Mulberry Bush Nursery Walmersley

Mulberry Bush Nursery Walmersley Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY428486 Inspection date 21/11/2011 Inspector Jennifer Kennaugh

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Setting address 741 Walmersley Road, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 5JW

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Telephone number 0161 761 0150 Email Walmersley@mulberrybush-nursery.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. 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

Mulberry Bush Nursery was registered in 2011 and is one of four settings privately owned and operated by the registered person. The nursery operates from a large detached building with four floors, situated on a main road in Walmersley, Bury. There are several playrooms on the ground and first floors, with the basement and second floors for staff and management use. The setting has three secure outdoor areas designed to be age and stage-appropriate for the children. Toddler children have direct access to their outdoor area from their playroom and the pre-school children are based on the first floor. Children are grouped according to age and stage of development. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and disabilities, and those children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and may care for a maximum of 80 children at any one time. There are currently 77 children on roll, attending for a variety of sessions. The nursery employs two managers and 14 staff, all of whom are qualified to at least level 3 in childcare. One member of staff is a graduate practitioner in early years and a second is working towards a foundation degree. In addition, one member of staff is qualified to level 5 in childcare and another is working towards level 4. The nursery employs four full time maintenance staff and a part time cook.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is open from 7.30am to 6pm Mondays to Fridays for 51 weeks a year, excluding bank holidays. There is a large car park to the front of the building, with a one way system for entry and exit. The nursery 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 outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The nursery provides superb opportunities for all children to develop across all areas of learning. Both internal and outdoor facilities are excellent due to a wealth of detail, with many innovative and inspiring features. The staff, managers and owners are highly qualified and experienced, working enthusiastically together to promote consistently high expectations for children. There are excellent relationships between parents, key workers and children, with both parents and children being consulted about the provision. The nursery has formed robust links with other professionals and local agencies in order to support children and parents. Management of all aspects of children's learning and welfare is exemplary, and exceptional systems are in place for self-evaluation.

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further?

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 develop further and continue to promote the exceptional effectiveness of the provision, to secure even higher quality learning opportunities for children.

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the early years provision

The staff, managers and owners form a dynamic team, with excellent qualifications and a wealth of experience in childcare. The innovative and inspiring design of the internal and outdoor play areas is a key strength, along with the exemplary approach to managing children's welfare and learning. Risk assessment is meticulous for all areas of the premises, including when children receive visits from the emergency services with their vehicles or animals that are brought in for them to see. Safeguarding training is externally certified, and staff show a consistently thorough understanding of the procedures and policies to be followed if they have concerns about a child's welfare. All owners, managers, key workers and ancillary staff are suitably checked and vetted. There are rigorous procedures for key worker recruitment and performance review to maintain the excellent staff team. Training is a priority and as a result, key workers

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the early years provision

are highly skilled, enhancing all aspects of learning for children.

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the early years provision

Strong links have already been made with children's centres in the local area, and also with other agencies and professionals in order to support children's learning and development. The team has an excellent understanding of inclusion and is firmly committed to providing the best possible outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities and those children who speak English as an additional language.

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the early years provision

There are very strong partnerships with parents. The exemplary daily written and verbal communication enhances all aspects of children's development. As a result, identification of children's individual needs is an ongoing process and ensures that appropriate professional help is accessed if needed. An excellent system of regular reports means that parents are extremely well informed about children's progress and parents are overwhelming in their praise of the nursery. Parents' information about children is used for inclusive planning and parents can even obtain recipes for children's favourite meals from the cook. The nursery also displays a wealth of information about local resources for parents and children, to support learning away from the setting. Parents are actively engaged in their children's learning, as a result of systems in place and special events.

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the early years provision

Ongoing self-evaluation is extensive and there are systems in place for staff, children and parents to contribute to enhancing the exceptional provision. The owners, managers and staff continually seek to identify areas where practice is strongest and where they could make any further improvements. As a result of this rigorous approach, the nursery delivers outstanding learning and care for all This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children.

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and outcomes for children

Children and babies are superbly settled and confident with staff, as their needs are very well met. They explore their environment fully, demonstrating a very strong feeling of security in the nursery. All children have 'family books' of photographs showing themselves, significant family and friends, pets and favourite places to support them feeling safe and secure. The books also enable discussion to promote early communication skills. Staff use spontaneous opportunities such as preschool children watching cars at the window along with organised visits from emergency services to teach children how to stay safe. They also use the exceptional outdoor resources to teach road safety, by role-play. Robust safety measures such as key pads on all internal doors and biometric data entry on the main door show how children's safety is of the utmost priority. The nursery provides a safe environment with optimal challenges to enhance physical

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and outcomes for children

development due to the innovative and spectacular design of the three secure outdoor play areas, which are adapted for specific ages and stages.

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and outcomes for children

Preschool children make a positive contribution by developing 'room rules' during circle times. Staff act as excellent role models for politeness and good manners in all areas of the nursery. All children and babies have opportunities to develop self- esteem and confidence by taking part in circle times of song, rhyme and stories several times a day. The pre-school children are enthusiastically learning French, using songs and greetings, as a new skill. Children are offered the experience of helping to care for the nursery's four Giant African Land Snails and the tropical fish. The nursery is currently waiting for stick insect eggs to hatch. This gives children the opportunity to extend knowledge and understanding of the natural world.

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and outcomes for children

Charity events are exceptionally well organised for a week each year and the children receive regular updates from those who benefit. These include an orphanage in Africa, which develops children's awareness of other countries and cultures. In addition to empathy with others less fortunate, children learn about festivals from a wide range of cultures and religions in the nursery. This is done through activities based on stories, food, craft and discussion. There are many positive images of diversity displayed around the rooms, including disability, to promote acceptance of others' differences.

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and outcomes for children

Children are easily able to access resources indoors and outside, to promote independence skills. They can paint, make collages, draw pictures and enjoy messy play to extend creative, physical and communication skills. Staff use songs at circle times along with spontaneous opportunities from the continuous provision or adult- led activities to teach early number skills. Early information technology skills are developed by provision of child-adapted desktop computers in two rooms and babies have access to an exceptional range of cause and effect toys, with a variety of textures and colours. Displays of artwork at child height with appropriate This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 vocabulary and annotations make an effective text-rich environment to promote early literacy. Other languages spoken by children are also used in displays as part of the nursery's inclusive approach.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy planting and harvesting vegetables as part of learning about food in a healthy lifestyle. They have visits from a local dentist to teach them about tooth care and parents comment on how this helps encourage children to brush their teeth. Fruit is available as a continuous snack and the nursery has attained the highest level in the local authority healthy eating scheme. Children have the opportunity for outdoor play several times a day and one playroom allows children to move freely between indoors and out. As a result, children are developing an excellent basis for a healthy lifestyle. Particular care has been given to designing the areas for children's toilets and nappy changing, to promote early independence skills such as hand washing.

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and outcomes for children

Overall, children and babies make exceptional progress in developing skills for the future due to excellent resources, innovative environments and individually tailored planning. 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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