Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hospital

Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hospital Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY422557 Inspection date 28/07/2011 Inspector Hilary Preece

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Setting address St. Albans City Hospital, Waverley Road, ST. ALBANS, Hertfordshire, AL3 5PN Telephone number 01727897602 Email stalbans.hospital@busybees.com 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.

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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

Busy Bees @ St Albans Hospital re-opened in 2010 having formerly been known as TLC @ St Albans Hospital. The nursery operates from a purpose-built building comprising four main rooms and two enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery opens Monday to Friday throughout the year from 7am until 7pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and compulsory part of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of 51 children at any one time. There are currently 98 children on roll within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are 16 members of staff, 11 of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 2. Four members of staff hold foundation degrees and one member of staff is working towards a full degree. 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

Excellent partnerships with parents, schools and other professionals are a key strength in ensuring the needs of all children are met, including those with additional needs. Well-developed knowledge about every child ensures their welfare is promoted. Most policies and procedures are effectively followed and understood in order to protect children and keep them safe. A well-established culture of reflective practice enables priorities for development to be identified and the capacity for continuous improvement to be maintained.

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further?

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

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further?

 ensure all practitioners have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, with regard to the role of the designated person for safeguarding  continue to develop the environment to support children's learning in secure, safe and challenging outdoor areas. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The nursery has rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. An induction programme, internal and external training and regular appraisals ensure staff continue to develop their skills and knowledge. Consequently, they feel valued and remain motivated in their jobs. The nursery has appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures which are implemented when necessary in order to protect children. Staff members overall are knowledgeable about safeguarding issues and clearly understand their roles and responsibilities in carrying out the nurserys procedures. However, this is not entirely reliable and could potentially weaken the effectiveness of the procedures. The environment is secure and well-managed systems are used to monitor visitors to the nursery in order to prevent any unauthorised access. Risk assessments and daily checks of the nursery are made. Staff are generally vigilant in carrying out

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the early years provision

checks on their rooms and any safety issues that are brought to their attention are taken seriously and dealt with promptly in order to ensure childrens safety. The indoor environment is bright, welcoming and well equipped. All children have daily access to outdoor play opportunities. The gardens are maintained sufficiently well and the nursery has plans to refurbish the outdoor space and resources to improve the overall quality of the environment. Staff are well deployed throughout the nursery.

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the early years provision

The nursery is very proactive in building strong partnerships with parents and other professionals and early years settings. They have access to plenty of information about the nursery and its services. Highly effective communication is in place to ensure that children's individual needs are met and to ensure parents can contribute fully to the running of the nursery. For example, their views are sought frequently and comments that they make are taken forward as part of ongoing action plans. A parent liaison group works with the management team to represent the views of all parents and to ensure that information is shared. Parents report that the nursery is very responsive to any comments and suggestions for improvement. They compliment the standard of care and praise the way in which children are helped to settle in with minimal difficulty.

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the early years provision

In addition, they have developed really effective communication and sharing of information with schools that children move on to. Teachers from these schools are invited to visit prior to a child moving on and they are provided with a really valuable record about each child to which the children, their parents and key person in the nursery contribute. This ensures children's transitions are as seamless and smooth as possible. In addition, excellent partnership working between the nursery, parents and professionals ensures children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive individually tailored support. As a result, all children make the best possible progress given their starting points.

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the early years provision

The nursery and senior management team are very effective in monitoring practice and planning for improvement. Self-evaluation takes many different forms including regular quality audits from head office, working towards an approved quality assurance scheme and a new initiative entitled See the Difference. This has This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 led to improvements in the quality of the environment such as ensuring all children have better access to drink stations, providing pre-school children with greater access to problem solving and number resources throughout all areas of the room and promoting equality and diversity displays throughout the nursery.

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and outcomes for children

Children's health, safety and well-being are promoted well. Babies are relaxed and content because their individual routines are followed and they receive plenty of attention and stimulation from their carers. Consequently, they develop secure relationships and feel safe. Children quickly develop confidence to explore their surroundings and become independent. They help themselves to drinks whenever they feel thirsty and confidently indicate when they need to use the toilet, thus learn to take care of their personal needs. Freshly cooked, well-balanced meals using seasonal ingredients are prepared on site and cater for all dietary needs. Particularly well-managed systems are used to ensure that children with food allergies or individual dietary requirements do not come into contact with any food they cannot have. Any individual medical needs are clearly recorded, understood and planned for. A number of staff members are trained in first aid to ensure

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and outcomes for children

children receive appropriate treatment if accidents occur. Nursery staff are aware of the risks of children choking on small items, so all toys are tested in a choke test device to reduce any risk of this.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop good understanding of keeping safe and healthy. Younger children are reminded to wash their hands and to keep their noses clean whilst older children have some awareness of what impact germs have on their bodies if they do not wash their hands well. They take part in Wake and Shake dance and movement sessions that provide an energising start to the day. Children understand the principles of road safety awareness and understand what is expected of them in order to keep safe when on walks in the local area. They also act out road safety in role play situations, make road maps and enjoy visits from the fire service, paramedics and police to further reinforce their understanding. This also helps them develop a sense of understanding about their community and wider world.

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and outcomes for children

All children are engaged in purposeful play and show considerable confidence and motivation to learn. They behave well, use polite manners and show respect for their surroundings and their peers. Children are helped to feel valued and positive about themselves as photographs of their families are displayed which represent their culture, language and beliefs. Staff make every effort to use a child's home language or celebrate cultural practices to create a fully inclusive setting. Older children enjoy the responsibility of helping to hand out cups at meal times and respond to the challenge of working out how many they will need. They have high levels of self-esteem and are genuinely proud of their achievements. For example, a child proudly demonstrates how he built a bouncy castle for the dinosaurs and confidently identifies the shape of the wooden blocks that he used. Children have varied and stimulating opportunities to explore imaginative play. Role play areas

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and outcomes for children

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 become silver space ships or a hairdressing salon. Even young toddlers act out familiar situations by taking a handbag to go to the shops.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy being outside and are keen to explore the environment and resources, although at times this is restricted because of limited shade and protection from rain. Babies enjoy sensory activities such as splashing about with water and using their hands in paint to make marks on a large cardboard frieze attached to the fence. Older children negotiate with each other to build a path and steps from milk crates and building blocks to help them climb up on to the climbing apparatus. They express their ideas and thoughts very well as they use large brushes and water to draw their parents faces on the ground and to experiment with mark making. Children who choose not to be so active enjoy relaxing on blankets and looking at books with members of staff. Children show respect when handling books and great interest in the content. They use their developing language skills to either point to pictures or describe in some considerable detail

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and outcomes for children

what they see and what the text might say, depending on their stage of language development. Staff sometimes use baby signing as a means to support babies early communication and understanding.

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and outcomes for children

Children's progress in their learning and development is closely monitored by their key person. Through their observations they know the children really well and effectively plan for the next steps in their learning. Learning records are well maintained. Parents have access to these at any time and are actively encouraged to contribute to the records and share information about their children's achievements at home. As a result, key persons fully support all children to make good progress towards the early learning goals and equip them well for future learning. 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 3 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 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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