Kiddies Korner Nursery

Kiddies Kornor Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY366264 Inspection date 05/09/2011 Inspector Gill Little

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Setting address Kiddies Korner, Quarry Village Hall, 67 Quarry Road, Headington, OXFORD, OX3 8NX Telephone number 01865 766762 Email triciasamed@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

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

Kiddies Kornor Nursery was established in 1974. It is privately owned and registered under its present owner in 2007. It operates from the village hall in Headington Quarry, on the outskirts of Oxford. It serves the local community and surrounding area. The nursery has the use of all areas of the hall, including fully enclosed garden areas for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of 48 children under eight at any one time, all of whom may be in the early years age range. The nursery is currently caring for 51 children on the Early Years Register. There are currently no children on the Childcare Register. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who are learning English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery operates on weekdays from 7.30am until 5.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four. It has partnership arrangements with other early years settings, including local school and local children's centres.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 14 staff, all of whom hold relevant qualifications, including staff who have attained Early Years Professional and Qualified Teacher Status. In addition, nine staff are working towards a relevant qualification.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are able to make some progress towards the early learning goals in this friendly and sufficiently safe nursery. Staff work closely with outside agencies and other early years settings to support children's individual needs and they have appropriate partnerships in place with parents. However, there are weaknesses in the key person system which has some impact on meeting the individual needs of babies and younger children. Staff have not yet fully met some recommendations from the last inspection in relation to the observation, assessment and planning cycle. The maintenance of the premises has areas of weakness and there is limited time available for children to play outdoors. Staff are developing some areas of the provision and have a positive although not always effective approach to continuous improvement.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  improve the key person system in the baby room by providing consistent staffing and by providing information to any additional staff about children's individual needs  improve cleanliness in the baby room, with particular reference to removing any mould and flaking paint on the walls and to maintaining the hygiene of hand basins to a good standard  increase the time available for outdoor activities for all children, including babies, in order to improve opportunities for fresh air, exercise and outdoor learning.

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the early years provision

Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of safeguarding children procedures, such as possible symptoms of abuse and how to respond to concerns. Appropriate recruitment procedures are in place, including gaining suitable background checks. There are good levels of early years qualifications, together with first aid training, which has a positive impact on children. Staff maintain documentation to an appropriate standard to support the management of the nursery. The premises are sufficiently safe for children but there are weaknesses in their maintenance. For example, in the baby room some paint is flaking off the walls and there is what appears to be mould in one corner. In addition, there is ingrained dirt around the taps in the hand basin. These issues potentially increase the risk of infection for the youngest children. Staff strive to make the environment welcoming and they provide a sufficient range of resources but the premises are no better than

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the early years provision

adequate. For example, three of the four toilets for older children have no cubicles around them and therefore children have no privacy when using them. In addition, the garden areas are not particularly inviting although staff are working to improve this.

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the early years provision

Staff adequately promote equality and diversity. A key person system is established to support children's individual needs and staff talk to parents regularly to exchange information. However, the key person system in the baby room does not always work effectively, particularly when staff are on sick leave or take holidays. In these instances, cover staff and new staff sometimes have no written information about children's routines and preferences to refer to. They have some verbal information and do their best to meet children's needs but do not know them well enough to do this effectively. Staff warmly welcome parents into the nursery and encourage them to become involved in their child's education. For example, they provide opportunities to discuss and contribute to children's development profiles and they send out questionnaires on various topics. Some parents respond well although staff are not able to engage all parents in these

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the early years provision

processes. Staff work closely with outside agencies and this has a particularly positive impact on children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff ensure, with external support, that such children's individual education plans are in place and monitored closely. Appropriate procedures are in place to support children who are learning English as an additional language, such as using lots of picture books and small group work. Staff work closely with a local school by attending events, such as sports days and Christmas concerts, to help children This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 become used to the school environment. They invite teachers into the nursery to meet children moving up to school to ease the transition process. They are also establishing good links with local children's centres and outreach workers to further enhance partnership working.

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the early years provision

The staff team reflect on their practice and encourage parents and children to be involved in this process. Since the last inspection they have taken some positive steps to improve practice, such as additional training and moving to an open plan approach with the support of their early years advisory teacher. They have also improved hygiene at snack and meal times by providing tables and chairs instead of a picnic style approach. However, they are still working on some recommendations set at the last inspection and have not identified all shortfalls in the provision.

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and outcomes for children

Children in the baby room enjoy exploring a suitable range of activities and resources. For example, they explore treasure baskets with a range of different textiles, they play in a sand tray which is easily accessible on the floor and they play with baby dolls pretending to feed them and put them to bed. They benefit from suitable support from staff who have a kind and caring approach. However, inconsistencies in the key person approach mean that cover staff and new staff are not very familiar with children's individual routines and needs. As a result, the youngest children become distressed at times and staff sometimes overlook daily routines, such as washing children's hands before snack time. Children in this age group enjoy taking part in a walk in the local area with older children. They are able to play in the garden on a daily basis but this is limited to as little as half an hour or not at all if the weather is poor. This reduces opportunities for fresh air,

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and outcomes for children

Children in the older age group enjoy a small selection of activities which are sufficient to engage their interest. For example, they enjoy playing with a train set as staff ask open-ended questions to extend their learning, such as, 'what might happen if the bridge goes up?' They enjoy painting star shapes with different colours and they benefit from staff helping them to develop new skills, such as holding and using scissors correctly. They build towers with construction bricks and staff encourage them to develop their counting skills as they play. They listen attentively to a story and join in with the actions. This activity particularly benefits children who have speech delay as it encourages them to use both verbal and non- verbal communication in a meaningful context. Children enjoy a walk in their local environment and staff effectively support their interest in the world around them. For example, children take great interest in spider webs, flowers, a helicopter and

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and outcomes for children

a cement mixer. Children do have some opportunities to freely access the garden area although this is unnecessarily time restricted and also limited by weather conditions. This reduces opportunities for fresh air, exercise and outdoor learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children in the older age group are settled and happy and they show good levels This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 of behaviour. They know how to play safely, such as using equipment appropriately, and they know to hold staff's hands while on their outing. They have some opportunities to develop skills for independence, such as pouring paint into pots and cutting up their own food at lunch time. They learn about personal hygiene as they wash their hands before meals under the close supervision of staff. All children enjoy a healthy diet, such as fruit at snack time, and sausages with vegetables for lunch.

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and outcomes for children

Staff are still developing the observation, assessment and planning cycle. They make regular observations of children's progress although they cover some areas of learning better than others and they do not always clearly identify next steps in learning. They are beginning to focus more on planning for individual needs although this is still a work in progress and not yet fully effective. As a result, although activities engage children, they do not yet fully support and challenge individual capabilities. 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 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 3 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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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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