Bright Sparks Nursery

Bright Sparks Nursery Back Main Street, Crawcrook, RYTON, Tyne and Wear, NE40 4TZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/02/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Rich, varied and imaginative planning of activities, ensures that all children are highly motivated, enthusiastic learners who are exceptionally well prepared for school. They take part in innovative, active learning experiences, such as, finding out about life- cycles as they excitedly wait for their chicks to hatch from the incubator.  The educational provision to promote children's well-being and physical development is excellent. Extremely well-planned outdoor activities and projects on healthy eating, ensure that children gain and excellent understanding of healthy lifestyles.  Children with differing needs are extremely well supported. Staff involve parents and professionals fully to ensure that all children receive the help that they need to enable them to reach their full potential.  Managers and staff are highly qualified and regularly review what they provide so that the already high-quality provision continues to improve and maintain high standards.

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This provision is outstanding

Therefore, all children are safe, confident, happy individuals who achieve extremely well.

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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 and routines in the whole of the nursery and the outdoor area and spoke to children, staff and students.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held separate meetings with one of the managers and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed samples of children's learning records, staff files, displays and policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to a few parents on the day of the inspection and viewed comments on parental feedback forms.

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Information about the setting

Bright Sparks Nursery was re-registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in Crawcrook, Tyne and Wear and is managed by a family run, private business that has been established for 35 years. The nursery serves the local and wider area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a converted building incorporating two rooms. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs eight members of child care staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and four staff members have Early Years Professional Status or Qualified Teacher Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 3pm although children can attend for half day sessions. There are currently 66 children attending who are within the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-

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Information about the setting

year-old children. It supports children with special needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance the outdoor areas further by implementing the plans for development.

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who attend

Staff have an excellent understanding of how to observe and assess children to monitor their progress. The assessments then shape the thoughtful planning for each individual child extremely well, build on their interests and cover the seven areas of learning exceptionally well. For example, when staff notice a younger child trying to bath a doll in the role play kitchen sink, which is too small, they put out the water trough and dolls ready for the next day. They also differentiate adult-led activities very well to ensure that all children can take part. For example, when children show an interest at the sewing table, younger children competently use small plastic units with holes and laces to thread, whereas older, more able children use real darning needles and squares to sew a pattern. Planning is also flexible and is changed to focus on recent events that children are interested in. For example, during the recent snowy weather, staff extend children's

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who attend

learning and curiosity extremely well. They explore the snow outdoors, bring some inside, discover what it looks like under magnifying glasses and learn that it melts when it gets warm. They make snow pictures and white glitter playdough, learn about the cold and how to keep warm, by wearing coats and boots, and find out about which animals live in the snow. Therefore, children learn exceptionally well by being involved in active, learning experiences. Staff have attended training to ensure that they are competent to carry out the progress check at age two. They use their ongoing observations and assessments of children to provide the written summary for parents.

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who attend

Pre-school children are highly motivated to engage in play and learning opportunities. They concentrate extremely well to practise their writing skills and competently form letters to write their own name correctly. Staff are highly enthusiastic and give children natural hugs as they celebrate their success, so that children are very proud of their achievements. Children practise new skills such as this on a regular basis to consolidate their learning. Staff focus on any particular support a child may need, in all the areas of learning and note this in their planning. This means that children are extremely well prepared for school.

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who attend

At small group, adult-led creative activities, children eagerly get involved in printing oval shapes with sponges to make the lifecycle of an egg display. This activity stems from the children's current fascination and anticipation as they wait for the nursery's chicks to hatch. They have lively discussions as staff ask children if they can remember the name of the 'house' that the eggs are in and some confidently state that 'it's an incubator.' Children know that the eggs will be kept warm in the incubator because there is 'no mother hen to sit on them.' Throughout the day, many of the children eagerly look at the incubator to check the eggs to see if any chicks are emerging. Children also point to and discuss the life cycle information chart and state clearly what will happen and what will come from the eggs. This activity provides children with excellent opportunities to gain an exceptional understanding of the world and living things.

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who attend

Younger children take part in extremely well organised small group singing and story sessions. They listen attentively as staff read a story and children are fully engaged as they interact and lift up flaps when the book is passed around. The staff use props very well, such as a silver box with puppets inside and children sing a rhyme and tap a rhythm as they wonder what staff will bring out. The children are highly engrossed, eager and excited to see what emerges from the box. They shout excitedly when they see 'Humpty Dumpty' and enthusiastically sing the song. They also predict what might come out next and confidently ask for things they want to see. This shows that they are making excellent progress in their personal, social and communication and language development. The excellent teaching maintains children's interest extremely well.

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who attend

Staff have daily discussions with parents and they are regularly asked to look at and contribute to their children's individual learning records. Comments include; 'We are delighted with our child's progress, thank you to all the staff for their skill and dedication.' They also use home-link books, where parents can write about the things their children do at home and staff share these at story time with all the children. This helps staff to find out what children are interested in and then build it into their planning. Newsletters go out at least every term, which always includes nursery topics, to give parents ideas on what they can try at home and what they can bring in. For example, when they have colour themed days, children dress up in a particular colour and bring in corresponding items for the 'colour' table. Staff display some simple plans and the Early Years Foundation Stage information with children's photographs are prominently displayed in the cloak room. The

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who attend

nursery 'share bear' is proving to be popular as he goes home with different children to take part in activities they do at home. Parents send in photographs and write captions of where he has been. This means that parents are effectively involved in their children's education.

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

Children play with an excellent range of equipment and resources and staff are extremely well deployed around the rooms to ensure that all children receive plenty of support and supervision. The children are also well aware of the routines to keep themselves safe; for example, they know to walk carefully to the door for outside play and to the bathroom after singing time and before lunch, to wash their hands. Low level shelving means that children self-select equipment easily and their independence is encouraged very well. They find their own coat peg, put on coats, hats and gloves before outdoor play and take off aprons and hang them up by themselves. Even children in the two to three-year-old room are highly independent. After their snack, children know that they take their cups back to the dish when finished and they find a carpet square to sit on ready for story/singing time. They also take their carpet square back to the storage area when they are finished with it.

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

Staff regularly review how the areas in the room are being used by the children and note if particular areas are not being used fully. For example, as some groups of children were rarely visiting the library room, staff place books in other areas where children enjoy playing, such as the role play and small world area. This enhances children's interest in books and helps to promote their literacy skills further.

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

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their physical skills. The interesting latch board where children have to open different catches, latches and bolts to reveal images inside encourage good hand-eye coordination. They have regular opportunities to be outdoors in the fresh air and there is always a staff member outside to support and supervise the children when they choose to go out. Planned outdoor physical activities with small groups of children also enable them to develop excellent climbing, balancing and controlled movement skills. For example, an older group of pre-school children talk to staff about an impending activity and think about how they can move like animals in different ways. They eagerly go outside and use the fixed climbing frame to hang upside down and excitedly tell staff that they are a 'monkey.' Balancing beams are raised or lowered for differentiation and staff offer gentle reminders about how to use equipment

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

safely. Children demonstrate how they can balance, walk backwards, try out the stilts and pretend to be 'flamingos' or 'tigers.' Staff support all children, including those with physical difficulties extremely well to develop coordination and control. They sensitively help them to use the stilts correctly and offer lots of positive, meaningful praise, such as, 'that's great walking.' This means that children have a go, manage to balance and they succeed very well. Children also talk about being healthy as staff ask them if they think climbing is good for you. They respond and chat about things that are good for them and indoors they point out the healthy food/unhealthy food display, a project that they have recently been involved in. They point to their 'plate' with strawberries, yoghurt and water and state, 'It's good for you.' This means that through extremely well-planned activities and excellent

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

quality of teaching, children clearly understand about healthy lifestyles.

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

The key person system is established early on when a child starts in the setting so that relationships are formed with parents. However, they constantly review this as children settle in and are flexible to meet each child's needs. For example, if a child forms bonds with a different adult then they would become that child's key person and staff make parents aware. 'All about me' information is gathered to ensure that staff gain a good understanding of children's routines, preferences and starting points. All children are supported extremely well with transitions. The recent opening up of the two to three-year- old room enables younger children to be cared for in a smaller group with a designated teacher and staff. Settling-in periods are flexible to meet children's and parent's individual needs. This means that staff use effective ways to help young children cope with the transition from home to setting. Some key staff work between both rooms; therefore,

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

when children are ready to move up, they are already familiar with the staff who offer them close support during the regular, short settling-in visits.

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

All children are highly engaged and engrossed in activities, therefore they are extremely well behaved. Staff promote positive behaviour at all times by enthusiastically acknowledging children's particular achievements, which raises their self-esteem very well. Staff have high expectations of all children and always explain why rules exist. Older pre- school children are very confident in social situations as they speak happily to the inspector. Children receive lots of natural cuddles and verbal reassurance and all children have close relationships with their key person and other staff. Younger children in the two to three-year-old room are extremely well supported by a caring, gentle teacher. She clearly has the children's individual needs at the forefront of what she does, so that children are helped to form secure emotional attachments.

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provision

The nursery is a well-established family run business that has recently moved into new premises. Over the years the management team have strived to provide a high quality service. They act on changes quickly and effectively to ensure they are able to implement them smoothly and in a timely way. Therefore, they use the revised Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage fully in practice, to maintain the current high level of child care provision. All managers and staff are vetted and most have been in post for a number of years. Therefore, the nursery rarely has to advertise for new staff; although they have recently appointed a qualified teacher to work with the younger children in the newly created two to three-year-old room. Monitoring new staff is sharply focused on induction and regular supervision. Main issues are discussed, such as key responsibilities and the learning environment, as well as personal development and training needs.

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provision

Managers support new staff and students extremely well and they act as very good role models. Peer observations are carried out as part of the supervision process and these are fed back to staff regarding what they are doing well and any areas of development are noted and acted upon swiftly. All staff have a clear, focussed plan of professional development and training is targeted to individual requirements or interests. This means that children's care, learning and development is exceptionally well-supported by a competent well-qualified staff team.

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provision

Self-evaluation and reflective practice is robust. The manager regularly up-dates the Ofsted self-evaluation form, based on the views of staff, parents and children and information from the staff and management meetings. This clearly shows what they do well and targets priorities to drive improvement. Although the staff already provide high quality child care, they are not complacent. They have clear plans to develop and enhance the outdoor areas so that the younger children can have their own designated play space and entrance/exit area. There are also plans to redesign the main outdoor play area to benefit the children's care and learning further. They regularly monitor and review how effective the observation, assessment and planning systems are to ensure that all children maintain high levels of achievement. This ensures that ongoing assessment provides a highly effective learning environment to meet every child's individual needs.

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provision

One key manager is the designated child protection officer and she is confident that the staff understand the safeguarding procedures. She knows that they would approach her if they have concerns about any child and she would take this forward. Safeguarding policies and procedures are very clear and relevant contact telephone numbers are easily accessible for all staff. Highly secure procedures are also followed to keep children safe. A staff member opens and closes the main gate and a staff member monitors the internal door when children are dropped off and collected, to ensure that no child can leave unattended. Staff can clearly explain safety practices, such as how visual risk assessments are regularly carried out, what cleaning procedures are in place and when equipment is checked. This means that the environment and resources are safe and hygienic for the children.

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provision

Highly effective partnerships with parents are in place. Staff are made aware of the opinions of parents/carers by their daily conversations when they bring and collect their children. All parents know that if they have any concerns they can have a more formal and private discussion with any manager any time. They have very good opportunities to leave written comments or request an interview after reading their child's individual learning records. The staff act on any ideas about changes or improvements they can feasibly make to ensure that parents are active partners. Parents have also helped to fundraise to provide further equipment and the manager has recently appointed a parent helper. The individual needs of children are identified quickly through close partnership working. For example, one parent commented that she 'could not thank the staff enough as they always make an effort to get the help her child needs and have been so supportive.' The

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provision

majority of parents also send younger siblings to the nursery as they are very pleased with the care and know that their children, 'make great progress in their learning.'

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provision

Excellent relationships with other professionals are in place. The nursery's special educational needs coordinator can easily call on the support of speech and language experts, inclusion workers and the local authority assessment team, which means that all children receive the targeted support they need. One staff member is an expert in 'Makaton' sign language and disseminates this skill to other staff to use with all of the children. When children attend a second early years setting, the staff use a three-way communication book and agree ways in which to share and monitor children's progress. This means that continuity and consistency in children's learning is highly effective.

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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 EY448332 Local authority Gateshead Inspection number 882228

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 66 Name of provider Bright Sparks Nursery Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 0191 413 1485

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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