The Day NurseryOfsted inspection, 10 May 2011

The Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY307771 Inspection date 10/05/2011 Inspector Susan Ennis

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Setting address 32 - 34 Priestgate, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 1JL

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Telephone number 01733 890555 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

The Day Nursery opened in 2005. It operates from listed premises in the centre of Peterborough. The nursery serves the local and wider area as most parents work in or around the city centre. The nursery is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year from 7.45am to 6pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. A maximum of 64 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 110 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery provides funded early years education. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 25 members of child care staff. Of these, 18 hold appropriate early years qualifications and five members of staff are working towards a qualification. 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 outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The commitment and dedication demonstrated by the whole nursery team enable them to offer an outstanding standard of care to all children. Children clearly thrive and make consistent progress across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This is because the nursery has developed strong practices and procedures for planning, assessing and promoting their learning. Staff value diversity and are highly successful in ensuring that children's uniqueness and individuality is recognised and that all are well integrated and achieving their potential. Dedicated partnerships with parents contribute significantly to ensuring that the individual needs of each child are fully met. Strong leadership, rigorous monitoring of practice and robust self-evaluation systems ensure that plans for the future are well targeted and improvements continue to be made where they have the greatest impact on the children.

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further?

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

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further?

 enhance further the systematic use of starting points, observations and assessments to further demonstrate children s progress towards the early learning goals. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The nursery demonstrates a very high level of commitment to promoting children's safety. Comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues among the nursery staff ensure that children's welfare is prioritised. All staff attend training in child protection and are aware of the contact numbers for reporting concerns should they occur. Extensive recruitment and vetting procedures, including the induction of new staff ensure that staff are suitable to work with the children and a rolling program of training builds on their childcare knowledge. The identity of visitors to the setting is rigorously checked and their presence is recorded in the visitor's book. They are also given a laminated card explaining the nursery's policy on smoking, instructions on what to do in the case of fire and the name of the designated person for reporting any child protection issues. Children's security is further enhanced through use of a biometric fingerprint system that enables only

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the early years provision

parents and carers to enter the nursery through the reading of their finger print code. Webcam's are also in all of the rooms enabling management to constantly check that the children are safe and being well cared for. Parents can access this system through a coded entry number from their home or work place reassuring them about their child whilst also enabling them to see what the children are enjoying throughout the day. Children's well-being is significantly enhanced by the exceptional organisation of the nursery and the comprehensive policies and procedures in place. For example, staff regularly practice the emergency fire drill with the children. The nursery has an arrangement with the adjacent museum building that they can use it as an evacuation point should it be needed and the museum stores a selection of necessary resources and equipment in case such as event should take place. Management have also devised an emergency file

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the early years provision

containing all the children's contact details, building plans and any other relevant information that might be needed. All areas of the nursery are checked on a daily basis and comprehensive risk assessments are regularly carried out, including on procedures such as nappy changes and any outings that take place. When taking the children out and about staff carry with them a first aid kit, the parents contact numbers and a mobile phone. The children wear high visibility jackets and wrist bands ensuring that they can be easily seen and recognised by nursery staff.

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the early years provision

The nursery provides a high quality, stimulating environment which is exceptionally conducive to children's learning and which ensures that their progress in relation to their starting points is consistent. Resources are very well organised and low-level, labelled storage encourages the children to self-select and make independent choices. For example, very young children develop their physical skills by standing at a storage unit emptying the drawers. They accidentally press the button on a musical toy and spontaneously start swaying and moving to the tune that is playing. After a few more attempts they begin to realise exactly which button is needed to make the toy repeat the sound and happily press it over and over again laughing as they do so. Free flow between the rooms is also encouraged enabling the children to crawl from one room to another mixing and meeting with their friends and the other staff members. Excellent use is made of the outside play

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the early years provision

area covering a full range of stimulating and exciting experiences for the children. They can dress up in hard hats and high visibility jackets in the construction area This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and can experiment with sand climbing into the tray to give them selves better access. They extend their physical skills as they climb up onto the activity frame and manoeuvre themselves down the slide and enjoy pushing the buggies up and down the ramp into the garden area. A heated and lit play house together with a range of all in one suits to fit all the children, enables the area to be used all year round adding further interest and stimulation.

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the early years provision

The nursery effectively and actively promotes equality and diversity and tackles unfair discrimination. They therefore offer a service that is fully inclusive for all children and their families. Staff know the children very well and work with their parents to gain a thorough understanding of each child's background and needs. For example, staff learn words and phrases in children's home language to help them feel more settled and can offer the nursery forms and policies in the parent's home language to help them understand the information required. Children speaking the same language are also encouraged to pair up with each other helping build their confidence and self esteem. The nursery also offers very flexible sessions enabling parents to arrange the children's care arrangements around their working patterns. Staff actively help the children learn about the society in which they live and the wider world. For example, celebrations of festivals are built into

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the early years provision

the planning. Children very much enjoy opening fortune cookies and trying to use chopsticks to eat rice in celebration of Chinese New year and experience the use of prayer mats in recognition of Ramadan. They are also encouraged to think of others as they take part in charity events. Resources such as posters, dressing up clothes and puzzles help to extend children's knowledge and experiences further.

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the early years provision

The setting's dedication to maintaining trusting and professional relationships with the parents and other settings ensures that children are consistently cared for. Parents and carers are very well informed about all aspects of their children's achievement, well-being and development and are fully included in the process. They receive daily information about their children's day and are invited to regular parent's meeting to discuss their progress in more detail. The nursery provides guidance and information about the ways in which parents and carers can support their children's learning and be actively involved. Parents can take one the nursery activity sacks home enabling them to play a game or share a story with their child as well as taking the nursery teddy home for the weekend, recording it's adventures to tell the children on it's return. Parents are encouraged to have a very open relationship with the staff and management team who make themselves

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the early years provision

readily available to talk to them at all times. All parents are given the manager's and owner's contact details so that they ring them day or night. The owner also regularly sends them relevant information and activities such as a blank Father Christmas letter with instructions on how to track him on-line to see where he is delivering next! The nursery is highly committed to working in partnership with other agencies and settings involved in the children's lives. There are well- established channels of communication that successfully promote children's learning and welfare. Information is regularly shared about children's development and reception teachers often visit the nursery to get to know the children and parents before their transfer to school. The nursery also meets with other settings in the area to share good practise and organise, for example, joint training events.

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the early years provision

Senior staff at the nursery have very high aspirations for the quality and care the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 nursery provides. The management team's infectious enthusiasm and the staff's genuine aim to provide consistently high standards of care means that they continuously evaluate their practice and make changes to improve the outcomes for all children and parents. For example, since the last inspection the whole nursery has been decorated to provide a calmer and less busy environment for the children and to enable them to display their own art work more effectively. Self- evaluation at all levels reflects rigorous monitoring and analysis of what the nursery does well and what it needs to improve. As a result actions taken have an outstanding impact in bringing about sustained improvement to the early years provision.

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and outcomes for children

Children are offered interesting and stimulating opportunities to help them effectively progress and develop across all areas of learning. Information is gained from parents about children's home lives and their likes and dislikes through a thorough settling in procedure which takes as long as is needed for both the child and parent to feel happy and secure. Staff record children's attainments through use of observation, assessment and planning for their next steps. Each child has a development folder which accompanies them as they move through the nursery highlighting their progress through written explanations, examples of their work and photographs. However, having realised that this system does not effectively demonstrate children's initial starting points or their progress towards the early learning goals, the management team are currently establishing a new method of assessing the children to ensure consistently across the setting and to ensure that

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and outcomes for children

children's development is optimally promoted.

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and outcomes for children

Children's learning is effectively encouraged through a range of adult-led and child- initiated activities. Flexible planning ensures that children's interests and choices are taken into account. For example, whilst playing with the water, children decide that they would like to do some washing. Staff suggest washing the dolls clothes which are then taken outside and plunged into soapy bubbles. The children use their physical skills to wring out the items and their problem solving to make them all fit onto the clothes airer. They develop their imagination and independence skills as they dress up in the role play area carrying on the theme from the Royal wedding with one couple walking around the nursery hand in hand whilst the other children make the tea. Children develop their problem solving skills as they weigh buttons on a set of scales and match those of a similar size and colour together. Staff support and extend the activity by, for example, asking the children to find

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and outcomes for children

five pink buttons and then count how many more they need when they have the first one. Children also use resources such as the computer and a calculator to develop their technology skills. They competently use the mouse and pointing to the calculator screen tell the inspector which numbers they have already pressed.

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and outcomes for children

During activities staff consistently use every day tasks to develop and support children in their progress. For example, in preparation for lunch, staff choose one child from each table to help them give out the cutlery and crockery. Children sit patiently at the table waiting for the food to arrive and independently serve up This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 their own meal passing the dishes and serving spoons around so that all have a turn. Children forge great friendships with each other and the staff and their behaviour is excellent. They follow the exceptionally positive role modelling of the staff and learn the consequences of their actions. For example, when they momentarily make an unkind comment to another child, they are asked to think how they would feel in the same situation and to apologise. Staff know the children very well and are very particular about meeting their individual needs. For

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and outcomes for children

example, some children like to be dropped off at the manager's office in the morning before going to join their friends in their room and particular resources are purchased to help new children settle more easily.

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and outcomes for children

Children's health and welfare are extremely successfully promoted as the staff take active steps to minimise the spread of infection and develop children's understanding of healthy living. For example, all children show an exceptional understanding of the importance of following good personal hygiene routines as they automatically wash their hands before eating explaining that they were dirty and that soap is needed to wash away the germs. They learn where food comes from as they grow, nurture and taste various items grown in the garden and help to make vegetable soup when talking about the harvest. They also proudly recall making resources such as play dough in their own dedicated area of the nursery kitchen which has been fitted with low-level work top and equipment for them to use. Children become aware of their own physical abilities as they participate in activities such as Jabadoe sessions which help them recognise space and

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and outcomes for children

movement. They enjoy using the spinning tops and soft play equipment whilst also extending their imagination as they sit on the pieces as if it were a car. Staff also use their thorough childcare knowledge to recognise when an activity needs to be changed. For example, when younger children show little interest in story time, the parachute is provided which they actively move up and down demonstrating their pleasure with lots of smiles and laughter. Children are also taught to recognise when their bodies need to rest. They take part in relaxing stretching exercises and enjoy a peaceful time listening to soothing music, with many falling asleep for a short nap. Children are continuously and sensitively reminded about their own safety and that of their friends. For example, they are reminded to use the moon bouncer on the safety flooring and are encouraged to help tidy away the toys to keep the environment safe for everyone. They are taught to use the equipment

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and outcomes for children

properly such as using the soft play equipment for climbing rather than the chairs and tables and often remind each other of the safety procedures in place, for example, not running inside or to be careful using the scissors. 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 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 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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