Child First AylesburyOfsted inspection, 31 Jan 2012

Child First Aylesbury Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY342513 Inspection date 31/01/2012 Inspector Cordalee Harrison

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Setting address Green End, Rickfords Hill, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20 2SA Telephone number 01296 392516 Email aylesbury@childfirst.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

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

Child First Aylesbury registered in 2006. It is registered on the Early Years Register, is privately owned, and is one of a number of nurseries operated by Child First Limited. The nursery is located in a converted church building in the centre of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The premises are comprised of an office, kitchen and dining room. Children occupy a baby room, a preschool room and two rooms for children who are walking and who are aged under three years. All children use the mezzanine and sensory room. There are nappy changing facilities and separate washing and toilet facilities for children and staff. All of the rooms where children are based open onto enclosed outdoor play areas. A maximum of 95 children may attend the nursery at any one time. Of these, not more than 40 may be under two years at any one time. Currently, there are 146 children on roll; all these are in the early years age group. The nursery is in receipt of funding for free nursery

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Description of the setting

education for two, three and four year olds. The nursery provides for 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

Opening times are weekdays from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 50 weeks of the year. The nursery offers full and part-time places. The nursery employs 26 staff; of these, 24 work directly with the children. The majority of staff hold relevant qualifications in childcare and education, 14 are qualified to level 3, seven to level 2. Two members of staff are studying to gain Early Years Foundation Degrees and two are studying to gain level 2 qualifications.

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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

Overall, children make good progress in their learning and development and most children are very confident. Planning for individual children is mostly effective in all areas. The nursery promotes children's health, safety, and welfare needs very well. Very strong links with parents and other practitioners promote inclusion for all children and their families. Previous recommendations are addressed and the nursery demonstrates a good capacity for continuous improvement. Self- assessment and training are central to the leadership and management's vision to drive and maintain continuous improvement for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop further the sharing of information between staff to make sure that all staff working with specific groups of children consistently share information This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 to help them to understand how to extend every child's learning at any particular time.

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the early years provision

The nursery makes good arrangements to safeguard children and to promote their welfare. Documentation required is in place and is accurate and up to date. Across the nursery, staff are knowledgeable about the child protection element of safeguarding. Staff in all areas know how to deal with concerns about children's well-being. Staff are familiar with the safeguarding policy and procedure and they know the designated child protection officer for the nursery. Through safer recruitment practices, the leadership and management team makes sure that they vet all staff properly. Additionally, a thorough induction procedure helps staff to be clear about their roles and responsibilities. Across the nursery, staff carry out their duties competently. The physical environment is safe for children, as the nursery is rigorous in its use of risk assessments and hazard checks. The premises are secure and senior staff closely supervise entry and exit. Staff know the system that is in

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the early years provision

place for children's safe arrival and departure each day. Children do not have access to hazardous substances, and areas such as the laundry are inaccessible to them. The leadership team manages fire safety with regular tests and servicing of detection and control equipment.

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the early years provision

The nursery prepares all children's meals on the premises; this ensures that children's food is of high nutritional value. Staff in all areas are careful to reduce the risks of cross infection and follow many good practices pertaining to health and hygiene. For example, all staff know that only senior staff are permitted to give medicine to children. Staff wear protective clothing when dealing with tasks such as serving food and attending to children's personal hygiene needs. Additionally, all areas are properly equipped, so that staff can wash or sanitise their hands regularly.

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the early years provision

The nursery is making effective use of self-evaluation and training to drive improvement. There are improvements which bring real benefits for the children, such as a high number of staff advancing in their qualifications. The nursery has made major improvements, which enables children in all areas to enjoy free flow play between indoor and outdoor activities every day. The leadership team has prioritised the replacement of some floor covering in the nursery. They recognise that this will improve the appearance of some areas. Staff are deployed effectively to support children and they meet children's needs very well overall. There are ample amounts of readily accessible, good quality resources to meet the varying needs of children in the nursery. The nursery has a positive attitude to promoting equality and welcomes children regardless of their background, culture or ability. The nursery provides for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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the early years provision

There is an experienced Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) to support staff to develop and review Individual Educational Plans for these children. The role of the SENCO is clear to staff and parents. A culturally mixed team of staff positively reflects the user group. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Parents rated the nursery highly for its engagement with them in a recent questionnaire. They state that they value the various ways in which the nursery shares information with them each day. Parents know their children's key person and they affirm their confidence in staff's ability and professionalism. The nursery has strong links with other practitioners and professionals who are involved in children's care and education. There are established systems in place for the exchange of information between partners.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery's atmosphere is energetic; the environment reflects children activities and demonstrates their achievements and positive contributions. Children celebrate their achievements and consolidate learning with the displays of their work. Displays include their photographs, paintings, drawings, writing and artwork. Staff carry out regular observations for every child and the information is used to inform activity plans and to identify the next step for children. However, although all staff know the next step for their key children, the sharing of information for some children is not always clear. This does not provide assurance that all staff are able to identify what is necessary for every child at any particular time. Across the nursery, activities take children's interest into account; for example, staff know what excites different babies. Therefore, they make these resources available to entice the babies to increase their mobility, coordination and communication. Staff

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and outcomes for children

support the older babies to move to the rhythm of their favourite rhymes and children are learning to identify different parts of the body while they are having fun.

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and outcomes for children

Across the nursery, all children have good quality outdoor play experiences. Free flow between indoors and outdoors is well developed. However, the learning experiences for the pre-school children are the most exciting. Outdoor classrooms are thoughtfully resourced and enable children to learn across all areas seamlessly. In addition to the opportunities for learning indoors, the outdoor classrooms help them to initiate play and consolidate learning from different viewpoints. For example, the red, orange and green magnifying glasses become the phasing of the traffic lights in outdoor play for older children.

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and outcomes for children

The range of resources and the support from staff makes it possible for all children, regardless of ability, to achieve and enjoy. Children use the sensory room regularly and take delight in the experiences of outdoor play, where they test their senses and learn about the world through first hand experiences. For example, they grow soft fruits and vegetables in the garden and invite the local press to celebrate their achievement. Children are learning many useful skills for the future. Children learn what their bodies can do and set their own challenges. They feel safe and this raises their confidence to experiment in their play. Children learn to solve problems as they experiment with resources such as magnets and magnifying glass. For example, they hunt for bugs, and discuss why they do not find any on a very cold day. They use modern technology and share their learning with others. For example, they show each other how to use the digital camera.

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and outcomes for children

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Most children are confident learners; they willingly invite others to play and show affection and care for their friends. Across the nursery, children are developing their knowledge of different aspects of healthy lifestyles; many take some responsibility for their personal care, such as wiping their noses and washing their hands. From a very young age, children are learning about nutritious food, in addition to eating good quality meals, they participate in some cooking activities regularly. 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 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 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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