Little Treasures

Little Treasures Broomhall Grange, Broomhall Norton, Worcester, WR5 2PD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/12/2012 06/01/2009

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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 benefit from the free-flow, accessible learning environment which successfully promotes their independence.  A strong key person system ensures close relationships with parents ensuring that every child's needs are met and children are happy.  Children's behaviour is good as they are provided with clear instructions and they understand the expectations of staff.  Children's health and well-being is supported well as the nursery provides a variety of healthy meals and snacks.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not consistently use the children's next steps in learning to inform the planning of activities to ensure these meet children's individual learning and development needs.  Children are not always fully supported in their learning as evaluation procedures are not fully embedded to consistently monitor staff's delivery of the education programme.  There is scope to improve opportunities for babies and toddlers to engage in activities that encourage their developing large muscle control.  Staff do not always encourage children's creative and critical thinking because at times they offer too much direction during activities.

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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 carried out a joint observation with the deputy manager.  The inspector observed practice in all of the play rooms.  The inspector spoke to a number of parents.  The inspector observed the lunchtime routine.  The inspector carried out an interview with the deputy manager.  The inspector observed the sleep routine in the baby room.

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Information about the setting

Little Treasures was registered in 2002 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in the Norton area of Worcestershire. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. The nursery employs 18 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff has Early Years Professional status and there is also a qualified teacher.

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Information about the setting

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 60 children attending who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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must:

 improve the use of the next steps children need to take in their learning in the planning of activities in order to: ensure that activities have achievable aims; are designed to meet the needs and interests of each child.

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

 develop further opportunities for babies and younger children to regularly engage in physical play opportunities that extends the development of the large muscle skills

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

 develop existing systems to better monitor the educational programme to ensure that staff are consistently meeting the needs of individual children

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

 open up opportunities for children to think critically and ensure they have experiences in which they can find their own ways to represent and develop their own ideas.

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who attend

Children make satisfactory progress from their starting points and in accordance with the educational programme that is offered. The new Early Years Foundation Stage is yet to be fully embedded within the nursery and some staff lack understanding of the new requirements. A two-year-old summative assessment is completed for each child within this age group and identifies children's developmental level and where further support may be required. Although next steps are identified through ongoing assessment and the progress check, staff do not always effectively use these to inform planned activities to ensure these are tailored to meet children's unique learning and development needs. As a result, children's learning is yet to be fully extended at a level suitable to their age and stage of development. For example, during a session in the pre-school room, the children were asked if minus two is a larger or smaller number than zero. The question posed did

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who attend

not reflect children's current stage of understanding. They were therefore unable to answer and became disengaged in the session.

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who attend

Children have access to a range of resources that they can access and staff work to support children's developing independence skills. This prepares the children for school readiness and promotes their personal, social and emotional development. Their literacy skills are supported across the nursery. For example, pre-school children trace their names and toddlers share books with the key person. In addition, staff are supporting children's language development across the nursery as they have just introduced the language program 'Every Child A Talker'. This has a positive impact on the children's language and communication development. The pre-school children have plenty of opportunity to explore and understand the world around them as they look for frost in the outdoor environment and discuss the frozen water in the tray outside. However, children do not have sufficient opportunity to develop their creative and critical thinking skills. For

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who attend

example, when children are asked to make a Christmas decoration the staff demonstrate the process. They create a snowman and the children repeat this exact process, resulting in identical decorations being produced by the children. This limits opportunities for children to think for themselves and follow their own interests and ideas. Staff do not fully understand the impact the prime areas of learning have on the specific areas of learning. This is particularly apparent with the under two-year-olds. The children of this age do not always have enough opportunity for physical play indoors or outside which impacts on their ability to develop their large muscle control.

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who attend

The nursery staff work hard to understand children's learning at home through regular information sharing with their parents. This also enables parents to learn about their children's progress within the nursery and to extend their learning at home. The nursery has an annual consultation meeting where information on their child's stage of development is shared with parents along with their children's next steps in learning.

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

The children behave well as staff are good role models for the children and provide them with appropriate praise and encouragement. For example, the staff remind the children to tidy up their toys and the children respond positively and follow the instructions of the adults. Children have independent access to activities and resources which enables them to mostly make choices and initiate play independently. The learning environment is carefully thought out in all of the rooms and boxes are clearly labelled so children can select toys to play with independently. This helps to support the personal, social and emotional development of the children.

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

Children are happy and confident and have their needs suitably met through the effective key person system in place. Key staff work well with parents and are readily available to them and children within the pattern of their working week. Exchanges of information at drop off and collection time ensures children benefit from consistency in their care because all those involved in their care are suitably informed. Children are helped to develop an awareness of how to keep safe as staff ensure they learn about safe practices. For example, they regularly take part in fire evacuation drills which develops their understanding of the procedures to follow in the event of a fire. In addition, children are shown how to climb the stairs by holding carefully onto a low banister that has been fitted especially for small children.

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

Children move between early years providers confidently as the nursery has developed good links with local schools and nurseries. Staff liaise with early years teachers in three primary schools. The nursery provides schools with half termly newsletters so they are kept fully informed about the practice in the nursery. Reception teachers are invited in to the nursery to visit the children that are starting school. This supports the transition into school for the pre-school children.

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

Parents are kept fully informed about their child's well being during the day. For example, in the baby room staff complete daily sheets so they are kept fully informed about sleep times and food that their child has eaten during the day. In the other rooms, a white board clearly shows the day's activities and the key person is available to verbally share any information with parents as they collect their child. This ensures the well-being of the children is fully supported. Children are provided with healthy snacks and meals which supports their health and well-being. They are encouraged to wash their hands before meals and snack times. Staff wear disposable aprons during meal times to ensure high standards of hygiene are maintained and this helps children to understand the importance of following good hygiene practices. The older children are encouraged to serve their own food at mealtimes. This encourages the development of the children's independence skills.

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provision

Children are kept safe at the nursery as all staff understand their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are robust procedures in place to recruit staff and new nursery practitioners follow an effective induction programme. This ensures they fully understand all policies for the nursery and the children are safeguarded at all times. The nursery has a strict keypad entry system and visitors to the nursery are asked to avert their eyes when the code is tapped into the pad, ensuring the children are always kept safe.

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provision

The nursery provider fully understands their responsibilities in meeting the learning and development requirements. However, whilst routine performance management does help the setting self-evaluate and draw out many of the most needed areas for improvement, some areas are not clearly identified. For example, internal audits have not recognised all of the gaps in the staff's knowledge relating to the new Early Years Foundation Stage. This has a direct impact on the learning and development of the children. That said, the continued professional development of staff is encouraged and some have extended, or are presently extending, their core qualifications. Training is offered routinely through regular staff meetings to further develop their knowledge of the early years. Regular newsletters ensure parents know about any forthcoming events or changes to the policies and procedures of the nursery. They have been informed about the new Early

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provision

Years Foundation Stage at a recent consultation meeting which helps them to understand how their children are helped to make progress. A notice board in the entrance hall keeps parents fully informed about nursery events. These effective partnership working arrangements ensure children benefit from consistency in their their experiences. Managers understand the importance of working with external agencies. They engage in a forum group that meets monthly, communicating with experts ranging from paediatricians to speech therapists. This enables the nursery to draw on their expertise and seek support for children to ensure their individual needs are met and they make progress in their learning and development.

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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 EY222544 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 877386

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 120 Number of children on roll 60 Name of provider Little Treasures Ltd Date of previous inspection 06/01/2009 Telephone number 01905356208

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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. 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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