Windmill Hill Day Nursery Limited

Windmill Hill Day Nursery Limited Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 218515 Inspection date 05/09/2011 Inspector Parm Sansoyer

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Setting address Windmill Hill House, Windmill Hill, Rough Close, Stoke-on- Trent, Staffordshire, ST3 7PR Telephone number 01782 393010 Email windmillhilldyny@tiscalli.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

Windmill Hill Day Nursery opened in 1984. It operates from a detached house, with seven and a half acres of land in Windmill Hill, Stoke-On-Trent. There is a fully enclosed area for outdoor play. The setting serves the local and surrounding areas.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 66 children under eight years, of whom no more than 19 may be under two years may attend at any one time. There are currently 78 children on roll, of whom 67 are in the early years age group. The setting also operates an out of school club and currently there are 11 children on roll, of whom eight are under eight years and of these one is in the early years age group. The setting is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. The setting is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education to children aged three and four-years-old. They support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Description of the setting

The setting is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm, 51 weeks of the year, and closed for one week at Christmas. There are 16 staff employed to work with the children. Of these, two hold a qualification at level 5 in early years, of whom one is working towards a qualification at level 6 in early years. Ten members of staff hold a qualification at level 3 in early years and of these one is working towards a qualification at level 5 in early years and four hold a qualification at level 2 and are working towards a qualification at level 3 in early years. The setting 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 enjoy spending time in a relaxed, inclusive and friendly environment, where staff get to know them well as unique individuals. The activities, resources and teaching systems, which are mostly effective, help children make good progress in learning and development. Children are kept safe, secure and their health and welfare is promoted well, however, systems for staff induction are not fully effective. Relationships with parents and carers and other agencies and professionals are effectivly established to meet the children's individual needs. A strong commitment to continuous improvement helps improve outcomes for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the induction training for new staff to help them understand how the setting operates and their role within it and matters such as child protection and health and safety issues  extend the range of experiences on offer for children under three years to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 freely explore, investigate and be creative with resources, such as the sand, water, paint and dough, and plan more clearly the learning intention of activities to help more fully exploit the learning potential of experiences.

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the early years provision

All records, policies and procedures, including risk assessments required for the safe and efficient management of the service and to meet the needs of all children, are in place and regularly reviewed. A well-motivated staff team supervise children well and give good priority to keeping children safe. Security within the setting is robust. A designated member of staff has clear management responsibility in relation to child protection and all staff are aware of this. The well-established staff team know and understand clearly their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children. There are effective procedures in place to ensure adults caring for children or having unsupervised access to them are suitably vetted, qualified and experienced. However, induction training for new staff on the apprenticeship scheme does not effectively enough include matters such as child protection and health and safety issues when they first start. Therefore, they are

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the early years provision

not fully aware of how the provision operates and their role within it.

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the early years provision

Children are cared for in rooms according to their age and ability and the assigned key worker system works well to help meet the children's individual care and learning needs. Adults are deployed well and spend much of their time interacting with the children, using mostly positive teaching methods to extend their learning. In the pre-school room positive and challenging teaching methods, including the good use of resources, helps offer children interesting and exciting learning experiences across all areas of learning. Younger children are supported well by caring staff who provide a broad range of activities that effectively promote their learning and development. However, children aged under three years have fewer opportunities to freely explore, investigate and be creative, at their own leisure, with resources such as the paint, sand, water and dough. In addition, on occasions the learning intention of activities delivered is not always clear enough. Therefore,

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the early years provision

the learning potential of these experiences not always fully exploited. Regular observations and assessment of what the children do and like are used effectively to identify the children's next steps in learning. Staff use this information well to inform planning and to provide relevant and motivating experiences for many of the children.

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the early years provision

Partnership with parents and carers is strong as staff discuss all aspects of their child's care, learning and development with them. They share regular information through daily discussions, written diaries and are kept up to date about their children's progress and achievements. Parents and children actively contribute their views and suggestions, which help shape the service. For example, feedback forms are made available in the entrance hall and children have been consulted through discussion and careful observation about the recently developed outdoor play area. The setting shows a strong commitment to working with local schools, other providers delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage and any agencies and professional involved with children. Consequently, children with learning difficulties This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and/or disabilities are fully included, valued and supported well.

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the early years provision

The leaders and management team, who are hands on, work hard to create a happy staff team who are enthusiastic about the children's care and learning. The staff team clearly recognise the value of continuous improvement and how it impacts on children's achievement. They engage well in reflecting on and extending their own practice and are supported well to further raise their skills and qualification. The leaders have a clear overview of the service they provide and have made good progress since the last inspection to improve outcomes for children in their welfare and learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children's personal, social and emotional development is fostered very well. Children are happy and settled because relationships with staff are warm and positive. All children are involved, busy and occupied with the wide range of opportunities on offer to them. Babies are supported well and show a real sense of belonging and sense of trust. Younger babies feed, sleep and play according to their individual needs and are given good individual attention to help them feel safe. Older children develop their self-help skills well at meal times and as they independently access the water dispensers during the session.

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and outcomes for children

Children's communication, language and literacy is supported well. Children benefit from time to develop spoken language and develop their listening skills through sharing conversations and their stories both one-to-one and in groups. Children build good foundations for early literacy through having regular opportunities to make marks during their play, and older children learn to recognise their own and other's names. Staff place a good emphasis on supporting more able children to link sounds and letters through promoting 'letter of the week' and helping children distinguish initial sounds of familiar words. Children develop a keen interest in books because staff are skilled in encouraging children to enjoy stories. For example, a variety of interesting books are used, which capture the children's interest and are made easily accessible.

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and outcomes for children

Children's knowledge and understanding of the world is supported well to help them make sense of the world. Children benefit from the rural setting and have good opportunities to observe animals in their natural habitat, such as squirrels, rabbits and foxes. The environment offers good first-hand experiences, such as getting involved in learning about the sheep and lambs born in the adjacent field and learning how to care for them. In addition, they have been observing and predicting as they have followed the lifecycle of the butterfly and frog. Younger children have good opportunities to explore and find out how things work as they use a varied range of programmable toys and resources with knobs, flaps, keys, shutters and mirrors. Children begin to learn about their own and other cultures and customs through themed activities, such as tasting food from around the world.

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and outcomes for children

Children's problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy is building well. They seek This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 patterns, make connections and recognise relationships through finding out about and working with numbers, counting, sorting and matching. Children learn about early calculation as they participate in singing number rhymes. Children have good opportunities to problem solve as they build with construction toys and complete puzzles. Computers are used well to reinforce mathematical concepts. Children enjoy daily opportunities to express their creativity and imagination through experiencing a variety of arts and crafts materials and using the role play areas and small world toys.

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and outcomes for children

Children attending the out of school club benefit from all facilities within the setting and are offered a relaxed and welcoming environment, which compliments the school day well. They freely choose what to do and access a broad range of activities and experiences.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop a good understanding of dangers and how to stay safe as they move around safely both indoors and outdoors and respond well to gentle reminders from the staff. The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles is good. All children, including babies, benefit from freshly prepared meals which are healthy, balanced and nutritious. All areas are clean and hygienic and staff and children follow effective hygiene practices to prevent the spread of infection. Children benefit from the access to the outdoor environment and challenge, test and extend their physical skills well. Children become active and inquisitive learners, which contributes well to helping children develop good skills for the future. 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: 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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