Headstart-On-The-Hill Nursery & Pre-School

Headstart-on-the-Hill Nursery St Marys Hill, Chester, CH1 2DW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/10/2012 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children are safe and their well-being is fostered. Staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of safeguarding procedures, which contributes to children's safety.  Resources, toys, equipment and displays contribute to children's enjoyment of the nursery.  Children are happy and enjoy their time at nursery. The environment is bright, welcoming and well planned to encourage children's participation.  Staff understand the importance of the key person role in forming attachments in relationships which helps children to gain confidence and feel secure when leaving their parents.

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It is not yet good because

 Planning and assessment are not consistent or precise enough to ensure children make progress towards the early learning goals.  Opportunities for children to play and extend their learning in the outdoor environment are not fully developed.

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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 main play rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of practitioners working within the setting, and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and information included in the self-evaluation form.

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Information about the setting

Headstart-on-the-Hill Nursery is privately owned and was registered in 2012. It operates from a converted school building in Chester city centre. The nursery serves the local area and parents travelling into the centre of the city. The nursery is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 30 children on roll, 28 of whom are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure staff are consistently planning, observing and assessing and closely linking this together to help to ensure the progress of children towards the early learning goals; by planning carefully for the next steps in individual children's learning.

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

 review and further develop opportunities for children to play and extend their learning in the outdoor environment. For example, provide chimes, streamers, windmills and bubbles to investigate the effects of wind.

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who attend

Children are happy and confident in the welcoming and generally well-resourced environment. A suitable range of resources, equipment and planned activities help support children's development across all areas. Children enjoy exploring books in the cosy reading corner and listen to stories with staff who make the story interesting to children with the intonation in their voice and by allowing children time to predict events which will follow.

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who attend

Staff generally support children in their understanding and communication and language; joining in with play and initiating conversations, asking open-ended questions which encourage children to think for themselves. However, this is not consistently applied across the setting because at times staff do not allow children time to respond in their own ways or as they take children away from an activity or a story they were interested in. Children take part in activities which engage them in developing language skills, happily talking about family members and events which are important to them. Some children who are shy in a large group enjoy quiet conversations with staff and they talk about how 'noisy boys are' and what they do at home. Younger children are cared for by staff who provide activities and resources which stimulate and encourage their learning and development. Staff hold and comfort children when they are upset to provide a secure

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who attend

and nurturing environment. Parents spoken to praise the positive attitude of staff and the 'homely atmosphere'. They comment on the progress that young children have made since attending the nursery.

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who attend

Children enjoy sand and water play with support from staff and they enjoy being outdoors as they pour out quantities of rice and pasta, confidently counting 12 pieces of pasta. They enjoy equipment which encourages their interest in physical play and supports their moving and handling skills. For example, they have access to tricycles and move them down a small hill with increasing speed safely stopping before reaching the other children. Free play allows children to lead and direct their own learning. However, planned activities sometimes become too rigid, resulting in a lack of interest from children and the learning intentions are lost. Staff currently link planned activities to the setting's topics and children's emerging interests. However, they do not always use observations to inform planning to ensure each individual child receives a challenging and enjoyable learning experience. As a result, the activities do not always promote children's individual learning

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who attend

needs to help them become ready for the next stage in their learning.

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who attend

Key persons are involved in the registration and settling-in process for children. This means that those working most closely with the children know them well and acquire important information about their individual needs, how they are progressing generally, and what factors might encourage an active learning environment for them. Partnerships with parents and other professionals are effective overall. Staff ensure information is available for parents to refer to, including menus, planned activities and some references to the Early Years Foundation Stage. They hold meetings with parents to provide opportunities for parents to find out about their child's progress. Staff update home diaries for the very youngest children on a daily basis but learning journey's which focus on what achievements the children have made in each area of learning and how the setting plans to move them forward are not consistently understood or completed.

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

The key person system is well-embedded to ensure that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs. Staff are assigned key children and display warm relationships with these children. Staff are well deployed and give clear boundaries to children about what is acceptable behaviour, gently reminding them when they become over excited or too boisterous. The key person system demonstrates staff have a good knowledge of individual children. Consequently, children form appropriate bonds and staff are able to form good relationships with parents from whom they seek relevant information about the children to ensure their welfare is well promoted. As a result, children's care and learning needs are well promoted.

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

Staff support children in managing their own behaviour, in developing independence and making relationships with other children and adults. Older children make confident choices about what they want to do and enthusiastically express their opinions. Children are given lots of praise and encouragement to bolster their confidence, as they try out new experiences and activities and this increases their self-esteem and their feelings of security. Children are encouraged to take risks and learn about safety.

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

Children develop their physical skills as they learn to move in different ways. For example, in the outdoor area as they happily run and move with confidence. They run with staff to either end of the outdoor area laughing joyfully. However, the outdoor area is not used as well as it could be to offer children challenges across all areas of learning. Consequently planning and resourcing of the outdoor environment is less thorough than it is for indoors. Children enjoy many outings to local places of interest such as parks and staff ensure children know about the dangers of the road and how to remain safe by looking and listening for moving vehicles, incidents which children remember in their written work back in the nursery. At snack time children have opportunities to learn about healthy eating and understand the importance of self-care. All children wash their hands and staff reinforce appropriate language such as 'clean' and 'dirty' to help children learn from a young age

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

about good hygiene practices. They are given a choice of water or milk with fresh fruit as they play outdoors.

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provision

Management have a sound understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and all of the legally required documents, policies and procedures are in place, contributing to the safety and welfare of the children. The manager takes the lead role in planning the educational programmes and there are systems in place to assess their effectiveness. For example, staff meetings and supervision to check on the progress children are making. Staff feel supported and their professional development is considered. Management are aware of the impact of supporting professional development, as a result training needs are discussed at supervision meetings and arranged to impact on staff performance. However, planning and assessment are not sufficiently well monitored to ensure they are consistent and precise in displaying an accurate understanding of children's progress.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children are in place. A thorough safeguarding policy is understood by all staff. The manager takes lead responsibility for safeguarding concerns and has received training to support her in this role. Staff conduct daily checks on the premises and written risk assessments help the manager to follow up on any safety concerns to promote children's welfare. Suitable recruitment procedures are in place and individuals who have not been checked do not have unsupervised access to the children. As a result suitably qualified staff care for the children.

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provision

Management have a positive attitude to making improvements in the provision and the systems for self-evaluation have identified some links between priorities and plans for improvement, but they are not yet having sufficient impact on driving improvement. The views of parents are sought via a comments box. Staff have daily discussions with parents at drop off and collection times to discuss or raise any concerns. This helps to provide children with some continuity of care.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 EY439137 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 790912

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 10 Total number of places 102 Number of children on roll 30 Name of provider Headstart Chester Limited Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01244382333

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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.

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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.

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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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