Parkside Childcare

The Coleridge Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY330167 Inspection date 31/01/2012 Inspector Pauline Pinnegar

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Setting address Ribble Drive, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 5TY

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Telephone number 01325 353416 Email carol.miller@skerne-park-cea.org.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

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

Parkside Childcare at The Coleridge Centre is run by the Skerne Park Community Enterprise Association and was registered in February 2006. It is situated in the south end of Darlington. There are four partners within the Children's Centre including Parkside Childcare, Skerne Park Primary School, Sure Start and Adult Learning. The setting has close links with the other three partners. Parkside Childcare is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. Skerne Park Primary and Parkside Childcare work closely together. The setting is open-plan and enables a smooth transition throughout all age groups. The pre-school room is a mix of Skerne Park Nursery children and Parkside Childcare daycare children. This room is lead by a nursery teacher and staff and children from both teams work together creating seamless care. In addition, the setting also uses two activity rooms,the Sure start room, the school halls and

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Description of the setting

computer suite and an adult learning room for children under three years. The setting provides creche facilities for Adult Learning and Sure Start.

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Description of the setting

The setting opens Monday to Friday all year round apart from one week at Christmas. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. A maximum of 106 children may attend the setting at any one time. There are currently 88 children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The setting also offers care to children aged over five years to eight years. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. The setting provides funded early education for two, three-and four-year-olds. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The setting employs 16 members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 2 and 14 hold a level 3 or above. One member of staff has gained Early years Professional Status. 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

The setting provides a stimulating environment which is welcoming, nurturing and extremely inclusive for all, where each child and their family feel valued and involved. Staff strive to provide stimulating and interesting play opportunities and experiences which encourages all children to make good progress in their learning and development. Staff mostly promote children's safety and welfare well, ensuring that all the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. Effective partnerships with parents and excellent relationships with early years professionals and other early years providers, ensures that the needs of all children are consistently met. An effective self-evaluation process ensures a rigorous monitoring system to help improve outcomes for children, and includes the opinions of parents and children, demonstrating the setting's good capacity for sustained and continuous improvement.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the systems in place for ensuring children's security at all times when parents are dropping off and collecting children in the pre-school  improve the systems for ensuring all floor coverings in the setting are clean and hygienic

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the early years provision

Practitioners, at all levels, have comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues to ensure the well-being of children in their care should an incident arise. All practitioners receive ongoing and regular training and there is excellent multi- agency working to ensure child protection plans are implemented and fully understood by all staff. Comprehensive policies and procedures, which are regularly reviewed and updated, are implemented consistently and well understood by diligent staff. There are effective procedures in place to ensure adults caring for children or having unsupervised access to them are suitably vetted, qualified and experienced. A well motivated staff team supervise children well and give mostly good priority to keeping children safe, through conducting mostly effective written risk assessments of the environment. Following a recent inspection where an action was set, the setting has reviewed the risk assessments in relation to the

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the early years provision

security of the premises. Interim arrangements have been put into place including barriers and extra staff supervision, to prevent children accessing the open doors when parent's are collecting and dropping off children at the school nursery. However, these measures are not fully in place at the end of the morning session, resulting in a risk of children being able to leave the premises unsupervised at this time. An internal review of the situation continues to be conducted.

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the early years provision

Children have fun in the well-organised learning environment where independence is encouraged. They are able to make choices about their play as all resources are readily available and easily accessed and include resources that support their awareness of diversity and similarities and differences in themselves and others. Comprehensive self-evaluation systems ensure the provision is well monitored by committed staff and includes ideas from parents and children. Positive steps have been taken since the last inspection to ensure continuous improvement for example, all written policies and procedures have been reviewed and now contain all the required detail. All staff demonstrate a strong desire and commitment towards their personal and professional development. As a result, adults have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage which contributes to improving outcomes for children.

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the early years provision

Friendly and welcoming staff ensure they make time for the children, offering them individual attention, and their families through effective communication to ensure This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 continuity in their care, learning and development. Parents receive a wealth of informative literature and are consistently involved in their children's learning, for example, planning documents detail how 'parent's support learning' for their child. Parents positively comment on the 'welcoming and supportive environment' and how 'good the interactions are between the staff and the children'. Excellent systems have been established to monitor the provision for teaching and learning through an effective action plan, which has led to early intervention, for example, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery has strong established links with other providers in the area, including teachers at

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the early years provision

the host school, health workers and the Area Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and Inclusion officer. All work cohesively, ensuring that each child's needs are met and support consistently provided.

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and outcomes for children

Children are supported to make good progress in their learning and development. Observation, assessment and monitoring systems also include parents' involvement. This is aimed at maximising children's learning. Children particularly benefit from the high focus given to supporting their personal, social and emotional development and communication language and literacy. This effectively supports children's learning potential across all other areas of learning. Children benefit from the good quality support they receive to join in, cooperate and share with each other, which helps them to consider the needs of others. As a result, children's behaviour is overall, good. Effective use of praise, and encouragement to recognise children's achievements, supports their self-esteem. Daily routines and activities effectively support children's independence. For example, children are supported to learn where to put their coats when they arrive, to put on Wellington

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and outcomes for children

boots independently for outdoor play and to put on their coats at the end of each session. This also supports children's physical skills and concept of space, size and shape.

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and outcomes for children

Children take part in a wide range of activities that support their development of skills for the future. They show great delight looking at books and listening to stories. They also enjoy trips to the local community mobile library and borrow books from the settings own 'lending library' to enable them to enjoy books at home with their parent's. Throughout each session, adults are on-hand and respond sensitively to support children's communication skills. Children become confident in their attempts to communicate and develop skills that enable them to engage in conversation with adults and other children. Children take part in mark making activities and are introduced to the concept that print carries meaning. For example, children take part in self-registration and find their own name label to hang up their coat. Number lines and resources, such as, peg boards and jigsaws, support children's understanding of patterns, number and simple problem solving.

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and outcomes for children

Children's interest in technology is captured by everyday items, such as, torches and camera's and interactive 'smart' boards are used in addition. Children have good opportunities to investigate, explore and use their creativity and imagination. They make hand prints in paint, scoop and mould with sand and dough. They explore their senses with foam, lemon essence. Babies love to explore different This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 materials and 'treasure baskets'.

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and outcomes for children

Children engage in imaginative play based on imitating what they see adults do, such as, making tea. They have fun in the 'Chinese Restaurant' in the role play area using the wok and chop sticks. Health and hygiene routines within the setting are mostly effective. All areas are clean and mostly effective measures are in place to minimise the spread of infection. However, a rug in the toddler room was observed to be very dirty and stained in the cosy area which does not fully protect children from the spread of germs. Children learn good personal hygiene skills and wash their hands appropriately throughout the day and 'Lets Brush Tooth Brush Programme'. They learn about healthy eating and the importance of physical exercise through activities, such as, 'wiglets' and dance classes within the centre. All meals, snacks and drinks are healthy and balanced and menus are available for parents to view and discuss. Children and babies are able to rest as they need to

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and outcomes for children

and cuddles and affection are readily given and received. Staff talk to children about the dangers of certain activities and children will ask staff for help in activities when they realise they need support, this gradually over time, becomes reduced as children become more confident and secure. 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 2 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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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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