Christopher Pickering Primary School

Christmas Cottage Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 140902 Inspection date 23/05/2011 Inspector Emma Powell

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Setting address Christmas Cottage, Haw Lane, Bledlow Ridge, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 4JJ Telephone number 01494 481714 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

Christmas Cottage Day Nursery has been open for over ten years. It operates from rooms on the ground and second floor of the nursery owner's home in Bledlow Ridge, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Children have access to a main playroom, a second playroom that is also used as the dining area and cloakroom facilities. There are identified bedrooms on the second floor that are used for sleep purposes. A maximum of 12 children may attend at any one time. The nursery is open each week day from 8am until 6pm. There is an enclosed outside area for children's play.

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Description of the setting

There are currently 29 children on the roll. Of these ten are in receipt of funding for nursery education. The nursery currently supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities.

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Description of the setting

The nursery opens five days a week, 51 weeks a year. Children attend from the village and local surrounding areas for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

There are five staff who work with the children. All of whom hold relevant early years qualifications. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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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

Staff are secure in their knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and are committed to further training and development. Positive partnerships with parents and carers create a welcoming and inclusive environment that ensures children's individual needs are met. An overall effective system of observation and planning ensures that most children make good progress in all areas of learning and development. The strong staff team implement and review most policies and procedures to safeguard and ensure the welfare of children in their care. The nursery has a positive attitude to ongoing development and is beginning to put in place effective systems to monitor the quality of the service they provide.

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further?

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

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further?

 create a partitioned area that is safe and hygienic for children attending the setting under the age of two.  review the current risk assessments to ensure that all hazards are clearly identified  identify individual children's next steps in learning and development on This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 weekly plans .

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the early years provision

Well developed and consistent procedures are in place to ensure that children in the nursery are thoroughly safeguarded and their welfare protected. Robust employment procedures are followed to ensure all staff are vetted in accordance with regulations and suitable for their roles. An effective documented induction, appraisal and a strong mentoring system within the nursery identifies staff training needs. Staff in the nursery are consistently supported to access regular training so they have the skills and expertise to promote safeguarding. Staff have a sound knowledge of the policies and procedures that safeguard and protect children's welfare and these are consistently implemented, such as reminders to wash hands after contact with animals. Staff supervise the children in their care effectively and complete daily checks to ensure garden gates are locked and toys are not broken. However, on more than one occasion the gate to the kitchen area was left open.

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the early years provision

This is a breach of requirements as the incidents were not recorded in the risk assessments.

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the early years provision

Equality and diversity is soundly promoted throughout the nursery, staff use thoughtful planning to encourage the children in their care to learn about the world around them. They engage children in topics relating to various cultural festivals and encourage parents and staff to bring in items from their culture. Children can consistently access a range of images and resources, such as puzzles, dolls and books, which reflect a diverse society. This promotes and extends their learning of different people and the world around them. Staff thoroughly know the children well and are committed to supporting and valuing their individual welfare, developmental and learning needs. These are consistently identified in the children?s journals but yet to be transferred into weekly planning. The nursery work consistently in partnership with other professionals to enhance the opportunities of the children in their care, for example, speech therapists, and visit

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the early years provision

other early years setting to support children who attend a number of settings.

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the early years provision

The Nursery has fostered strong positive relationships with parents and has an ?open door? policy which creates an informal and welcoming atmosphere. Effective procedures are in place to share information regarding the children. These include verbal exchanges morning and evening and the effective use of a journal that the children take home every day. The journal records daily activities, next steps in development and observations. Parents contribute to these journals recording their own observations and home activities. Parents are well informed, receiving information through a regular newsletter and the parent notice board. They are invited to a parents evening where they view a video made by children and staff. The nursery is interested in the views of parents and parents consistently contribute to their children's learning, for example, a parent is bringing in an incubator so children can observe the hatching of chicks. Parents speak highly of

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the early years provision

the setting commenting on the high level of support they receive with regards to their children's development and learning. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The nursery has a wide range of stimulating resources which are available for children to access, such as craft materials, construction activities and play fruit and vegetables. The staff make good use of the whole of the environment, inside and outside, providing interesting and inviting play activities for the children to engage in such as play with sand, water, and textured ribbons. The main area of the nursery is an open plan play room in which all ages of children are together children. This means there is no safe hygienic, separate area for babies to play on the floor. There is strong ethos for staff development and training and staff are highly motivated to progress in professional development. The staff are supportive

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the early years provision

of each other and make use of an effective mentoring system. The nursery regularly reviews their policies and procedures, seeking the views of parents and other outside agencies. They are motivated to make changes to improve the quality of their service and have taken positive steps to implement all previous inspection recommendations. They identify the nurseries strengths and are developing ways to identify weaknesses and areas needing further development.

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and outcomes for children

Children make good progress in all areas of their learning and development they are confident, active and inquisitive learners. The communication between staff and parents is good, which enables staff to meet the children's individual needs. Staff follow individual routines and thoughtfully adapt activities to create an effective inclusive environment where children's needs are met. Children are regularly observed, their next steps identified and these are shared with parents in the individual children's journals. However, their individual next steps for development are not clearly linked to planning. Planning is engaging and based on themes, such as 'underground'. This is then linked to a range of activities that suit the different needs and abilities of most children for example older children planted seeds and looked at roots.

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and outcomes for children

The environment is accessible with free movement between the garden and main playroom. Staff interact positively with the children consistently extending and supporting their language development. A cosy area with large sofas and books provides children with the opportunity to foster an interest in reading and enjoying stories. Staff include numeracy in all available activities and children use mathematic language freely, such as, it's heavy'. Children develop good skills in information technology using digital cameras to create books of their own pictures and have supported opportunities to use the nursery lap top.

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and outcomes for children

An effective key worker system ensures that children feel safe in the nursery. Through building strong relationships with staff and peers, children are all eager to attend and are warmly welcomed by the staff. Children and parents are encouraged to bring items in from home and a thoughtful display of the children's families creates a sense of belonging and encourages a positive development of self-esteem. Children have a well developed sense of keeping themselves safe and use language in their play like 'be careful' and 'it's too high'. Children's behaviour This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 within the nursery is good, creating a calm and relaxed atmosphere. They show concern for their peers, and help care for pets in the garden.

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and outcomes for children

Children are supported to adopt healthy lifestyles and engage in physical play activities both inside and outside using resources such as trampolines, bikes and climbing activity centres. Children show a good understanding of personal hygiene routines and wash their hands independently after collecting eggs from the chickens. Younger children are supported and encouraged to wipe hands before snack time with gentle reminders from the staff. Staff involve children in creating the shopping list for nursery food and use this as an opportunity for children to make decisions on what is healthy to eat. Children eat well, they are provided with a freshly prepared meal at lunch time with ample portions They grow food in the outside area, such as strawberries and peppers, and collect eggs from the chickens which are all incorporated in to nursery meals 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 2 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 2 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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