Acres of Fun Limited

Acres of Fun Limited Acres of Fun Day Nursery, Priors Court Road, Hermitage, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG18 9SG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/03/2013 03/11/2008

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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

 This is a very happy environment where staff are devoted and enthusiastic in their roles with children. Consequently, children are happy and inquisitive, they settle quickly and engage well with staff and playmates.  The outdoor environment is used imaginatively to provide children with a natural learning environment encouraging all aspects of their development well.  The leadership and management team are enthusiastic and proactive. They encourage staff to develop their skills, adapt to changes and strive for improvements.  Partnerships with parents and professionals are strong enhancing the positive opportunities for children.  The setting strives successfully to be a family environment where children receive a high level of individual attention.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children in the preschool rooms have insufficient opportunities to independently explore a range of attractive resources and displays to enhance their learning and interests.  The toddler room is not using the resources of the setting to effectively create an interesting attractive play environment.

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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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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 the premises, resources and an activity with the manager.  The inspector observed the children and staff at play both indoors and out.  The inspector examined records and documents.  The inspector discussed the provision with five parents.  The inspector read the provider's self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

Acres of Fun Limited nursery opened in 2003. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is privately owned and operates from a detached house in two acres of grounds. It is located in the rural village of Hermitage, near Newbury, West Berkshire. Children use a range of rooms according to age, these are situated over two storeys and across two buildings. The new pre-school building is purpose-designed and is readily accessible. There is ready access to a variety of outdoor play areas. The nursery opens each weekday all year round, with the exception of bank holidays and a week at the end of August. It opens from 8am until 6pm. There are currently 153 children under five years on roll. Of these, 49 receive funding for nursery education. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. Children attend for a

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Information about the setting

variety of sessions and come from Hermitage, the surrounding villages and nearby towns. The nursery has 43 staff of which 30 hold appropriate early years qualifications at Level 3; one member of staff holds Early Years Professional Status. Regular support is received from the local authority.

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

 provide stimulating resources in the toddler room which are accessible and open- ended so they can be used, moved and combined in a variety of ways to create a more interesting play environment

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

 improve children's opportunities in the preschool indoor environment to independently explore, arrange and experiment. For example with collections of interesting things to sort, order, count and label in their play; also improve displays to remind children of what they have experienced, using objects, artefacts, photographs, magnifying glasses and books.

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who attend

Children make good progress across all areas of their development in this happy family orientated nursery. The staff are very attentive to individual needs and the high staff to child ratio ensures all children have good quality attention. Children enjoy many play experiences in the extensive gardens. They grow fruit and vegetables developing their awareness of nature and enjoy the opportunity to pick the fruit and taste it. Physical skills develop well through the use of balls, hoops, and wheeled toys. Children also climb, run, and dig in the sand. Their awareness of nature and cooperating with others is further enhanced by the use of the 'Fairy House', which is a robust log cabin in the garden. Most staff use every opportunity to increase children's opportunities to learn. For example, a trip to the 'Fairy house' encourages the children to develop their independence as they learn to put on their own coats, gloves, hats and

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who attend

wellingtons. The adults encourage children to think about why they need these. Children know the safety routine in the 'Fairy house' and are able to explain how they must behave, demonstrating good language skills and understanding.

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who attend

Staff encourage mathematical awareness effectively as children count how many sticks are needed for their activity, how many marshmallows and how many children there are. They enthusiastically search for sticks in the garden comparing size and sharing their knowledge of why the stick must be long. Staff encourage children's language thoughtfully enabling the children to recall and enter into conversations. Children experiment with words as they try to describe what their toasted marshmallow looks like and describe how it tastes. Children in all rooms enjoy games with the adults, developing their abilities to remember, match and take turns. Staff read stories to the children throughout the nursery encouraging children to look at the pictures, recall and sometimes predict what will happen next. Labels in lower case letters are used throughout the setting helping children to begin to recognise that print has meaning and to recognise their names. Children dress

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who attend

up and engage with adults and other children in their play offering pretend cups of tea, acting out real and imaginary experiences. Songs and rhymes encourage children to have fun with language in addition to encouraging coordination and balance as they do the actions. Babies are fascinated by the sound of the guitar and use shakers and touch stringed instruments as the staff encourage their participation in songs.

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who attend

Children also experience ballet and language lessons all adding to the variety of experiences they have. However, children in the preschool room do not have sufficient opportunities to independently explore a range of attractive, interesting displays to enhance their learning and interests. For example, items to count, and sort, textures to explore or look at through a magnifying glass. Displays also help children to recall and remember events. There are many good quality fact and fiction books available but these are not used around the preschool room to support the children's interests sufficiently. Staff engage effectively with the children in the toddler room, encouraging language and physical skills well. However currently they do not make good use of the resources available in the nursery to provide a cosy and stimulating indoor environment where toddlers can explore and have cosy comfy times.

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who attend

Staff undertake good quality observations and assessments of the children's progress and these are supported by photographs of the children at play. They are shared with parents regularly and parents add comments. This helps the staff to plan the next steps in learning for each individual child effectively. Two year old assessments are undertaken in consultation with parents and provide clear evidence of children's progress in each area of learning.

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

The nursery contributes to children's well-being very effectively. The nursery is clean and well maintained throughout as staff follow good hygiene routines. Children demonstrate an appropriate awareness of sensible hygiene routines relevant to their ages and abilities. Every day all the children have many opportunities for outdoor play enabling them to explore the garden and the various play areas and play houses. This encourages development of physical skills as they walk and climb on different surfaces in the fresh air. They enjoy freshly cooked dinners, made from fresh produce all purchased locally. The menu is varied, balanced and nutritious providing children with the energy they need to enjoy their activities. For example, for lunch they may have roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli with gravy followed by fruit sponge pudding and creme fraiche. Water and milk are offered throughout the day along with healthy snacks which include fruit.

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

Familiar key persons build positive relationships with children and they ensure each individual has opportunities for plenty of physical and stimulating activity, restful times and good food. These things all help the children to enjoy their lives at nursery.

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

The setting makes very good use of its extensive outdoor environment ensuring all the children have daily activities in the fresh air and natural light. This increases their sense of well-being and helps to develop their senses. The babies sleep outdoors snuggled safely in prams and toddlers benefiting from a routine sleep time. This helps them to feel happy and comfortable and make the best of the fun opportunities available to them.

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

The attractive welcoming nursery is well equipped and care is taken to make it a homely environment. For example, the baby room has attractive toys at low level, cushions and carpets for the children to crawl on and comfy chairs for staff to cuddle or feed them. Staff are good role models, they are vigilant to the safety of children and undertake risk assessments. Appropriate safety measures are in place. For example, safety gates on the stairs and the outer doors are secured. Appropriate checks are made before people are invited into the nursery. Staff talk to children about safety encouraging their understanding and awareness how they can help keep themselves safe. The fire drill is regularly practised enabling staff and children to confidently evacuate the premises if required.

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

Staff praise and encourage children meaningfully. This helps the children to understand what they have done well and helps to build their self-confidence. It also reinforces children's understanding of expected behaviour as they learn to share, take turns and respect each other. The children are confident, relating well to the staff and visitors. They know the routines and are keen to help and this increases their independence skills. For example, at mealtimes the older children pour their own drinks and help themselves to items.

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

Staff help to prepare children for transitions to school. They have good links with local schools and often teachers visit before the children start. They encourage children to develop their independence in preparation for school and share stories and undertake role play about school.

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provision

Children are safeguarded very well as staff demonstrate a thorough knowledge of child protection and the action to take if they have concerns. All staff undertake safeguarding training. The setting benefits from the experience of the director and confident manager who ensure staff understand their roles in regard to children's safety. Comprehensive and effective risk assessments are carried out to promote safety. Robust recruitment procedures help to ensure staff are suitable to work with children and understand their role in the nursery. The management team observe and monitor the setting well and are proactive at making changes to further enhance the provision.

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provision

Professional development is encouraged well. Regular appraisals identify staff training needs, which contribute towards continuous professional development. Consequently staff remain enthusiastic and motivated and children's learning experiences are enhanced. An effective system is in place to ensure each child's progress is closely monitored in partnership with parents in order to continuously encourage development. Regular staff and management meetings, consultations with parents, and advice from other professionals all help to inform the evaluation of the provision and identify areas for improvement. This helps to ensure the setting meets the needs of those who use it. Action plans enable the management team to sensitively make changes which improve the learning environment and enhance staff skills and experience.

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provision

The setting works well with outside agencies and other professionals, in order to continuously develop and also fully support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They build links with many local schools enabling transitions to be managed effectively. Parents and carers have access to the setting's policies and they regularly share information with staff about their children. This enables care and education to be adapted to individual need. Parents speak very highly of the welcoming environment the staff create and their fun learning opportunities their children have. Regular events are arranged to encourage parents to engage with the setting and share in their child's experiences. This includes, Sports day, Easter, Grandparents day, Christmas party and a Christmas play.

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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 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 EY264744 Local authority West Berkshire (Newbury) Inspection number 847122 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 100 Number of children on roll 153 Name of provider Acres of Fun Limited Date of previous inspection 03/11/2008 Telephone number 01635 203300

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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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