Happy Days Club & Nursery School Limited

Happy Days Club & Nursery School Limited Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY417571 Inspection date 04/10/2011 Inspector Sue Birkenhead

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Setting address Hermitage Primary School, Hermitage Drive, Holmes Chapel, CREWE, CW4 7NP Telephone number 01477 549 002 Email helenlhall@yahoo.com 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

Happy Days Club and Nursery School is one of two settings run by the limited company. It first opened in 2006 and re-registered in 2010 when one of the partners retired. It operates from two rooms of the modular unit within the grounds of Hermitage County Primary School in Holmes Chapel. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Registers. A maximum of 32 children, aged between two and eight years, may attend the nursery school or out of school club at any one time.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is open each weekday during term time from 8am until 6pm from Monday to Friday. Care for out of school children is from 8am to 8.50am and from 3.15pm to 6pm, term time only, plus half term holidays from 8am to 6pm. In addition, Easter holiday club and summer holiday club run from the sister site, one mile away, from 8am until 6pm. All children share access to a secure outdoor play area. There are currently 29 children aged from two to under five years on the nursery school roll and 42 children on the out of school roll, of these, 15 children receive funding for early education.

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Description of the setting

The nursery and out of school club support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and there are none who speak English as an additional language. A maximum of seven staff are employed, in addition to the manager/owner. Including the manager there is six staff who have relevant early years qualifications and one is the designated administrator. The setting receives support from early years advisor on request.

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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 cared for in an extremely stimulating, welcoming and inclusive environment where their sense of belonging is actively promoted, as a result they are very happy, secure and confident. The well-established enthusiastic staff team are highly effective in the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Consequently, through the exceptional range of activities that challenge children, they make excellent progress towards the early learning goals. Highly effective partnerships between staff, parents, children and other providers mean children's care and learning is approached with consistency. Management and staff have high aspirations for quality and maintain continuous improvement through effective procedures for self-evaluation.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  extending the current opportunities to promote children's self-help skills with particular reference to pouring their own drinks and serving their own snacks.

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the early years provision

Children are protected extremely well because staff have a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues, all of whom receive regular training in this area. The robust recruitment and vetting procedures for all staff ensure their suitability. In addition, the comprehensive risk assessments which are reviewed through the completion of daily checklists ensure hazards to children are effectively minimised. Children's understanding of staying safe is actively promoted through discussion and activities, therefore, contributing to the high priority given to safeguarding children.

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the early years provision

Documentation and the written policies underpin excellent practice for the effective, safe running of the setting. They are well-organised and effectively implemented and shared with staff and parents. The cohesive, mainly qualified staff team are extremely committed to extending their knowledge and skills, which actively promotes better outcomes for children. The manager is highly effective in evaluating the setting's practices and procedures using the Ofsted self-evaluation and involving staff, parents and children. Consequently, many changes have been made to support the continuous development of the setting's practices. For example, the development of the superb outdoor play area and changes to the snack provision for children in the out of school club.

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the early years provision

Many outstanding initiatives for working in partnership with parents, carers and other settings children attend, contribute to the excellent relationships that develop. Consequently, this supports children's care and learning extremely well and complements the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Systems, such as 'the little book of treasurers', 'the partnership with parents' record book and the sharing of children's learning journeys, provide excellent opportunities for parents to contribute to their children's learning and share observations from home. In addition, planned events enable parents to visit the nursery to discuss practices and their children's progress, as well as view their children's learning journeys.

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the early years provision

Parents receive a weekly written account of the planned activities and other initiatives. As a result, children bring in items from home associated with the letter of the week, therefore, contributing to their learning. They are regularly consulted about changes and their input is valued greatly. Suggestions they make are collated well and fed back through the regular newsletter they receive. Parents are actively encouraged to visit the nursery and share their expertise with the children, such as a Tree Surgeon visited during the changes to the outdoor play area. Very effective home to nursery links, such as 'Golden Bear' and the book loan scheme actively engage parents in the children's learning. Parents contribute to the inspection through the extremely complimentary views they exchange. They describe the setting and staff as 'wonderful', outlining individual views such as 'fantastic from day one, having complete trust in their care, staff are fantastic and

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the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children have made considerable progress developmentally'.

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and outcomes for children

Children eagerly enter the extremely stimulating and welcoming environment, where they are clearly happy in the care of the dedicated staff team. Staff get to know the children really well and take account of their individual needs, adapting styles accordingly to their different abilities. The superb deployment of resources and the extremely effective staff interaction ensures children's learning is actively promoted both indoors and outside. Consequently, children play a dynamic role in their learning. They show high levels of independence, curiosity and imagination from a young age. Good displays of information, children's art work and photographs promote an excellent sense of belonging. Learning is rooted in the staff's very good knowledge of the learning and development requirements. The very effective planning of activities, supports the enjoyable, challenging experiences taking into account children's next steps in learning and individual

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and outcomes for children

interests. Consequently, an excellent balance of adult-led and child-initiated opportunities are promoted. The very comprehensive individual learning journeys contain many purposeful observations, which are clearly linked to the developmental summaries to reflect the excellent progress children make towards the early learning goals.

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and outcomes for children

The many worthwhile and unique opportunities support the development of children's skills for the future and include many 'practical life' activities. Circle times, which include sharing items they bring from home, actively increases children's confidence, communication and social skills. They are skilful in buttering their rice cakes or crackers at snack time, however, opportunities for children to extend their self-help skills particularly at snack time are not fully explored. For example, staff set the table and pour their drinks. They develop a very positive understanding of the world around them through resources and activities to support their understanding of diversity. They show a very active interest in the natural world as they follow the life cycle of the butterfly and care for the Guinea Pigs. Many excellent opportunities support the children's early literacy skills and future plans involve the mobile library visiting the setting. They give meaning to

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and outcomes for children

marks they make through the excellent opportunities indoors and outdoors available to them. For example, they draw with chalks on the blackboard, wear writing belts, access clip board outdoors and recreate their name in the coloured sand with skill. Children learn to recognise the letters and sounds and some begin to write their names.

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and outcomes for children

Children engage in many worthwhile opportunities to promote their creativity. They enjoy taking part in familiar action rhymes, use a range of different media during art and craft activities, which include recycled materials. Children's understanding of basic technology from a young age is promoted extremely well through the wide range of interesting resources readily accessible to them. Children comment 'this is fun' as they film their friends using the digital camera or the video recorder when playing outdoors. They are extremely competent at using the computer and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 confidently access the art programme. Excellent opportunities outdoors in the superb play area created, enabling them to explore insects in the 'Bug Hotel' and listen to stories in the 'Willow Den'. They transfer water through the guttering into buckets with enthusiasm and comment 'I've never seen anything like this before'.

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and outcomes for children

In addition, bikes, balancing beams and many other play materials actively promote their coordination, balance, spatial awareness and encourage the development of their physical skills. Through planned themes and everyday experiences, children develop an excellent understanding of number, shape and colour. Children actively resolve problems for themselves when playing with the guttering, a ball and bucket with success. They have many excellent opportunities to extend their imagination both indoors and outside. For example, they take on the role of the hairdresser indoors and access the designated building site where they can assume the role of the builder using artificial bricks, rocks and the cement mixer.

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and outcomes for children

Children's understanding of personal health and hygiene is promoted extremely well through the daily routines and planned activities. Children know that they wash their hands because of 'the germs'. Healthy snacks are enjoyed by children and through information shared with parents, healthy packed lunches are provided. Many effective methods contribute to the management of children's behaviour. Consequently, they are very well behaved and responsive to the praise they receive in recognition of their achievements, effective in building their confidence and self-esteem. Children know the routines well and are very responsive to the bell that rings by saying 'its time to tidy up'. They learn about safe practices through the effective routines and very regularly practise emergency evacuation. They indicate they feel safe as they are happy to leave staff to explore their environment and turn to them for reassurance when required. Older children

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and outcomes for children

enter into purposeful discussions with adults and when asked say they feel safe at the nursery. 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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