Cherubs and Imps Day Nursery

Cherubs & Imps Ltd The Old Coach House, Overton Court, West Street, CONGLETON, Cheshire, CW12 1JY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/02/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Partnerships with parents, particularly to support children's well-being, and other agencies or providers, are effective. This ensures children are given access to appropriate help and that they are well-supported in their transitions both within the setting and to other settings, including school.  Children are happy and settle well as the staff team work together satisfactorily to create a warm and welcoming environment.  Children are kept safe as the premises are secure, children are well supervised and child protection procedures are clear and understood by staff.

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It is not yet good because

 The observation, planning and assessment process lacks precision. Staff do not assess children's starting points promptly on entry and do not always use observations to plan activities which are matched precisely to what each child needs to learn next. As a result, children make satisfactory, rather than good, progress.  The systems for self-evaluation are not rigorous enough to be effective in informing priorities or to set challenging targets for improvement.

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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

 The inspector observed activities in the main playrooms.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager and staff at appropriate times and throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journey records, planning documentation and a selection of policies and children's records. The inspector also took account of the views of one parent spoken to on the day.  The inspector gave feedback to the owner/manager.

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Information about the setting

The Cherubs and Imps nursery was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in converted premises in the Overton area of Congleton. It is privately owned and managed. The setting is one of three registered settings owned by Cherubs and Imps Limited Company. The nursery serves the local area and consists of six age related group rooms on two floors with no lift access. There are three fully enclosed areas available for outdoor play. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 23 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 3 or 4.

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must:

 make best use of ongoing observation and assessment by taking account of children's starting points, identifying the next steps in their learning, planning and delivering challenging activities and experiences which reflect children's next steps, ensuring all staff have a clear understanding of the characteristics of effective teaching and learning, so that children make good progress.

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

 implement rigorous and effective systems for self-evaluation to inform priorities and set challenging targets for improvement.

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who attend

Staff have a sound understanding of children's learning and development needs, enabling children to make satisfactory progress. Practitioners complete sufficient assessments of children's progress in the setting. Initial written information is gathered from parents during the period they settle into the nursery. However, this focuses on children's routines and preferences, rather than what their children can do on entry to the nursery. This impacts upon how quickly staff are able to identify children's learning needs and therefore, the progress children make in their early days at the setting.

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who attend

Some planning is in place to cover areas of learning and to ensure that a range of toys and activities are offered to support children's independent choice. However, this is not evaluated to ensure consistency or to precisely support the needs of all children. Staff are not always using what they know about children to consistently ensure the planning identifies children's next steps of learning or offers appropriate challenge. For example, during an outdoor activity, staff do not extend children's learning by engaging in open- ended questions to challenge children to think and do not have a specific learning outcome in mind for the activity. As a result, some opportunities are not used effectively in order to promote children's learning.

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who attend

Children are settling well and are developing confidence as they start to enjoy spending time at the nursery. They create their own games and play harmoniously with staff. For example, children initiate their own play ideas outdoors. They are imaginative and use a toy vacuum cleaner to clean floors, singing whilst they do it. They talk about family members and family events which are important to them. Toys and resources are easily accessible to children of all ages because there is a good amount of low-level storage in each of the playrooms. Therefore, children make independent decisions for themselves by self-selecting what they would like to play with. There is a satisfactory balance of child- initiated and adult-led activities. The majority of adult-led activities are suitably planned, taking into account children's interests and their current stage of development. However, on occasions, activities planned to support children do not consistently consider their

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who attend

individual abilities or always present them with enough challenge. For example, staff do not consistently encourage children to explore and talk about the materials and tools they are using, to promote their ability to think critically.

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who attend

Children's independence is encouraged, for example, by staff encouraging them to put on their clothing independently, or during mealtimes when children help prepare for lunch. These developing independence skills help to prepare the children for school readiness. Children's literacy skills are supported across the nursery. For example, the staff promote language development through the sound use of letters and some labelling. Storytime and rhyme time at the local library support language development for all the children. Staff support mathematical development as they talk about pattern, shape and numbers to encourage children's understanding. Children have regular opportunities to play outdoors and their physical development is promoted adequately. Parents have appropriate opportunities to be involved in their child's learning. They speak to the manager and staff on a daily basis and satisfactory information is recorded in the 'All about me' file. Children

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who attend

with special needs and/or disabilities, make satisfactory progress because their needs are identified and sufficiently addressed.

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

Children's behaviour is good and their sense of belonging is demonstrated by their familiarity in routines and their confidence in adults in the setting. The key person system is effective in meeting the needs of children and as a result, secure attachments are formed, which promote a good level of well-being. Practitioners offer reassurance and cuddles if children need it. They encourage children to learn about their own safety in the setting by reminding them about procedures to keep themselves safe, such as sitting properly on chairs. Strong partnership with parents helps to enhance children's emotional well-being and contributes to continuity of care. Children are encouraged to explore their environment individually, under close supervision. In this way, their early curiosity skills are promoted through the use of a range of resources, including exploring outside.

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

Children demonstrate high levels of confidence and self-esteem; they move freely around the setting, co-operate with peers and are keen to share their activities with staff. They enthusiastically help to tidy away, which shows they are displaying a good awareness of responsibility. They sit in a comfortable social group to eat together, chatting about family and friends with staff, sharing stories. This helps children to build relationships with others. They begin to develop good self-help skills, such as helping themselves to water from their own water bottles if they are thirsty, and by becoming more independent in their toileting routines. They eat healthy, well-prepared, fresh food which they enjoy. They energetically join in with physical exercise, particularly when playing outside and staff encourage them to understand the need for their bodies to be active. They thoroughly enjoy visiting the local library for rhyme time and storytime or visiting the local mere to

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

pond dip. They cycle skilfully and move around the setting confidently. This provides children with firm foundations for developing a healthy lifestyle. The well-resourced indoor environment and friendly and welcoming nature of staff, supports children's development and promotes their growing independence skills. This is especially important as children become older and prepare to move into school and means that children are able to enjoy a positive transition.

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provision

Children are safeguarded satisfactorily. There are appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure the safeguarding and welfare of children. The designated person for safeguarding is the owner/manager. She has a suitable understanding of the procedures to follow should she have any concerns about a child in her care. Appropriate recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that all adults working with children are suitable to do so. A suitable risk assessment is conducted of all the areas used by children and reasonable steps are taken to ensure hazards to children, both indoors and when on outings, are kept to a minimum. This ensures children are kept safe at all times.

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provision

The setting is in the early stages of beginning to identify their strengths and areas for improvement. Therefore, the evaluation lacks rigour and is not fully effective in supporting ongoing improvements to the provision for children and their families. In addition, the manager recognises there are gaps in some staff's knowledge relating to the new Early Years Foundation Stage. This impacts on the overall learning and development of the children. The management team and staff welcome the support from their local early years advisors to improve the service they provide. For example, the staff will be attending further training courses over the next few months to gain a better understanding and delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This ensures the nursery is striving for continual improvement and aiming to improve the quality of care and education children receive. Parents are consulted at the settling-in period for their child

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provision

and engage in discussion with the key person. A home diary system keeps parents informed of their children's routines and achievements. Comments from parents are positive and they state that they feel they are welcomed and that they would recommend the nursery to others. The manager has developed partnerships with other settings, such as the local school, to ensure transition arrangements are positive for children.

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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 EY451470 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 882705

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 24 Name of provider Cherubs and Imps Ltd Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01260 297690

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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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