Park Hall Day Nursery

Park Hall Day Nursery 2 Liverpool Road West, Church Lawton, STOKE-ON-TRENT, Staffordshire, ST7 3DH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/09/2012 02/02/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Staff are attentive and vigilant, swiftly meeting children's individual needs and ensuring that they feel safe and secure in their care.  Children are happy, motivated and eager to learn. They show high levels of confidence and curiosity, enthusiastically joining in planned activities.  All staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and sensitively intervene to help children learn.  Physical development is particularly well promoted as children enjoy a weekly games session and daily access to the outside areas in all weathers.

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It is not yet good because

 Risk assessments for school collections are not always updated when circumstances change, potentially leading to a change in procedure where not all risks have been assessed and minimised.  The assessment and monitoring of children's learning and development is not of the same standard in the baby room.  Opportunities for the ongoing development of staff is not maximised as they do not yet share the most effective teaching styles.  Children's learning at home is not fully encouraged as easily accessible information about the activities of the day is not made available.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the three main playrooms and the outside play areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the provider and managers of the provision and with other key staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the setting, the provider's self- evaluation form and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager to assess and evaluate the impact of teaching.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Park Hall Day Nursery and out of school club is one of two settings owned by the same private provider. It opened in 1992 and operates from five rooms in a converted village school building, in Church Lawton, near Alsager, Cheshire. The setting serves the community in south Cheshire and north Staffordshire. The nursery is open all year round, each weekday from 7am to 6pm. All children have access to an enclosed outside play area.

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Information about the setting

Currently there are 88 children on roll, of whom 64 are in the early years age range. Children attend on a full- or part-time basis. The nursery caters for children who receive nursery education funding and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It is registered on the Early Years Register and both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register.

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Information about the setting

The setting employs 13 members of staff, including the manager, who work directly with the children. Eleven members of staff hold level 3 qualifications and two members of staff are currently qualificatied to level 2 and working towards their level 3. One member of staff is working towards Early Years Professional Status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association and also attend Cheshire East Early Years Professional network meetings. The nursery receives support from an early years educator.

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must:

 ensure the risk assessments for school collection take account of any changes and take steps to remove, minimise and manage those risks and hazards.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 implement the new systems for assessing and tracking children's development across all the rooms and particularly in the baby room

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 devise a system to identify and share good teaching practice

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 provide more information to parents so that they can complement the learning at nursery and extend this at home.

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who attend

Children are relaxed and happy in the setting. They are generally eager to take part in activities, excitedly lining up for outside play or to choose a jam jar to plant their daffodil bulb in. Staff work constantly alongside the children, extending and developing their play. A flexible and easy going approach enables staff to respond positively to children's interests and develop unique play opportunities based on children's ideas and preferences. For example, as children are captivated by digging work outside the setting, staff get out the toy diggers and sand, allowing children to imitate the workforce and learn about the roles they play in the community. Teaching techniques are largely effective as most staff recognise when to intervene and when to allow children to play independently. They offer support to children, extending their play with new ideas or by asking pertinent questions. Some staff are stronger than others, displaying more confidence and a more natural

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who attend

approach to teaching. Consequently children's learning is better with some staff input than with others.

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who attend

Staff generally work well together to provide a safe, secure and engaging setting where children are confident to explore and acquire skills for future learning. Systematic planning and monitoring across the seven areas of learning ensures all aspects are successfully included in the activities on offer while each key person ensures that activities are tailored to meet the individual next steps for their key children. Children's early writing skills are developing well as even young babies are encouraged to mark make in gloop, flour and other substances. Older children recognise their own names and other familiar words in print and are aware of the intial sounds at the start of words. Mathematical skills are also well-promoted. Children learn about size, number and colour as they count the number of pizza pieces they have, discuss the size of the cups used for making tea and match the equipment together based on its colour or pattern.

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who attend

Children benefit from good opportunities to play outside on a daily basis. Older children have free flow access to their own outside area and all children are able to enjoy the large lawn to the front of the setting. Children go out in all weathers as they are provided with all-in-one waterproofs and boots. They have fun jumping in puddles and running around in the fresh air, developing their physical skills. As children show interest in the mud, staff happily show them how to splash about, taking off their own shoes to feel the mud between their toes. Children are encouraged and delighted by the sense of fun this brings. Active play is also provided indoors with small slides and climbing equipment available.

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who attend

Children make steady progress towards the early learning goals. Systems to assess children's starting points on entry to the setting include parents' views about what their children can do and as a result, staff have a secure baseline in place from which to measure children's progress. Those with identified special needs receive additional support and are making positive progress towards obtaining their individual goals. Parents attend regular reviews and are encouraged to contribute regularly to the key person's understanding of how their child is progressing. They also provide their own observations via the 'twitter tree', where they post comments about what their children have been doing at home. Progress files are always available for parents to view and a library book system is in operation to encourage reading at home. However, clear ideas for how to promote wider learning in the home environment, based on what children have learned

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

All staff, including new and junior members, understand the signs and symptoms that may indicate abuse and know how to report any concerns. The management team have recently attended training in this area and effectively cascaded this to the rest of the team through staff meetings and questionnaires. There is a comprehensive written policy in place to support effective practice, with the manager taking on the designated role for any safeguarding issues to ensure that any incidents are followed up appropriately. The nursery environment is safe and secure. All exterior doors are coded and outside areas are enclosed to protect children from the car park area. Children move around their base rooms safely as staff are vigilant, making sure that toys are kept in designated areas and that children are reminded to play appropriately. Each room is resourced age- appropriately. Babies and toddlers have space to crawl and climb on soft furnishings,

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

supported by attentive staff while older children develop their independence as they move around freely, accessing different activities that challenge and stimulate them both inside and outdoors. Consequently, children of all ages and abilities display confidence in their surroundings.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

On outings and at school collection times, children are transported in appropriately insured and risk assessed vehicles. Children are usually collected direct from their classrooms but, occasionally, heavy traffic at pick-up time has prevented the nursery vehicle from accessing one of the school's grounds. Whilst older children have been affected by this, children in the early years age range have not. However, risk assessments and procedures have not been put in place to show what alternative arrangements are in place should the vehicle have to wait outside the grounds when collecting early years children. Potentially, this lack of a robust procedure places children at risk. The nursery has spoken with the parents of the older children affected and they have indictated that they are happy with temporary arrangements for their children to walk up to the vehicle.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

An effective key person system is in place, which helps both parents and children to build strong relationships with a designated member of staff. Staff are kind and attentive, providing genuine warmth and affection to every child. Consequently, children are happy to engage in play and develop skills for future learning as they are relaxed and comfortable at the nursery. Babies show strong attachments as they seek out staff for comfort, snuggling in for cuddles and being held for bottle feeds. Older children engage staff in their play, asking them for help to wash their baby dolls or including them in their make-believe as they pour cups of tea and offer staff slices of pizza. Individual routines are catered for and staff ensure that babies sleep and feeding patterns are respected and met. Each child's personality, likes and dislikes and any special needs are catered for. Details relating to allergies or dietary requirements are accurately recorded and precisely

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provision

The setting is suitably led by the management team, who are keen to promote continual development and lead the setting forward. Staff are hard working and enthusiastic about their roles as they enjoy an appropriate level of support and input from managers, who encourage them to take on lead roles in the setting. For instance, a new approach to the assessment of children's development is being rolled out across the nursery by some staff to others. This helps to develop a uniformed approach that benefits all children. Staff are supported in gaining additional skills, with regular access to training and annual appraisals to assess their performance. Some staff display considerable strengths in their teaching style while others are less confident. However, the management have not developed ways to share and promote good practice, which means that potentially children's opportuntiies and progress are not consistent accross the setting. The setting uses self-evaluation

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provision

appropriately to identify priorities for development and action plans are put in place to monitor progress. For example, the development of the conservatory leading off from the baby room has been identified as an opportunity to provide children with richer play experiences and this is due for completion shortly.

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provision

Suitably effective systems to observe, assess and monitor each child's progress are beginning to emerge across the nursery. Existing practice means that all children are making sound progress, but the new system, which is currently being implemented, enhances this and provides an improved tracking document to monitor and review children's attainment across all areas of learning. Parents are part of the review process and their comments and observations are included, ensuring staff have a complete picture of what each child has achieved. Management oversee the progress of all children and the new tracking system allows them to promptly identify strengths and weaknesses in development. This system is not fully embedded, however, and needs to be implemented across all rooms so that every child benefits.

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provision

Positive partnerships exist with both children's parents and other professionals who have an input into children's care. Specialists such as speech therapists work alongside staff on individualised plans for children enabling children's key workers to support any special need. Parents are warmly welcomed into the setting and encouraged to stay as long as necessary while their children settle. Parents' views are sought informally through discussion and formally through questionnaires and the manager is always available through the 'open door' policy. Parents report that they are happy with the care provided and that staff are always willing to take on extra care duties such as applying creams or monitoring behaviour concerns as requested.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Not Met

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks in relation to collecting children from school and update the risk assessment when circumstances change (Suitability and safety of premises and equipment).  take action as specified in the compulsory part of the Childcare Register(Suitability and safety of premises and equipment).

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 305235 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 884479

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 59 Number of children on roll 88 Name of provider Susan Alice Johnson Date of previous inspection 02/02/2010 Telephone number 01782 775116

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration. Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. 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,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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