Corner House Nursery Trafford Park

The Village Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY334615 Inspection date 11/10/2011 Inspector Alec Smith

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Setting address The Village Nursery, Third Avenue, Trafford Park, MANCHESTER, M17 1JE Telephone number 0161 876 7994 Email Type of setting Childcare - Non-Domestic 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

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

The Village Nursery is one of four nurseries owned by the proprietor. The nursery has been registered since 1996 and was re-registered under the current ownership in 2006. It operates from a purpose built single storey building and is situated in the Trafford Park area of Manchester. Children are cared for in seven rooms according to age and all have access to the fully enclosed garden.

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Description of the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.30am to 6pm. The setting is registered to care for 131 children and currently, has 118 children on roll. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 33 members of staff who work with the children. Of these, 30 hold appropriate early years qualifications, 28 of which hold Level 3 or above and the proprietor holds Early Years Professional Status. The nursery 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 settle well in the welcoming setting provided by staff who work closely together. They make good progress in their learning because teaching is rooted in a good knowledge of how to plan and provide play and activities to ensure that most of their individual needs are effectively met. The setting works exceptionally well with parents, relevant outside agencies and with most Early Years Foundation Stage providers. Children thoroughly enjoy the extremely well-resourced garden, which has recently been upgraded as part of the management team's commitment to making ongoing improvements. Good self-evaluation processes are in place so that challenging targets are established. All required documentation is in place and effective in practice.

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further?

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

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further?

 increase opportunities for younger children to explore a wider range of information and communication technology activities  develop further working relationships with other practitioners to support transition, between the setting and schools. 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 well protected, safeguarded and cared for by staff who have a clear understanding of local safeguarding procedures. There are detailed policies and procedures in place and staff share these with parents on admission and as part of a welcome pack in each room. Vetting procedures are robust and staff sign a statement to say they remain suitable at yearly appraisals. Staff attend regular training to ensure that their understanding of safeguarding procedures is up to date and they are kept well informed of changes by the management team.

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the early years provision

Staff have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and use this effectively to support children's learning. The management team place a high priority on ensuring staff are well trained and keep up to date with new developments. For example, they have access to a well-resourced library, where staff can borrow books to keep themselves and parents well informed about new ideas, such as heuristic play. The environment of the setting gives all children a broad range of activities to choose from both inside and outside. This means that children are able to make good progress in their learning. For example, children explore their own ideas when using the construction toys as they can select from a number of well-organised resources.

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the early years provision

The management team works closely with all staff to evaluate their practice. The recommendations from the previous inspection have been met. For example, staff have developed a well-enhanced, large role play area for the oldest children which gives them many opportunities to explore their own ideas. The manager uses self- evaluation effectively and has involved the ideas of a number of stakeholders, such as parents, in this process. They have set themselves clear targets, such as to further develop the fantastic outdoor space to provide further opportunities for children.

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the early years provision

The setting forms exceptionally strong relationships with parents and carers. There are exemplary systems in place to share children's progress and fully involve parents in their children's learning. For example, parents regularly take children's learning journey scrapbooks home to add their own comments and staff add articles to these, so parent's know how they can support children at home. The views of parents are regularly sought through open days, newsletters and surveys, so that they can actively contribute to the setting's self-evaluation processes. The setting has a good relationship with a number of schools the children attend and effective systems are in place to aid with transition. However, because children go to a large number of schools across a wide area, there are some difficulties reaching some schools. This means that potentially, opportunities for continuity of learning for some children may be missed.

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the early years provision

Staff provide good support for children who have special education needs and/or disabilities. They are supported in this by the setting's Special Education Needs Coordinator and other agencies. For example, they develop plans for children who have speech and language delay with support from a Speech and Language therapist. There is a comprehensive equality and diversity policy, which is reviewed This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 regularly and supports the staff well.

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and outcomes for children

Children settle quickly into the setting and feel safe and secure in its routines because staff take time to get to know the children. Children are able to move around the environment freely and safely both indoors and outside. This is because staff ensure that the environment is safe and set clear boundaries for children. Children learn how to use the equipment safely and are well supported by the staff in doing so. For example, children play on the stepping stones outside. The staff know when to offer support and when not to, as they have a clear understanding of children's development.

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and outcomes for children

Children have fantastic opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles. They learn about healthy eating as they grow their own vegetables in the recently refurbished garden. For example, the children grow their own courgettes, harvest them and try them as part of their snack and the cook uses them for lunch. The children prepare their own snack ready for each day with the support from staff and learn about the importance of excellent hygiene-routines. The cook provides superb well-balanced menus that are shared with parents and the children to ensure that children have a healthy meal. All children have continuous access to an excellently resourced outdoor area. Children are provided with a number of physical challenges, such as a bike track and balance beams.

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and outcomes for children

Children make good progress towards the early learning goals as staff regularly observe children, effectively plan activities around their needs and interests and track the progress they make. Children are developing skills in early phonics through a range of purposeful and developmentally appropriate activities. For example, older children join in with games, matching letters to the correct picture. Children enjoy stories and learn how to turn the pages themselves and point to the pictures. For example, children point to their shoes when they are mentioned in the story they are listening to. Children develop effective numeracy skills through a broad range of activities and stories. For example, they read the story of 'Snow white and the seven dwarfs' and match numbers to puppets from the story. Children are skilful in using technology, such as using the keyboard on a computer to write out their name. However, opportunities for younger children are not as

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and outcomes for children

developed as those for older children and so some opportunities to extend children's technological understanding is not maximised.

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and outcomes for children

Children are very well behaved in the setting and are actively encouraged to be independent. They set their own cutlery out at lunchtime and serve themselves. This means they develop excellent independence skills. Babies in the setting excitedly show their enthusiasm for activities, such as treasure basket play. They become really involved in using objects to make their own music, such as banging sticks against a large wooden bowl. Children learn about their own and different cultures through an extensive range of activities and resources. For Diwali, they celebrate by making their own Mehndi patterns and were supported by the parents This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 to do this. 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 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 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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