Children 1st @ Grantham

Children 1st @ Grantham Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY348009 Inspection date 04/10/2011 Inspector Karen Byfleet

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Setting address 100 Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ

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Telephone number 01476 573 188 Email children1st@breedonhouse.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

Children 1st @ Grantham is one of 14 settings run by the provider. It originally opened in 2004 and was re-registered under new ownership in 2007. It operates from purpose built premises in the Earlsfield area of Grantham. There are four areas within the nursery where children are separated into different groups based on their stages of development. Each area has its own separate, adjoining outdoor play area along with a central, shared decking area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years register and the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. The setting is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm and is open for the majority of the year, closing only for Bank Holidays and for the week between Christmas and New Year. A maximum of 112 children may attend at any one time. There are currently 116 children on roll, of these, 49 children receive funding for early education. Children attending come from the local and surrounding areas.

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Description of the setting

The nursery supports children who have identified learning difficulties and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The setting receives support from the early years support team from the local authority. The setting is a Cache accredited training centre and an Investors in People company.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are extremely happy and settled within the setting. They eagerly enter and seek out their friends and familiar adults. The environment is bright, airy and very welcoming to all children. Highly effective procedures are in place for monitoring children's learning and development. Partnerships with parents and other providers are extremely well established, ensuring children's welfare needs are consistently met and that all relevant information is shared regularly. Transition arrangements for children moving into mainstream education are also excellent. All the required documentation is in place to ensure children are very well safeguarded. Staff, management, parents and children are all included in the evaluation of the provision, this ensures any areas for further development are clearly identified and any improvements are well monitored and maintained. Helping to maintain continuous improvement to an already excellent provision.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 develop further the access to free flow play for the toddlers  further promote childrens sense of belonging and acheivement by providing suitable areas for them to dispay their own work. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are extremely well safeguarded. Staff have excellent knowledge and understanding of the settings detailed and comprehensive policies and procedures. They have all attended training and they have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in this area. Detailed risk assessments are fully in place. Daily risk assessments of play areas, toys and resources and more intense risk assessments for the premises are undertaken by management, these are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they remain valid and consistent. A detailed emergency evacuation plan is in place, displayed by emergency doors and regularly practised with the children to ensure they know the procedures to follow. The premises are secure at all times. The main door to the building is kept locked and a door bell alerts staff to any visitors, all visitors are required to sign and out of the building.

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the early years provision

A detailed self-evaluation system is in place to ensure continuous improvement of the setting. All staff, parents and children have opportunity to put forward their ideas and suggestions for further development of the setting. For example, through regular questionnaires and discussions, children and parents are able to put forward new ideas for menus and recipes of different foods for lunches and teas.

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the early years provision

A highly effective recruitment procedure is in place for the recruitment of all new staff and trainees. A three month induction programme has been successfully implemented with work books for staff to work through. These workbooks contain assessments for staff to undertake. These assessments re-enforce their knowledge and understanding of the setting's policies and procedures. All staff are checked to ensure they are suitable for their role and these checks are renewed regularly. Staff are not allowed to work alone with children until suitability checks are clear. Staff are deployed very well throughout the setting. They are all clear about their individual roles and work very well together as a team to ensure children's individual needs are met.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents are excellent. Staff have built up effective relationships with parents and share information about the children on a daily basis. Individual learning journeys for children have been introduced, these are used by both staff and parents and include photographs and written statements about the children's learning and development. Partnerships with other providers are fully established. Daily diaries are passed between providers where children attend to ensure consistency and coherence in their welfare and learning. Highly effective transition from nursery to mainstream education has been implemented. The Early Years Practitioner is part of a group of educators that meet regularly to discuss the transition of children from nursery to school. She takes children that will be moving into school, on visits to meet with the teacher and to see the school environment. The school teacher is also invited to see the children within their nursery

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the early years provision

environment. This has been very effective in making children's transitions smoother and less stressful. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children are extremely happy and settled within the nursery and are making excellent progress in their learning and development. Staff are highly knowledgeable of the Early Years Foundation Stage and are extremely pro-active in implementing activities that are planned around children's individual needs. They make focussed and spontaneous observations of the children during their freely chosen play and use these to plan further activities, using the next steps in their learning. All children are able to move around their play rooms with ease and comfort and they are able to self-select from an extensive range of age appropriate toys and resources. There is a very good balance of adult led and child initiated play. Children enjoy sitting in small group with staff member, looking at flash cards with pictures and letters. A member of staff explains to the children how she wants them to sound out the first letter of their name and then look for

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and outcomes for children

the card that has a picture that starts with the same letter. For example, she asks a child whose name begins with 'J' to sound out the letter and then to find a picture that start with the same sound. The child quickly finds the picture of a 'jelly' and confidently says 'that starts with the same sound'. The member of staff praises the child and all children in the group take turns in the game.

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and outcomes for children

Children are able to access a full and varied range of toys and activities that cover all areas of learning. In the baby area they have access to a sensory area where they explore sounds, light and textures. They have regular access to outdoor activities in their own outdoor area. They enjoy water play, climbing and balancing on the small slide and messy, exploratory activities, such as, shiny paper, custard and pasta. Toddlers also have regular access to outdoors. However, they are not able to free flow between the indoor and outdoor area to enhance their free choice. They do have free choice indoors and clearly enjoy being in the home corner where they dress and undress the dollies. This helps to develop their personal and social development as they learn about body parts on the dollies and how to dress them. They also eagerly participate in water play, puzzles and mark making with a very good range of implements, such as, chalks, crayons and paints.

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and outcomes for children

Older children have full free flow play throughout the day and are able to choose for themselves where they want to play. They have a home corner with dressing up clothes both indoors and outside on the decking area and this is used for a variety of role play scenarios, such as, shops, cafes and home. There is free access to a computer and the children are independent in using the computer. They are able to follow the on screen instructions confidently and they control the 'mouse' with ease.

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and outcomes for children

Children have a strong sense of belonging within the nursery. A 'children's council' has been implemented. This is a group of children from the three to five year old age group who meet with staff to discuss their ideas for what they would like to see in the nursery. For example, the children wanted more bikes as they felt there were not enough for all the children. Staff used this opportunity to talk to the children about sharing and taking turns. The children of the council then went back to the other children and explained to them about sharing and taking turns and they have now learnt to manage the bikes between them. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children enjoy exploring their environment. For example, one child along with the inspector test out the magnets on various objects around the room. The child quickly realises that the magnet does not stick to wood and plastic and is keen to

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and outcomes for children

find metal objects for the magnet. The nursery have a regular gardener that attends to the tubs and garden areas and the children help with the planting of a variety of flowers and bulbs. There is a wide range of written words, pictures and numbers around the setting, enhancing children's awareness and knowledge of the written word and numbers. However, there is a lack of space for children to display their own work, to help raise their self esteem and celebrate their achievements.

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and outcomes for children

Children enhance their counting skills as they help to lay the table for lunch, counting out the knives, forks, plates and chairs. Children have a very good awareness of health and personal hygiene. They independently access the toilet and wash their hands with no prompting, before eating and after using the toilet. There are many opportunities for children to access a full range of equipment to develop their physical skills. They enjoy the trikes and climbing equipment out doors and are confident in their use of tools, such as, scissors, writing implements and cutlery at meal times. The nursery have devised and implemented a highly effective system for re-enforcing children's awareness of healthy eating. When they are leaving the nursery all children are able to take a healthy snack, such as, a piece of fruit or a bag of raisins. This was implemented as a way to discourage parents from bringing their children crisps and sweets when they collect them from

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and outcomes for children

nursery. Both parents and children have fully embraced this idea and the children eagerly look for the snack on their way out of the nursery. A wide range of toy sacks are also available for the children to choose from and take home. This encourages parents to further enhance their children's learning at home.

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and outcomes for children

Children's knowledge and understanding of the wider world is developing extremely well as they have access to a wide variety of books and resources which display positive images and inform them of different celebrations, races and cultures from around the world. There are a range of story books available that are printed in different languages. Parents are able to borrow these and read with their children at home. 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 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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