Johnson Garden Day Nursery LimitedOfsted inspection, 21 Jul 2011

Johnson Garden Day Nursery Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY367141 Inspection date 21/07/2011 Inspector Jane Wakelen

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Setting address Johnson Garden Day Nursery, Burley Road, SITTINGBOURNE, Kent, ME10 1JL Telephone number 01795 423577 Email johnsongarden@tiscali.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

Johnson Garden Day Nursery Ltd originally opened in 1959 and re-registered in 2008 as a limited company. It operates from several rooms in a one storey building in Sittingbourne, Kent. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is situated in a residential area close to local schools and within walking distance to the town centre. It is open each weekday from 8.00am to 6.00pm for 51 weeks of the year.

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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. A maximum of 59 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There is currently 85 children aged from three months to five years on roll. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and children with English as an additional language. The setting provides funded early education for three and four-year-olds.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 14 staff to work with the children, two kitchen staff and a manager. All 14 staff and the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two members of the management team are working towards their Foundation Degree. The nursery is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. They also receive 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's enthusiasm and their knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage enables children to make good progress in their learning and development. All children are valued and where necessary, individual programmes are implemented to enable all children to achieve. The excellent partnerships with parents ensures they are extremely well informed about their children's development and the setting as a whole, with their views regularly obtained and acted upon. The management are highly committed individuals, who share their enthusiasm with the staff team to identify strengths and weaknesses within the provision through a system of self-evaluation. Overall, this process is effective and the provision for staff training, ensures the good capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 further develop the observation and planning process to ensure children's next steps and fully inform the planning to provide challenging, learning opportunities for all children This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  review the environment in the baby room, to ensure that it is interesting, attractive and accessible to every child so they can learn independently  improve the environment in all rooms to provide signs, symbols, numbers, words and rhymes to promote children's development in communication, language and literacy.

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the early years provision

Safeguarding is given high importance within the nursery. All staff have a secure understanding about protecting children within the setting and fully implement the written policy. There is a rolling programme, to ensure all members of staff have the opportunity to attend training and keep their knowledge updated. A rigorous recruitment process is implemented to ensure new staff are suitable and this is supported by annual appraisals for the ongoing suitability of staff. Effective procedures are in place to identify any children at risk of harm and the necessary information is accessible to contact outside agencies. A comprehensive risk assessment is carried out, and supported by daily check lists to monitor the safety of the environment both indoors and outdoors. Security measures have been put in place to fully support children's safety such as the entrance door security camera, enabling staff to see who is at the door.

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the early years provision

Equality and diversity is actively promoted throughout the nursery by staff who have a good knowledge of children's backgrounds and needs. All children are made to feel welcome within the nursery and their individual needs identified and addressed with support from the parents. Outside agencies are included within the individual educational plans to ensure continuity of care for the children. Children have good opportunities to learn about people in their community through activities, posters and resources to reflect positive images of diversity. For example, children learn about Diwali through activities, making Rangoli patterns, making sweets and enjoying ''light activities'' such as lamps or ''divas''. Children access a good, wide range of resources which are mainly stored in containers with some labels or pictures to indicate its contents. Children are able to move around the setting making choices of resources both indoors and outdoors. However,

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the early years provision

resources in the baby room are not made easily accessible to encourage children to make choices and explore their environment.

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the early years provision

Parents are extremely pleased with the care their children receive at the nursery. They feel they are kept highly informed about their children's progress through the individual learning stories, which are sent home on a regular basis and through verbal communication. This enables parents to fully contribute to this process and provides precise ways in which parents can support their children's learning across different areas. Parents can communicate with the setting in various ways such as e-mail, text and phone. The highly inclusive systems of communication enables all parents to relate to the nursery, resulting in strong levels of engagement with the team of staff and the management. Questionnaires are used to seek parents views on the service provided by the nursery, which are used to make changes to the provision, where necessary. Policies and procedures, together with regular newsletters, keeps parents informed about the daily activities and future events in

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the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 the nursery. The nursery is highly committed to working in partnership with outside agencies and other providers. They take a lead role in building effective working relationships to successfully promote children's learning, development and welfare.

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the early years provision

The management are highly committed to providing a good quality service to meet the needs of its users. They are enthusiastic in their approach and share this with their team of staff, who reflect the motivation to continue developing the service provided. An extensive, comprehensive self-evaluation has been carried out to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the provision. This process is fully supported through reflective practice and constant monitoring of the environment, activities and children's achievements. Overall, this process is effective. However, the environment in each room does not promote children's recognition of letters, words and numbers to support the good activities being offered.

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and outcomes for children

Overall, children settle well into the nursery environment and build good relationships with their key person, forming attachment bonds. Children seek support from the staff, asking for cuddles or wanting to involve them in their play reflecting the good relationships. Children have free-flow opportunities on a daily basis to play both inside and outside with a wide range of resources to provide stimulating opportunities. Staff carry out daily observations on children's achievements and use this information to plan next steps in their learning. However, occasionally learning is not fully identified and therefore is not used to inform the planning. This results in some children not always receiving challenging opportunities to fully extend their learning. For example, older children who have good spatial awareness are not given challenging opportunities for their large physical development, resulting in them speeding around the play area and not

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and outcomes for children

The majority of children choose to play with the toys outside, enjoying the space to move around, whilst making choices. They use their imagination as they build with the large wooden bricks making a house, then changing its use to become a balancing path. Opportunities to paint, draw or create with collage materials are available providing opportunities for children to use tools. Children show good concentration as they begin by painting the fence with water and large brushes and then choose the coloured pencils to draw a detailed picture onto paper. Staff encourage children to write their names on their pictures, representing marks carry meanings. Many children show good recognition of letters and their sounds and often remark if they are in their own name or a friend's name. However, words as labels within the environment are not fully explored or promoted to encourage children to become aware of familiar words. Books are promoted in all rooms for

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and outcomes for children

reference purposes and for story times to promote children's enjoyment.

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and outcomes for children

Children are beginning to use mathematical language in their play as they ask for the large brick or enquire where the little car is. Children make shapes with the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 dough and label them, linking some shapes with objects in the environment. For example, one child makes a square shape with the dough and states she has made a window. Children count in everyday activities, with many children understanding sequencing of numbers and are able to predict the previous or following number in a line. Children's mathematical skills are further supported with computer programmes, which link numeracy and literacy skills together. They show good hand and eye coordination when using the mouse and are able to operate the programmes unaided. Many children know how to operate the printer and show delight as they print off their pictures from paint box programme. Children develop

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and outcomes for children

good skills for the future as they develop their communication skills, numeracy and literacy skills together with a good understanding about communication technology.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn about living a healthy lifestyle and are able to explain why some foods are good for them. Children help to grow some vegetables and fruit and then enjoy tasting the different produce, clearly showing their likes and dislikes through facial expressions. Children have a good understanding of the importance of self- care skills, for example, washing their hands before eating and after using the toilet. They use tissues for their noses and put these in the bin, before washing their hands. Staff implement good hygiene procedures within the rooms during lunch times and for nappy changes, helping to prevent cross infection. All children have access to drinking water in their own named bottles and are given healthy options for snacks and meals. Meals are freshly cooked on site, providing children with nutritious, healthy meals. The daily opportunities to play outside and partake in physical activities fully promotes children's healthy lifestyles.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate a strong sense of security and belonging in the nursery. They approach staff for reassurance or to meet their individual needs, for example wanting their comforter or needing help visiting the toilet. Children are encouraged to be independent, and staff support children's understanding about keeping themselves safe. For example, children are reminded why they must not run indoors. They learn to play with the fast wheeled toys away from where children are playing on the floor to prevent hurting other children. 'stranger danger' and road safety are topics the staff talk about with the children to support their understanding about staying safe. Children play very well in small groups or individually, reflecting their confidence and security. They build good relationships with each other and the staff, happily sharing their achievements with them. Children receive praise and encouragement to try new experiences or activities

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and outcomes for children

helping to promote their self-esteem. 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 1 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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