Cherubs Kindergartens Ltd

Cherubs Day Nursery 118 Cove Road, FARNBOROUGH, Hampshire, GU14 0HG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/11/2012 20/08/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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

 Overall, children make good progress in their learning and are supported by practitioners who know them well.  Children are happy and feel safe and secure in their surroundings and in the company of the practitioners caring for them.  Children learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy through daily routines.  The environment is bright and cheerful. There are lots of photographs and examples of children's artwork.  The manager is an effective role model for practitioners.  Parents are very complimentary about the nursery and feel well informed.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Systems for working in partnership with other early years settings children attend are not fully developed.  Staff do not exploit all available opportunities to promote children's independence.

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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 children's play and staff interaction in the inside and outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the registered providers/manager, practitioners and spoke with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and one of the registered providers, who is also the nursery manager undertook a joint observation of a group singing session.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation including sampling of children's records, staff suitability records, policies and procedures and other records relating to the day-care provision.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Cherubs Day Nursery registered in 2001 and is privately owned by Cherubs Kindergartens Limited. It operates from self-contained premises off a main road in Cove, on the outskirts of Farnborough in Hampshire. Children are accommodated on two floors. There is a baby unit, with a separate sleep room, on the first floor and three activity rooms on the ground floor for older children; these include a messy playroom and quiet room. All children share an enclosed all-weather outdoor play area. The nursery serves families and the business community in the local area. It is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and until 5.30pm on Fridays. It operates all year round, excluding Christmas and Bank Holidays. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 48 children on roll aged from eight months to four years. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free

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Information about the setting

early education and offers both early years standard and stretched offers. It welcomes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak or hear English as an additional language. There are eight practitioners who work with the children, of these seven hold early years qualifications to at least National Vocational Level 3. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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

 devise and implement effective arrangements to work in partnership with other early years settings children attend to promote continuity of children's learning and development needs

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

 encourage children's independence and self-help skills, further, for example by allowing them to pour their own drinks and making resources that support expressive arts and design more accessible.

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who attend

Cherubs Day Nursery is a small, homely early years setting where children make good progress in their learning whilst having fun. They make their own play choices and are supported by practitioners who involve themselves in children's play and use their interests to promote their learning. The nursery is in the process of implementing a new system of observational assessment and planning to take account of the revised framework. However, practitioners speak confidently about this. They are secure in their role of key person and describe this as making sure children are progressing and achieving. Key persons have responsibility for liaising with parents about their children's learning and for maintaining children's learning and development records. Management considers that the small set-up of the nursery means that all practitioners know all the children well. Key persons spend time with parents when children first start at the nursery,

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who attend

which helps them find out about their starting points.

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who attend

Practitioners send home children's learning and development records on a termly basis so parents can view these at their leisure. They actively encourage parents to contribute formally to these records by including reminders to add their thoughts although few do. However, some parents are providing information about their children's interests and achievements at home on the newly introduced 'wow' sheets. These have been set up to encourage further contributions from parents and strengthen home/nursery links. The information provided is then used as part of the process for observational assessment and planning. Management and practitioners are aware of the need to provide parents with a written summary of children's progress between the ages of two to three years.

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who attend

Older children are confident communicators. They are happy to chat, both to practitioners and amongst themselves. They display curiosity in the presence of new adults and ask questions. Older children have some opportunities to develop their self-help skills. For instance, they are encouraged to put their coats on by themselves when they go outside to play. However, practitioners do not invite children to pour their own drinks, which would enable them to be more independent. Allowing children this small responsibility would also help them to refine their control and coordination. Children learn to recognise their written name as they look for their named drawer. They look at books independently and listen intently when stories are read to them. The provision of puppets brings an added dimension because they mean that children can join in with the story telling. Babies sit with practitioners to look at touchy feely books. Practitioners explain about the need to

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who attend

turn the pages and they name the different objects featured as children point to these.

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who attend

Children enjoy exploring a tray of leaves, conkers, acorns and other natural resources. They scoop up handfuls of leaves, watching intently as they flutter to the floor and then busily sort through the different items in response to questions posed by a practitioner. Some children are asked to find 'five leaves', or to 'count all the conkers' whilst others are invited to find 'another fir cone.' Differentiating tasks in this way means that all children are able to participate at their own level. Children solve problems as they complete puzzles and put the train track together. Practitioners provide support as necessary. For example, they encourage children to turn the puzzle pieces round and to work out which piece of train track they need to create a circle. Children investigate fast and slow movement by rolling toy cars down a 'ramp.' They are encouraged to consider what will happen if the angle of the 'ramp' is adjusted and how this will affect the speed of the cars. One child

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who attend

announces that when the 'ramp is higher cars go really fast.' They learn new vocabulary as the practitioner talks about 'steep, steeper and less steep.' This simple but very effective activity excites children and the practitioner develops it further when children go outside. This is achieved by creating a much larger ramp and providing larger cars. Several children become involved and they remain fully engrossed.

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who attend

Babies use their senses as they investigate cardboard boxes and different textured resources, such as pom-poms, which rustle when shaken. Large tin cans, which have been made into shakers, arouse their curiosity and they listen, with interest, to the noise these make as they shake them up and down. The tins also roll and some babies crawl after them. Practitioners offer young children different coloured bricks and encourage them to build small towers by placing these on top of each other. They provide support as necessary, for example by suggesting that they try to position them in a slightly different place and that they press them down.

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who attend

Visitors to the nursery, such as a dentist and the fire brigade, help children learn about the different roles people play within the community. Practitioners have put together interesting photographic displays relating to these visits. These enable the children to reflect back and recall these special events on an ongoing basis. Children see positive images of diversity displayed around the nursery in the form of visual stimuli and other resources and they take part in different celebrations. Some parents bring in food for the children to try and they talk to them about how they celebrate these events at home. Practitioners seek key words in children's home languages, such as the names they use for the special people in their families. These measures support children's developing understanding of the world and help them begin to appreciate and value similarities and differences. Older children competently use the computer. They often sit together and

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who attend

watch what the other is doing and they voice their views about what they need to do to complete the games. This encourages children to learn from one another and to take turns. Young children investigate technology at a basic level as practitioners demonstrate how to turn on musical toys by sliding the button across. Children have a good repertoire of songs and rhymes and the actions that accompany these. They join in enthusiastically in these sessions and make suggestions, both for particular songs they wish to sing and for additional verses for some favourite rhymes. These enable them to explore simple rhyming words.

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

Children arrive happily and separate easily from their parents, demonstrating a strong sense of security. This is evident even amongst the very youngest children. Relationships between children and between children and practitioners are good. Practitioners work hard to meet the individual needs of children. They are gently reassuring, for example, when young children display wariness in the presence of new adults. They notice when children start to get tired and ask them if they want to go to bed for a sleep. Practitioners make a point of including children in decisions that affect them, such as asking if it is all right to change their nappy. This practice also helps younger children begin to link words with actions. Children mostly behave very well. Minor incidents are quickly resolved as practitioners provide good levels of support and encouragement to share and take turns. They model good manners, which help children understand expectations for polite,

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

cooperative behaviour. Children receive lots of praise and encouragement, which fosters their self-esteem effectively.

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

The baby unit offers babies and toddlers ample space to crawl, practise walking and to sit and play in comfort. Practitioners set up a comfortable corner for younger babies when necessary. Older children move confidently and freely between the three activity rooms downstairs as they choose where they wish to play. The indoor learning environment is attractively presented with lots of visual stimuli in the form of hanging mobiles, photographs, pictures and examples of children's artwork. Children can help themselves to different play materials, which encourages them to follow their interests and make their own decisions about what they do. However, practitioners do not always present resources to support the programme for expressive arts and design in the best way possible to fully promote children's independence. For instance, materials stored in a low- level unit in the messy play room are in boxes with lids. Therefore, children cannot easily

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

see what is available. In the baby unit, there is an easel, which is just the right height for little children to reach but this is not always equipped with paper and mark-making materials, such as paint or crayons.

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

Children are not able to move freely between indoors and outdoors because of the layout of the nursery. However, all children have the opportunity to go outside in the garden every morning and afternoon, which means they benefit from fresh air and exercise. Practitioners respect children's decisions as to whether they do this. Children develop balance and control as they play on the slide and walk in and out of the tyres in the garden. They play with balls and see 'how high' they can throw and 'how hard' they can kick them.

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

Practitioners follow and encourage good hygiene practices, which help limit the potential for the spread of infection. They wear aprons when changing nappies and serving food and undertake any necessary cleaning. They reinforce the reason why children should wash their hands. They explain that they have 'washed the germs away' when a child comes back from the bathroom and announces 'my hands have had a good wash.' Children eat healthy, nutritious food. An external catering company supplies meals and parents contribute fruit for snack. This promotes a shared approach to healthy eating between home and nursery.

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

Mealtimes are relaxed, sociable occasions. Practitioners encourage younger children to use their spoons and babies to have a go at feeding themselves. Older children chat with practitioners about the different vegetables they have in their lunch. Children learn how to keep themselves and others safe with the support of practitioners. Older children follow requests to push their chairs in so no one will fall or trip up. They understand that they have to walk to the garden and not run. Younger children receive gentle reminders to 'go slowly' as they play with wheeled toys and on the sit-and-rides.

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

The nursery implements effective measures to ease children's transitions as they move through the nursery and then on to school. Younger children have visits to the pre-school room and there is an exchange of information between the two key persons. Teachers from the schools children will transfer to visit them at nursery and practitioners contact those schools who cannot attend.

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provision

The leadership and management team demonstrates commitment to further develop the quality of the nursery provision to drive improvement and ensure they fulfil the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage to the best of their ability. They are aware of the nursery's strengths and are identifying and planning for most areas for improvement through reflection and ongoing self-evaluation. Practitioners are included in this process. This has led to the production of a development plan, which is broken down into smaller action plans. These then focus on particular aspects for attention, within set time frames. All members of the staff team have an annual appraisal, which forms part of the nursery's arrangements for monitoring performance, valuing achievement and identifying areas for professional development. The manager spends a lot of her time working alongside practitioners and children and is an effective role model. She is

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provision

especially good at developing children's interests into a learning experience. Recommendations identified for consideration at the nursery's last inspection have received attention.

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provision

Management and practitioners have a good understanding of their responsibility with regard to safeguarding and are aware of the action they must take if they have any concerns about a child. They have attended relevant training in the past and are in the process of applying for additional courses so their knowledge remains up-to-date. Information about child protection, together with relevant contact details for the local safeguarding board, is readily available. Practitioners supervise children carefully and make use of appropriate safety features to help keep children safe. They complete a daily risk assessment of the premises, both indoors and outdoors, to identify and minimise potential hazards in the environment. The leadership and management team implement robust systems for the recruitment, vetting and induction of new practitioners. They are aware of their responsibility to ensure the ongoing suitability of adults working with

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provision

Parents are greeted warmly on arrival at the nursery and practitioners spend time chatting to them about their children. This helps to build strong, friendly relationships and contributes to the continuity of children's care. Parents are very complimentary about the nursery and the staff team, noting that their children are very happy and feel safe. Parents feel well informed and included in their children's learning. They speak confidently about what practitioners have identified as the next steps in their child's learning. Several parents indicate that they would feel comfortable about raising any issues or making suggestions to the senior management team. Comments made to the inspector during the course of the inspection included: 'Staff are really happy and friendly and my child feels safe'; 'The size of the nursery isn't overwhelming and it's very well organised - I love that there are separate areas the children can go to'; and 'My child loves coming and their

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provision

Some children attending the nursery also go to other early years settings. Management welcomes the sharing of children's learning and development records with practitioners from these other settings. Parents take responsibility for doing this and for feeding back any relevant information. However, the management team has not considered how it can promote a more integrated approach to supporting children's care and early education by developing direct links with these settings themselves. The nursery works in partnership with any professionals or agencies involved in supporting children as the need arises. The importance of this is fully recognised.

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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 EY347048 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 887614 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider Cherubs Kindergartens Ltd Date of previous inspection 20/08/2009 Telephone number 01252 517026

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Setting details

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. 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

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Type of provision

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, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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