Phoenix Day Nursery

Phoenix Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY360657 Inspection date 25/07/2011 Inspector Claire Parnell

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Setting address 31 View Road, Cliffe Woods, ROCHESTER, Kent, ME3 8JQ

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Telephone number 01634 222253 Email info@phoenixdaynursery.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. 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

Phoenix Day Nursery opened in 2007 and operates from seven rooms in a converted residential premises. It is situated in the village of Cliffe Woods, Kent. A maximum of 48 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is registered on the Early Years register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare register. The nursery is open each weekday from 07.30 to 18.30 for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery also operates a before and after school provision as well as a newly established holiday care provision for children within the Childcare Register age range.

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Description of the setting

There are currently 79 children on roll of which 62 are in the early years age range. Of these 31 children receive funding for nursery education. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and disabilities as well as those who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 16 staff. Of these 13 staff, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. Some staff are working towards further 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 play, learn and develop well in a child-orientated environment where their individual needs are highlighted and effectively met. Children feel safe because there are good systems in place to promote their welfare, the majority of the time, along with effective deployment of staff. Children are making good progress towards the early learning goals, with some aspects of learning needing further development in the outside environment to enhance children's development. Staff show a clear commitment towards ongoing improvements through a developing evaluation system, to enhance positive outcomes for children. Effective partnerships with parents and other professionals promotes continuity of care and development for children, providing positive experiences and support.

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further?

To meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 keep a consistent record of children's hours of attendance (documentation) (also applies to both parts of the Childcare register). 26/07/2011 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?

 promote children's literacy and numeracy skills in the outdoor environment  encourage good practices of hand washing at all times  further develop systems to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision.

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the early years provision

Children are safeguarded well through policies and procedures in place to help keep children safe. Staff are fully aware of the action to take if they have concerns about child protection. Staff working with children have relevant checks to ensure they are suitable to work unsupervised with the children. Visitors are recorded and monitored carefully whilst visiting to promote children's safety. Ongoing risk assessments are carried out of both indoors and outdoors environments. Swift action is taken when hazards are identified. Children feel safe and secure due to familiar and welcoming staff as well as bright and stimulating environments. All records that underpin children's welfare are kept up to date such as accident records and medication administration. However, records of children's attendance are not always accurate as children are not recorded as leaving the premises when they are going on outings.

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the early years provision

All the staff show high levels of commitment to continuous improvements of the nursery. They work very closely as a team supporting each other and ensuring positive contingency plans are implemented well. The nursery has a developing self evaluation system that can be developed further to regularly identify and assess the strengths and areas for improvement. Training is accessed for courses and new practices are immediately implemented to enhance children's experiences. This is recognised as a positive use of staff skills and experiences as an additional resource to the nursery. Recommendations from the last inspection are acted upon and considered a positive aspect of sustaining ambitious targets.

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the early years provision

Children have access to an extensive range of resources, both indoors and outdoors. The majority of areas of play are encouraged through self selection and choice. Therefore children locate, identify and choose their preferred activity. For example children independently transfer wet sand to the wheelbarrow, find appropriate tools and areas in the garden to act out building works. Staff work flexibly, demonstrating good skills at using their initiative to provide children with sensitive and suitable supervision according to their individual needs.

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the early years provision

Equality and diversity is promoted well throughout the nursery. Staff know the children well and are fully aware of their backgrounds, using information effectively to plan activities and themes relating to children's understanding of diversity within their community. Inclusive practice is promoted well through individual development plans and the sensitive and professional care of children with additional needs. Children have access to activities and resources that promotes positive images of today's society such as dual language books, posters, dressing up and play people. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The setting is committed to engaging with parents and partnerships with other professionals to promote continuity of care for children. Staff build confident relationships with parents, using effective methods of communication such as diary sheets and regular newsletters. Parents confidently talk to staff on a daily basis

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the early years provision

finding out information about their child's day. As a result children are happy and settled. Parents have access to a wealth of information displayed around the nursery including policies and procedures. Children's development is regularly discussed through open events where reciprocal information is shared. Good links are made with local schools to ease the transition into formal education. Staff use information from other professionals such as speech and language therapists to support individual children's development

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and outcomes for children

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery and positively benefit from making relationships with other children. The whole nursery mixes very well with older children attending the holiday and out of school club, making an atmosphere of a happy family grouping. Children are supported well by staff who encourage children to lead the play with some structured activities linked to themes and events. Staff cleverly give children ideas to extend their experiences and encourage older children to take roles of responsibility for the younger children. Outdoor play is actively encouraged throughout the day and in fine weather all aspects of play are provided in both environments, helping children to make choices as to where to play.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate good developing skills in exploring their environment and experimenting with textures and malleable materials. For example, more children join in the sand and water play, with additional resources of shaving foam used to extend sensory experiences. Children mix the textures together with hands and tools, describing what it feels like, smells like, whether they like the experience and what else they can add. At the end children are given the responsibility of cleaning up the diggers used, by staff supplying clean bowls of soapy water, resulting in conversations about bubbles and experiences at home such as washing up and washing clothes. Children actively extend their physical skills by using the equipment available to them. Young children experiment with the movement of the seesaw, discovering that two children are needed to sit at either end or one sat in the middle to make the seesaw move. Other children develop skills such as using

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and outcomes for children

tongs at snack time and watering cans in the garden to pour down pipes. Indoors, children have plentiful opportunities to experiment with mark making and writing for a purpose, they have access to range of materials and mark making tools to understand the importance of labelling. Children access books and written information throughout the indoors to help understand that print has meaning. Children develop good problem solving skills, from laying tables, matching cutlery and calculating how many places they need, to using blocks and shapes in construction activities. However, both literacy and numeracy skills are limited in the outdoor environment. Through all these experiences children are developing This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 skills for the future.

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and outcomes for children

Children's future development is planned for on a flexible basis by all staff. Individual children's achievements are tracked and used to inform the planning for their next steps within the Early Years Foundation Stage and linked to the six areas of learning. Therefore children's ongoing development towards the early learning goals are promoted well. All staff observe all children's achievements and share these with the children's key person who monitor their progress carefully and provide experiences and activities to stretch and challenge their thinking.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate a very good sense of belonging showing visitors around with confidence, describing who works in which areas. They are confident and socialable children, liaising and cooperating in their play. The older pre-school children show a caring and sensitive approach towards the younger children, involving them in play and encouraging full participation in imaginative games. For example, older children take cardboard pipes up the climbing frame and lay them down the slide, asking younger children to fetch watering cans and to tell them when water is coming down and when it stops. This developing sense of pride, participation and negotiation shows children's skills at interacting in society at all levels. This results in younger children having very good roles models through the older children as well as staff acting as positive role models. Children are reminded to use good manners, resulting in children reminding others to say "please" and

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and outcomes for children

"thank you". Children are confident to confide in staff when others have acted inappropriately, especially when this has impacted on their play.

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and outcomes for children

Children make very healthy choices at snack time and have healthy meals prepared for them. Kitchen staff are kept well informed of changes to children's dietary needs and children's health records are kept up to date. Children are reminded of good hygiene practices such as washing their hands after toileting and young children are encouraged to wash their hands after nappy changing. However, some lapses in hygiene procedures such as occasionally using a communal towel for drying hands and forgetting to ask children to wash their hands before snack time does not always promote children's wellbeing. 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: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The registered provider does not meet the requirements of the compulsory and or voluntary part/s of the Childcare Register.

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 Take action as specified on the Early Years Register (Records to be kept) 26/07/2011

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 Take action as specified on the Early Years Register (Records to be kept) 26/07/2011

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