Bright Minds @ Mountfield

Mountfield Pre-School and Creche Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY411281 Inspection date 28/06/2011 Inspector Karen Tervit

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Setting address Mountfield Primary School, Kirkwood Drive, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE3 3AT Telephone number 0191 213 4100 Email sarahgaish8977@hotmail.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

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

Mountfield Pre-School and Creche was registered in May 2010. The pre-school is privately owned. It operates from a classroom in Mountfield Primary School, North Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne. Children have access to an outdoor play area. It is open Monday to Friday during term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 12 noon and 12.30pm until 3pm. Children come from the local and wider communities.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school is registered to care for 20 children in the early years age range at any one time, none of whom may be under two years. There are currently 45 children attending. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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Description of the setting

The pre-school employs six members of staff. They all hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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 happy and settled at the nursery. Staff are enthusiastic and caring and provide a wide range of fun activities across all areas of learning. As a result, children are making good progress in their learning and development. The owner has a clear understanding of areas for development, and appropriate procedures have been established to monitor and evaluate the care and learning they provide, a process which staff are beginning to become involved in. Staff work closely with parents to gather relevant information to meet children's individual needs and ensure that all children are included at the setting.

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further?

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

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further?

 lead and encourage a culture of reflective practice, self-evaluation and informed discussion which includes all staff, in order to identify priorities for development and improve outcomes for children  carry out regular fire drills and record details in a fire log book of any problems encountered and how they were resolved.

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is promoted extremely well. Child protection procedures are extensive. These include procedures for referring concerns about children, as well as covering allegations made against staff. All staff have attended additional This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 safeguarding training. They understand their responsibility towards the well-being of the children in their care. This helps to protect children at all times. The written risk assessment is carried out regularly and additional daily checks help to minimise any risks. A wide range of detailed policies and procedures underpin practice. These are reviewed regularly and are effectively implemented to safeguard children. Robust systems are in place to ensure the suitability of all staff looking after the children. This helps to protect children's welfare. Good systems are in place to monitor the quality of the provision, particularly with regard to staff

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the early years provision

training and development. All members of staff working with the children have an appropriate first aid qualification. Consequently, children are well protected in the event of a minor accident or injury. Clear evacuation procedures are displayed and staff are fully aware of what to do in the event of an emergency. However, they do not practise this on a sufficiently regular basis to help raise children's awareness of what to do.

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the early years provision

The owner and staff team are committed to and enthusiastic about providing a good quality service and developing their practice. The owner is looking towards developing systems for self-evaluation further, however, not all staff are fully involved in this process yet. Since registration further developments have been made to the garden area, enabling children to move freely between indoors and outdoors, which they thoroughly enjoy. This encourages the children to make choices and decisions independently. Resources both indoors and outdoors are plentiful and of good quality. These include resources to help raise children's awareness of diversity. Children take part in a good range of activities to develop their learning and appreciation of the diverse world in which they live. All children are fully included at the pre-school. Children with english as an additional language are well supported. For example, they enjoy sharing books translated into their

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the early years provision

home language and staff successfully use a 'talking pen' to ensure accurate translations.

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the early years provision

Good relationships are in place with parents, who are encouraged to share information about their children's learning and interests from home. Good quality information is shared with parents through verbal feedback, open days, newsletters, informative noticeboards and children's learning journeys. Parents often make comments and add information to their children's learning journey. They also take 'travelling ted' home with them and document his adventures, and staff use these to help plan activities around children's interests. Comments from parents are very positive; they state that staff are very friendly and that their children 'love it here'. Strong relationships have been established with other providers, particularly the local Sure Start, to promote consistency and continuity of children's care and learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children are happy, secure and settled. Children's learning journey files record their progress and, along with the tracker system, clearly show where children are at in their learning. Children lead and direct their own play, make choices and grow in confidence. They plan their activities at the beginning of each session, with This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 skilful staff supporting them to ensure all areas of learning are covered. Staff know the children very well and the relationships with individual children are extremely good. As a result, the activities and experiences provided are well matched to children's needs and interests. For example, when children show an interest in space, the role play area is quickly transformed into outer space using shiny material and mobiles. Children then create their own space rocket and spaceman using cardboard boxes.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn about the wider world as they celebrate festivals from their own culture and those of others, for example, children create their own rangoli patterns to celebrate Diwali. Children enthusiastically join in with the actions to favourite stories. They listen carefully as staff ask them to pick certain fruit to feed to the animals, eagerly clapping each other when they select the correct item. All children are developing skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being. For example, they are becoming increasingly confident in information and communication technology, such as programmable toys and computers. They skilfully make marks using the pens and smart board. Children thoroughly enjoy being creative. They excitedly mix the paint colours and successfully draw shapes in the cornflour and water mixture using their fingers and various tools.

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and outcomes for children

Children behave very well in the pre-school because the staff offer clear explanations and are good role models. Children's good health is successfully promoted in all areas. They capably wash and dry their hands at appropriate times. They enjoy a wide range of healthy snacks, including cereals, fruit, bread sticks and the occasional biscuit. They delight in making their own pizzas using healthy toppings. Children know they need to have lots of 'big drinks' and remember to get a sun hat out of the box so they do not 'burn' when the weather is hot. Children learn about safety through a range of interesting activities, such as visits by the police and fire service. They ride their bikes around the chalk roads outdoors, successfully stopping at the stop signs and zebra crossings to let other children cross the road safely with their buggies. 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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