Head Start Day Nursery

Head Start Day Nursery 75 Albert Road, Stechford, Birmingham, B33 8AG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/11/2012 19/02/2010

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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

 Children feel confident and secure in the nursery. They demonstrate this through the positive relationships they develop with staff and the happy and settled manner in which they play.  A supportive key person system enables staff to develop positive relationships with the children and their parents. Therefore, the needs of the children are routinely met.  Resources are easily accessible in all rooms so that children can direct their own learning, and there are excellent opportunities for children to develop their physical skills.  There are warm and caring relationships between children and all staff, particularly key persons. Children's behaviour is good and they are settled and secure.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities to engage and support parents and/or carers in guiding their child's development at home is not fully exploited.  Systems to monitor the impact of the quality of teaching and learning are not fully embedded.

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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 spent equal time observing the outcomes for all groups of children; under twos and over twos, both inside and outside. The inspector sought the views of children through discussion and observation of their play.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and a senior manager undertook a joint observation in the imaginative room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector walked with a group of children and staff to their local allotment and carried out an observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of the children's assessment and observation records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed evidence of suitability of the staff, policies, risk assessment, medication records and other documentation in relation to health and safety checks.

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Information about the setting

Head Start Day Nursery opened in 1989. It is situated on the ground floor of two terraced houses. The accommodation consists of five rooms and the outdoor play area. Children have access to rooms on a rota basis to ensure that the space and resources are used effectively. The nursery serves a multi-cultural community in the surrounding areas of Stechford, Yardley and Bordesley Green. An out of school service is offered to children who attend Corpus Christi Junior and Infant School and Stechford Junior and Infant School.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 32 children aged from birth to five years on roll. This includes some funded three- and four-year-olds. A further 11 children aged between five and eight years attend before and after school and during school holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, children who speak English as an additional language, and Social Services referrals. The nursery opens five days a week all year round, except for Bank Holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year. The opening hours are from 7.30am until 6pm.

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Information about the setting

There are 12 practitioners employed to work with the children, all of whom hold early years qualifications at level 3 and above. The nursery receives support from a teacher mentor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership. It is a member of Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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

 seek further to engage and support parents and/or carers in guiding their child's development at home

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

 develop further systems to monitor the impact of the quality of teaching and learning.

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who attend

Children benefit from a very good quality learning environment. Resources are all within easy reach so children can be independent and set their own challenges. Children are making good progress in their personal, social and emotional development as they receive sensitive support by caring staff who understand that settling into a new room takes time. They ease transition by offering children time to familiarise themselves with their new room, peers and key persons. Children play well together and show strong cooperation skills. They make excellent progress in their physical development as they are able to practise different skills on a regular basis. In the outdoor area they run, climb and use wheeled toys. Planning identifies the characteristics of effective learning and encompasses the children's individual interests, and staff build on these. For example, when children show interest in the story of 'Goldilocks and the three bears,' staff use the children to act

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who attend

out the story using real objects, such as bowls of porridge, chairs and beds, to bring the story alive. Staff capture the story in photographs and display these for children to see and recall events.

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who attend

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective one-to-one support. Time is taken to observe and establish the individual needs of all children attending, and appropriate resources and funding are sought along with support from other professionals. This early intervention enables children and their families to access tailored guidance and support in the best interests of the child. Staff provide support for children in their home language and provide visual aids for them, such as labels on displays and key words in English, Urdu and Pushtu, the main community language. Practitioners value non-verbal communications and Makaton is also used in the setting to aid communication.

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who attend

Pre-school children are highly involved in challenging outdoor activities. They thoroughly enjoy their weekly visits to their allotment, planting vegetables and bulbs and digging to find creepy crawlies under logs using magnifying glasses. Younger children access the small sensory garden which encourages them to fully understand and investigate the natural world. They smell and taste thyme, sage, parsley and mint as well as explore insects. The well-qualified and long-serving staff team are enthusiastic and caring towards the children. They are well deployed to ensure supervision inside and outdoors. The outdoor play area is open every day on a free-flow access system which maximises opportunities for all children to be outdoors. Children have opportunities to develop skills in problem solving because staff take advantage when practical situations arise to challenge them. They encourage children to count the number of children in the line and

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who attend

they use language such as more or less as they count the ducks while singing number songs.

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who attend

Younger children enjoy singing familiar rhymes and action songs, which helps to promote their listening and concentration skills. They explore black and white objects and are fascinated by the sensory basket with its fairy lights, textured materials and shakers. These experiences mean children acquire useful skills for their future learning. Staff design a range of props for story and singing sessions to keep children stimulated and to ignite their interests. Children enjoy a story as they talk about the different fruits in the character's basket and staff ask open-ended questions to get them to think. Key persons carry out regular observations and assessments on children in their groups. They have a clear idea about where children should be based in relation to 'Development Matters' and they plan the next steps for them, having obtained relevant information about children's starting points. Staff have daily discussions with parents about children's activities and

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who attend

progress. This informative feedback is valued by parents, who are encouraged to share their comments about their children's learning at home. However, opportunities for them to make comments in children's development files are not fully explored and means engaging parents in their child's education at home is not always successful.

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

Children are very well settled and secure in the nursery because staff build warm and affectionate relationships and interact well with them as they play. This gives them a very secure base from which to explore and adult-child ratios are good throughout the nursery. Children show good levels of independence in their self-care. Older children go the toilet and wash their hands spontaneously. They benefit from a range of healthy snacks and meals, understand what foods are good for them and enjoy a variety of fruits at snack time.

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

Children show a secure understanding of the rules of the nursery and take responsibility for tasks, such as tidying the toys away before morning snacks or at dinner time. Staff offer lots of praise and encouragement to children to promote positive behaviour, and children love getting stickers on the reward chart and small gifts. Children develop a strong sense of belonging as they self-register or find their names on their coat hangers. They are well behaved, learn to cooperate successfully with each other, take turns and share. Children show kindness towards one another. For example, one child hands an apron to her friend and they both hold a container as they go outdoors to collect leaves for sticking.

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

All necessary documentation is in place to promote children's well-being, such as accident and medicine administration records. Good hygiene procedures are in place throughout the nursery. In the baby room, staff wear protective clothing to change nappies to minimise the possibility of cross-infection. Staff have a very good understanding about safeguarding, having all attended safeguarding training. The have all the relevant supporting documents and contact details to hand in the event of a concern about a child in their care. They work closely with other agencies to ensure vulnerable children are supported and have completed training around the common assessment framework. Children's understanding of safety is promoted through their daily routines. They learn how to use resources safely, such as scissors, and why they must hold hands and walk away from the road when out. Children engage in regular evacuation drills where they

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

learn why they need to get out of the building quickly and safely. Overall, children are developing the skills and positive attitudes to underpin their eventual move to school.

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provision

The senior management team set high aspirations for quality within the setting. They ensure effective safeguarding procedures are in place to protect children by making sure that all staff are aware of the nursery's child protection policy and their responsibilities with regard to children's welfare. Safeguarding is discussed at every staff meeting to ensure staff always know the procedures to follow. Robust recruitment procedures mean that all adults working with the children are suitable to do so and systems are in place to ensure staff continue to be suitable. Staff prioritise children's safety and security and take action to eliminate possible hazards through regular risk assessments. All staff working in the nursery have the appropriate knowledge, skills and childcare qualifications to support children's care and learning. Regular training ensures staff understand how to deliver the new Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. However, leadership and management

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provision

strategies have not had time to embed in order to demonstrate the impact upon the quality of teaching and learning. A programme of regular staff meetings, supervision sessions and individual performance reviews ensures that staff have good levels of support to undertake their roles.

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provision

Staff provide a good range of activities which enable all children to make good progress across all areas of learning. Systems for observing what children can do, assessing their progress and planning for their next steps are in place. Consequently, staff have a clear understanding about children's progress and any gaps in their development. Staff are keen to provide the best quality care and learning for children and they strive to continually improve the nursery. They have reviewed the rooms and moved younger children into a larger open-plan area to give more freedom of movement and for easy access to a changing area. They have a detailed action plan and use the local authority quality rating schemes to ensure they are maintaining good standards. Systems for monitoring and evaluating practice are well established.

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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 229214 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 888028

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider The Partnership of Head Start Day Nursery Date of previous inspection 19/02/2010 Telephone number 0121 789 7656 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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