Kidstuff Day Nursery and Bottoms Up Baby Unit

Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. Kidstuff Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY254839 Inspection date 15/01/2009 Inspector Hilary Preece / Siobhan O'Callaghan

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Setting address 299 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Herts, WD6 1TH

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Telephone number 0208 953 0077 Email seps848471@aol.com Type of setting Childcare - Non-Domestic 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). This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Kidstuff Day Nursery and Bottoms Up Baby Unit registered in May 2003. The provision operates from a large two storey property situated at the end of Borehamwood High Street, Hertfordshire. There are four base rooms, toilet and nappy change facilities, a kitchen and storage facilities. Children have access to a secure small outside play area with direct access to a park for outside play. The nursery serves the local and wider community. There is level access to the entrance of the property and the nursery operates over two floors. Children on the upper floor use stairs to access the garden. There is parking on site.

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Description of the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register to care for a maximum of 96 children at any one time. There are currently 60 children attending who are within the early years age group. The nursery is open throughout the year from 08:00 until 18:00 closing only for statutory Bank Holidays. Extended hours from 07:30am are an option.

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Description of the setting

There are 19 members of staff who work with the children, including the manager, of which nine hold appropriate early years qualifications. Nine members of staff are currently working towards a recognised early years qualification. The setting is able to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The setting receives support from qualified teacher involvement and Young in Herts partnership.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Kidstuff Day Nursery generally provides effectively for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Most of the information required about children in order to plan successfully for their individual needs is gathered from parents and carers and ongoing communication and information is shared to promote positive working relationships and ensure children's needs continue to be met. Children's welfare is managed sufficiently although some procedures are less robust than others. Planning for future improvement is effective because all levels of the setting are involved in self-evaluation, which gives a common sense of purpose.

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further?

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

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further?

 ensure robust systems are implemented and understood by staff for the recording and monitoring of any accidents that happen to children away from the setting  review the planning to: make sure the six areas of learning and development are not delivered in isolation from the others; make sure it includes how children's learning and development can be extended in the outdoor environment; and focus on individual children taking into account their interests and preferred learning styles This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  ensure that children have a variety of opportunities to use information and communication technology and programmable toys to support their learning  value linguistic diversity by providing opportunities for children to develop and use their home language in their play and learning  review the organisation of meal times for babies to provide a more sociable

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further?

occasion, and provide opportunities for pre-school children to extend their independence and participation in preparing and serving food.

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provision

The setting is benefiting from the strong and focused leadership of the current manager, who has been in the post for less than a year, which has led to improvements. Issues raised since the last inspection have been taken seriously and clear improvements made. The manager is building a stronger staff teams and encouraging staff to pursue training and qualifications in childcare. Room leaders have taken on additional roles and responsibilities for elements of children's welfare and are developing confidence in these areas. These changes are beginning to have a positive impact on the outcomes for children. The manager is clearly focused on making continued improvements through the setting realistic goals and using resources effectively to target the improvements. She seeks advice and support from external agencies to tackle specific issues such as behaviour management and visits other early years settings to share good practice.

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provision

Partnership working in the wider context is thus effective. The manager has concentrated on strengthening the partnership too with parents and carers. New parents really appreciate the sensitive and caring approach shown by staff to settling in new babies. There is a generally good flow of information between parents and staff with daily or weekly records made available to summarise children's care, learning and development. Parents' views are sought regularly through surveys to measure their satisfaction and plans are drawn up to show how their comments and suggestions have been taken forward. New initiatives involving parents include regular parent consultation sessions and days when parents can come in to play with their children. As a result, parents are provided with plenty of information about how they can be equal partners in supporting their children to learn and develop.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children are generally sound. Policies and procedures that protect children and keep them safe from harm are quite comprehensive but some, such as the procedure for recording pre-existing injuries and marks that children may arrive with at the setting, are not sufficiently understood by staff. This means the safeguarding procedure is not robust and potentially compromises children's safety and well-being. Children are kept safe and secure in the building through good security systems and supervision by staff. Significant improvement has been made to the general cleanliness of the environment and hygiene procedures used by staff to promote children's good health and well-being. Overall, risk assessments are effective in highlighting any safety issues, monitoring safety of the environment on a day to day basis and keeping children safe on outings. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Most aspects of children's welfare are managed well so that children begin to understand the importance of good health and keeping safe. Children's health and wellbeing is promoted by ensuring individual sleep patterns are respected and surroundings are comfortable. Nutritious and well balanced meals and snacks are prepared on site, and babies' milk feeds are made up as and when required for freshness. Meal times are generally sociable occasions where children and adults sit together around the table and talk about the benefits of certain foods on their health. For example, older children know they need energy providing foods to help them be active, and discuss how carrots help them see in the dark. Babies benefit from less social interaction with other children when feeding because their highchairs are all placed in a line. Children are supported well in taking responsibility for their own personal care and hygiene, although opportunities to

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

encourage further independence in older children are missed at meal times because they are not sufficiently encouraged to participate in helping to prepare and serve their food and drinks. Children are generally made aware of their own safety as they move around the nursery and use the resources. For example, older children know it is important to hold on to the hand rail as they walk downstairs so they do not fall because this is clearly reinforced to them, and through role play they are helped to become aware that electrical hair appliances need to be handled carefully because they may be hot.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children's individual needs are met through gathering and sharing information with parents and carers, and systems are in place to identify and support children who may have additional needs. Children's cultural identity is recognised and represented through some interesting and well resourced displays throughout the nursery, which helps children and their families feel valued. However, children do not readily hear or speak their home language in their play and learning as the setting has not realised the importance of this for children's development. Behaviour is managed appropriately by members of staff that are developing confidence in acting as good role models and offering praise and reward for children's positive behaviour.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children's attitudes are generally positive and they show interest and enthusiasm in some of the activities planned for them. Babies respond well to the warm support and enthusiasm of their carers, which develops their sense of security. Toddlers particularly appreciate music sessions in which they listen and watch a member of staff playing the guitar and take part in playing instruments as they move their bodies to the music. Older children proudly talk about their contribution to the wall displays and recall what food the caterpillar ate in the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. This shows their confidence in communication, language and literacy.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children enjoy learning and some older children showing they are working well towards the early learning goals. Staff teams have a generally secure knowledge of the EYFS and plan a broad range of experiences and play opportunities for children. Children enjoy these activities and most show initiative in choosing their play and exploring their surroundings. However, planning around the six areas of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 learning and development is not consistently given equal emphasis. Some days the plans focus on one particular area rather than including all the areas, and plans fail to show regard for children's individual interests and learning styles. This means staff may miss opportunities to maximise children's learning across the whole curriculum. There is a generally sound system throughout the nursery for observing and assessing children which identifies starting points and the next steps

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

in children's learning, although these are not consistently monitored across the nursery to ensure all children have the same level of input from their key person. The environment is generally bright, welcoming and suitably equipped to meet the needs of the children. However, opportunities for children to extend their learning and development outside are limited because the outdoor environment is not as well resourced and not sufficiently included in the planning.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children readily show an awareness of numbers and simple problem solving. They use their fingers to reinforce counting out 'Goldilocks' three bowls of porridge during an action song. Children develop a sense of time through meaningful activities such as using a series of wall clocks that represent key times in the sequence of their day. They also develop a sense of place through making visits to the local community and exploring the multicultural interest tables showing different lifes and places from around the world. Children use their imagination throughout their play by confidently setting up train tracks or purposefully cooking pretend meals. They explore a range of media such as dough, sand and paint and some older children benefit from a weekly session to promote imaginative ideas. Children have some opportunities to develop knowledge of and skills in operating information, communication and technology equipment such as an electronic

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

keyboard and play telephones. However, their progress in this area is limited as the only computer in the nursery is currently broken and there are no programmable toys to explore. Overall, children are provided with a secure foundation for their 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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of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

How well does the provision promote inclusive practice? 3 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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Foundation Stage led and managed?

How effective is the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement? How well does the setting work in partnership with parents and others? How well are children safeguarded? 3

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 3 How well are children helped to be healthy? 2 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 2 How well are children helped to make a positive contribution? How well are children helped develop skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being?

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

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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