St Joseph's Day Nursery

St Joseph's Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 256824 Inspection date 16/05/2011 Inspector Susan Ennis

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Setting address 21-23 Bamber Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 2HL Telephone number 01733 348 697 Email dina@st-joseph.co.uk 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

St. Joseph's Day Nursery opened in 1977. It operates from an old church building in central Peterborough. The nursery serves the local area as most parents work in or around the nursery. 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 all year round from 8am to 6pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. A maximum of 90 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 120 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare 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 18 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications. 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 good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Staff create a very welcoming and safe environment in which all children thrive. Planning is flexible, taking into account children's likes and dislikes, enabling them to enjoy their time at the setting and make good progress in their learning and development. The staff build trusting relationships with parents and carers and keep them well informed about their children's development and the day-to-day running of the setting. Senior staff lead a culture of reflective practice where all staff work together to review the setting's strengths and areas for improvement and are committed to continuous improvement for all children and their families.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop further the systematic use of initial starting points, assessments and planning to demonstrate children s progress towards to early learning goals

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the early years provision

The effective implementation of the nursery's comprehensive policies and procedures support the daily running of the setting and ensure that children are offered a safe and secure environment. For example, there are robust procedures for checking that staff are suitable to work with the children and a rolling program This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 of training to further increase their childcare knowledge. Staff fully understand the procedures to follow relating to safeguarding children, ensuring that their welfare is promoted and that they are fully protected at all times. Staff further protect children's safety by taking effective steps to minimise any hazards. They carry out daily safety checks of the areas used by the children and complete comprehensive risk assessments on a regular basis. Staff demonstrate a high level of awareness regarding the security of the building and, therefore, the children. Parents and

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the early years provision

children enter the main door on arrival and are encouraged not to let anyone unknown to them into the premises. Notices written in several languages reinforce this as well as staff monitoring the door at busy times of the day. All visitors are recorded as well as staff and the children's times of arrival and departure. When children visit other rooms in preparation for their transition, staff are very aware of recording the times they arrive and depart protecting their safety and welfare further.

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the early years provision

The nursery skilfully promotes equality and diversity, enabling them to offer a service that is inclusive for all children and their families. Staff work closely with the parents to ensure that they understand each child's background, needs and beliefs. For example, they ensure that they know a few familiar words in children's home language and are able to offer translators to parents that need them, enhancing the positive relationship between all parties concerned. The children and staff also actively learn each other's language, for example, saying 'goodbye' in three different languages before leaving the room. The nursery actively encourages children to learn and understand about the society in which they live. For example, they celebrate festivals such as Eid, when children wear their party clothes, dance to music provided by a family member playing a drum and eat curry and naan for lunch. They participate in a themed treasure hunt for St. Patrick's

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the early years provision

Day and wear clothing in the colours of different countries while competing in the nursery sports day. They also have access to a broad range of resources, such as, dolls, books, dressing-up clothes and musical instruments that broaden their understanding of the diverse world in which they live.

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the early years provision

Children's individual development is effectively promoted because the nursery has detailed procedures in place to support, monitor and evaluate their progress. The interesting range of available resources is actively used and the inclusive child- friendly environment is conducive to children's learning. For example, low-level storage units encourage children to freely choose what to play with and child-sized furniture ensures that they can all sit comfortably while they do so. The home- from-home environment provided for the younger children, including a comfortable settee and fire place, helps them to settle more easily and is very popular with the parents. The nursery also makes good use of the outdoor play area which is set up on a daily basis to cover all the areas of learning. For example, children can practise their mark-making by using the chalks available, they can experiment with the sand and water and they can develop their physical skills by balancing on the

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the early years provision

rope bridge or swinging from the large tyres suspended from the tree branches.

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the early years provision

The nursery is fully committed to building effective links with parents, carers and other providers to positively promote the continuity of care and education for all the children. Parents are kept well informed about their children's development and are included in their progress. Home visits are carried out before the children This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 start at the nursery, helping them get to know the staff in their own surroundings and enabling the staff to record all the relevant information that they need about the child. Parents are invited to regular consultation evenings and are welcome to look at their children's record of achievement folder at any time. Parents are actively informed about the nursery's good practice and working ethos through comprehensive policies, a parent's noticeboard, regular newsletters and the open relationship encouraged with the staff and manager. Wider partnership working is

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the early years provision

positively encouraged as the nursery builds relationships with the other settings and schools in the area. Teachers from the schools visit the children at the nursery and staff provide photographs of the schools and some of the uniform for the children to look at and use, helping them prepare for the move onto nursery or school. Staff share relevant information where possible and work together to provide a consistent quality of care for all the children.

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the early years provision

Staff show a genuine desire to promote the best care and opportunities for children and are committed to sustainability. The ongoing monitoring and reflective practice in place helps to highlight their strengths and areas for improvement. They use information from their staff meetings, parent questionnaires and action plans to implement changes to further improve the outcomes for children. For example, recruitment procedures have been developed to ensure that highly suitable staff are employed. Also, following funding being granted, improved use of the outside play area is being developed. A gardener has been employed to stimulate children's interest and knowledge in planting and growing their own food and the nursery has been able to purchase a wide range of child-sized equipment such as spades, hoes and tool bags for the children to develop their participation and learning further.

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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. However, as limited information is gained about children's developmental starting points, this information is not used to inform initial assessments. Staff record children's attainments through use of observation, assessment and planning for their next steps. Each child has a record of achievement that accompanies them as they move through the nursery. This highlights their progress through written observations, examples of their work and photographs. However, as the current systems for planning do not consistently demonstrate how children's next steps of progress are incorporated, children's development is not 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 that provide a good level of challenge appropriate to their age and stage of development. Flexible planning ensures that children's interests and spontaneous choices are taken into account. For example, when staff provide a tray of gloop with whisks and spoons, the children extend the activity by adding cars and toy animals to the tray, using the spoons to cover the objects in the mixture. Also, when a tray of real grass is provided for the toy animals to stand on, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children decide to stand on it themselves, developing their sensory skills by feeling the texture of the grass under their feet. Children further develop their knowledge and understanding as they thoroughly enjoy playing with the water. They experiment with different sized funnels, working out that if they place a small one

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and outcomes for children

on top of a bigger one the water runs back through to the tray. The nursery also provides wet suits and Wellington boots, preventing the children from becoming too wet whilst they play. Children use their mark-making skills to draw their favourite characters and to record their lists of items that they need to buy when they next visit the shops. Their creative skills are developing as they join in with a music session, for example, choosing items from a basket to sing about. When they choose a star, they recognise that this is the clue for 'Twinkle Twinkle little Star' and a picture of a farmer precedes them singing 'Old Macdonald'. They then choose an instrument from the varied selection provided, discussing with staff the noise theirs makes and which is the loudest. They also compare their instrument with the pictures displayed and discuss the differences between a flute and a recorder. Following children's interests, in insects staff plan a cooking activity

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and outcomes for children

making 'Bug' cakes. The children use their prediction skills to recollect the ingredients needed and show their disgust when staff suggest that the raisins might be the bugs.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy their time at the nursery, forging friendships with the staff and each other. They are given a sense of belonging as coat hooks display their photograph and the nursery is actively decorated with displays of their own work and pictures of them participating in the activities. They are confident in their surroundings, moving freely from activity to activity and demonstrate trust in their relationships as they give smiles to the staff interacting with them, and are not at all unsettled by the presence of the inspector. Children's behaviour is good as they follow the positive role modelling of the staff and learn the expectations in place. For example, they learn to use their indoor voices whilst inside and use good manners, even when this is used to reaffirm that they do not want their nappy changing.

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and outcomes for children

Children's health and welfare is actively promoted as the staff take effective steps to minimise the spread of infection and develop children's understanding of healthy living. For example, they learn to wash their hands at appropriate times during the day, singing a song about germs to reinforce these practices. They learn why it is important to eat healthily, for example, discussing their growing muscles whilst eating lunch, and are developing their knowledge of where food comes from as they plant, nurture and grow items in the nursery planting area. They are also developing their independence skills as they help set the table for lunch and dish up their own food, monitoring how much everyone takes to ensure they receive a fair portion too. Children are actively learning about their own safety and the taking of risks. They participate in activities, such as construction and woodwork where they use real hammers and nails to make their models, whilst also learning

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and outcomes for children

the safety precautions required. Staff are always on hand to offer sensitive reminders, with age-appropriate explanations. For example, children are asked to use the chair's four legs to sit on so that they do not topple backwards and are encouraged to be aware of their friends behind them when they start to wave the drumsticks about. 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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