Highfield Day Nursery

Highfield Day Nursery Station Road, Braughing, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG11 2PB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/09/2012 02/02/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children form close emotional attachments with caring adults, enabling them to settle well into the nursery. Staff use consistent and clear explanations pitched at the child's level of understanding, to develop children's awareness of acceptable behaviour.  The planning of the activities focuses upon the learning priorities of the individual child as identified by practitioners.  Young children display high levels of independence in their self-care skills, particularly at mealtimes. They serve themselves, pour their own drinks and clear their plates.  Parents are positive about the nursery, describing it as a 'family environment'. They comment that children leave with the confidence and skills to be more than ready for school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although there is a positive partnership with parents, they do not fully contribute their own observations or comments to the learning journeys.  Staff miss opportunities to sit and converse with children at mealtimes, providing a role model to encourage manners and offer support.

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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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Inspection activities

 A tour of the premises was undertaken.  Observations were made throughout inspection.

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Inspection activities

 Joint observations were made with provider/manager in pre-school room and at toddlers' lunch-time.  Meeting was held with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Highfield Nursery was registered in 2003. It operates from Braughing, a village outside Ware, Hertfordshire. The nursery is owned and managed privately and serves the local area and surrounding villages. The nursery is accessible to all children and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open from 7.30am until 6.30pm, Monday to Friday all year round except Christmas week and bank holidays. Children can attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register. There are currently 39 children attending who are within this age group, some of whom attend on a part-time basis. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff, excluding the manager. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one at level 2. There is one member of staff working towards a level 2 qualification. 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:

 encourage parents to engage and play a full and active role in their child's learning both at the setting and at home to support children's all round progress

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

 encourage staff to provide a positive role model, engaging with and supporting children particularly at mealtimes in order to develop their social skills.

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who attend

Staff have a good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and are supporting children's learning well by the planning of activities and experiences that cover all seven areas of learning. The system for observing, assessing and monitoring each child's progress has changed. This focuses on identifying where the gaps are in individual children's learning from observation and practitioner knowledge, rather than the next expected step for that development band. These next steps are then fed into future planning. Therefore practitioners secure knowledge of children's individual targets helps to ensure that opportunities are not missed to support and extend children's learning across all areas. However, children's overall progress is not fully enhanced as parents do not always share information about their child's learning and development at home, for example, by contributing their comments and observations to the learning journeys.

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who attend

Staff interact well with the children because they know the children's personalities and likes. Communication and language development is promoted as staff use techniques such as modelling language and lots of repetition and children are listened to. Babies explore the environment, selecting some resources independently. Babies show perseverance and delight in making the pop-up toy work by pressing the button. These cause and effect toys are currently a favourite with the babies. Throughout the nursery, children enjoy and respond to stories well. In the baby room, they are able to choose their own books, turn the pages and repeat the names of the animals they see, promoting an enjoyment of reading. The older children listen attentively to a story as the member of staff brings it to life, using different voices and changes in rhythm and tone. Good questioning techniques encourage the children to think and predict what happens next.

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who attend

Children have daily opportunities to access the outdoors area in all weathers. For example, young children purposefully wander around the garden, collecting leaves for an autumn display. Staff encourage the children to look more closely at the leaves, noticing the brown edges on one. They became excited when they noticed a tiny snail and decided to put it back on the ground. Children are adept at using the computer, as they use the mouse to move pieces to build a structure according to the diagram. Children solve maths problems as they complete puzzles and build three-dimensional shapes using cubes.

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who attend

The pre-school children sing songs and play games which support them in learning colours and numbers in French. This is reinforced as the qualified teacher uses some conversational French language in the routine day and there are posters displayed with labels in French for colours, body parts and food. The phonics sessions promote children's understanding of sounds and letters. The three- and four-year-old children confidently sound out initial letters and some are starting to blend sounds such as 'st'. This is extended further as the children are encouraged to listen to the vowel sounds within their names, rather than just the initial letter. Children's early writing skills are developing and young children enjoy swirling their fingers in the glue, making patterns. There are examples of children's emergent writing on displays and chalking outside.

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

Children form appropriate bonds and secure emotional attachments with caring staff. Families are introduced to their key person initially, although this is flexible depending on the child and they share information to help the child settle. Babies settle well because practitioners are familiar with them and have a good knowledge of their individual likes, dislikes and routines. For example, one baby became very anxious because of the inspector and clung to his key person. She reassured him, by talking to him calmly and he sat on her lap and looked at a book with her. The key person explained that although the child is generally confident, he becomes nervous around visitors to the setting. Staff have changed the way parents collect their children from nursery to accommodate this. This provides a secure foundation for babies to develop independence and exploration and for all children to develop skills for their future learning.

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

Children generally behave well. Consistent and careful explanation by staff at the child's level of understanding enables children to become aware of the possible consequences of their actions and start to adapt their behaviour. All children develop excellent self-care skills such as wiping their own faces and hands after snack. An example of this is the toddler's lunch time; children serving themselves salad vegetables, pouring their own water and clearing the plates afterwards. Encouraging independence skills is filtering down to the younger children who indicate that they want to scrape their plates too. However, staff do not always sit with the children in order to act as positive role models and promote social interaction.

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

Children benefit from opportunities to play outside on a daily basis and the nursery have introduced all weather suits, boots and spare trousers to enable children to play freely without worrying about becoming muddy. One pre-school child was observed washing her hands at the sink; 'I'm washing my hands because I've been out in the garden; look it is sunny today.'

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

Effective procedures are in place for children when they move rooms with detailed information passed on from the key person. Several parents commented that children were more confident and independent. Siblings that have previously attended the nursery had a good knowledge of phonics and early literacy skills and had achieved some of the early learning goals before starting in the reception class.

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provision

The management strive to continually improve the quality of care and education for children. Accurate identification of priorities through self-evaluation and implementing these changes provides systematic improvement to the quality of the provision. For example, the management identified the need to adapt the planning and assessment system in line with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

There are robust systems in place for recruitment, vetting and induction of staff. Management have started to monitor staff performance through appraisals and through observing staff's practice. This is an area that is being developed to ensure that practitioner's strengths are recognised and targets set that identify areas for improvement.

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provision

Relationships with parents are good and there is a strong settling in procedure. Information is shared with parents, verbally as well as via the daily record sheets. Parents' views are sought through discussion and annual questionnaires about the provision.

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provision

The arrangements for safeguarding children within the provision meet the statutory requirements. All practitioners have a secure knowledge and understanding of safeguarding issues and the procedures to follow. This is monitored through in-house training. The nursery builds partnerships with the schools that children move to, inviting the reception teacher to visit with the children before they make that transition to school. Children with identified needs are targeted so that appropriate interventions are sought and gaps are closing. The nursery works with other professionals such as the speech therapist. Staff incorporate speech exercises into the routine for all children, so that any child with speech delay is supported and not singled out.

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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 EY273312 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 819905

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 39 Name of provider Christine Michelle Raniere Date of previous inspection 02/02/2010 Telephone number 01920 822 002

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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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