The Little Wendy House Day Nursery Ltd

Little Wendy House 23 Walsall Street, WEDNESBURY, West Midlands, WS10 9EL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/12/2012 04/02/2009

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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

 Children, particularly babies, forge trusting and caring relationships with the staff. They settle well and enjoy close and appropriate attention and interaction, which promotes a sense of emotional security.  The manager and staff implement safeguarding procedures competently to protect children. The provision works openly with external agencies to address the needs of children, who require additional support.  Children have access to a wide range of resources and equipment that supports their early learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 The monitoring of practice is not rigorous enough to ensure that practice is consistent across the provision. Consequently, older and more able children are not sufficiently challenged and some group activities are not effectively delivered.  Children are not always provided with plates or dishes to hold their food when having snacks and sandwiches at tea time, hindering the promotion of their health and social skills.

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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 and interaction in all of the base rooms and during outdoor activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the owner/manager and staff at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of some parents' views and comments noted in children's assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a range of documentation, including records to assess staff suitability and qualifications, children's records, policies and procedures and children's developmental records.

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Information about the setting

Little Wendy House was registered under its current private ownership in 2008 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in converted premises near to the town centre of Wednesbury, in Sandwell. Children are cared for in four base rooms set out over two floors with babies and toddlers on the first floor, which is accessed by stairs. The nursery serves the local area. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 11 members of childcare staff. Of these, nine hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two members of staff, including the manager are working towards a Foundation degree. Two apprentices are working towards a level 2 qualification. A cook is also employed. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 44 children attending, 36 of whom are in the early years age group. Older children attend out of school provision sessions. 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 those with special needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 foster a culture of continuous improvement by ensuring that the quality of teaching is more consistent in all areas of learning and development and provides challenging experiences, particularly for older and more able children.

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

 enhance children's health, social development and enjoyment of their mealtimes by providing plates or dishes on which to place their sandwiches, snacks and fruit, particularly at tea time

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

 improve the organisation of group activities, such as story time, to take account of children's ages and stages of development and their levels of concentration.

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who attend

Children are making satisfactory progress in their learning and development, based on their starting points. Babies enjoy warm and close support from their key persons, who observe and plan effectively, in order to promote their development. For example, planning shows how the key person is providing activities that are encouraging a baby in sitting and balancing without support and reaching forward in preparation for crawling. This level of support is not always followed through in some of the base rooms for older children. Whereas some staff understand how to encourage participation by asking questions to stimulate and challenge thinking, others are less skilled at promoting effective learning. For example, a group of children engage in an activity with a vast array of wooden blocks. They are prompted by the member of staff to count and arrange the blocks but there is little input to promote creative thinking or encourage children to reason

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who attend

and develop a design. When a group of more able children take over the activity, they build a tower using a repeated sequence and they are not challenged to become aware of this sequence or consider how stable the tower is. As a result of these missed opportunities to challenge children's thinking, they are not encouraged to make as much progress as possible in their learning.

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who attend

The nursery cares for children with a range of needs and works with various agencies to consider more effective ways of supporting them. Children from families where English is an additional language, are gaining linguistic skills in English. Staff seek key words in the home language to assist in settling children adequately. The nursery uses an established screening tool to assess communication and language, with support from the local authority. Some of the findings are used to plan suitable activities to promote this prime area of development. Children's progress is recorded and shared with parents who also receive verbal feedback, developing suitable exchanges of information. The nursery has started to complete some summary assessments of children aged between two and three years, which are also shared with parents. Older children are supported in developing independence and self-care skills in preparation for their move to full-time school.

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

Younger babies have their routines and care needs delivered well, taking note of comforters, feed times and how they settle for sleep. This ensures continuity of care practices used at home and helps them to feel happy and settled. Children are developing an understanding of acceptable behaviour as staff remind them of the simple boundaries. Where individual children require additional support in coping with strong emotions, staff are working with other agencies to develop various methods of behaviour management in partnership with parents and carers.

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

Children are gaining an understanding of the benefits of a healthy diet and lifestyle. They enjoy home-cooked meals that are nutritious and balanced, and have regular opportunities to develop their physical skills in the covered outside play area. They brush their teeth after lunch and younger children have opportunities to take naps in comfort, according to their needs. However, the development of children's health and social skills is hampered by poor attention to the snack and teatime routines. Children are not given a plate or a dish in which to place their food. Staff are concerned about past behaviour when some of these items were discarded by children during the activity. Such practice does not fully minimise the risk of cross-infection or contamination and does not teach children appropriate behaviour and expectations at mealtimes. Staff undertake risk assessments, both on and off the premises. These are adequate in helping children to be

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

aware of their own safety. For example, they wear high-visibility jackets and use a walking ring when out and about in the community, visiting the park, shops and the library.

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

Some aspects of staff interaction are strong, particularly with the babies. A child is placed in the baby doughnut, supporting their sitting and development of upper body control. The child smiles with delight and stretches with arms open wide as the member of staff talks, smiles and uses a range of facial expressions and changing tones of voice to communicate animatedly with the child. Equipment, such as voile and flashing tube lights, are used to encourage babies to use their senses. Older children have easy access to resources to use freely, developing their independence. There are times when some group activities, such as story time, are not effectively delivered. For instance, a member of staff fails to notice when children have lost interest and therefore, adjust the length of the session. This hinders children's enjoyment of the activity and impacts on behaviour as some of them become distracted and disruptive.

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

Children are adequately prepared for their move to the next base room in the setting. Discussions are held with parents, and the child's key person takes them on a number of visits to their new room, in order to help them settle. On occasions, a child's key person is assigned to move with them to offer support. Older children become familiar with some of the schools they will go on to attend. This is achieved as children from the local schools attend the out of school provision at the nursery. Children notice and talk about the different uniforms and school logos.

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provision

Management and staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of safeguarding. They are confident about the setting's child protection procedures and undertake regular training to update their knowledge and understanding. Parents are informed of this duty of care through clear policies and procedures. Arrangements for staff recruitment and selection are appropriate and the required checks are completed to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. The owner/manager has implemented supervision and staff appraisals to assess the ongoing suitability of staff. The owner is also confident in her understanding of informing Ofsted and other appropriate agencies of any concerns regarding staff suitability.

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provision

Management understand their responsibility in meeting the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. There is a programme of professional development in place. However, it is not sufficiently targeted to focus on the weaker areas of practice, such as inconsistency in the staff's delivery of challenge and pace within teaching. The self-evaluation is overly optimistic at present as the impact of inconsistent practice has not been identified and addressed fully. It does, however, take account of the views and opinions of some parents and staff. Some of the parents have recorded comments in their child's developmental records. They remark on how they have noticed their child's confidence and social skills improving. Parents also comment about how routines and milestones, such as toilet training have been reached and that their children's behaviour has improved.

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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 EY372974 Local authority Sandwell Inspection number 892574

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 74 Number of children on roll 44 Name of provider The Little Wendy House Limited Date of previous inspection 04/02/2009 Telephone number 0121 505 5800

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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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