Treetops Vicar Water

Vicar Water Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY416514 Inspection date 13/06/2011 Inspector Janice Walker

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Setting address 123 Mansfield Road, Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, NG21 9AA

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Telephone number 01623 660555 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

Vicar Water Day Nursery was registered under it's current owners in 2010. It is one of 32 settings owned by Treetops Nurseries Ltd and operates from converted premises in the village of Clipstone, Nottinghamshire. There is ramped access to the provision. Children are cared for in three rooms, across two levels, depending on their age and level of ability. Children aged under two years are cared for on the first floor. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The setting serves families from the local and surrounding rural area and has good links with the local school.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and also on the compulsory and the voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 75 children may attend the nursery at any one time, all of whom may be in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for three-and four-year-olds and is part of the pilot scheme providing free places for children aged two years old. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are currently 65 children attending, all of whom are within the early years age range. The nursery is open from 7.15am until 6pm, each week day, all year round, closing only for public holidays. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions each week depending on the individual requirements of each family.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs nine staff to work with the children, all of whom hold an appropriate early years qualification. One member is currently working towards Early Years Professional Status. 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

Children are cared for in a safe and secure environment where effectively implemented policies and procedures ensure they are safeguarded and their welfare promoted. They are valued strongly and respected as individuals with care and learning tailored to their individual needs and preferences. They access a wide, stimulating range of learning experiences both within the setting and in the wider community which support their progress towards the early learning goals. Staff foster excellent relationships with parents and work co-operatively with other organisations and professionals to the benefit of individual children. The good system of self-evaluation supports the effective monitoring of the provision. Clear strengths and areas for development have been identified and the enthusiastic and highly motivated staff team demonstrate a strong commitment to continuous improvement.

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further?

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 ensure that changes in usual routines take account of the learning and development needs of each child so that they continue to be appropriately challenged  extend the level of information exchanged with other providers where the care of children is shared, to better promote consistency and continuity for these children's learning and development.

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the early years provision

The utmost priority is given to ensuring the safety of children in this setting. The environment is safe and secure and staff are highly effective in their supervision of the children. The detailed risk assessment along with effective daily checking procedures, ensure that potential hazards are identified and minimised. The clear safeguarding policy, along with the staff's good understanding of child protection procedures and senior staff's strong links with other organisations, results in children being fully protected. Children are further safeguarded by the setting's robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures which help ensure the suitability of staff who work with the children. Clear procedures and policies, which are understood and effectively implemented by staff, contribute to the safe and efficient management of the setting and ensure that children are safeguarded and their needs are met.

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the early years provision

Staff have highly positive relationships with parents who speak in glowing terms of their warm and welcoming attitudes. Staff gather detailed information at the outset to support children to settle-in and to enable key workers to establish clear starting points for learning. Methods are highly effective in ensuring parents receive comprehensive information about the setting and their children's ongoing well- being and achievements. These range from the detailed daily verbal exchanges, written and photographic information around the nursery environment, electronic communication services and regular parents evenings. Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their children's learning. For example, they are invited to attend 'stay and play' sessions and take home 'activity boxes' which provide clear information about possible learning the activity offers. Each child is recognised for their uniqueness and staff encourage all children to learn to value

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the early years provision

differences. They create an environment which promotes positive images of diversity and plan activities to support this. Secure systems are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children with English as an additional language. Effective links with other professionals and organisations make a strong contribution to these children's achievements and well-being. There are good links with local schools. However, systems are not yet fully effective in ensuring consistency and continuity for individual children's progress in their learning and development where the care of children is shared.

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the early years provision

Resources are of exceedingly high quality and staff make excellent use of these to create a rich and exciting environment to support children's learning and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 development. The management team have high aspirations for quality which are shared by the whole staff team. All show an exceedingly strong commitment to improving the outcomes for children, for example, by developing their skills and knowledge through regular training and the ongoing evaluation of their practice along with the environment they create. This is a newly registered setting but comprehensive systems for rigorous and extensive monitoring and analysis of all areas of the provision are implemented well. They lead to clear action plans which all staff share ownership of, resulting in an extremely positive impact on the provision for the children.

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and outcomes for children

All children make good progress in their learning and development because staff create a rich and stimulating indoor and outdoor environment. They ensure it is equipped with a wide and interesting range of toys and activities to support all areas of learning. Children are actively engaged, constantly finding new activities and resources to explore and they do so with evident enthusiasm. Key workers know their key children very well because they make regular and useful observations of what children enjoy and can do and evaluate these against the six areas of learning to identify children's next steps. They use this information effectively to plan activities which have clear learning objectives for individual children. However, the planning and assessment system in place is less effective in the absence of children's individual key workers meaning that, at times, whilst children are happy and engaged, there is not always an appropriate level of

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and outcomes for children

challenge. Staff's very good levels of support and interaction, along with effective use of questioning encourage children s developing language skills. For example, a group of children comment upon the increasing clouds in the sky. Staff encourage them to think what they could do to prevent the rain coming and children's discussion results in them running around and blowing to create wind in order to blow the clouds away.

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and outcomes for children

Children's independence is promoted very well. The creation of areas of learning, both indoors and outdoors is highly effective in supporting this because even very young children know where to find toys and make their own decisions regarding their play. Older children particularly are encouraged to 'choose it, use it and put it away'. All children enjoy regular times to look at books in a variety of situations, including the outdoor tepee, which encourages their enjoyment of these. Pre- school children confidently use the computer and regularly access other electronic and battery-operated equipment, such as cd players and torches, aiding their ability in using information technology. Children love being outdoors and exploring the natural environment. The digging area is a particular favourite. They search for insects with enthusiasm and enjoy exploring the consistency of the soil as they add water to the rapidly increasing wet mud to make 'chocolate'. Babies enjoy regular

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and outcomes for children

times in the garden, thoroughly enjoy kicking balls, sit and ride toys and watching and splashing in running water.

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and outcomes for children

High regard is given to children's welfare needs, with additional regard given to those with individual needs, for example, relating to dietary or medical needs. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Daily routines are well organised to take this into account. Children have warm and trusting relationships with the staff who encourage them to take calculated risks in order to help them to learn about possible dangers and how to keep themselves safe. They climb trees and navigate safely through streams on woodland walks, skilfully steer sit-on toys around obstacles and balance on and safely jump off raised obstacles. Effective hygiene practices across the provision help to minimise the risk of spreading infection. Children understand the importance of good personal hygiene habits, such as hand washing demonstrated by those who spontaneously visit the bathroom to wash away the germs in the dirt on their

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and outcomes for children

hands. Children enjoy a variety of nutritious, balanced meals which are freshly cooked on-site and take particular pleasure in eating foods they have grown. Meal times are exceedingly well used to support growing self-help skills and older children serve their own meals, pour their own drinks and tidy away their plates when they have finished. Children behave well and learn to share, take turns and be kind to each other due to good levels of support from and effective strategies used, by the staff team. Overall, children are developing well the skills they will need for future learning. 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 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 1 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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