Three Bears Nursery

Three Bears Nursery 226 Otley Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS16 5AB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/11/2012 08/12/2008

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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

 Effective observation and assessment means that staff can plan using the children's interests to ensure that they enjoy and are successful in their learning.  Children enjoy using the well-resourced movement areas in each room, which means that they are able to develop their physical skills both indoors and outside.  Children are effectively supported to develop strong relationships with their key workers, who know them well.  Children's behaviour is excellent due to the consistently applied positive behaviour management policies and procedures.  There is a strong partnership with parents, which means that parents are very aware of their child's progress and how they can support their learning.  Robust supervision and appraisal systems means that staff are well supported to develop their expertise.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 children are not sufficiently challenged in their thinking when playing with the large equipment outdoors, meaning that not all learning opportunities to develop imagination and experimentation are optimised  the self-evaluation process does not overtly identify the impact on the outcomes for children to evaluate how successful any changes have been

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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 toured the premises.  The inspector observed children and staff working together.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a sample of documentation, such as, policies, procedures and children's records.  The inspector interviewed the manager and owner.  The inspector talked with parents.

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Information about the setting

Three Bears Private Day Nursery opened in 2005 and is a family run business managed by the owner. It is run in a large detached house situated in the West Park area of Leeds. The nursery is open each week day from 7.30am to 6pm, 51 weeks of the year. The nursery has six playrooms across two floors and children have access to enclosed outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

The nursery provides care for children on the Early Years Register. There are currently 48 children on roll. Children from the local and wider community attend for a variety of sessions. The setting provides free early education funding for three- and four-year-olds and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities; as well as those with English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

There are 14 members of staff working with the children, all of whom hold an appropriate early years qualification. Two staff hold a relevant degree and one has Early Years Professional Status. The setting receives support from the local authority, attends a variety of professional and provider networks and is a member of the National Day Nursery Association.

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

 challenge children further in their thinking when playing with the large equipment outdoors, so that all learning opportunities particularly experimentation and imagination are optimised

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

 improve the self-evaluation process to clearly identify the impact actions will have on outcomes for children.

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who attend

Children make good progress. Staff planning is based on astute observations of the children, which are recorded and stored in pockets on the wall. These are used at the end of the week to assess each child and identify the next steps in their learning to be addressed the following week. They are also then placed in the children's profile to be annotated and shared with parents. This means that children's individual needs are effectively met and parents are well informed and able to contribute to their child's learning. Planning is clearly displayed on the walls of each room and staff regularly refer to these during activities, which ensures that they are effectively incorporating specific learning or skill development.

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who attend

The indoor environment is arranged into separate rooms for each age group and appropriately resourced. Children's artwork is valued, which develops their self-esteem and pride in their work. This is used throughout the nursery in stimulating displays to illustrate themes, such as Bonfire Night and Halloween. Discrete areas are clearly identified to promote learning and children are able to freely access equipment, meaning that they can plan activities and follow their own interests. There is a clear focus in each room on physical development, with movement areas, which are resourced well to promote skills, such as, spinning, tilting, tipping, pushing, pulling and stretching through floor play.

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who attend

The outdoor area has been equipped to encourage physical play through the provision of large equipment, which the children enjoy using. There is also a sensory garden, providing good opportunities to explore the natural world, grow vegetables and study minibeasts. This learning was enhanced by visitors to the setting, who helped children learn more about these creatures and then were given caterpillars to study their lifecycle through to butterflies. A further grassed area has been developed, from plans drawn up by the children, with such play structures as monkey bars and a slide to support children's large muscle development and coordination effectively.

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who attend

There is an appropriate balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. For example, in the pre-school room, children are building houses using construction bricks. Staff plan this activity well to promote mathematical skills using number language in their conversations, asking children 'How many windows are there?' and praising children as they count to 10; then developing this into questioning about who has most bricks. One child moves to the creative area and begins to draw a house. A member of staff suggests that they look out of the window and draw the house opposite, developing both their observational skills and through good use of questioning, their critical thinking skills.

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who attend

Although, staff use this style of open questioning when talking with children to develop their thinking, this is not consistently used in the outdoor area. This means that learning opportunities are occasionally missed to further develop children's thinking and imagination.

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

The key worker system is very effective. Children are clear who their key person is and have developed strong relationships with them. For instance, when they feel unsettled, they go to them for reassurance. Key workers know their children well and have built trusting relationships with parents. They report to parents at the end of each day about what their children have been doing and their development. They advise parents during the settling-in period with regard to gradually extending the length of time children should stay, building up to a full day when the child is ready. This means that parents can be confident that their children are happy in the nursery.

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

Parents' comment on the strength of these relationships and how happy their children are at the nursery. They have noticed that their children return home; eager to tell them what they have been doing during the day, demonstrating how settled they are, how the staff provide activities, which interest them and how much progress they are making.

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

Behaviour is excellent and when there are minor digressions, staff handle these positively and calmly, using distraction techniques and favoured activities and praise to promote the desired behaviour. Children respond well to this approach.

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

For those children, who have allergies or specific dietary requirements, there are effective procedures for ensuring that these needs are known and met. This includes the child's name and dietary needs being prominently displayed in the food preparation area. Staff have been trained in the use of epipen. Protocols have been implemented, such as different coloured crockery being used to ensure that vegetarian meals are clearly identified.

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

Menus are prepared to encourage the children to eat a healthy diet. Children serve themselves a breakfast of cereal. Lunch is cooked from fresh produce on the premises. Snacks consist of fresh fruit and water is readily available. Positive attitudes and awareness are fostered further by growing vegetables in the garden area.

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

Hygiene procedures and daily routines for hand washing before and after meals are securely embedded and undertaken independently by the children. The nursery also holds the highest rating for food hygiene. This means that children are learning good hygiene practice and food is prepared to ensure their health.

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provision

The management demonstrate a clear understanding of their responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Risk assessment is in place. Also the maintenance of the premises and management of the safety systems are good. Children are safeguarded through robust recruitment and selection processes. Staff are fully familiar with the procedures to follow in the event of a child being abused. The manager monitors the delivery of the educational programmes, planning and assessment, through regular observation and review. Child assessments are moderated internally to ensure that their accuracy and the key person system is constantly kept under review.

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provision

Development of the staff team is a high priority of the management and all staff are qualified to a minimum of level 3. The early years professional works across the nursery, coaching and mentoring staff and leading on planning. Staff performance is monitored through regular observation of practice. A formal appraisal system has been introduced, is fully embedded and is proving to be effective. Staff identify areas for development and access training through this process. Self-evaluation identifies the achievements of the setting and accurately addresses the areas for improvement. However, it does not clearly link these to the impact on outcomes for the children, to effectively monitor the success of any changes made. The nursery are members of the early years professional network and the local providers network using these to keep informed of current developments and share best practice.

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provision

Effective transition arrangements are in place with feeder schools and assessments and tracking documentation is shared to ensure continuity of learning for the children. The nursery supports parents to access additional support their children may need, such as speech and language therapy and have established good relationships with the nearby children's centre. This enables parents to access support services provided there.

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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 EY295764 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 820143

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 43 Number of children on roll 49 Name of provider Alhamdani Consultants Ltd Date of previous inspection 08/12/2008 Telephone number 0113 2759393

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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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