Higher Broughton Children's Centre

Higher Broughton Children's Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 511461 Inspection date 13/03/2012 Inspector Emily Wheeldon

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Setting address The Broughton Hub, 48-50 Rigby Street, Higher Broughton, Salford, M7 4BQ Telephone number 0161 792 3271 Email 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

Higher Broughton Children's Centre has been operational for approximately 30 years and became registered in 1999. It is one of four settings managed by Salford Children's Services Directorate and is situated in the Higher Broughton area of Salford. The centre offers full day care. There are extensive indoor and outdoor areas available for use by children and their families. There are two main areas that are used as a base for groups of children. The centre provides a service for children in need who reside in any area of Salford and private fee-paying sessions. It is open to all children from 8am to 6pm all year round with the exception of statutory holidays and Christmas week.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 62 children under eight years may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 61 children aged from birth to five years. A total of 24 children are in receipt of funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of full and part time sessions. The nursery supports a high percentage of children with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities and also supports children who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

There are 15 members of staff, including a deputy manager, who work directly with the children. Five members of staff hold a qualification to at least level 4, nine members of staff hold a qualification to at least level 3 in early years. Two staff are casual supply. One member of staff has a joint honours degree in early years and health and a childcare qualification to level 5 in early years. The centre is part of the Salford's Quality Childcare Audit and receives advice and support from the Sure Start Partnership and a team of learning difficulty and disability support workers.

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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

Children make excellent progress towards the early learning goals in this highly inclusive, safe, and stimulating setting. Children's welfare needs are rigorously safeguarded and together with superb partnerships with external agencies and local schools, the nursery maintains a very high standard of care and education. All children are valued as unique individuals and inclusive practice is exemplary. Children are encouraged to be active learners and overall there are many opportunities for them to be independent. Partnerships with parents are excellent and mean that children are able to reach their full potential. The staff team is very proactive and its reflective practitioners successfully sustain consistently high standards by continually striving to improve outcomes for all children who attend.

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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?

 supporting children's growing independence further as they do things for themselves, such as being more involved in serving their own food at lunch times.

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the early years provision

All children are extremely well cared for in this highly inclusive and safe setting. This is because all staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and know who to contact should they be concerned about the welfare of a child. Children are well protected because staff carry out stringent safety checks on the premises including the outside area, and supervise children very well at all times. Rigorous recruitment procedures are in place and thorough checks are carried out to ensure the well-being of children and their families. All the necessary records, policies and procedures are in place and carefully followed by the staff to allow the very smooth running of the setting.

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the early years provision

The leaders and managers are extremely successful in inspiring staff to work towards ambitious targets and are passionate about the service they provide to ensure that children receive the highest quality of care. Self-evaluation is robust with priorities for improvement identified and continually acted upon. Extensive monitoring and action plans show that high expectations are embedded across all areas of practice. The nursery has a high proportion of children with complex needs and a strong emphasis is placed on the inclusion of all children. This removes any potential barriers to learning and ensures all children take part. Visual timelines and a language rich environment, together with experienced staff, fully support children with additional needs and children for whom English is an additional language.

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the early years provision

High quality working partnerships between parents, services in the centre, schools and outside agencies clearly place children at the heart of everything they do. Complimentary comments from parents and local schools say that children settle very quickly into school because staff ensure information about children's needs are shared well before they start school, thus giving teachers time to prepare for their arrival. Links with outside agencies are outstanding and there are very clear and consistent communication systems so everyone is kept up-to-date. The nursery is supported by lead teachers who disseminate excellent practice to staff and offer training where needed.

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and outcomes for children

Staff are highly skilled and experienced. Observations and assessments are intrinsic in their practice and effectively challenges new learning for every child in their care. The nursery have implemented changes to the way they plan as staff This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 felt that paperwork was burdensome and was taking adults' attention away from the children. A new system is yielding excellent results. Observations and interests of the children are written down on a whiteboard and this enables staff to extend, support and sometimes lead activities for the day. Parents contribute their comments to the board thus involving them in their child's learning and development. The nursery has recently been awarded 'I can' accreditation and staff place a great emphasis on children's language and communication being promoted through the 'Every child a talker' pilot. These projects account for the

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and outcomes for children

exemplary interactions between the staff and children and excellent progress children make in their communication skills given their starting points.

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and outcomes for children

The environment both inside and outside are exemplary. Inside, rooms are very thoughtfully and carefully organised to ensure children's utmost safety and comfort. For example, personal touches include household plants and individual lampshades on the ceiling. All these aspects immediately make children and staff feel relaxed and 'at home', thus promoting positive well-being. Great care has been taken to ensure there are communication-friendly spaces to encourage children to chat to their peers and seek comfort in a quiet and cosy space. Babies explore their surroundings and meet every new challenge with real enthusiasm. For example, they independently wriggle through sliding doors leading out to a magnificent outside area in their weatherproof outfits and seek delight in grasping small twigs and sticks with their fingers and poke holes in sand. Babies interact with young toddlers outside who make friendships with them and teach them

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and outcomes for children

manners such as sharing when passing a ball.

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and outcomes for children

Warm and close relationships are well established from the start when children enter the setting because an effective key person system is firmly embedded in the nursery. Babies and children's individual care needs are very well met as staff respect that at times they need to sleep and lunch can be served later. Children initiate conversations with their peers and young toddlers demonstrate outstanding vocabulary when they describe pictures in a story book. For instance, they say, 'Look he's got a telescope in his hand!' Examples of different types of books and print are incorporated in all areas of learning. For example, information books about diggers in the sand area, recipe books, and menus in different languages in the home corner. As a result, all children develop a love of books and gain an understanding that print carries meaning. Opportunities to extend children's skills in problem solving, reasoning and numeracy are included in all activities, such as,

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and outcomes for children

counting the number of steps it takes to walk across a wooden bridge. Babies peep through holes on toy bricks and explore spatial awareness as they post corks through cardboard tubes. Creative activities such as painting models, role-play using real-life objects, small world toys and an extensive range of collage materials offered on a workshop basis, greatly enhance children's creativity skills. For example, young children are engrossed in imaginative play as they pretend to be camping under the stars, cooking food on a fire.

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and outcomes for children

Excellent skills for the future are demonstrated through information, communication and technology when children work out how to use a battery operated torch. All children enjoy and have fun celebrating a wide variety of different festivals and the chef prepares special meals on the day such as noodles and rice for Chinese New Year. Children are given a wealth of opportunities to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 develop their physical skills and greatly benefit from fresh air. Exciting activities include traversing across wooden stumps, rolling sideways down a grassy slope, and mark making in shaving foam. One member of staff is about to finish her Forest Schools training and children have had an exhilarating experience in woodland close to the nursery. Children's understanding of safety issues is exceptional. They play outdoors climbing trees and jump over hurdles safely and

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and outcomes for children

skilfully. Children demonstrate an outstanding awareness of being healthy and their independence skills are well fostered in most routines tasks such as hand washing but they currently have less opportunity to serve themselves at mealtimes, in order to become even more independent. Highly nutritious and healthy cooked meals are prepared by a well qualified chef. Children's behaviour is exemplary and staff are very positive role-models to the children. 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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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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