Bossy Boots Creche

Bossy Boots Creche 4 Parks Yard, Off Silver Street, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 0EX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/03/2013 16/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Staff do not hold valid paediatric first aid certificates or have up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding procedures. The safeguarding policy does not contain detail about the use of mobile phones and cameras on the premises. This puts children's welfare at risk.  The progress check for children at age two has not been implemented due to staff having insufficient knowledge of the requirements of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. This is because of a lack of training and performance management.  Children's learning and development is not satisfactorily supported by the ways that that the creche staff observe, plan, resource and record children's progress across all areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Not all children have a designated key person to support their well-being and learning.  There are no suitable methods in place to enable the creche to pass information with

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This provision is inadequate

parent's permission about children's progress to any setting that they also attend or move to. This reduces continuity of care and learning.  The ways in which the owner, manager and staff work together with children, parents and other professionals to bring about continuous improvement in children's care and learning are not adequate to support this.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are generally happy and confident in the creche, and staff show satisfactory knowledge of how to reassure and settle individual 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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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 reviewed a range of information about the creche, in order to prepare for the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 A tour of the premises was made and the inspector had an initial meeting with the owner to establish a timetable for the day, which included time to discuss the leadership and management of the creche.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out observations on childcare staff and their interactions with children throughout the session, and examined documentation related to children's welfare and learning.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to staff to gain information about aspects of practice in the creche and the staffs' knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities.  The inspector also spoke to children to gain information about their learning.

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Inspection activities

 Parents were encouraged to share their views about their children's welfare and learning in the creche.

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Information about the setting

Bossy Boots Creche was registered in 2004 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is privately owned. The creche is situated close to the centre of Bury and operates from a two storey building in Park's Yard, off Silver Street. Children are cared for in two rooms, one of which is accessed by a stairway. There is a small fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The creche serves the local area. The creche employs five members of child care staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or higher and one is qualified to level 2. The creche opens Monday to Friday all year round and sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children can attend for flexible sessions varying from an hour to a full day. There are currently 63 children on roll attending for a variety of sessions and days. The creche also offers care to children aged over five years to eight years during

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Information about the setting

school holidays. It supports a very small number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 have at least one person on the premises at all times, when children are present, who has a valid paediatric first aid certificate and who can accompany children on outings

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must:

 ensure that staff have up-to-date training in safeguarding procedures, policy and issues in order for them to manage any concerns they may have about a child's welfare

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must:

 ensure that the safeguarding policy contains detail about the use of mobile phones and cameras

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must:

 implement the progress check for children aged between two and three years and use precise assessment in order to make effective, individual learning plans for all children that are matched to their needs

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must:

 improve the learning and development of all children by providing suitable training for staff about the revised Early Years Foundation Stage; ensuring that a wide range of resources and experiences are provided throughout the day that support all aspects of children's development, encouraging children to have their own ideas about what to play with

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must:

 implement a key person system for all children, no matter how infrequently they attend.

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

 develop rigorous and comprehensive ways to bring about continuous improvement in the care, learning and development for all children by monitoring staff performance and providing training where needed, evaluating all aspects of practice in the creche, ensuring that parents, children, staff, managers and other professionals have the opportunity to make a contribution to the evaluation process

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

 develop a system to enable working in partnership with other early years settings about children's care, learning and development and directly with children's next settings, with parents' permission, to promote continuity of progress and care.

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who attend

The creche does not adequately meet the needs of the range of children attending because it breaches the learning, development and assessment requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. A lack of staff knowledge of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage has led to the creche failing to implement the progress check for children at two years of age. This means that the opportunity to summarise children's progress in order to identify areas where more intervention may be needed does not occur. Parents also lose the opportunity to be involved in the assessment process, as this check has not been implemented. They cannot therefore contribute their observations to inform the subsequent plans for their child's learning which are made as a result of the check. The creche does not have a suitable system in place to identify children's starting points in development when they join, in order to produce comprehensive initial plans based on

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who attend

staff observations as well as information provided by parents. This further limits effective planning for children's individual learning.

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who attend

In addition, the creche does not use the methods it has implemented for tracking children's progress to make suitable assessments of their progress. Children's records are frequently incomplete, either because staff have not begun a file, or have not added up- to-date information. This means that children do not have comprehensive individual plans for their future learning in all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, children are not well-prepared for the next steps in their education, such as a funded place at another setting. Some observations are made of children's learning and recorded. However, this is not consistent across all areas of learning and for all children, showing a lack of monitoring of the process. Overall, the poor teaching, observation, planning and assessment for children's individual learning demonstrates insufficient staff understanding and knowledge of how to provide effective learning experiences for children. For example,

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who attend

when staff in the upstairs room offer the predominantly two- to three-year-old children a matching up activity, it is too complex for their age and stage. This is because staff adhere to the rule to keep all the picture cards face down to hide the pictures, so that children have to rely on memory as well as the ability to match up two pictures that are the same. As a result, children quickly lose engagement, due to the mismatch between their capability and the activity, in addition to the delay in starting the game due to the toileting routine. This reduces effective learning from the activity.

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who attend

Balanced educational programmes are not planned for individual children, although both rooms of the creche produce general plans based on themes, such as seasons or festivals. This means that some activities are planned which enable children to make some progress in their learning and development, although, they may not be well-matched enough, providing too little or too much challenge. In addition, the planning does not sufficiently consider which activities to offer children on an ongoing basis during the day. For example, activities to make marks are not always available in the upstairs room for toddlers and older children, making the development of children's creative and dexterity skills less effective. Staff interactions with children are not consistently effective at promoting new learning and reinforcing previous development. This is because staff do not use all opportunities in activities to develop discussion with children about colour or

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who attend

number or to teach other descriptive words. As a result, this limits learning in communication, literacy and early number skills. For example, when children enjoy dressing up, staff do not take the opportunity to reinforce vocabulary about colour or to use words that describe the texture of clothes that children select. Staff read enthusiastically to children, but do not always consider the suitability of the book chosen for this, sometimes using books that are too small. This means that children have to rely on listening rather than being able to see pictures in order to maintain an understanding of the story. This means that some children do not engage effectively with the activity and as a result, they are not having a suitable experience to develop an enjoyment of books.

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who attend

Parents can view their child's learning journey if they ask, but these are not stored where they are immediately accessible to parents and staff. This reduces the likelihood of parents engaging with their child's learning through being able to read them. It also means that parents do not have ready access to information about their child's progress, or to know if the record of learning is being kept up to date for their child. The entry area provides parents with suitable information about the Early Years Foundation Stage and staff pass on information verbally at collection times about children's welfare and activities during their session. Methods are not in place to satisfactorily help parents engage directly with their children's learning, which limits the effectiveness of the partnership. Parents are not regularly asked for information about their child's interests and development after joining

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who attend

and as a result, this information is not available to inform planning for children's individual learning. Information sharing is predominantly based on issues, such as food, naps and personal care, which do not support parents engaging with how to help their child progress in other areas of development.

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

Overall, the contribution to children's well-being is inadequate, as the lack of valid first aid qualified staff in the creche means that staff lack appropriate knowledge to deal with emergencies of this type. This compromises the well-being, safety and welfare of children. The creche operates a key person system for children who are regular attenders to promote children's emotional well-being. Those who attend less regularly are shared amongst the staff on the days they attend, so do not have one designated key person to support them, which is a breach of the welfare requirements. Staff greet children warmly when they arrive and this helps to support separation from their parent or carer, supporting emotional well-being. Children are generally happy and engage with some activities that are suitable for their age and stage of development. However, children in the upstairs room do not tend to self-select from the resources accessible, and rely on

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

staff to suggest what to play with next. This means that these children are not fully developing independence skills, by being able to make their own decisions from a variety of options. There is a range of accessible resources available at any one time. However, these do not support all aspects of children's learning, as activities to develop early writing skills are not always available.

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

Children are generally settled and well-behaved, and staff have enough knowledge of individual children to provide reassurance for them, for example, when they are tired. The policy for the management of children's behaviour is appropriate, although this is not adhered to in practice. For example, some babies are not always given enough stimulation when they are waiting for their lunch, whilst sitting in highchairs. This causes them to resort to attention-seeking behaviour, such as banging and vocalising. Staff do not always respond to this, which does not support babies' effective communication and social development. When babies play on the floor, staff provide suitable support to help them enjoy cause and effect toys.

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

Areas for food preparation are clean, to help prevent the spread of infection. Parents provide packed lunches for children and these are suitably stored to support children's health. Some staff have food hygiene qualifications which enable them to handle and serve food hygienically. The areas for nappy-changing and toileting are clean, and children's resources, such as nappies and wipes are stored individually to help prevent infections spreading. Staff use appropriate hygiene measures when changing nappies and toileting children to support this, such as keeping changing mats clean with anti-bacterial spray. Children are supported to learn suitable personal hygiene, such as hand washing after using the potty or toilet. However, children do not have independent access to tissues for cleaning their noses, to learn about this aspect of maintaining good personal hygiene. This limits how they develop an understanding of how to keep themselves

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

healthy. The amount of time needed to care for children in the upstairs room, with regard to toilet training and nappy-changing, means that fewer staff are available to support their learning, for periods of time up to 20 minutes. The choices of whole group activity during this part of the routine are not always suitable. For example, when stories are read during toileting and nappy-changing, it is not possible for children to continuously follow storylines, reducing the effectiveness of the experience.

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

Staff organise sessions for play in the small outdoor area for children over two, although the space available is limited, due to the storage of pushchairs in this area. Staff are vigilant to ensure that children do not interfere with these, to prevent accidents. Resources offered for outdoor play are limited, and do not support children being able to make choices about activities. Staff encourage children to have a go on the small number of items available, including a three person rocker and two toy vehicles for pedalling and pushing. However, there are not sufficient activities available to help children develop an understanding of taking reasonable risk through supervised physical play. This limits the ways provided for children to learn to keep themselves safe and also the opportunities to develop whole body control through having sufficient space and resources.

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

Overall, children are not well-prepared for transitions out of the creche, as opportunities are missed to support development in children's communication, physical and social skills. Children are confident when they transfer within the creche, showing that they feel secure, although accompanying paperwork about their learning is not always sufficiently completed to support future progress. Information is not directly passed to other settings children attend or future settings, although parents are given their child's learning record for this purpose. As a result, the continuity of children's welfare and learning may be interrupted, if this information is not shared.

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provision

Leadership and management of the creche is inadequate due to breaches in the requirements for welfare, assessment and learning and development of the Early Years Foundation Stage. These have an impact on the well-being and progress of children attending the setting. Safeguarding of children is inadequate because no members of staff or the owner hold a valid certificate in paediatric first aid. This means that staff are not qualified to provide emergency first aid in the event of an accident to a child. Nor is there a policy for the use of mobile phones or cameras in the setting. These are both breaches of the welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and Childcare Register requirements. Staff knowledge of safeguarding is not up to date, as some staff are not able to satisfactorily describe the circumstances under which they would contact the Local Area Designated Officer if they had concerns about children's welfare. As a result, staff are

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provision

not fully able to act on any concerns they may have about the welfare and safety of children in their care. This is a breach of the welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and Childcare Register requirements. Other aspects of safeguarding, such as keeping registers of children's attendance and records of accidents and administration of medicines to children, are appropriate. Staff and volunteers have also been checked and vetted to ensure that they are suitable for work with children. Risk checks and assessments are satisfactorily carried out and reviewed as needed, in order to help protect children's welfare. Most policies are in place, which are intended to support children's welfare. However, these are not always translated into practice, such as the Health and Safety policy, regarding staff having valid paediatric first aid certificates. This means that children's welfare is not well-protected by policy and resulting practice.

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provision

The creche has not implemented the progress check at age two for children. This is a breach of the assessment requirements and means that the creche is not informing parents and/or carers in writing about their child's strengths and any areas of development which are below expected levels for the child's age. As a result, the check is not available for parents and/or carers at Healthy Child Programme development reviews for their child, to help indicate if a child is developing normally for his or her age. Therefore, assessment of children's learning in order to inform future individual planning is not satisfactory for this group of children, due to a lack of staff knowledge and training about the revised Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

Monitoring of staff knowledge and quality of teaching is not sufficient to maintain an ongoing range of activities that are well-matched to children's needs. There are no formalised systems for the owner and manager to monitor the suitability of activities planned for children's learning. The completion of records tracking children's progress is erratic, showing poor monitoring of this. Assessment information is inconsistently used to form individual plans for children's learning, especially for those with special needs and/or disabilities and English as an additional language, showing unsatisfactory monitoring of this aspect of practice. As a result, children do not receive consistent and suitable challenge to support their learning. This is not supportive of equality of opportunity.

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provision

Systems are in place to induct new staff and volunteers into the policies and procedures of the creche, in order to protect children's welfare. There are yearly appraisals for staff, to identify training needs, although this has not been effective, as the need to update staff's safeguarding knowledge and first aid training has not been found through this. Meetings to enable staff to discuss practice as a whole group are infrequent, although, the owner has daily informal discussions to address immediate issues. As a result, the ways for staff to make a reasoned contribution to the evaluation of the creche are limited, leading to the evaluation process being less effective. Parent questionnaires are used to obtain their views and these are positive in their praise of the care provided. There is a warm relationship with parents and they describe themselves as satisfied with the information they receive about their child's welfare and learning. The creche has not developed direct

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provision

ways to transfer information about learning and welfare to settings that children may also attend or move to, but relies on parents to pass on children's learning journeys. As a result, the continuity of children's learning may be disrupted because staff in the next setting may not have access to information about their progress. This limits the opportunity for effective planning in other settings and consequently, children's future learning.

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provision

Evaluation in order to bring about continuous improvement in practice has not been effective since the last inspection. The creche still does not have a consistent approach to making changes to practice that better supports children's welfare and learning, as recommended in the previous inspection. Additionally, the assessment method introduced after this, is inconsistently used to form individual plans for all aspects of children's learning. Not all children have suitable methods which track their progress in order for assessment to take place, which is recommended in the previous report. The evaluative process has also not enabled substantial gaps in staff knowledge and training to be identified, making it inadequate for purpose. Continuous improvement has not been achieved because standards of children's welfare and learning have fallen since the last inspection.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 have at least one person on the premises at all times, when children are present, who has a valid paediatric first aid certificate and who can accompany children on outings (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that staff have up-to-date training in safeguarding procedures, policy and issues in order for them to manage any concerns they may have about a child's welfare (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the safeguarding policy contains detail about the use of mobile phones and cameras (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  have at least one person on the premises at all times, when children are present, who has a valid paediatric first aid certificate and who can accompany children on outings (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that staff have up-to-date training in safeguarding procedures, policy and issues in order for them to manage any concerns they may have about a child's

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

welfare (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the safeguarding policy contains detail about the use of mobile phones and cameras (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY276600 Local authority Bury Inspection number 819930

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 63 Name of provider Donna Louise Hayton Date of previous inspection 16/02/2011 Telephone number 0161 764 1264 and 07734 965 060

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Type of provision

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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