Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Bricket Wood

Tots Day Nursery Ltd St. Stephens Parish Centre, Station Road, Bricket Wood, ST. ALBANS, Hertfordshire, AL2 3PJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/01/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Children are motivated and keen learners. They show high levels of curiosity and demonstrate good relationships with the staff and other children.  High regard is given to promoting children's language and social skills. Children are skilful in communicating and making their needs known.  Staff are sensitive to the children's independence and developing social skills. They know when to interact and when to value the children's individual play ideas.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The imaginative play area does not always provide children with opportunities that promote an interesting and stimulating place for them to play and explore.  The views of parents are not used effectively to identify areas for improvement in the overall evaluation process.

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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 the two playrooms and the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to several members of staff, the registered provider and the nursery manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documents for the safety and well-being of the children and the safe management of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sought the views of parents as they collected children from the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at the children's 'learning journeys' and the planning in both playrooms.

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Information about the setting

Tots Day Nursery Ltd in Bricket Wood is one of two privately owned nurseries. It originally opened in 2004 and was re-opened in 2012 on becoming a limited company. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from two rooms in St Stephens Parish Centre, Bricket Wood near St Albans, Hertfordshire. It also has use of the large community room and there is a secure area for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. Of these, the majority hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. The manager holds a qualification at level 5 and one member of staff holds Qualified Teacher Status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year from 7.30am to 6pm. Children attended for a variety of sessions. There are currently 48 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four- year-old children. 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:

 review the planning for the imaginative play area to provide an interesting and stimulating space for children to play and explore

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

 ensure the information gained from parents is used more effectively in the overall evaluation process.

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who attend

Staff are knowledgeable and understand how children learn through play. They plan a broad educational programme, with interesting and challenging experiences that support and extend children's learning to a good level. Planning identifies individual children's achievements and areas that need ongoing support. The observations and assessments, including the progress check at age two years, and the notes in the children's 'learning journeys' reflect their achievements and include plans for the next steps in their learning. Children are keen and active learners. The planning across the nursery shows there is a good balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities. The indoor and outside areas are well resourced and used to promote all areas of the children's play and learning. Children are gaining experiences and skills that enables them to thrive and enjoy new experiences both within the setting and when moving on to school.

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who attend

The pre-school children in the 'Butterfly' room have good language and communication skills. These are extended and supported to a high level by staff, who interact and support children's conversation at every opportunity. The very popular 'show and tell' session enables children to share items from home, these may be linked to the planned topic but children are encouraged to share any special items or events with the group. Children are keen to take part. They show presents from Christmas with delight and are able to talk about them in great detail. Drawings from home and vivid stories of imagined events are well received with lots of praise from the staff and other children. Children's descriptive language and confidence is extremely well supported. Imaginative play is well resourced but the area does not always provide an interesting space for children to develop their play ideas. Children use the table set out for writing in their imaginative game. Staff have

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who attend

to 'find' a small table to enable the children to extend their 'tea time' game. Children are not always able to freely develop their play.

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who attend

The younger children in the 'Caterpillar' room have easy access to an interesting selection of resources that are stored at low-level. They are well supported by staff who sit alongside them on the floor and share in their new experiences. Children are fully engaged as they intently watch a member of staff who shows them how to use the 'ball run'. Children show great delight as the ball rolls out of the bottom of the tower. The activity is repeated and the children gradually begin to understand how they can position the ball, make it drop and appear again.

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who attend

All children have regular opportunities to use the recently refurbished outside play areas. They enjoy the freedom to use the ride-on toys and practise their newly acquired steering and balance skills. They are encouraged to explore around the trees and look for bugs and leaves. Activity areas are set up to provide children with books and art activities so they have a range of play opportunities to take part in while enjoying the fresh air.

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who attend

Children of all ages are confident and competent learners. They are well supported by staff who involve parents in their children's learning and play at home. The 'monthly activity at home' sheet is given to parents to share ideas about the planned topics in the nursery. It contains play ideas, stories and songs so parents can be fully involved in their children's learning in the nursery and at home. Parents are encouraged to make written observations of their children's achievements at home, which can be added to the learning journeys. This shows a joined-up approach to children's learning and progress.

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

Children develop secure attachments to their carer's as the information from parents when they join the nursery and as the children move rooms, is very detailed. The young children can see into the pre-school room and the mobile children enjoy visiting at various times through the day when the babies are asleep. The key person system is well established so staff know the children well. They take responsibility for monitoring their well-being and planning the activities for their key groups of children. Parents are confident in their key persons and say they feel they know their children 'really well'.

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

Children are cared for in a clean and well-maintained environment. They are developing skills that promote their independence and learn about a healthy lifestyle through good everyday personal care routines. They understand the importance of hand washing before lunchtime and prompt staff to use the hygienic wipes when they have finished their meal. They start to wipe the tables down 'to make it clean'. Children's social skills are promoted to a high standard as the 'helper' for the day assists in setting the table and putting out cups. Their counting skills are challenged as they count the chairs and placemats and try to link them with the children waiting for their lunch. Children's individual dietary needs are recognised, recorded and met to a good level. Children's physical skills are further supported as families have the choice to let their children join in extracurricular dance and physical activity sessions. These are run by an outside company in the hall adjacent to the

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

Children in the pre-school room are confident but show good behaviour as they take turns with gentle reminders from the staff team. Children are beginning to be aware of the needs of other children as they make space for them to join in their play and they share ideas and toys freely. Well-deserved praise and a 'sticker' system is used to reflect kind actions, sharing and overall good behaviour. Parents support the system and some have implemented it at home for a consistent approach, so children know what is expected of them at all times.

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provision

The registered provider and the senior staff team have a good understanding of their responsibility to meet the requirements of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. Comprehensive policies and procedures support the staff in providing a good early years experience for the children in a safe environment. Staff are clear about their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding issues and there are two designated members of staff to ensure any concerns are dealt with effectively. Effective daily assessments are in place to identify and minimise risk to children in the nursery and outside areas. A robust recruitment and induction process ensures all staff are suitable to work with children. Regular team meetings and appraisals identify staff strengths and future training needs. Students on placement from local collages are mentored by staff to establish and monitor good working practice.

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provision

The nursery gained the Hertfordshire Quality Standard accreditation in 2011 and is working towards their first appraisal. They use the Ofsted on-line evaluation process and are in the process of updating their previous document. However, although there is a good working relationship with parents, their feedback is not used consistently to fully identify gaps in the provision as the parent questionnaire is not used effectively.

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provision

Strong partnerships with parents through the 'parent liaison group' help children settle and enables parents to be involved in their learning. Information is shared on a daily basis about children's personal care routines. Newsletters, displays and the website contributes to families feeling involved with the nursery. The nursery maintains good links so they are able to fully promote the well-being of the children. The links with other early years settings and professionals are well established and also used to support children as they move onto school. Teachers may visit the nursery or make contact with key persons so they are familiar with the children before they move on. The nursery has cluster meetings with local schools and other early years settings to share good practice and identify training needs. They use the services at the children's centre to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities when needed.

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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 EY448392 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 809861

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider Tots Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01923279999

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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. 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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