively with all agencies to ensure the welfare of children is promoted above all else. Policies and procedures around risk assessment, child protection and safeguarding are comprehensive and systems in place ensure that staff not only have time to study and absorb these, but have their knowledge and understanding of them checked on a regular basis, both through the observation of their practice and discussion. Parents are made fully

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the early years provision

aware of the role and responsibility of the setting in regard to safeguarding children.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with all major agencies relating to child care, health and development are well established and frequently called on to support children. While the setting are aware that partnership working between all the settings that the child attends is required they have had varying success in developing these and systems to ensure that they share and receive information about children's care and progress are emerging but are not yet fully embedded.

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the early years provision

There is a positive relationship with parents and carers and all spoken to provided a glowing reference when asked to comment on the care and education that their children receive. The views of parents are regularly sought both informally and via questionnaires. Parents and carers are kept well informed about their children's well-being and information relating to their care is exchanged on a daily basis. The arrangement for sharing information about their educational and developmental achievements is more formal and less frequent. Parents are encouraged to support their children's education by supporting whole nursery topics but are given less detail about how to support their children's individual progress. Details of the next steps that the setting have identified are in the context of what the setting will be doing to support their child.

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the early years provision

Staff and managers work together to identify key plans for development and these are discussed at training and displayed in written form, around the setting to act as a constant reminder of their joint goals. Self-evaluation is accurate and staff contributions are included, although staff are not always aware of when and how this occurs. Staff meetings have until now been informal and occur while children are present, and a recent agreement has been reached to hold these outside of opening hours to improve their effectiveness. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Staff are well deployed and effective in supporting children's welfare and education. Resources are plentiful; are of good quality and support children's development and learning. They include a good selection that celebrate diversity and promote positive images of culture, religion, ethnicity and disability. There are

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the early years provision

effective methods in place to identify special educational needs and/or disabilities and all children's individual learning plans aim to narrow any gaps in children's achievements.

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and outcomes for children

Almost all adults within the setting have high level qualification and all are knowledgeable about how children learn and how they can be supported to make good progress. Observations of children at play, provide the key worker with a very good understanding of where the child is in their development. Although staff informally evaluate children's progress and understand their strengths and weaknesses the recording which they rely on to monitor the delivery of the six areas of learning are narratives of what the children do and are not evaluative. This weakens the effectiveness of the record as a tool for recording children's progress and for reflecting on how well they are making progress and how successful the settings delivery of each area of learning is. Activities and routines are well planned, based upon what the key worker knows about each child.

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and outcomes for children

The welfare of all children is supported effectively by the wide ranging and frequently updated policies and procedures, which guide the staff and inform the parents. The children clearly show that they feel very safe within the setting. They demonstrate that they know how to keep themselves and each other safe in the manner in which they play and their contributions for example to tidying away toys, mopping up spills and keeping pathways clear. Children can be heard to give each other safety advice and warnings in their role play about 'dangers' such as porridge that is too hot or knives that they role play are very sharp. Resources such as the zebra crossing in the outdoor area, give children the opportunity to practice crossing roads and for the drivers of the ride on toys, a chance to consider the need to stop suddenly if needed, which they practice with considerable skill. The nurturing environment within the baby room results in the youngest children

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and outcomes for children

feeling very secure and this supports their development as they are happy to explore and investigate their surroundings confident in the support of their key person.

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and outcomes for children

Children in this setting understand and describe why hygiene routines are beneficial to their health. Older children wash their hands without prompting and all children brush their teeth after lunch, encouraged by 'Smiley the crocodile' a tooth brushing glove puppet. Attitudes to physical activity are good with children developing a clear understanding of the benefits to their health and wellbeing. Staff monitor children's physical ability and children participate regularly in activities which develop and enhance their skills in a fun and enjoyable manner. They note their own improvements and take pride in keeping themselves healthy. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children access snacks and meals which have been specially selected and the nutritional content assessed using expert and government guidance. This ensures all children are receiving the correct nutritional balance in their diet that is specific

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and outcomes for children

The children display a strong sense of belonging and pride in their setting, they engage readily with visitors, showing them where things are and enthusiastically explaining the routines. They talk about their favourite things struggling to pinpoint only one. All children remain fully engaged in purposeful and worthwhile play throughout the session.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate high levels of self esteem and staff promote this by encouraging the children to see how much they have progressed, for example by showing them the differences of drawings that they have done in the past compared with the present. The children's behaviour is very good and children they eagerly volunteer to take responsibility for tasks such as serving snacks or getting resources out.

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and outcomes for children

Children's understand the need to co-operate play collaboratively with each other, organising themselves into role play to re-enact favourite stories or becoming super heroes saving each other imaginary dangers, often without the need for adult intervention, although staff are often allocated a role, by the 'directors' of the day for that game. Disputes between children are infrequent and where they occur the children are developing the skills to resolve them through negotiation and with minimal adult help. Children are encouraged to find out for themselves if they have questions about how thing work or 'what will happen if?' . Children in this setting are becoming active, curious and inquisitive learners and many of the skills that will support their future as they enter school and beyond are developing well. 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 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 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 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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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