Kiddi Caru Nursery

Kiddi Caru Nursery 7 Holme Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 9AU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/10/2012 23/03/2009

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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

 Good priority is given to the prime areas of learning and children are developing the key skills needed for the next steps in their learning.  Older children exhibit marked levels of independence at lunchtime as they serve themselves and help one another by passing the serving dishes and plates.  Staff join in with play and talk about what children are doing to extend children's communication and language.

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It is not yet good because

 Some staff are not sufficiently familiar with the learning and development requirements, and are not always able to identify children's developmental stages.  Children are not always offered a sufficiently challenging range of activities and play opportunities. Observations and assessments are not being kept up-to-date.  The key person system is not fully effective in securing continuity of care.  Self-evaluation is not fully effective because practice is not being monitored with sufficient rigour to secure continuous improvement.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playrooms and in the garden. She spoke with staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the deputy manager and the company Childcare Director.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's observation and assessment records, planning sheets, evidence of suitability of staff working in the nursery and some policies and other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents expressed in cards and letters and evaluated parent feedback forms.

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Information about the setting

Kiddi Caru Nursery was registered in 2001 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in purpose-built premises in the town centre area of Bedford. The nursery is one of 20 privately owned day care provisions managed by The Childcare Corporation PLC., based in the south of England. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round except for Bank Holidays and a week between Christmas and New Year. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are 75 places for children under five years and currently, there are 51 children attending who are within this age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 members of childcare staff together with the manager and her deputy. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. The pre-school senior holds Early Years Professional Status. Lunch cover and bank staff support the staff team.

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must:

 maintain regular observation and assessment to understand children's levels of achievement, interest and learning styles and then to shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations  improve the key person system to ensure that learning and development is tailored to their individual needs and to offer a settled relationship for the child.

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

 improve and monitor the educational programmes to ensure that they consistently have sufficient depth, breadth and challenge to meet the needs and the aptitudes of the children

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

 improve the effectiveness of self-evaluation to include rigorous monitoring of children's progress.

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who attend

Children are offered suitable opportunities and a range of activities to enable them to make satisfactory progress overall across all seven areas of learning and development. Practice is generally sound and the children are safe and happy. Staff are friendly and caring and enjoy their work with the children. They join in with play and interact to extend children's communication and language. Children benefit greatly from the staff's involvement in the activities because they show an interest in what the children are doing and ask questions to extend their learning. For example, children enjoy enthusiastic interaction from a member of staff who recognises the enjoyment they gain from role play in the home corner. They support children's personal, social and emotional development, reminding children to say please and thank you and encouraging children to manage their own care needs appropriately. The nursery garden is a delightful resource which provides

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who attend

plentiful opportunities for children to enjoy outdoor learning and develop their physical skills in the fresh air. This means that children are making generally good progress in the prime areas of learning and this ensures that children are developing the key skills needed for the next steps in their learning.

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who attend

Children in the Kookaburras room are purposefully occupied in activities which interest them. This is a busy, animated room where children are beginning to talk about and show interest in the textures of things. For example, a mixture of paint, glue and shaving foam creates an interesting gloop. The children want to print with their hands and a member of staff follows up this spontaneous turn of events by fetching some paper to enable them to do this. Children enjoy filling, pouring and building with sand. They discuss how much more sand they need to fill the different sized containers and describe how sand feels on their skin. Children's conversational skills are developing as a member of staff supports them in using telephones and an office keyboard.

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who attend

Levels of staff confidence and understanding of the learning and development requirements is variable across the nursery. This is more evident in the programmes for the specific areas of learning for the older children where there are insufficient opportunities for children to become engaged in activities which promote their desire to explore and investigate. Opportunities to extend children's counting skills in meaningful ways are being missed at the pre-school registration time. However, the nursery management has already identified that the promotion of children's mathematical development is an area for improvement across all age ranges. Therefore, this issue is already highlighted for improvement on the self-evaluation board. Experienced staff are not having sufficient impact in supporting their less experienced colleagues in delivering learning experiences which enthuse and excite children, fostering their disposition to learn.

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who attend

Planning of activities takes account of each child's individual interests. For example, when the older children go out into the garden, they notice spider webs and show an interest in how they got there. This is noted on the whiteboard in the Kangaroo room when they return, so that it can be incorporated into planning later. However, their individual learning needs are not so well considered because some staff are less familiar with the learning and development requirements, and are not always able to identify children's developmental stages. Many observations and assessments are not being kept up-to-date. This means that children are not always offered a sufficiently challenging range of activities and play opportunities to support them in making more than steady progress in their learning. New systems to support the revised Early Years Foundation Stage framework, have been introduced by company Head Office, but have not been promptly

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who attend

implemented by the nursery staff. For example, new observation folders are stored in the room cupboards, but have very few entries. Old style observation folders for the younger children have been archived in the nursery office, but many still contain too few recent entries to present an accurate picture of children's current levels of development. Whilst the staff assess children's learning, this is not consistently rigorous and leads to learning experiences being provided which do not fully match children's needs and do not always present sufficient challenge.

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

Attractive and stimulating resources in the baby and younger children's rooms encourage them to explore and investigate their environment. Close and affectionate relationships with staff are evident as children respond with smiles and chuckles to the positive attention given by staff. Babies watch intently as staff sing to them and cuddle them. Children are encouraged to be mobile and the environment is designed to help them with plenty of low equipment.

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

Staff have a reasonable understanding of safety issues and give priority to children's safety. All areas used by the children are effectively checked and risk assessed. Staff check the identity of visitors to the nursery and mobile phones are not allowed in the rooms. Children are consistently reminded about the safety rules in place. For example, they are reminded to hold the hand rail when coming down the stairs to the garden and pre-school children are reminded that their wet shoes might be slippery.

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

Children are given clear messages to ensure that they develop an appreciation of healthy eating and the need for physical exercise. They are able to choose what they would like for snack and the availability of small jugs enhances children's independence in pouring their own drinks. They develop good self-care skills with young children learning to feed themselves and washing hands before meals. Children are well-cared for and behave generally well.

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

The key person system supports partnership working with parents, providing an identified staff member to be the main point of contact at the nursery. Parents are invited to contribute information about their child's learning at home and they are well informed about their child's welfare. However, the system is variable in its effectiveness. Some staff form secure attachments with their key children and this promotes their well-being. However, some staff move around the rooms to maintain ratios when covering for staff breaks and the combination of staff working in a given room can change several times during a session. Children move rooms at certain ages and staff turnover also contributes to the lack of continuity of care.

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

Daily routines, such as toileting and tidy-up time in the pre-school room are often disrupted because of poor organisation by staff. For example, children take a long time to tidy-up and line up to go outside to garden. Staff do not introduce singing or any other activity to keep them amused. Then when the children reach the garden, a member of staff has to return to the room because the shed key has been forgotten. Children generally play well together and are being prepared for future transitions.

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provision

Comprehensive and effective safeguarding policies ensure that children are protected. There are clear recruitment, vetting and induction procedures to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Staff are knowledgeable and well informed regarding nursery safeguarding practice. The daily implementation of the setting's practical policies supports the efficient running of a generally safe provision. All staff check the premises for hazards before the children arrive, undertake regular emergency evacuation drills and have sound risk assessments for the premises.

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provision

The manager ensures all staff understand the safeguarding policy through in-house training and the senior management team takes a key strategic role in establishing an effective safeguarding culture within the nursery. They deliver the new staff induction procedures in Health and Safety and safeguarding and then monitor staff understanding and implementation of most required policies, procedures and systems. All staff are updated annually in safeguarding and their knowledge of aspects such as recognising symptoms and behaviours that could indicate abuse is re-assessed. The safeguarding policy includes procedures for the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting. Nursery staff and management have worked closely with the local authority's children and families team to support relevant children. They attend many case conferences and strategy meetings and produce written and verbal reports to support all agencies. Staff

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provision

deliver difficult information to parents in sensitive and constructive ways which supports families with issues such as oral hygiene, child nutrition and behaviour management. The nursery is building positive relationships with the local Children's Centre and is able to signpost parents to relevant services.

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provision

The company has devised systems to monitor and evaluate the provision, staff and children, such as monitoring children's assessment records, accident books to prevent incidents and undertakes regular appraisal of staff to discuss progress and identify training needs. However, having identified room monitoring as an area for improvement on the self-evaluation board, the manager and deputy have not monitored new systems with sufficient rigour to ensure their implementation as the company Head Office had intended. Assessments do not display a precise and accurate understanding of children's abilities and progress. Monitoring of assessment is not sufficiently frequent or robust to identify all circumstances where interventions may be needed. This means that some children or groups of children may get left behind.

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provision

Parents are able to share what they know about their child and become involved in their child's learning. The nursery actively seeks feedback about their views on the service and encourages them to comment via questionnaires and regular discussion and formal consultation meetings. The nursery works in partnership with other childcare providers and professionals to access appropriate support for children when necessary.

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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 EY217012 Local authority Bedford Borough Inspection number 886888

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 75 Number of children on roll 51 Name of provider The Childcare Corporation plc Date of previous inspection 23/03/2009 Telephone number 01234 272262

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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

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’.

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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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