The City Nursery Ltd

The City Nursery Limited Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 226965 Inspection date 15/06/2011 Inspector Alison Edwards

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Setting address 18 Northampton Square, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 1PA

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Telephone number 01162470166 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 City Nursery opened in 1980 and is a privately run organisation. It operates from a four-storey building close to Leicester city centre, serving the surrounding community. Younger children use playrooms on the ground and first floor of the building, with pre-school children based on the top floor. A basement area provides a base for older children's activities, such as holiday play schemes, and additional energetic play facilities for pre-school children. There is an enclosed rooftop play area for outdoor activities. The building has ramped access and all levels are served by a lift. The nursery is represented on the advisory board of a local children's centre.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of 160 children under the age of eight years at any one time, all of whom may be in the early years age range. It is also registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register to care for older children. It receives funding to provide nursery education to children aged three and four years. There are currently 116 children under the age of eight years on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. This includes a number of children with English as an additional language. The nursery opens each weekday from 7.45 am to 6pm throughout the year. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

Including the management team, there are currently 22 regular childcare staff. Of these, 14 have recognised early years qualifications at level 3.

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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 are motivated and confident in this welcoming nursery where available space and resources are used extremely well to create a very stimulating environment and where very high priority is given to promoting children's healthy lifestyles. The nursery works closely with parents to ensure a good understanding of how to meet each child's individual needs. This helps staff to build strong relationships with children and to plan a broad and balanced range of experiences suited to their needs. Consequently, children's welfare is promoted effectively and they progress well in their learning. Staff and managers are strongly committed to exploring further ways to reviewing and improving their current practice to enhance the existing quality of provision for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 extend the culture of reflective practice and informed discussion to further encourage all staff to review existing routines and practice and test new This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 ideas to build on the existing high quality of provision for all children  develop existing ways of working with other early years settings to support children's continuity and progression, in relation to the transition to school.

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the early years provision

The management team provide strong and effective leadership, ensuring that the well-qualified staff team are effectively deployed to promote children's welfare and learning. Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ascertain the suitability of adults working with children, including the prompt completion and recording of Criminal Records Bureau checks. Systematic induction procedures and the regular review of policies and procedures help to ensure that staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities, effectively underpinning the safe management of children's care. For example, staff have recently undertaken internal training updating their understanding of how to implement comprehensive and detailed risk assessments in order to promote children's safety indoors and out. They show good levels of awareness of how to implement agreed procedures in the event of emergencies, such as a child being lost or uncollected. Significant

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the early years provision

numbers of staff have attended external training on aspects of child protection. This helps to ensure a good understanding of what abuse and neglect are and of the procedures to be followed in the event of concerns about a child or any allegation of abuse. Available space and resources are used extremely well to promote children's safety and learning. For example, recent improvements to the securely fenced roof space have provided an excellent, well-shaded, safety- surfaced play area. Here, children eagerly explore all aspects of learning, for example, tending fruit trees in pots, sharing stories in a shady den and exploring capacity and number in sand and water play. All areas of the nursery benefit from furnishings and resources of high quality which are very well suited to children's age and stage of development. For example, young babies now eagerly enjoy exploring and investigating an excellent range of readily accessible substances,

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the early years provision

such as paints, water and sand, while older children make enthusiastic use of excellent and recently upgraded computer facilities.

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the early years provision

The nursery has long-standing relationships with many families, helping to provide high levels of continuity and stability in children's care. Staff seek initial and ongoing details from parents about each child's specific interests, preferences and abilities, helping them to gain a good knowledge of each child's individuality. Parents are kept well informed about their children's well-being and development through frequent reviews with key staff, as well as through informal discussion. There are good arrangements to help children make links between home and nursery, such as a popular book loan scheme and shared diaries about the experiences of nursery toys when visiting children at home. The nursery seeks parents' views through use of regular questionnaires and keeps them well informed about ongoing developments, such as the recent improvements to the rooftop play area. This enables them to contribute their own views and

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the early years provision

suggestions. Staff take account of children's varying usage of different areas of the nursery to ensure that available space is used to best effect, for example, when deciding on the location and layout of the pre-school book corner. The nursery is This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 clear on the importance of sharing relevant developmental information about individual children with other early years settings which they may attend, such as pre-schools or childminders. It already has arrangements in place to provide progress records to schools to which children transfer. However, the nursery has not yet fully explored ways to extend links with the range of schools to which children transfer to fully promote continuity and progression. The nursery provides a good range of resources and displays reflecting individual and cultural differences, helping to represent the local neighbourhood and the wider world. As

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the early years provision

a result, children from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures play in harmony together throughout the nursery. There are good arrangements to work with other agencies and professionals, such as dieticians and speech therapists, to support the identification and inclusion of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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the early years provision

The nursery has taken effective steps to address the recommendations from its previous inspection. It has improved the monitoring of recording systems and hygiene procedures, and developed improved systems to assess and plan for children's learning and progress. Staff show a strong commitment to developing their professional skills and knowledge, for example, through participation in advanced level management and practitioner training programmes. The nursery is keen to make use of locally available support and training, for example, to further develop programmes to support children's communication and literacy. The senior management team have introduced rigorous monitoring procedures, enabling the nursery to clearly identify specific targets to further improve particular aspects of its provision. Some systems to involve all staff in self-evaluation processes are already in place. However, managers are keen to further encourage a culture of

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the early years provision

reflective practice and informed discussion to enable all staff to review existing routines and practice and test new ideas to build on the existing high quality of provision for all children.

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and outcomes for children

Children across the age range are motivated and interested in a broad range of activities which are well suited to their stage of maturity. They have strong relationships with adults and play confidently on their own and sociably with others. For example, babies readily snuggle into staff for cuddles and show interest in each other's play. Older children begin to spontaneously develop sociable role play, for example, driving each other to the shops. Throughout the nursery resources are now extremely well used to promote children's choice and independence. For example, babies and young toddlers purposefully select from an excellent range of readily accessible resources, enthusiastically expressing their creativity and investigating different substances as they explore paints and sand. Staff effectively help children gain a good understanding of how to behave safely, for example, when using the stairs or lift under careful supervision to access

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and outcomes for children

different areas of the building. Children are encouraged to learn to act safely, for example, as younger children learn to use scissors carefully and as older children challenge themselves as they develop growing confidence using large climbing equipment. Links with the local neighbourhood, such as visits from local This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 community police, help to promote safety awareness in wider community. Children show an excellent awareness of a healthy lifestyle, for example, as they enthusiastically brush their teeth after lunch, explaining that it will 'stop the rot'. Visits from a local optician help them to gain excellent awareness of how their eyes work. They develop excellent hygiene habits from an early age, for example, as young children spontaneously dispose of a used tissue in a lidded bin after wiping their own noses. Staff make excellent use of available space and resources to

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and outcomes for children

promote children's enjoyment of energetic play and to extend their stamina, coordination and balance. For example, children show excellent coordination as they use plastic bats and balls or aim footballs towards goalmouths in the basement play area. They show excellent control of wheeled toys as they take account of road markings on the rooftop road layout. Young babies develop excellent awareness of their own bodies as they enthusiastically clap, sway and gesture in response to music and songs. Activities, such as 'health week', together with a range of nutritious and well-balanced meals, effectively promote healthy eating.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have a good awareness of the value of practical play and first-hand experiences in promoting all areas of children's learning. Daily routines, such as mealtimes and preparation times for outdoor play, are generally well managed to maintain children's interest and engagement. Managers have established effective systems to support less experienced staff in the use of observations and assessments to identify children's changing skills and to plan for their future learning. Consequently, children benefit from a broad and balanced range of activities, helping them to make good progress in their learning and to establish a strong basis for their future skills. For example, children across the age range develop confident familiarity with everyday technology, as young babies enjoy investigating the use of knobs and switches to create lights and sounds on cause and effect toys, or as older children purposefully use well-designed computers to

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and outcomes for children

create and print their own drawings and designs. Children extend their problem solving skills, for example, as they experiment with balancing different shapes of bricks or as older children combine and compare numbers using plastic sorting animals. They confidently begin to use numbers in practical play, for example, as toddlers talk about quantities and prices in their pretend cafe. Children confidently talk about their own experiences and ideas as they describe a recent trip to have their hair cut or suggest having a tea party. Children often enjoy sharing favourite books. They have ready access to excellent range of mark making materials for independent use, beginning to develop independent and purposeful symbols and letters in their play. Children know that their independent creativity is valued because the nursery displays many examples of their own paintings, collages and drawings. 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 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 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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