The Wantage Nursery & Preschool

The Wantage Nursery & Preschool 6-7 Church Street, Wantage, Oxon, OX12 8BL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/11/2012 12/04/2012

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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

 Children are happy and settled. They develop good relationships with staff and play well together.  Overall, children develop good personal, social and emotional skills. They demonstrate positive behaviour and benefit greatly from the kind, calm and sensitive approach of the staff team.  Children make good progress in their communication and language skills, including those learning English as an additional language.  Children of armed service families receive additional support and attention to help them cope well with periods of parental absence.  The manager has a positive approach to improvement and takes into account the views of staff, parents and children to enhance practice further.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The quality of learning experiences for toddlers and babies in the early part of the afternoon sometimes declines when there are not enough staff working directly with the children.  Staff are not always fully aware of the extent of children's home languages and do not promote home languages extensively within the nursery.  Pre-school children are not able to develop skills for independence routinely during snack and meal times.

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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 each of the three playrooms and observed outdoor play with the preschool age group.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the manager throughout the course of the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of children's assessment records, planning documentation and discussions with key persons.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability of staff together with their qualifications.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the nursery's self-evaluation form, entries in the parents' comments book and of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

The Wantage Nursery and Preschool opened in 2005. It re-registered in 2011 under new ownership as a limited company. It operates from three rooms over two floors in a modified building and is situated in the centre of Wantage, Oxfordshire. All children share access to secure outdoor play areas. The nursery is currently caring for 38 children in the early years age group, aged up to four years. It is registered on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to care for older children, although currently has no older children on roll. The nursery supports children learning English as an additional language and children of armed service families. It is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm all year. It mainly provides for children in the local area. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four. The nursery employs seven staff, of whom six hold relevant qualifications. In addition, two staff are

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Information about the setting

working towards further relevant qualifications.

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

 improve the quality of learning experiences for toddlers and babies in the early part of the afternoon by reviewing the deployment of staff when children are waking up from their sleep

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

 encourage staff to enhance children's home languages by, for example, obtaining more detailed information from parents about the extent of languages spoken at home and extending the representation of home languages within the nursery, for example, through labels and books.

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

 extend opportunities for pre-school children to develop skills for independence, for example, during snack time by encouraging them to pour their own drinks and serve their own food and involving them in preparing the snack and tidying away their plates and cups.

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who attend

Children engage well in their play and make good progress in their learning and development. Pre-school children play very well together, cooperating closely to build a model from construction materials and they share resources readily. They communicate effectively, asking each other questions and maintaining discussions over a period of time. Children are confident to speak in front of a group of others, telling them about their weekend. Staff help children to extend their interactions by engaging frequently in discussions with them, asking questions and praising their efforts warmly. As a result, children's language skills are developing well, including those who are learning English as an additional language. However, staff are not always fully aware of the extent of children's use of home languages and they do not extensively represent these in the nursery. They are therefore not fully promoting this valuable aspect of language

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who attend

Staff in the pre-school room routinely encourage children's progress across all areas of learning. Children play outdoors or in the large nursery 'warehouse' on a daily basis where they are able to extend their physical skills, such as confidently riding bikes and enjoying team games. They excitedly join in with a game of 'What's the time Mr Wolf?' and staff support them well in counting out the steps, reinforcing their understanding of number. A variety of easily accessible materials, such as pencils, notepads, magnetic letters and painting activities, encourage children to experiment with making marks and early writing skills.

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who attend

Babies are able to play in a bright, colourful and cheerful environment, which has a good variety of interesting and easily accessible resources for them to explore. They play well alongside each other and receive calm and caring support from their key person. They often join the toddler age group and are familiar with routines, which contributes to a settled atmosphere. Toddlers become excited when staff prepare a singing activity. They recognise the resources, stating 'I love that!', and enjoy listening to the song, demonstrating a positive approach to learning and good progress in their communication skills. They confidently count up to three and carefully balance bricks to make a tower. Staff support them well during this activity, helping to extend their coordination skills and mathematical development. Staff make good use of mathematical language, such as reference to numbers, and they praise children's efforts warmly. However, in the early

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who attend

part of the afternoon, as babies and toddlers are waking up from their sleep, there are not always enough staff working directly with children to support their play and learning experiences effectively. Staff keep children occupied by providing crayons and paper but are not able to join in with or support their play effectively at this time.

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who attend

Staff present most resources well and the nursery has successfully obtained a grant to purchase additional resources. Staff are planning to broaden the range of resources to reflect different cultures and to promote information and communication technology to further support children's understanding of the world around them.

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who attend

Staff work well with parents to gain information about children's interests and skills at home. They gather information about children's likes, dislikes and routines when they first start in the nursery and make ongoing observations of progress, accurately assessing their development. They use this information to plan activities on a weekly basis to cover all areas of learning, which reflect children's individual abilities and interests successfully. As a result, children make good progress ready for their next stages of learning and for school. Staff are familiar with the new legal requirement for a written assessment for two- year-olds and are beginning to liaise with parents to help them understand this process and to share information. Staff keep parents well-informed about their children's progress through daily diaries for babies, and through daily discussions and regular parents' evenings. Parents state that they are happy with this information and with the support

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who attend

and encouragement they receive from staff to help their children continue to learn at home. For example, pre-school staff encourage parents to reinforce children's counting skills to reflect activities in the nursery.

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

The nursery environment supports children's all-round development effectively. Gradual settling-in sessions help new children to become familiar with their surroundings and the staff team. Information from home about children's routines enables staff to implement these successfully within the nursery to promote continuity. Children develop good relationships with their key persons which help them to feel secure and they play well together. Those who become upset through the course of the day receive reassurance and comfort from staff to help them settle again. Children of armed service families receive additional support and attention to help them cope well with periods of parental absence. For example, staff support them to create their own pictures, which they then send to their parents overseas. In addition, the nursery liaises closely with the families keeping in touch with absent parents by e-mail. Arrangements to help children transfer between

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

rooms and on to school are successful. Key persons work closely together to help children with room transfers and to become familiar with their new environment. Children moving up to school receive visits from their new teachers and staff readily share information about their progress to promote continuity of care and learning. As a result, children throughout the nursery are happy and settled and show that they feel safe.

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

Overall, children develop good personal, social and emotional skills. They demonstrate positive behaviour and benefit greatly from the kind, calm and sensitive approach of the staff team. Staff remind children to use good manners, such as saying 'please' and 'thank you', and they effectively calm over boisterous children. Children respond well to staff and are sometimes able to resolve issues themselves, such as apologising readily if they accidentally hurt someone else. They show a growing awareness of the importance of safety. For example, pre-school children carefully manoeuvre their bikes to avoid collisions under the careful guidance of staff. Children develop a good understanding of the importance of hygiene as they wash their hands before eating and blow their noses when reminded by staff. They enjoy a healthy diet and pre-school children learn that healthy foods and exercise help them to grow big and strong. However, staff do not always

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

encourage them to be independent, for example during snack time.Children are therefore not able to take on responsibility during this valuable learning opportunity.

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provision

The management team follows successful procedures to promote children's safety and welfare. Staff are vigilant and carry out daily safety checks to reduce the risk of any accidents. Regular safeguarding training enables staff to develop a good understanding of procedures to follow if they have concerns about children. The nursery follows rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures to assess the suitability of persons working with children. Staff are generally well deployed although after nap time there are not enough working directly with young children to fully support their learning. The nursery maintains staff to child ratios.

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provision

The manager effectively monitors the delivery of the educational programmes and consistency of assessments with a hands-on approach. She often spends time observing the practice of the staff team and checking children's development records and planned activities. She supports staff well in their understanding of how to link their assessments of children's progress with their forward planning in order to meet individual needs. She has a positive approach to developing the range of resources and responds well to assessment tools, such as recent audits.

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provision

The management team offers a good range of training for staff, such as pursuing further qualifications and attending local courses. The team operates a motivating bonus scheme that involves staff answering questions about the nursery's policies and procedures. This process helps staff to consolidate their knowledge and understanding. Individual and team meetings help staff to identify their strengths and areas for improvement. Each room operates a development plan, which directly contributes to the self-evaluation process. The nursery invites parents to contribute their views through questionnaires, the nursery's website and a parent's comments book. Parents demonstrate satisfaction with the nursery and contribute many positive comments. Staff talk to children informally about their likes and dislikes and also feed this information into the self-evaluation process. As a result, there are several ideas for further improvements, such as developing the learning

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provision

The nursery works well with parents to share information in order to meet children's individual needs. Partnerships with local schools work well to support children at times of transition. The manager has a clear understanding of how to work with other agencies as necessary to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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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 EY435803 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 888242 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 46 Number of children on roll 38 Name of provider Nigel Berridge Date of previous inspection 12/04/2012 Telephone number 01235760213

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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.

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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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