ABC Nursery & Pre School Ltd

ABC Nursery & Pre School Ltd A B C Nursery, Stondon Road, ONGAR, Essex, CM5 9RG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/10/2012 10/10/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The very strong partnership with parents is a real strength of the nursery. Parents are extremely well informed, through high quality written information and close contact with the staff, and say that they feel highly involved in their children's learning.  The nursery is extremely well resourced and the premises are imaginatively set out with play equipment so that children are active and dynamic in their learning, both indoors and outside.  Children show high levels of independence, curiosity and imagination and demonstrate positive behaviour and strong self-assurance.  Children's safety is given a high profile and all staff are fully aware of their child protection responsibilities and comprehensive risk assessment and daily checks are undertaken and recorded.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although staff have annual appraisals and a system for regular supervision has recently been implemented, there are some elements of monitoring of the staff's performance that lack precision and rigour.  While conversations and questioning by the staff promote language development, some interactions do not maximise on opportunities to extend learning and promote critical thinking so that children learn as much as they can.

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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 indoor and outdoor learning environments, this included a joint observation with the nursery manager.  The inspector held discussions with staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of the children's learning journey books and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector saw evidence of suitability and qualifications of the staff team, risk assessments and other information, such as policies and procedures included on the nursery's website.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day and of information collated from surveys included on the nursery's self-evaluation form.

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Information about the setting

ABC Nursery and Pre School Ltd is privately owned and was registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from three playrooms and a hall in converted school buildings on the outskirts of Ongar, Essex. Children share access to a secure, enclosed playground and a large field for outdoor play. The nursery opens five days a week for 51 weeks of the year. Operating times are from 7.30am until 6pm.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 66 children aged from five months to 10 years on roll. Children aged three and four years receive funding for early education. Children attend for a variety of sessions, including out-of-school care. The nursery serves the local community and surrounding areas. It supports a small number of children who have English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs eight staff to work directly with the children, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. The manager holds Early Years Professional Status and another member of staff holds Qualified Teacher Status. There is one member of staff currently working towards a higher recognised early years qualification. The nursery also employs two bank staff who provide lunch cover, a cook, a French teacher, a dancing teacher and a domestic assistant. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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

 extend children's learning and critical thinking by monitoring and evaluating the impact of staff's practice on children's learning and development, particularly by promoting consistently high quality interactions.

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who attend

Children are making good progress because the educational programmes have depth and breadth across all seven areas of learning. Stimulating activities are planned that excite and capture the children's interest. Consequently, children are motivated and eager to learn. Staff carry out regular observations and summative assessments to monitor children's progress. Information about each child's learning priorities is routinely shared with parents and used to inform the planning of future activities. Each child has a beautifully presented learning journey book that contains many positive comments about the children's achievements, illustrated by photographs and samples of their work. Children love to look at their special learning journey books and talk about the activities and events they have shared with their friends and staff. There is a very positive balance of adult-led and child-initiated play. Children also relish

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who attend

the opportunity to choose between indoor and outdoor play. Much thought has gone into making the best use of the play space to provide stimulating and interesting environments that encourage children to try activities and move freely between areas. A wide range of good quality resources are stored at low level, so that even the youngest children and babies can make independent choices and follow their own interests. Treasure baskets, containing household objects and natural sensory materials, keep babies totally absorbed and intrigued in purposeful play.

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who attend

The outdoor environment is used extremely well to develop children's understanding of the world. Children are keen to explore the changing seasons and use items they find, such as twigs and leaves, to create instant pictures. They show an interest in animals by exploring and discussing rabbit holes and greet the horses and ponies they see in the adjacent field. Children's knowledge of science, technology and mathematics is developing well. They independently access computers and adeptly print and display their work, and explore volume and capacity using sand or water. Children confidently use numbers and mathematical concepts to solve problems during everyday routines.

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who attend

A mainly effective range of teaching methods are used to promote language skills, vocabulary development and children's interest in books. Children are developing their understanding of phonics, which helps them to learn to distinguish differences in sounds and builds on their vocabulary. Animated and lively conversations take place between the children and staff during everyday activities and some well-targeted questions are used to elicit thoughtful answers from children. However, during some adult-led activities, questioning is not precisely matched to the needs of the children, and consequently, opportunities to offer additional challenge and extend learning are missed. Children choose to look at books for enjoyment. The book areas are well thought out and imaginatively presented, making them cosy and inviting. The staff are skilled at keeping children enthralled when they are telling stories. The children clearly become involved in

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who attend

the characters and show excitement when trying to predict what will happen next.

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who attend

A wide range of activities are planned to develop the children's artistic skills. There are also very stimulating opportunities for children to explore and investigate malleable materials, with no adult-directed end result. Children were eager to plunge into the green gloop especially made for the Halloween celebrations and showed curiosity about what they found when they scooped out the contents of a large pumpkin. Resources, props and costumes are readily available in the role play area to enhance children's ideas as they act out imagined and real-life scenarios.

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who attend

Parents are actively involved in their children's development as they frequently meet with key persons to find out how they can continue children's learning at home. They contribute items such as photographs for displays and build their children's knowledge of sounds and letters by providing objects for the letter basket. Parents are invited to regular events in the nursery so that they are fully informed about their children's progress and achievements.

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

Staff give good priority to making sure children settle well, and they liaise closely with parents and carers to meet the individual care needs of all children attending. There is an effective key person system, so that staff get to know their key children well and are able to identify how they learn and provide activities accordingly. Children and babies form warm and friendly bonds with the staff team and enthusiastically greet them when they arrive; and are sometimes reluctant to leave when it is time to go home. Staff are very affectionate, and provide plenty of cuddles for those children who need reassurance as part of the settling-in process. Children learn to respect others and play harmoniously together. The staff have developed effective strategies for behaviour management, including a friendship tree where children proudly display examples of their acts of kindness.

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

Parents provide information about family background and cultural heritage from the outset. Staff use this to ensure that children develop confidence and self-esteem, particularly when they see their family photographs displayed in the nursery environment. Key persons also gather useful words from parents in their home languages to support children who speak English as an additional language. Staff recognise that some children may have additional needs, and an effective system is in place in readiness to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator has attended training and liaises with the relevant agencies that support children's learning.

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

Transition between rooms is supported effectively as children have settling-in times so they can become familiar with their new carers and surroundings. In addition, at the beginning and end of each day, when there are fewer children attending, the children come together to play in mixed age groups. This works well because children can play with their siblings and get to know other adults who work elsewhere in the nursery. The nursery forges sound links with other settings that children attend to ensure continuity in children's care and learning, and there are established connections with local schools to assist transitions when children start full-time education.

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

The nursery gives a high regard to promoting children's health and has recently been awarded a five star rating for food hygiene. Children have hearty appetites and enjoy well- balanced meals and snacks. The nursery has a designated cook who works closely with staff and parents to ensure that children's dietary requirements are met. Mealtimes are social occasions, when independence skills are specifically promoted as children lay the table and serve their own food. Circle times are used well to encourage children to discuss healthy practices, such as when they should clean their teeth. Toothbrushes are supplied to enable children to clean their teeth after meals. Children learn and adopt healthy hygiene practices, such as washing their hands prior to eating or after using the toilet. Nappy changing and potty training is hygienically carried out, with suitable efforts made to preserve the privacy and dignity of the children. Children take part in regular evacuation

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

procedures and there are discussions about why a wet floor becomes slippery, which helps to develop their awareness of personal safety. Children really benefit from spending much of their time in the fresh air because the outdoor areas are used continually. Babies and children have ample space for physical development as they have use of a large hall in addition to their playrooms. They also have access to an interesting range of apparatus that promotes mobility and agility.

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provision

The staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. The systems and paperwork used for observing children's achievements and planning for their progression are regularly reviewed. Staff work effectively as a team and are led by a forward-thinking manager and deputy. Everyone strives to ensure that children receive high quality care and education, and reflective practice is becoming increasingly effective in the nursery. The management and staff are extremely receptive to the help and advice they receive from their local authority advisors, and the manager regularly meets with other early years professionals to share best practice. Many aspects of the nursery provision are monitored and appraised. Using self-evaluation, which includes the views of parents and staff as part of the process, the nursery has taken very effective action with a number of areas that were

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provision

The actions and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been addressed. Risk assessment has significantly been improved, and the staff are extremely vigilant about the security of the children to ensure that they cannot leave the premises unsupervised. All staff have undertaken safeguarding training as part of their induction and the two-way flow of information is now consistently applied to ensure that children's individual needs are met. Improvements have also been made to the system for staff appraisal in order to identify the training needs of the staff. More precise and sharply focused monitoring and evaluation of staff performance is under development to improve any inconsistencies in practice and make sure that all staff continuously improve their understanding and skills to allow children to thrive and achieve as much as they can.

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provision

Children are protected because all staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding procedures and know what to do if they have concerns about a child. Adults working in the nursery undergo robust recruitment and vetting procedures to determine their suitability to work with young children. Records listing checks by the Criminal Record Bureau are regularly updated. All the essential regulatory documentation is meticulously organised with a high regard given to ensuring information about the children is confidentially recorded and stored.

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provision

Staff promote excellent relationships with parents and carers. Displays, noticeboards and newsletters keep parents informed about special events and there is a well-presented website with the most important facts about the nursery. The nursery values the views of the parents and they are regularly invited to contribute their opinions and suggestions through surveys. Parents speak extremely positively about their experience of dealing with the staff and really praise the progress their children make in the nursery.

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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 EY369791 Local authority Essex Inspection number 821227

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 77 Number of children on roll 66 Name of provider ABC Nursery & Pre School Ltd Date of previous inspection 10/10/2008 Telephone number 01277 362 211

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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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