The Cheshire Day Nursery @ Guardian Street

The Cheshire Day Nursery @Guardian Street Guardian Street, WARRINGTON, WA5 1UP

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/03/2013 09/11/2010

p.1

early years provision

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

p.1

This provision is outstanding

 Children settle extremely well due to the warm, welcoming environment created by the friendly staff. The close relationships between the staff and the children support their confidence and feeling of security within the nursery. This promotes highly motivated levels of progress as children feel nurtured and well cared for.  All children make swift progress towards the early learning goals because they are taught by skilled staff. Children explore all areas of learning through enticing activities that fully engage them.  All staff and members of the leadership team are skilled at reflecting on their own capacity to deliver a high quality programme. The pursuit of excellence in all of the nursery's activities is demonstrated by the highly successful and well-documented drive to strongly improve the achievements of children in their care.  Children thrive in a nursery where their needs are put first. The key person system

p.1

This provision is outstanding

works exceptionally well to encourage children to feel welcomed and valued. Key persons work very closely with parents and carers and children benefit from very strong continuity of care.  Children's safety and security are a high priority and rigorous safeguarding policies and procedures are in place to ensure this.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector toured the premises and visited the outside area.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children within the nursery and their interaction and involvement with the staff and their peers.  The inspector observed all relevant documentation provided.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and the information included in the self-evaluation form.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to staff, the room managers, the nursery manager and the early years teaching staff at appropriate times throughout the observations.

p.2

Information about the setting

The Cheshire Day Nursery @Guardian Street was registered in 2010 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a detached, purpose-built, two-storey building at the back of Warrington hospital, which is close to Warrington town centre. It is one of a chain of five nurseries privately owned by Cheshire Day Nurseries Ltd. It serves the local and wider community of families. It operates from four spacious rooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery employs 27 members of childcare staff. Of these, 26 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 up to level 6, including three with Early Years Professional Status and two Qualified Teacher Status. A full-time cook, cleaner and care taker are also employed.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 6.45am until 7pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 124 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children, who speak English as an additional language and those with special needs and/or disabilities.

p.3

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

 extend the outdoor area for the younger children to increase their already excellent sensory exploration.

p.3

who attend

Children are making rapid progress in all base rooms towards the early learning goals in relation to their starting points across all areas of learning. The dedicated and extremely knowledgeable staff team observe what children can do and assess these observations to effectively identify children's next steps in learning. This information is then used as the foundation for future planning, is implemented and ensures that all activities are meaningful and of interest to children. Staff have an excellent understanding and have developed a targeted plan to complete the two year progress check for all relevant children. They start by liaising with parents to ensure that they are fully involved in the process. This helps to keep them informed about their child's progress and development.

p.3

who attend

Staff have a strong drive to ensure that children can reach their full potential and are committed to supporting all of them to make progress given their individual starting points and levels of ability. The owners, staff and management have very high expectations for children regarding their learning and potential for achievement. Staff support and challenge individual children effectively within all activities as they access the excellent range of suitable equipment to enable them to develop new skills. For example, children enjoy the experience of using the camera to capture what interests them and looking at the pictures with their friends and staff in their base room. As a result, children explore all areas of learning through enticing activities that engage them fully and help them to make swift progress towards the early learning goals.

p.4

who attend

Children are grouped carefully to ensure that learning can be tailored effectively to meet their individual and changing needs, taking into account their ages and stage of development. Staff have a strong focus on developing children's early listening and communication skills. They provide regular opportunities for learning new songs, sharing stories, learning letter sounds and for children to freely access the wide variety of reading materials. Staff's in-depth interactions with children enable them to be highly motivated and actively engaged. They thrive and respond enthusiastically to planned group activities. Staff lay out engaging resources indoor and outside and children enjoy expressing their independent choices while they gather equipment from low shelves. There is scope to further extend and develop the 'baby garden' in the outside play area, in order to further enhance outdoor learning.

p.4

who attend

Children settle to tasks quickly and with no prompting and immerse themselves in drawing, writing, constructing or in role play. Group activities and free exploration sessions are very well balanced to ensure that children have time and freedom to become deeply involved. For example, children concentrate deeply while they write. They draw intricate patterns that represent a number of things that are important to them. Children draw shapes that clearly represent themselves and people they know. They experiment with writing and making clear efforts to write their names legibly. Older children write their names on all of their work and make labels and caption for displays in the room. This means that they are fully aware that written text has meaning and their name represents something that belongs to them. This increases their already strong security in the nursery.

p.4

who attend

Babies and toddlers enjoy abundant sensory experiences, such as playing with treasure baskets, coloured bottles and textured materials. They have great fun as they enjoy exploring the paint using brushes, rollers and hands to make their own creations. Staff are exceptionally proactive in their interactions with children, but also skilfully step back when they recognise that they need space for self-discovery and contemplation. Staff repeat words back to the children to enhance their vocabulary. Toddlers enjoy vocalising as the staff initiates conversation and reinforces their attempt to speak. Children use their developing language skills confidently and enjoy talking to each other and expressing their ideas. They ask how, what and why questions of the staff and actively seek information regarding their play. Toddlers and babies explore technology confidently by demonstrating at a very young age that by pressing a button on a book, noises are made that promote

p.4

who attend

reactions from them. For example, a toddler presses a button on the book that makes a laughing sound. The child reacts by smiling and laughing to themselves, pressing it repeatedly. This shows an early understanding of cause and effect. These experiences help children to confidently gain the skills for their future.

p.5

who attend

Teaching and learning within the nursery is outstanding. Staff facilitate children's enjoyment within the process by offering an interesting, challenging and fun range of activities, so that learning is threaded through continuously within the nursery routine. Staff work extremely well together to plan activities that meet the needs of all children. They make detailed and informative observations of children's play, which enables them to plan very effectively for each child's learning needs. There are comprehensive monitoring and tracking documents in place to ensure that children reach their goals. As a result, children make excellent progress across all areas of learning. Staff warmly welcome parents and carers into the nursery and partnerships are very strong. Parents share very useful information about their children when they first start, which provides a starting point for staff to build on. They are invited to contribute to staff's understanding of how

p.5

who attend

their child is progressing, through recording their own observations in children's learning records.

p.5

who attend

Children are articulate and display high levels of enthusiasm as staff encourage them to fully express their needs and ideas. For example, they are interested in pirates and create their own treasure map, which is used to find hidden treasure outdoors. Children demonstrate high levels of self-confidence and excellent communication skills as they tell staff what they would like to do at nursery. Another example is when they tell staff, they want to go on a bear hunt. Children become immersed in their imaginary play with their friends and staff, they know the story well and scream in delight when they find the bear. They have the opportunity to explore the woodland, benefiting from learning through experience about lifecycles and the changing seasons. This fosters a love and enthusiasm about the natural world. Children are actively involved in learning through play and exploration, in a way which challenges and excites them. Consequently, they gain more

p.5

who attend

ability to become active thinkers and gain new learning experiences. As a result, children have meaningful experiences to help them to gain confidence and skills for their future.

p.5

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

All children are fully supported to develop meaningful relationships with staff and their friends. The nursery embeds the key person system throughout the provision. As a result of the excellent relationships established with parents from very early on from the home visits, children settle quickly. Staff in the baby room use the information, which they receive from parents extremely well, in order to meet the babies' specific needs. They constantly liaise with one another, discussing care routines and sharing information. This results in babies being exceptionally well looked after. Furthermore, they form caring, loving and affectionate relationships with their key person, as they snuggle comfortably into them when they are tired. Parents enjoy many opportunities to speak to their child's key person about children's emotional well-being. As a result of this close communication, children's emotional and welfare needs are fully met. The very strong skills of the key

p.5

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

person means that all children are extremely well prepared for their next stage of learning. They share information with others, which ensures that children's individual needs are met and eases the transition processes both within the nursery and to other settings and school.

p.6

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

There is a strong emphasis on the importance of healthy eating and lifestyles and staff underpin children's understanding of what it means to be healthy through conversation and activity planning. As a result, children show an exceptional sense of space and bodily awareness. They know the need to wear their coats and hat because 'it is cold outside'. Older children have an understanding of this, and they talk about food that gives them the energy to keep warm. A healthy and nutritious range of meals and snacks are provided for children that include a good selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. Children are encouraged to be independent from an early age, they serve their own food, which means that they understand portion size. Staff have arranged all areas of the nursery to enable all children, to be highly independent. Clear daily structure and well-established routines enable children to be fully aware of what to expect. For example, in the 'Tweenie' room,

p.6

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

the children line up to have their hands and faces wiped.

p.6

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

Children have access to a learning environment, which is wonderful, providing rich, inspiring and a thoughtful range of activities and quality resources in all areas of learning. These reflect the children's own interest, so that they are continually challenged, which contributes to their motivation to learn and grow confidence and independence. The nursery effectively promotes equality and diversity, supporting children and their families with English as an additional language and those with identified special needs and/or disabilities. As a result, children learn about similarities and differences, enabling them to develop an understanding and respect.

p.6

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

Children learn about keeping themselves safe through instruction and activities. For example, they know not to run inside and help to tidy up. Staff and children also undertake regular emergency evacuation practises. As a result, children develop an awareness of how to keep safe. Children learn about good etiquettes and social manners, as they sit at mealtimes and are encouraged to say 'please' and 'thank you'. Children have learned the importance of sharing and taking turns and being helpful. For example, they willingly tidy up and look after their pet rabbits and their environment. Their behaviour is exceptional because of positive role modelling by staff. They become enthusiastic when children succeed, for example, 'well done', 'wow, 'that's excellent', which enables them to develop their self-esteem and feelings of self-worth.

p.6

provision

All members of the management team have an excellent understanding of their responsibility to ensure that the provision meets the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff know how and when to take action if they have concerns. Policies that underpin the care practice are effectively implemented and are reviewed regularly. Processes, such as the administration of medication, are rigorous and robust. Parents are given a wealth of information and easy access to all policies, further ensuring that they fully understand the work, which the nursery does to keep their child safe. At the inspection, both patio doors had posters displayed at child level and were painted with a tree and greenery. This is to ensure that children can see the doors and to make sure risks are minimised or eliminated. Risk assessments are particularly robust, both for indoor and outside spaces, which

p.6

provision

subsequently means that children can play in safety. All resources are in excellent order. Fire safety is prioritised and access to the provision is extremely secure. High ratios of adults to children and the sensible organisation of interior space, means that all children are closely supervised at all times.

p.7

provision

The extremely dedicated and enthusiastic staff team are passionate about their work, being led by a strong management team, who are well supported by the owners. The managers and owners motivate and inspire the staff team, taking an active role within the nursery. They do this by providing support, guidance, knowledge and training, playing an active role in enhancing and supporting each child and their family. High quality professional support and supervision is provided for the staff team. Formal supervision, annual appraisals and ongoing observations of staff, help to ensure that all staff are monitored to identify their strengths and any areas for potential development. For example, all staff have attended paediatric first aid training. Another member of staff is attending a training course in 'Forest School', to further her own professional development and subsequently, to further enhance children's outdoor exploration and development.

p.7

provision

Recruitment and induction systems are robust and ensure that children are cared for by highly qualified and motivated staff.

p.7

provision

The well-established and highly effective systems scrupulously monitor the effectiveness of the nursery. Self-evaluation is rigorous and extremely well documented, truly reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of the nursery. All staff are strongly focused on continually striving to improve and develop all aspects of the nursery and provision provided within it. Consequently, plans for improvement are precise and meaningful. The management and staff seek parent's views regularly, inviting them to give them ideas for changes that they would like to see. As a result, the nursery is very responsive to the needs of all children and the manager responds swiftly to feedback, which she receives.

p.7

provision

The strong relationships with external agencies and parents means that staff assess children's progress accurately and communicate effectively. Therefore, allowing them to continue to close the achievement gap and support individual children. As a result, children's needs are fully met at all times. Staff, the management team and owners are highly motivated and enthusiastic, promoting a hands-on approach to children's learning. Thereby, enabling them to take some responsibility for their own learning in this highly successful nursery.

p.7

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

p.7

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

Setting details

Unique reference number EY408819 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 907949

p.9

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 113 Number of children on roll 114 Name of provider The Cheshire Day Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 09/11/2010 Telephone number 01925657111

p.9

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.

p.9

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

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,

p.10

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’.

p.11

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.11