Pippins School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique Reference Number 110095 Inspection date 27/02/2007 Inspector Catherine Hill / Hazel Stuart-Buddery

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Setting address 301A Armstrong Way, Pyestock, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 0LS

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Telephone number 01252 533430 or 01252 533431 E-mail farn-nrs@btconnect.com Registered person Busy Bees Nurseries Ltd Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day care, Out of School care

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Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be freely reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided the source and date of publication are stated.

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage.

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The provider must give a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must give a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Day Care and Childminding (inspection) (England) Regulations 2005 No 2300 Regulations 5 and 6).

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Busy Bees Day Nursery has been registered since 2001. It provides care and education for up to 159 children age three months to five years. The opening times are Monday to Friday 07.30 to 18.00 for 52 weeks of the year. An Out of School club runs during school holidays and is registered for 24 children aged four to eight years. The opening times are 08.00 to 18.00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is situated on Ministry of Defence land between the towns of Fleet and Farnborough. The staff of the Ministry of Defence are allocated 50 percent of the places and the rest are available for children from the local community.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery comprises of five rooms accommodating up to 63 children from three months to two years, four rooms of 12 children age two to three years and two rooms of 24 children age three to five years. There is also a separate sensory room and a large activity room. There are separate enclosed outdoor play areas for each of the rooms. The nursery has a fully equipped catering kitchen and a separate milk preparation kitchen.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 299 children on roll. Fifty-seven of these children are in receipt of nursery education funding. Children attend for a variety of sessions each week. The nursery supports children who have learning difficulties/disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

At present there are 37 members of staff who work directly with the children. There are two nursery managers who are both supernumerary. Eighteen members of staff hold relevant qualifications with professional development ongoing for all staff.

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Helping children to be healthy

Older children learn the importance of hygiene procedures and understand why they need to wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before eating food. However, younger children up to 18 months do not have a daily routine to wash their hands before eating and therefore the spread of infection is not always prevented. Babies are generally protected from the spread of infection because staff implement sound procedures for changing nappies; they wear gloves, aprons and use disposable paper towels on the changing mat. However, the rooms where children are changed are not sufficiently ventilated and the nappy changing units have not been regularly cleaned.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff gather all relevant information regarding diet and medical history to ensure individual needs are met. Children benefit from freshly prepared nutritious meals that ensure they remain healthy. Fresh drinking water is available for all children who confidently help themselves throughout the day. This encourages them to think about their personal needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have daily opportunities to play outside and get fresh air and develop their physical skills. Staff advise they enjoy running around and using bikes, balls and hoops. Older children confidently use the climbing frame during free play sessions.

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff use the Birth to three matters framework to support children’s development and provide a range of play experiences for babies and children under three years. For example, some babies enjoy exploring and investigating a basket full of metal and wooden utensils, they bang the pans with the wooden spoon and smile happily as they make a lot of noise.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children have plenty of space to play and can access a range of resources safely. All children play in bright rooms with lots of natural light. Older children are in a visually stimulating environment with pictures, posters and art work displayed around the room. Younger children do not have any displays of pictures at low levels and their art work is displayed up high, this means that their environment is not welcoming or visually stimulating. Children are generally kept safe by staff who are vetted and who demonstrate an awareness of safety. The security of the site is good. Children are unable to leave unattended and visitors are checked before entering the building. Staff supervise children when playing outside. Young children and babies can crawl and learn to walk in a safe environment.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Effective child protection procedures promote and safeguard children’s welfare within the setting. Staff have completed in-house training and have a sound knowledge of signs and symptoms of abuse and know what action to take if they have concerns about a child in their care.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are happy, content and most are engaged in play throughout the day. Babies enjoy having one to one time with staff. They have access to a range of resources that they can explore and investigate. Some babies smile happily and chuckle as they are encouraged to bang the drum with the drum stick. Staff know the babies well and recognise signs of tiredness. Babies are given their comforters and are settled by staff who gently rub the babies' backs while they rest in the cot. Toddlers have a sufficient range of resources to keep them occupied. Most toddlers enjoy the dance sessions. They listen carefully to the instructions on the tape and place their fingers on their heads and feet as they dance to the music. Children in the two to three year old rooms are happy and confident. Some children enjoy water play. They excitedly put on aprons and wait patiently for the water tray to be filled up. The children decide that they would like to wash the dolls; each child chooses a

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

doll to wash. Staff talk to the children about why the dolls float in the water and get face cloths for the children to wash the dolls with. The children play well together and spontaneously gather other resources to help them. For example, one girl collects cups and jugs to pour water over the dolls. Other toddlers enjoy dressing up, they put on animal hats and staff encourage them to make the animal noises. Some children make quiet roaring noises and staff remind them that lions are very loud, the children respond by making a loud lion roar. Staff throughout the nursery are generally well deployed for most of the day. Some staff work directly with the children and appropriate questioning extends children’s knowledge and understanding.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Nursery education The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff have a working knowledge of the Foundation Stage and plan a variety of activities to promote children's development in all learning areas. Weekly plans, however, do not show the aims and objectives of activities. Some days there are no focus activities planned and no evidence of learning objectives to develop children's knowledge and skills. Staff make regular observations of children's learning but there is no clear evidence of how assessment is used to inform future planning for individual children's learning. Assessment records are maintained in the form of 'Tracker' books to show children's progress through the stepping stones. These records, however, are not kept up to date on a regular basis. Children are making satisfactory progress towards the early learning goals but are not always sufficiently challenged to extend their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children settle quickly on arrival and eagerly ask staff what they will be doing. They are familiar with nursery routines and line up patiently to wash their hands before snack and sit sensibly during register time. Their independence skills are well developed. They pour their own drinks and put their coats on ready for outside play. They behave well during sessions and amicably share resources, such as crayons. They are happy and sociable and confidently talk about their weekend news in front of others. They understand that print carries meaning, recognise their own name cards and enjoy listening to stories. Staff encourage children to predict the text using picture clues and to join in with repetitive text. Children have regular opportunities to practise their handwriting skills and some are able to write their name with clear evenly formed letters. They have limited opportunities, however, to practise writing

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

for a variety of purposes as role play areas have no writing resources in them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing a sound understanding of number and confidently count to 10. They have learnt about shapes through planned topic work and have made collage pictures using square shaped pieces of paper. Activities, such as measuring each other, are planned to develop children's understanding of height. They learn about differences in number as they count the number of boys and girls present in the room. They are developing their knowledge of the wider world and can name a variety of different transport methods, for example, balloons, tractors and buggies. They have learnt about the Chinese New Year and their related artwork is displayed within the room thereby showing their efforts are valued. Children have insufficient daily opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills relating to information and communication technology. Computers in both pre-school rooms are out of order, as is the till in the role play area. Planning sampled for the past five months shows no

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

activity focus within this area nor any focus activity in which children are using technology to support their learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's physical development is good. They learn how to keep themselves healthy as staff remind them to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. They take part in regular exercise and enjoy the freedom to run around in the fresh air. They competently use the climbing frame outside and indoors they enthusiastically take part in some Stretch 'n' Grow activities with a specialist teacher. Some children demonstrate excellent fine motor control as they carefully colour pictures keeping neatly within the lines of the drawing. Children's artwork is displayed demonstrating they have experienced painting, collage, printing, drawing and colouring. Daily access to a range of resources to promote free creative expression is, however, limited. Easels are not set up with any resources and role play areas are poorly resourced and uninviting. Children use their imagination when involved in small world play with cars and the train track. They join in with singing

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children generally feel good about themselves and show respect and consideration for others as they share resources, help each other and take turns while using the equipment. Staff foster children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Older children learn about diversity through planned topics. Recently toddlers and older children have learnt about Chinese New Year. Some children enjoyed making dragons and toddlers made masks. However, resources, pictures and posters that reflect diversity for younger children are limited. The nursery has a clear policy for behaviour management. Not all children learn about right from wrong as staff do not always give explanations when children are told not to do something. For example, staff tell children ‘not to climb on the box’ and ‘ do not push’, without any explanation. Children are generally well behaved throughout the nursery. However, staff do not take all opportunities to praise the children when they have done well.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is satisfactory. Parents are kept informed of weekly activities for funded children through planning displayed outside rooms, although this is not always current. Parental discussion confirms they are happy with the nursery and receive positive support in meeting individual children's needs. Informal parent's evenings are offered and termly newsletters are sent. Information is displayed throughout the nursery and new parents receive detailed information on the setting. Policies and procedures are available for parents to see.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children settle well and are generally happy within the group. Most staff work well as a team supporting children according to their needs. Staff organise space and resources to allow the children to move around freely and safely. Children play in a secure outdoor area. A sufficient range of resources are readily accessible throughout the nursery. The management provides all staff with mandatory training and further training needs are identified at staff appraisals. Staff are generally deployed well, although, annual leave and staff breaks are not always covered effectively.

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Organisation

The leadership and management of nursery education is satisfactory. There are processes in place for the monitoring and evaluation of the provision for nursery education although these are not rigorously followed. Children's development records have not been closely monitored to ensure staff are planning for children's progression through the Foundation Stage curriculum. Staff working with funded children are cheerful and understand their roles and responsibilities. They are currently awaiting further training to extend their basic knowledge and skills of working within the Foundation Stage.

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Organisation

There are effective and robust recruitment procedures in place. All staff receive induction training to enable them to be familiar with the policies and procedures. Children’s attendance is recorded accurately. Most required documentation is in place. The nursery has obtained blanket consent to administer any type of medication; as a result children have been given non emergency medication on verbal consent. The manager has an awareness of the addendum to the National Standards in October 2005, although the complaints policy does not reflect this. Overall, the nursery meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the group were asked to make improvements in many areas including health and safety, organisation of staff and resources and documentation. Staff have identified and minimized hazards around the nursery. Older children have daily routines that encourage personal hygiene although there are no procedures in place to encourage younger children to learn about good hygiene practice. Documentation has been reviewed and, where needed, most has relevant information. Resources for the younger children have been improved, particularly in the role play areas, although this was not evident for older children.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The nursery have made limited improvement to their provision of nursery education since the previous inspection. The nursery were asked to provide regular opportunities for free creative expression during sessions using a range of different materials and to use opportunities during everyday activities to develop reading, writing and counting skills. Children have free access to a range of books and a library area has also been set up within the nursery reception area for children to borrow books. They have regular opportunities to practise their writing although a lack of resources in role play areas limits their opportunities to practise writing for a variety of purposes. Some opportunities are taken during everyday activities to develop counting skills. Children still have limited opportunities for free creative expression using a range of different materials. The management's action plan was for art areas to be set up during free play sessions, however, during inspection

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Improvements since the last inspection

neither of the rooms providing funded education had easels set up with any materials for use. The nursery were also asked to make information and communication technology resources regularly accessible to children to enhance their knowledge and skills in this area. Children still have insufficient access to resources on a regular basis and this is an area carried forward for action. The final area for consideration was for the nursery to organise activities and resources to provide a stimulating range of learning experiences using children's assessment records to plan for progression of skills related to children's individual needs. The management introduced 'Tracker' books in February 2004 to allow children's individual development to be recorded. These records, however, have not been regularly updated nor the record keeping effectively monitored by management to ensure plans for children's progression are in place.

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Complaints about the childcare provision

Since 1 April 2004 Ofsted have received two complaints that required Ofsted or the provider to take action. On 5 November 2004 concerns were raised regarding ratios, children's activities, general cleanliness and inappropriate behaviour management. These concerns relate to standards 2, 3, 4, 13. Two inspectors made an unannounced visit to the nursery to carry out an investigation. As a result the following action was set: Standard 2 ensure room registers accurately reflect the times children are on the premises and ensure records accurately reflect times staff leave rooms to take breaks.

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Complaints about the childcare provision

On 4 April 2006 concerns were raised about: Unvetted staff being left unsupervised with children, staffing ratios, qualifications and deployment of staff, resources and equipment for children, individual children's dietary requirements, behaviour management and working in partnership with parents and carers. These concerns relate to National Standards 1: Suitable person, 2: Organisation, 5: Equipment, 8: Food and Drink, 11: Behaviour and 12: Working in partnership with parents and carers. Ofsted conducted an unannounced visit to the provision. The provider was issued with two compliance notices under National Standard 2 and three actions under National Standards 1,2 and 5 to meet those standards. Ofsted conducted a further unannounced visit on 18 May 2006 to monitor compliance with the actions and a report was received from the provider on 19 June 2006 detailing the steps taken to meet the actions. From the information obtained Ofsted found that the provider was

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Complaints about the childcare provision

meeting the National Standards. The provider remained qualified for registration.

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Complaints about the childcare provision

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

 ensure the spread of infection is prevented by encouraging all children to have a daily hygiene routine to wash hands before eating and by ensuring nappy changing areas are thoroughly cleaned  improve the environment for children from three months to three years and display children’s art work and colourful pictures and posters at children’s eye level  develop staff awareness of positive behaviour management and ensure staff give praise and encouragement at all opportunities  ensure prior written consent is obtained for all medication administered to children and ensure blanket consent to administer any type of medication is not in place  ensure the existing complaints policy reflects the October 2005, addendum to the National Standards.

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

The quality and standards of nursery education

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

 devise and implement a rigorous system for the monitoring and evaluation of children's development records  ensure children's development records are regularly updated to clearly show children's progression through the stepping stones and to show children's short term learning targets  ensure information and communication technology [ICT] resources are regularly accessible to children to enhance their knowledge and skills in this area and that planning identifies how ICT is integrated into activities to support children's learning.

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WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?

procedures set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted’s role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2473) which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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