Honley Day Care & Pre-Prep School

Honley Day Care & Pre-Preparatory School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY427025 Inspection date 29/09/2011 Inspector Abigail Cunningham

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Setting address Honley Day Care & Pre Prep School, Queens Square, Huddersfield Road, Honley, HOLMFIRTH, HD9 6QZ Telephone number 01484 667300 Email manager@honleydaycare.co.uk 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

Honley Day Care and Pre-Preparatory School was registered in 2011. The setting is privately owned and is situated in Honely, Holmfirth, near Huddersfield. The nursery operates from a purpose-built, single-storey building, with prep-school accommodated in two separate buildings on the same site. The setting serves the local and wider areas and has built links with local schools. There are three fully enclosed play areas available for outdoor play.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 140 children may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 92 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The setting offers care to children five to eight years old during school holidays and presently has three children on roll. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the setting

The setting currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and have systems in place to support children who speak English as an additional language. The setting opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 6.30pm all year round and children are able to attend for a variety of sessions.

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Description of the setting

The setting employs 17 members of childcare staff, of these, 13 hold appropriate early years qualifications to level 2 and above. Four staff are working towards a level 2 qualification and one member of staff is working towards Early Years Professional Status. The setting also employs a qualified teacher. The setting receives support from the local authority and holds Kirklees Healthy Choice Gold Award.

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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

The setting is highly committed to working in partnership with others and takes a lead role in establishing effective working relationships with parents, external agencies and other childcare providers. The welfare of the children is promoted exceptionally well and is significantly enhanced by the setting's policies, procedures and practice, which are mostly implemented with a high level of consistency. Proactive systems are in place, which lead to continued improvement. The children's learning and development is impressive, as all the children are achieving as much as they can and the provision for their developing their knowledge and understanding of the world and communication, language and literacy skills is excellent.

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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  organising systems so young children are grouped appropriately during story and singing time.

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the early years provision

Positive steps are taken to safeguard children. The safeguarding officer has a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues and all of the staff regularly updates their safeguarding training. Extremely effective procedures are in place for identifying any child at risk of harm and recording concerns. For instance, the safeguarding officer has experience of recording confidential information, liaising with the appropriate external agencies and attending meetings. Risk assessments for the premises and outings are regularly undertaken and reviewed and all potential hazards have been identified and minimised to ensure children's safety. The system for managing access to the premises is very good. This is because the risk of unauthorised persons being able to gain entry is minimised, as all visitors have to sign in and out at reception.

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the early years provision

The manager communicates high expectations to staff about securing improvement. As a result, they are very focused on helping all children to achieve as well as they can. Self-evaluation takes into account the views of parents, staff and other interested partners. For example, the children's uniform was adapted after listening to the views of parents. Future improvements are well placed to bring positive outcomes for children. For instance, the staff are planning to plant herbs in the babies outdoor play area.

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the early years provision

The setting is a very welcoming environment. It is maintained and decorated to a high standard. Resources are of very good quality, fit for purpose and used effectively to support the children's learning and development. For instance, furniture, equipment and toys are made of very good quality natural materials, which include wooden tables, chairs and home corner. Children also explore many natural resources, such as, shells and bark. The setting takes positive steps to ensure resources and the environment are sustainable. For instance, the children play with recycled plastic bottles in the water tray and enjoy using different fabric in their art work. Resources are mostly well deployed to improve outcomes for children. The toddler room children group together for story and singing sessions. Some of the younger children become restless because the group is too big and would benefit from being in smaller groups to retain their attention.

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the early years provision

The staff team have created an extremely inclusive environment in which to care for the children. They are fully aware of the children's backgrounds, home language, individual needs and starting points. Practitioners are very experienced in working with children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They are all provided with opportunities to update their skills and knowledge on a regular basis by attending training courses and discussing specific issues and updates during staff meetings. There are very effective and well-established channels of communications between all partners involved with individual children, which successfully promotes their learning, development and welfare. For example, regular meetings are held with parents, other professionals and individual This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 education plans are fully implemented. In order to positively promote the transition

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the early years provision

from nursery to school, reception teachers from local schools are invited into the nursery.

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the early years provision

Parents have excellent opportunities to be involved in their child's learning. For example, the pre-school children take books and letter sounds home to share with their parents. Parents are extremely well informed about all aspects of their children's achievement, well-being and development. For instance, regular parents meetings are held, to share information about each child's progress. Parents also receive information via daily diaries, notice boards and daily verbal feedback from the staff. This highly inclusive system of communication ensures that there are consistent and productive partnerships with parents. As a result, children make positive progress across all areas of learning.

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the early years provision

All children are valued and engage in a wide range of activities and experiences, which helps them to value diversity. They have a very positive attitude to others and an excellent understanding about the wider world and community. This is because the children enjoy being taken out into the local community, to feed the ducks, post letters and visit the library. They also have opportunities to mix with people who have disabilities.

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and outcomes for children

Children have innovative opportunities to engage in a wide range of physical activities and gain a secure understanding about the importance of regular exercise as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For instance, they can play out in all weathers and pre-school children have great fun participating in regular music and movement sessions. Young children also have fun playing in the sand pit and enjoy the challenge of using the climbing wall. As a result, children are developing a very positive attitude to exercise and being healthy.

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and outcomes for children

The children make healthy choices about what they eat and drink, as meals are made from freshly prepared ingredients. The children receive a very good range of healthy and wholesome meals. These are made onsite by the nursery chef, such as, tuna and vegetable gratin followed by bananas and homemade chocolate custard. The children successfully develop their self-help skills, for instance, young children help themselves to more lunch. Babies and young children are extremely content and settled because their individual health, physical and dietary needs are met to an exceptional standard. As a result, they enjoy their food very much and they settle down quickly for a sleep and have formed close attachments to staff.

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and outcomes for children

The environment in which children are cared for and educated is safe and supportive. Children are taught to be safety conscious without being fearful. For instance, they have regular opportunities to handle tools safely, as they use knifes to cut vegetables. They are developing an understanding of dangers and how to keep themselves safe, as staff show them how to behave near water and how to cross the car park safely. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Practitioners have a very thorough understanding of how children develop and learn, which is clearly reflected in the planning and assessment records. They plan an excellent range of activities for the children, which are based on interesting themes and the children's individual interests, such as 'Ourselves' and 'My family'. Assessment and monitoring through high quality observations is rigorous and the

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and outcomes for children

information gained, is used very effectively to identify the next steps in learning and guide planning. Tracking systems clearly demonstrate how the children are making excellent progress in their learning and development.

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and outcomes for children

The children's behaviour is exemplary. For instance, more able children use good manners without being promoted to do so. They listen attentively to stories and take turns in conversations. For example, while listening to a story about owls, the children explain, 'there are three owl babies', 'who are called Sarah, Bill and Percy'. They know 'that they fall asleep in the day time' and 'they wake up at night time'.

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and outcomes for children

The children have an extremely positive approach to learning. They very much enjoy observing and handling animals, birds and reptiles. As a result, they are developing an excellent knowledge of the natural world and are confidently using new words, such as, corn snake, owl and boa constrictor. Young children know how to use various tools and equipment, for example, they enjoy rolling, pulling and cutting out shapes in the play dough. More able children can form recognisable letters, write their own name and link sound to letters. They can complete complex jigsaw puzzles, name and recognise shapes, such as, hexagon and semi-circle. They can also understand various concepts and correctly identify both the tallest and the smallest tree and building. All of these activities develop children's skills and contribute to children's future economic well-being. 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 1 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 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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