Rocking Horse Nursery

Rocking Horse Nursery and Creche Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 7NZ

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/09/2012 14/01/2010

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Children's safety is, at times, compromised as measures are not taken to supervise children effectively or to ensure the premises are fully secure.  Children do not make the best progress they can because staff do not monitor their learning effectively or plan for individual children's next steps in learning.  Children do not enjoy high quality learning experiences because t he systems to monitor staff practice and promote continuous improvement are poor, resulting in staff lacking sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements, including the learning and development requirements.  Self-evaluation systems are weak and are ineffective in identifying key priorities for improvement. Managers do not identify staff training needs or effectively monitor their practice.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 The nursery provides a bright and welcoming environment, with suitable and appropriate resources, indoors and outside, which children enjoy.  The nursery forms suitable partnerships with parents and provides a sound range of information about its service, including daily feedback to parents about children's daily care and activities.  Most staff interact suitably with children, and some form positive relationships with them.

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 Observations of staff practice and activities were undertaken jointly with the managers.  Inspectors observed activities in six rooms and the nursery garden.

p.2

Inspection activities

 Inspectors spoke to staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection, during and after activities.

p.2

Inspection activities

 Inspectors looked at progress records and planning documents and discussed these with staff.  Inspectors looked at policies and procedures.  Inspectors spoke with available parents.  Inspectors spoke to children.  Inspectors met with the manager.

p.2

Information about the setting

Rocking Horse Nursery is owned and funded by Newbury Racecourse. The children are cared for in six separate areas. In a separate building on the same site, the provider also runs an after-school club for children from local schools. During weekends when there is a race meeting on, the nursery provides a creche for those attending the racing. The nursery is within the race course complex, which is close to Newbury town centre. It is used by families who live outside the immediate area as well as those who live locally and in the nearby villages. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to provide 98 places, and there are currently 133 children attending who are in the early years age range. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting is able to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The

p.3

Information about the setting

nursery opens five days a week and is open between 8am and 6pm for 52 weeks of the year with the exception of bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year. Twenty-five full-time or part-time staff work with the children. Of these, 22 staff have early years qualifications to level 3, and the setting employs an early years teacher. The setting receives support from the local authority.

p.3

must:

 ensure that the premises are secure  make sure that each child is motivated and engaged in their learning by improving the use of key persons, ensuring that staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities as key persons and of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements  ensure high quality learning experiences for all children by putting in place systems for the supervision of staff, including support, coaching and training to promote effective self-evaluation, monitoring of staff practice and continuous improvement  improve the planning of challenging and enjoyable learning experiences by using ongoing observation and assessment of children in order to understand their level of achievement.

p.3

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

 encourage children's independent self-care skills, for example by dressing themselves, during meal times and by managing their own personal hygiene.

p.3

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

 help children develop logic and reasoning by labelling resources with pictures or shapes of objects to enable them to identify where things belong.

p.4

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

 ensure that children are kept safe by adults in the setting, and are helped to develop an understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

p.4

who attend

The management and the staff of the nursery have a poor understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They fail to implement the learning and development requirements effectively. Planning is not effective in matching activities to children's needs. As a result, children's progress is not always fully understood by staff, and activities provide insufficient challenge. Observations and assessments are not always accurate and so children's progress is not monitored or tracked effectively. As a result, staff do not fully understand the progress children make in their learning and development. Children's progress is incidental rather than planned for individually. This means that not all children are making the best progress they can, although some achieve in line with expectations. Staff lack understanding of planning for children's next steps in learning and are unable to explain how activities will effectively promote children's

p.4

who attend

Children generally enjoy their time at the nursery and take part in some suitable activities and play experiences. However, some of the older children are not fully engaged in activities, particularly during group and singing times. Staff fail to notice and engage children during some play activities; for example, some children wander aimlessly around the outdoor area and are not able to play with their chosen activity. Staff do not extend the toddlers' learning, for example their language skills, as they do not talk enough with the children about what they are doing. Staff do not build on children's vocabulary or model sentences to them effectively.

p.4

who attend

The nursery has appropriate resources to meet children's needs. Children make some independent choices from the toys and equipment on offer. However, toys and resources are not always labelled effectively to enable children to identify them and where they belong. The nursery communicates well with parents, which helps them meet children's needs consistently. However, when children move within the nursery, the information transferred is not always adequate for staff to understand children's needs and stages of development. When children move into the pre-school room, some staff have too high expectations of them. They expect them to understand and comply with new routines within a short space of time. This results in behaviour management issues as staff raise their voices when speaking to children rather than providing a clear explanation of the behaviour they expect.

p.4

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

The key person approach is not adequately understood or implemented by the nursery. Although some children develop positive relationships with the staff, the key person's role is not clearly defined, which means that children's needs are not always met. For example, babies do not have a dedicated key person, which means that they do not have an opportunity to build secure relationships.

p.5

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

Hygiene routines are consistently implemented to support children's good health. Although staff are not developing or sufficiently encouraging children's independence in dressing or cleaning their hands and faces after meals. Children are encouraged to develop an appropriate understanding of healthy lifestyles. There is a sound focus on outdoor play and activities, for example by outings into the local area and themes promoting physical activity, such as the Olympics and Paralympics. Children benefit from healthy meals and snacks, and in the older age rooms, discussions and topics support children's understanding of healthy lifestyles.

p.5

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

Staff do not help children to develop an awareness of safety. For example, one toddler was walking around with their shoe laces undone, and staff were not sufficiently watchful in their supervision to manage this hazard competently. When a staff member tied the child's laces, they did not explain why untied laces are dangerous.

p.5

provision

The leadership and management team are ineffective in fulfilling the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements. For example, they have failed to ensure they and the staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of them. This compromises children's safety and the effectiveness of the educational programmes.

p.5

provision

Staff demonstrate a suitable understanding of the safeguarding policies and procedures, such as the use of personal mobile phones and cameras in the nursery. However, the policy does not fully protect the children, for example by considering the use of staff personal phones on outings. In addition, children's safety is compromised as the premises are not always secure. Large windows open onto the car park at ground floor level. These windows are not restricted and can be fully opened to allow access to anyone. Therefore, despite the security doors, the premises are accessible to the general public. This is a risk to children, particularly as children have unsupervised access to the corridor where the windows are situated.

p.5

provision

The management team does not fully recognise and address inconsistencies in staff practice, for example by arranging training to improve it. There is a lack of ongoing monitoring and assessment of staff professional development. Self-evaluation and the identification of improvements at the nursery are weak, and this leads to poor continuous improvement. This impacts significantly on the educational programmes and, consequently, children's learning and development. Recruitment procedures are satisfactorily robust, and staff's ongoing suitability is appropriately checked through three-yearly Criminal Record Bureau checks. Parents to whom the inspectors spoke during the inspection stated they were happy with the care and services the nursery provides. Documentation, including policies and procedures, are shared with parents, and staff sign to say they have read them. Parents receive regular information, including informal verbal feedback in the older for the older age group and

p.5

provision

daily diaries for the younger. Links are made with the local authority for advice and support. Staff have a basic understanding of their responsibilities to liaise with professionals as required.

p.6

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

p.6

actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

p.6

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

 ensure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of a person who is caring for children on the premises (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of a person who is caring for children on the premises (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)

p.6

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.

p.6

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.

p.7

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.

p.7

Setting details

Unique reference number 110619 Local authority West Berkshire (Newbury) Inspection number 813393

p.7

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 98 Number of children on roll 130 Name of provider Newbury Racecourse Plc Date of previous inspection 14/01/2010 Telephone number 01635 48969

p.7

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.

p.7

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of provision

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.

p.8

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,

p.8

Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.9

Type of provision

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

p.9