Little Angels at Fenham Children's Centre

Little Angels at Fenham Children's Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY335738 Inspection date 17/10/2011 Inspector Julie Morrison

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Setting address Sacred Heart Primary School, Convent Road, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE4 9XZ Telephone number 0191 2746316 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

Little Angels at Fenham Children's Centre was registered in 2006. It is one of four provisions owned and managed by Little Angels Fun Club and Nursery Limited. The nursery operates from two purpose-built rooms within the children's centre. There is access to an outdoor play area.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. It is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register to care for no more than 45 children in the early years age range, no more than 21 of whom may under three years. They currently have 69 children on roll. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

Links have been made with the local schools and partnership arrangements established with other early years settings. There are 15 members of staff, of whom two hold a level 6 qualification, two hold level 5, eight hold level 3, two hold level 2 and one is currently working towards a level 3 qualification.

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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 thrive in the vibrant, stimulating and supportive learning environment provided by the nursery. An exceptional range of effective learning experiences and play opportunities, which are based on children's individual development and interests, ensure that children make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development. The excellent working partnerships with parents and other agencies fully promote a consistently high commitment to meeting all children's individual needs. Robust processes of self-evaluation enable the management and staff team to identify and prioritise improvements that are well targeted and ensure the setting sustains high quality outcomes for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 providing a second key person for children so that there is continuity for children and families if the main key person is not available.

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the early years provision

Dynamic leadership and management in the setting results in a confident and knowledgeable staff team who implement the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage extremely well. As a result, safeguarding practice is excellent, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and children are kept safe, secure and protected from harm. The majority of staff have attended safeguarding training, and as a result are confident in their understanding of procedures to follow if they had a concern about a child and are adept at identifying the signs and symptoms of possible abuse. All regulatory documentation that supports children's welfare is in place, well maintained and regularly reviewed to ensure current practice is reflected. Robust recruitment procedures ensure that staff are appropriately qualified and suitable to work with children. Regular one-to-one meetings, staff appraisals and monthly observations

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the early years provision

of staff's practice with children are used very effectively to support staff to progress and build upon their knowledge and skills. The completion of robust risk assessments, along with rigorous daily checks, ensures that potential hazards are identified and minimised. The nursery is a very welcoming and stimulating place for all children and their families. Lots of soft furnishings, natural textures and dens provide homely spaces to enable children to feel safe and secure. An excellent range of resources and activities inside the nursery are organised well to stimulate children's curiosity and interest in learning. This is complemented with free access to the superbly resourced outdoor area.

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the early years provision

Staff are guided by the highly experienced and skilled manager who inspires, encourages and values staff contributions. Self-evaluation is excellent and is extremely well focused on achieving and sustaining high quality outcomes for children, involving the staff team, parents, other settings within the group and local authority advisors. This is combined with all recommendations raised at the previous inspection having been addressed. This commitment to a rigorous cycle of monitoring and evaluation means that the management and staff team are continually striving to improve the quality of the care and learning provided; this demonstrates an exemplary capacity for improvement. Inclusive practice is integral to all aspects of the nursery's work. For example, the setting benefits from an experienced and knowledgeable Specialist Educational Needs Coordinator, key words are displayed around the setting in various languages and the setting

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the early years provision

benefits highly from multilingual staff who translate the newsletter to enable all families to understand what is happening at the nursery. As a result, children with English as an additional language and those with special educational and/or disabilities make excellent progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents are excellent. Detailed information is provided for parents prior to their child starting at the nursery, which ensures that they are very well informed about the setting. Their contributions are highly valued by the nursery, for example, gathering feedback at parents evenings and through regular questionnaires. Parents have superb opportunities to continue their child's learning at home through the use of special day sheets or home link books. These suggest activities for parents and children to do at home, such as encouraging their child to draw a picture of themselves. This is then used effectively at circle time to promote discussion with the children. The management and staff have developed excellent links with local schools to provide and share information, for example, through transition reports and the children's details. Schools are invited to the setting and key workers have attended visits to local schools to support parents of

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the early years provision

children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in making the right This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 decision about which school best meets their child's individual needs. This ensures that transition to school is managed very well.

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and outcomes for children

Children make consistently excellent progress in their learning and development, in relation to their individual starting points. This is because the knowledgeable staff team have developed extremely effective processes for planning that provide children with a rich range of learning opportunities based on their individual interests and next steps in learning. The key worker system is used to very good effect; however, a second key person has not been introduced to fully ensure consistency for children and parents when the main key worker is not available. This has a minimal impact on children's care and learning as staff clearly know all of the children very well.

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and outcomes for children

Children at the nursery develop into very confident individuals. Their strong exploratory impulse is developed from a young age; for example, babies explore mushy peas with their hands and feet. Children's knowledge and understanding of the natural world is developed in fun and interesting ways. For example, they plant, grow and eat a variety of vegetables and herbs and proudly show the frogs they have watched grow from tadpoles. Naturally inquisitive and keen to learn, children's skills for the future are developed through an excellent range of counting and problem solving activities. For example, they use metal detectors to search out buried treasure coins and match the numbers. Staff are highly skilled at asking questions to encourage children to think, reason and extend their language, for example, as the children explore coloured ice they talk about how it feels and staff ask them, 'how many pieces will you have if it breaks?' Even younger children are

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and outcomes for children

encouraged to begin basic calculation skills as they count blocks, and staff ask them how many there will be if they add one more.

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and outcomes for children

Children have a wealth of opportunities to be creative and explore a range of natural materials and resources, including water, drainpipes, paint, junk modelling and playing in the large sand shed with pulleys, scales, buckets and spades. Children use language very confidently; they demonstrate a desire to learn as they ask questions and acquire new skills, such as using a spirit level to see if bricks are straight. They listen attentively to instructions and to each other during circle time. They clearly enjoy books, which young children look at with staff while older ones confidently 'read aloud' to themselves. Children have very good opportunities to learn about the world around them through positive images displayed in the nursery and planned activities, such as a bus trip to a Chinese restaurant. An excellent range of information and communication technology resources, such as computers and digital cameras, are used competently by the children. There is a

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and outcomes for children

lively atmosphere within the nursery, with children of all ages fully engrossed in their self-appointed tasks.

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and outcomes for children

Children's welfare is supported extremely well in the safe and secure nursery. Innovative programmes promote children's excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe and manage risks. For example, they devise their own risk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 assessments, talking confidently about any potential risks and highlighting what they can do to minimise them. Children manage their self-care skills very well; they clearly know daily routines, such as brushing their teeth, and hands are washed thoroughly before meals. Committed to exceedingly high standards, the nursery kitchen has gained five stars from the local authority, and the nursery has worked closely with the local community to obtain a gold environment award. This has supported children in further developing their excellent understanding of healthy lifestyles through making compost heaps and recycling. A balanced and nutritious

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and outcomes for children

menu is provided which takes into account all children's individual dietary needs. Meals times are a social occasion as staff sit and eat with the children. This provides a positive role model for children and the time is used well to encourage good manners and talk about the benefits of healthy foods. Children's behaviour in the nursery is excellent. Staff talk to them in a quiet, consistent manner, providing a calm atmosphere. Forward-thinking and age-appropriate systems for managing behaviour such as 'bother and best' are used by staff. This encourages children to talk about what is bothering them, how best they can address this and to take responsibility for their feelings and actions. As a result, children are very happy, secure and settled at this outstanding 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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