Seer Green Pre-School

Seer Green Nursery John Orme Room, Jubilee Hall, School Lane, Seer Green, Buckinghamshire, HP9 2QJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/03/2013 08/12/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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 develop a strong sense of belonging and are learning how to treat others with kindness and respect.  Staff provide children with good opportunities to develop their physical skills, which means children are active and negotiate the space around them.  Children are happy and settled in this bright, stimulating environment where they take part in a wide range of interesting activities covering all areas of learning.  Parents are overwhelmingly happy with the service provided, which promotes children's care and education well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 although systems for self-evaluation are good overall, staff are not fully involved in reflecting on their practice. This means they miss opportunities to bring about further improvements for children.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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 children at play in the main play room and in the outdoor play area.  The inspector held a formal meeting with the nursery leader.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection.  The inspector viewed a range of relevant documentation.  The inspector met informally with the chairperson of the management committee.

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Information about the setting

Seer Green Nursery opened in the late 1960s and is managed by a voluntary management committee. It operates from the John Orme Room of the Jubilee Hall in the village of Seer Green in Buckinghamshire. Children have use of a cloakroom/quiet room, main play room, toilets and an enclosed outdoor area. They also have occasional use of Jubilee Hall for indoor physical activities. Staff have access to a kitchen for food preparation and an office for administration tasks and to speak to parents confidentially. The nursery is open each weekday during school term times. Sessions are from 8.50am to 11.50am and 12.10pm to 3.10pm each Monday to Thursday. The session on Friday from 8.50am to 12.50pm is held for the older children. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and there are currently 40 children on roll. Children usually attend from two and a half years of age. There is government funding in place for three and four year olds. The nursery supports

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Information about the setting

children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs 11 members of staff, of these, eight hold relevant early years qualifications.

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

 strengthen systems for self-evaluation by involving all staff in ongoing reflective practice to bring about further improvements for children.

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who attend

Children enjoy their time in this busy, stimulating environment. The quality of teaching is good which means children acquire many new skills and reach the expected level of development for their age. Visitors to the setting enhance children's learning. For example, a recent visit from a mother and baby resulted in children exploring how babies are carried by their mothers in different cultures around the world, such as by using slings and wraps. Children take part in a wide range of planned activities and also have ample opportunities to initiate their own play. They use an interesting selection of toys and resources to support all areas of their learning and development. For example, they concentrate well and increase their physical skills as they use brushes and combs to style the dolls hair before adding clips and hair bands. Children have fun playing outside throughout the session. They practise and extend their growing physical skills as they

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who attend

pedal tricycles and bicycles with stabilisers, negotiate their way as they push dolls buggies around and kick footballs to one another. Children are developing a strong sense of belonging and a very good awareness of each other's feelings and therefore, treat one another respectfully.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to communicate effectively in a number of ways. Weekly 'show and tell' sessions are very popular and provide children with the chance to speak within a group and share favourite toys or interesting objects from home. Staff encourage children to increase their language skills by chatting freely at all times, asking relevant questions and introducing and explaining the meaning of new vocabulary, such as, 'delicate'. Singing familiar rhymes and songs forms part of the children's daily routine and provides them with further opportunities to communicate with others. As a result, children are confident talkers and approach adults to initiate conversations. Children enjoy looking at a range of fact and fiction books in the cosy book corner. They handle books correctly and turn the pages as they follow the text and pretend to read the story. Children concentrate well and demonstrate good listening skills at group story times as staff animatedly read well-known

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who attend

stories. Children make lots of choices within the setting, such as using picture prompts to decide which songs to sing and photographs to agree on future activities.

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who attend

Children are well prepared for their transfer to school. The majority attend the adjacent school and a strong partnership has developed between the two settings. Children attend school assemblies and, in the half term prior to transfer, have lunch in the school to help familiarise themselves with the routine. Music and movement and physical education sessions are held weekly to further support children's understanding of school routines and help them develop their independence by learning how to dress and undress themselves. Children make good progress given their starting points. Staff make a variety of regular observations and use photographs effectively to assess children's progress including completing a written summary for two-year-olds. They use this information to plan specific activities to meet children's individual learning needs, including clear targets for those who have special educational needs. This helps to ensure that all children make

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who attend

as much progress as possible. Parents are kept up to date with their child's progress through regular verbal feedback and the introduction of a key person book. Staff routinely share children's records with parents twice a year and parents are able to drop in at any time to speak to their child's key person. This helps to promote children's learning well.

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

Children develop secure attachments to staff within the setting, which results in the majority of them feeling very happy and settled. To help the transition from home to the setting, children have several visits prior to starting to help them adjust to their new surroundings and begin to form relationships. For those children who have difficulty settling or are upset for any reason, staff offer verbal reassurance and cuddles. They use the visual timetable effectively to show when children's parents will be returning. Children enjoy plenty of praise to boost their self-esteem from the enthusiastic and caring staff. Their achievements and good deeds are celebrated through a display board with wipe clean hot air balloon shapes. These are used to record daily observations, such as 'well done for sharing your blue bean bag with your friend who was sad'. Children also receive a certificate for their efforts to take home and share with their family. Children are very

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

secure in their knowledge of the routine and rules of the nursery. For example, they know that 'we walk at nursery', which means children learn about keeping themselves and others safe. Good manners are encouraged, especially at snack and lunch time, with gentle reminders from staff for children to remember to say 'please' and 'thank you' and to ask to leave the table. Children play in a safe environment where risk assessments highlight potential hazards. Security is particularly good and staff are vigilant in their supervision of the children, especially at home time.

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

Children are provided with healthy snacks of fresh fruit throughout the session which means they can choose when they want to eat. They enjoy this social time where they can sit and chat with their friends and develop their independence as they select from the variety of fruit available and pour their own water or milk. Children's self-care skills are developing well. They manage their toileting needs on their own and wash and dry their hands afterwards because there 'might be germs'. The well-maintained premises provide a bright, stimulating environment for children. Colourful displays of their work add to this and show a range of art techniques, such as printing, gluing and painting. Ongoing improvements to the premises, including an extension to create extra space in the form of a quiet area, a cloakroom and an office. Children now have permanent use of an enclosed lawn and the addition of a canopy means they can use the paved outdoor area in all

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

weathers. Toys and resources are of good quality and are generally well organised to meet the children's needs.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward following a notification to Ofsted relating to the effectiveness of the settings' safeguarding procedures. The inspector found that arrangements for safeguarding children are understood and implemented by senior staff well. However, on one occasion, staff did not implement the procedures in a timely manner. Since this isolated incident, senior staff have taken positive steps to reinforce their knowledge and increase their understanding by reviewing the settings' own procedure as well as the Local Safeguarding Children's Board procedures. This means they are fully aware of their responsibilities, the action to take and the importance of reporting concerns with immediate effect. They have also proactively followed the guidance provided by the Local Authority Designated Officer when dealing with safeguarding concerns to fully promote children's welfare.

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provision

All aspects of the setting are well organised and the staff team work well together. They are clear about their daily tasks and very supportive of one another, which mean sessions run smoothly. Staff share ideas for planned activities and offer suggestions for new resources. However, they are not always involved in the self-evaluation process as the settings' leader tends to take responsibility for this. Staff have addressed the recommendation raised at the previous inspection. This means children are more involved in evaluation and sharing their own achievements by looking at their learning journeys with their key person and parents. The achievements board also encourages them to recognise their proud moments and good behaviour. The committee considers parents' views through the annual questionnaire and takes action to implement relevant ideas. For example, staff now display a whiteboard at the end of the session with information about

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provision

the activities children have taken part in that day to keep parents fully updated. The provider has a good understanding of their responsibility to promote children's learning and development. Clear systems are in place to monitor children's development and staff plan and provide a good range of experiences to help children learn and make good progress.

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provision

The committee supports the setting effectively and through a robust recruitment procedure ensures only suitably qualified and experienced staff are appointed. They place a high importance on professional development and through annual appraisal meetings, they discuss individual training needs. Most recently staff have undertaken training relating to children who have special educational needs and mathematical development. Communication between the committee and the setting is well established with regular committee meetings and almost daily contact. Parents are extremely happy with the service provided and are full of praise for the experienced staff who they feel are very nurturing. Parents feel children make good progress and staff provide lots of information about their achievements, including seeing the learning journeys and photographs. One parent summed up her feelings by saying 'I can't fault anything and would be hard

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provision

pressed to find something I didn't like'. Staff partnerships with local schools and other providers who care for the children are good. Staff share all relevant information with parents and other professionals to promote children's development effectively.

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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 action. 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 EY253035 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 905009 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Seer Green Nursery Date of previous inspection 08/12/2011 Telephone number 01494 730060

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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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