Railway Children Nursery Elsecar

Railway Children Day Care Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY342254 Inspection date 28/02/2011 Inspector ISP Inspection

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Setting address Building 13, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, BARNSLEY, South Yorkshire, S74 8HJ Telephone number 01226 744 440 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.

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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

Railway Children Day Care opened in 2006. It is a privately owned facility. It operates from a single story building in the Elsecar Heritage Centre in Barnsley. Children attend for a variety of sessions from the local and surrounding areas. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The children have two guinea pigs as pets. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 54 children may attend the nursery at any one time, of whom no more than 18 may be under two years. There are currently 134 children on roll, of whom 35 receive nursery education funding. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.45am to 6.00pm for 51 weeks of the year, excluding Bank Holidays. The nursery employs 24 members of staff. Eighteen members of staff hold appropriate early years qualifications to Level 3 or above.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The learning environment is accessible to all children to enable them to freely choose activities, test their abilities and discover new skills within very safe boundaries. The positive interactions with most staff enable children to feel secure and help them to make appropriate progress in their learning. Links with parents are strong and ensure children's individual welfare needs are successfully met. Staff have begun to reflect on the service offered, demonstrating a sound understanding of their strengths, and have identified accurately areas for improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve observation and assessment systems to include children's next steps and use this information rigorously to inform planning  improve staff interaction with babies to support their overall learning  develop the outdoor play facilities for babies.

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the early years provision

There are robust procedures in place to safeguard children. Staff have up-to-date knowledge of the possible signs and symptoms of abuse and the appropriate procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child. Clear structures are in place for completing staff reference checks and detailed information is recorded to ensure that they remain suitable to work with children. There are robust systems in place to record the details of any visitors, including the purpose of their visit. Thorough implementation of all required policies and procedures This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 ensures that children's safety and well-being are consistently and effectively promoted. Safety is given high priority and staff undertake thorough risk assessments and daily checks to ensure potential hazards in all areas and activities are effectively reduced. Resources and space are used generally well to support

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the early years provision

the children's learning and help to provide a stable environment for children to access a suitable variety of activities independently. The majority of staff support and develop activities which engage children and focus on their individual interests, so that they are curious, inquisitive and make satisfactory progress. Children freely access a wide range of resources that promote positive images. Staff provide appropriate opportunities to help children understand the society they live in and appreciate cultures other than their own. Effective use of activities linked to children's interests, such as football competitions, are used to support children's awareness of other cultures. This is further enhanced by most staff encouraging children to talk about home and their experiences to help them learn to appreciate and value each other's similarities and differences.

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the early years provision

The staff work extremely well from the outset in partnership with parents and ensure that a personal welcome is given to everyone. This promotes very good levels of communication and creates a sense of belonging. Parents comments include, 'the development folders are lovely to look at', 'my child settled so quickly', 'it has been a pleasure to bring my child to such a lovely nursery' and 'they have created a fantastic nursery and have a wonderful ethos'. Appropriate links with local schools, children's centres and nurseries through meetings and discussions ensure suitable working partnerships have been established. The management team are highly motivated and good communicators. They have a clear ambition for the future and are beginning to put together robust action plans to ensure targets are achieved successfully. The majority of staff are highly motivated and are showing keen commitment to improvement. All recommendations raised at the

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the early years provision

last inspection have been successfully completed. Any improvements identified during the self-evaluation process are beginning to have a positive impact in some outcomes for children, such as health and safety.

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and outcomes for children

Children in the nursery are happy, confident and settled. Overall, they have good relationships with the adults caring for them and understand the routines of the day, which helps them to feel secure. A good balance of freely chosen and adult- led activities, both indoors and outdoors, allows most children to access a wide variety of play opportunities. Group times help children with specific areas of their development and some of these are well-matched to children's ages and abilities. For example, a healthy award programme which encourages physical development based around movement and senses ensures toddlers really get excited about exercise. Babies in the adjoining area begin to join in with the actions, moving to the music with gusto and squealing and babbling in delight. It is lovely to see babies interacting with each other independently, smiling, laughing and passing toys to non-mobile babies. They share rattles and press buttons on electronic toys

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and outcomes for children

to make lights flash and music play. The non-mobile babies follow with their eyes each movement of the older babies and smile in pleasure, giggling as they make This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 eye contact. However, levels of input and teaching from staff vary across the nursery and in some areas staff supervise or comfort distressed children but do not actively become involved in children's play and learning. Children independently access toys that interest them and are beginning to take turns and show kindness. Staff help promote independence well as they encourage children to make choices. They feel secure, have good self-esteem and follow their interests with persistence, participating enthusiastically throughout most of the session. Older children chatter constantly asking 'what are you doing?' and 'how does that work?' They attempt to make marks to represent names on pictures and

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and outcomes for children

love to read books and sit engrossed at story time, giggling at funny parts of the story. The children love to make marks in the sand with fingers and tools and use large paintbrushes to explore paint, concentrating intently on mixing powder paint colours themselves. Toddlers use their imagination wonderfully as they act out caring for the dolly. They love her, put her to sleep and feed her before going to the shop for sweets. Children use number language generally well in everyday activities. They say if they have more or less chairs in a row as they play imaginatively to make a bus and accurately count eight chairs and match eight children to them so they can come on the bus. Children select construction blocks and make towers. They show lots of concentration as they very carefully place them on top of each other, name the colours of the blocks and count from one to five. This results in children making satisfactory progress in their learning,

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and outcomes for children

encourages them to become active learners and enables them to develop appropriate skills for the future. Creativity is nurtured well as most activities and experiences are varied, imaginative and meet children's individual needs. However, although a lot of time and effort goes into the planning documentation, it is evident that it is not always being effectively implemented. Staff are not ensuring observations are routinely completed in order to plan and provide personalised learning.

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and outcomes for children

The children respond eagerly to consistent praise and encouragement and enjoy the reassurance from the caring staff. From an early age, staff introduce children to learning about danger and how to assess risk. For example, they learn about fire safety and how to use the space outdoors appropriately by taking care when riding on toys on the small slope. The children are active and gain confidence in what they can do with their bodies as they confidently pedal and propel toys with their feet and push and pull toys. Challenging play equipment helps children to extend their physical skills, and shelters enable even the youngest children to benefit from playing in the fresh air. However, the outdoor play area is not sufficiently well planned to enable babies to fully explore and learn outdoors. Snack and meal times are very social occasions where children and adults sit together to enjoy their food and company. The good range of food offered raises

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and outcomes for children

the children's awareness of the importance of healthy eating. Children's dietary needs are met well as the staff work with parents to gather, record and review relevant information. They take positive steps to reduce the risk of cross-infection and help children to understand and adopt good hygiene practice. This helps children to develop a positive sense of well-being. 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 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 2 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 3

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Stage

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

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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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