Daisy Chain Childcare

Daisy Chain Childcare High Ridge Park, Rothwell, LEEDS, LS26 0NL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/11/2012 02/03/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff are meticulous in their arrangements for promoting excellent partnerships with parents; ensuring they are fully informed about all aspects of their children's individual care and learning. This means children settle extremely well, feel totally at ease and thoroughly enjoy their time in the nursery.  Staff are highly skilled practitioners who have an excellent understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and plan a diverse range of learning opportunities which excite children and capture their interests across all areas of learning.  Staff make excellent use of praise and provide a wealth of opportunities for children to develop their independence. This means they are extremely confident in their own abilities and become caring and polite individuals who demonstrate very high levels of self-esteem. They behave in an exemplary manner which promotes a very calm atmosphere throughout the nursery.

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This provision is outstanding

 The staff team work diligently together and successfully implement highly effective policies and procedures to safeguard and promote children's welfare. They provide a very safe, rich, colourful and stimulating learning environment where children delight in making choices in their play, both indoor and outside.

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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 all the care rooms and outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the manager and registered person and spoke with the staff at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journeys, planning documents, a selection of policies and children's records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Daisy Chain Nursery is one of three nurseries run by Daisy Chain Childcare Limited and was registered in 2002. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register and is situated in purpose-built premises in the grounds of Haigh Road Infants and Nursery School in the Rothwell area of Leeds. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from four rooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, seven hold an early years qualification at level 3, with two members of staff working towards level 3. Two members of staff hold a level 5 childcare qualification and one holds a level 6 qualification as well as Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 86 children attending, all of whom are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It is able to support children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 consider building on and extending the arrangements for encouraging and guiding parents in how to support their child's understanding of letter names and sounds at home.

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who attend

All staff have an excellent understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the seven areas of learning. There is an organic approach to planning so that rich, varied and imaginative experiences are constantly adapted so that they fully reflect each child's individual play and learning needs. This enables children to make progress that is well within the expected developmental levels for their age and, in some cases exceeds this. Systems for observation and assessment are sharply focused and children's learning journeys contain an excellent range of information, including in-depth observations, photographs and good examples of their work, to evidence the progress they make. The highest priority is given to ensuring parents and carers are able to share information about their children's current interests and achievements, and this is achieved through highly successful strategies, such as the interactive interest boards in all rooms. This means staff

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who attend

have a comprehensive knowledge of each child's learning, both in the setting and their home environment, and know how they complement each other.

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who attend

The organisation and presentation of toys and resources is excellent. As a result, children make independent choices regarding what they would like to play with and how they spend their time. For example, they delight in looking at books in the cosy sheltered area outdoors. All playrooms have a wealth of colourful displays that are rich with text; helping children to clearly understand that words have meaning. Staff are highly skilled in encouraging very young children to learn through exploration. For example, babies squeal with absolute delight as they splash in water and learn about cause and effect as they pop bubbles with their hands.

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who attend

Staff give the highest priority to helping children acquire very good communication and language skills through initiating conversations at every opportunity. The impact of this is very evident. For example, one very young child very confidently named each ingredient as she took part in a baking activity, and an older child demonstrated an excellent range of vocabulary as she named and described in great detail, the trees and flowers growing in her garden at home. Staff skilfully use tailored phonic programmes to promote older children's understanding of letters and sounds. As a result, they delight in, and very confidently describe how the words 'snake', 'snail' and 'slug' start with 's', and demonstrate how they can write the letter 't' on the interactive board. This approach is highly successful, although, there is scope to consolidate and further extend children's learning in this area by fully encouraging and guiding parents to support this aspect of

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who attend

Staff provide excellent opportunities to complement children's learning in the nursery through input from outside professionals. For example, each week the older children are given the opportunity to learn French; an activity they clearly delight and excel in. For example, they confidently use the French language to name a number of shapes, such as a triangle, square and circle, as well as story book characters. This means children are learning about the languages of other countries through active involvement. All children take part in weekly music and singing activities led by an outside teacher who enables them to develop and express their creativity very effectively. The youngest children, in particular, become captivated as they explore sounds through banging drums and shaking tambourines and learning about rhythm. Staff skilfully ensure they continue these activities in the nursery to enable children to practise and consolidate their learning.

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

All staff are highly skilled and very sensitive in helping children to form secure attachments, which means they settle very well and have a strong base for their learning and development. For example, children are provided with a photographic booklet about the nursery and the staff who will care for them so they can talk through this with their parents before the placement begins. Children are very much at ease and confident to approach staff if they need comfort or support. This is clearly demonstrated by one child's comments that staff say 'oh dear' if they know a child is feeling sad and give them a cuddle. All staff act as key persons and give the highest priority to working closely with parents to ensure they are fully informed of their child's individual routines, interest and dislikes. This ensures the care children receive in the nursery is a true reflection of the care they receive at home.

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

Children have excellent opportunities to learn about self-care from an early age. For example, a very young child independently used a wipe to clean her hands after baking and put this in the bin afterwards. All children know to shield their mouth if they cough, to help stop the spread of germs. The older children confidently serve their own food at lunch time, knowing how much to take to satisfy their appetite. Children learn to behave in an exemplary manner because well-established practices and routines are in place to ensure they understand fully what is expected of them. For example, an older child spontaneously held the door open for the inspector when accessing the outdoor area and they all lined up very sensibly so that staff could count them all to make sure everyone was accounted for. This promotes an atmosphere of calm and shared respect. Children develop extremely high levels of self-esteem and confidence because there is a very high

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

emphasis placed on celebrating effort and achievement within the nursery. This further ensures children are very well prepared for their next steps in learning. For example, the pride and delight of two children was evident as they took on the role of helper of the day and diligently helped to clear the tables after lunch.

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

The attention given to promoting children's health is excellent. Meticulous systems are in place to ensure their individual health or dietary needs are met at mealtimes and staff are vigilant in promoting very good hygiene as a matter of course in their daily routines. Children's understanding of healthy eating is exceptionally well promoted. They grow an array of fruit and vegetables in the nursery garden and on their allotment and these are included in the daily menu; providing children with an excellent understanding of where food comes from. For example, several children delighted in pulling up onions, learning about their smell and seeing the different layers as the onions were cut in half. There is an excellent focus on outdoor physical activities, and this enables all children to develop very good control of their bodies and to benefit fully from lots of fresh air. For instance, they relish the daily opportunities to play outside; enjoying kicking fallen leaves and gathering

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

these up. Neither staff nor children are fazed when the rain begins to fall and take full advantage the new dimension this brings to their play. Opportunities to splash in puddles in wellingtons are fully embraced which reflects staff's firm belief that there is no such thing as unsuitable weather, only unsuitable clothing.

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provision

The registered person and manager have an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities in regard to the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, with highly effective systems in place to ensure these are implemented at all times. Comprehensive policies and procedures are in place which underpins the extremely safe and efficient management of the nursery. Systems for the safe recruitment of suitable staff are extremely robust and consistently implemented. The organisation and deployment of staff is excellent, which means day-to-day activities are managed very skilfully. This was particularly evident when the babies played in the water together, as high levels of staff were present to ensure their safety and that they were quickly dried and dressed after the activity to prevent them becoming cold. High quality professional supervision is provided for staff, including regular observations carried out by the manager

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provision

and Early Years Practitioner and regular appraisals that actively encourage staff to be reflective and critically analyse their practice. This ensures any performance management issues are immediately addressed. The programme for the professional development of staff is fully embedded and each member has a training plan which means opportunities for them to enhance their knowledge and understanding of childcare practice are excellent.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are superb. They are provided with a wealth of well-presented and useful information on notice boards, through newsletters, a website, a booklet about the Early Years Foundation Stage and detailed written and verbal updates of what the children have been doing each day. Parents are actively encouraged to attend events, such as open evenings and sports days, to ensure they play a full part in the life of the nursery. Parents provide extremely positive feedback on their satisfaction of the service, praising the whole ethos of the nursery and commending staff for their very professional but friendly approach. Very positive relationships have been forged with other providers, such as local schools, to aid transitions with communication books in place for the reciprocal sharing of information.

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provision

The owner has a clear and very well-defined vision of what it is she wants to achieve for the nursery, which puts children at the heart of everything. This is shared fully by the staff team. There is a robust system for self-evaluation and this is fully embedded. Opportunities for all staff, parents and children to feed into this are excellent and prompt action is taken to address any areas for change that are identified. This means the capacity for continuous improvement is excellent. For example, parents felt they could not comment on whether or not they were happy with the daily meal menu as they had not sampled the meals themselves. As a result, a range of dishes were prepared for them to try at an open evening, which enabled them to experience for themselves the quality of the food and so express an informed opinion.

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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 EY101465 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 885915

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 86 Name of provider Daisy Chain Childcare Ltd Date of previous inspection 02/03/2012 Telephone number 01132825766

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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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