Busy Bees at Epsom

Treetops Nurseries Limited (Epsom) 12 The Parade, EPSOM, Surrey, KT18 5DH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/04/2013 22/07/2010

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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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children benefit from forming strong bonds and sharing supportive, encouraging and enhancing relationships with staff. They are provided with an excellent range of well- planned play experiences and activities which help them make excellent progress.  The nursery provides a stimulating, welcoming and child-centred environment which reflects reassuring aspects of a home environment. This helps all children feel secure and safe.  The nursery is equipped with an extensive selection of high quality resources, combining play equipment and real resources, which enhance children's learning and experiences.  The clear and effective management structure promotes a very strong culture of self- improvement and valuing staff. As a result staff take pride in and enjoy their work.  Parents are actively involved in their children's learning through highly effective information sharing and strategies that build excellent links between home and the

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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 compulsory part 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 spent the inspection time observing staff and children in the nursery rooms and garden.  The inspector sampled children's information and development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector shared discussions with staff. A joint observation was completed with the manager and discussion took place with the manager and company area manager.

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Inspection activities

 Parents' views were gathered through discussion with three parents and viewing recently completed parent questionnaires.

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Inspection activities

 Safeguarding was discussed with staff and the manager and the nursery policy was sampled.

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Information about the setting

Treetops Nurseries Limited (Epsom) is one of a group of nurseries owned and operated by Treetops Nurseries Limited. It was re-registered in 2009 and operates from a converted building in Epsom, Surrey. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is situated close to Epsom town centre and is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm, all year round. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 115 children on roll, some of whom attend on a part-time basis. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There is a team of 15 staff, of whom 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications. The manager and one member of staff have degrees in childcare.

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

 enhance the very good use of books to extend children's literacy experiences; for example by making books with children of activities they have been doing, using photographs of them as illustrations.

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who attend

Children thrive in the stimulating, exciting and homely nursery environment. They benefit from secure, supportive and encouraging interaction with staff who thoroughly enjoy their work. The staff team plan and provide an extensive, varied and stimulating range of play experiences and activities for children and are skilled in responding to spontaneous opportunities to extend children's learning. As a result, children are supported in making excellent progress in their learning and development, given their starting points. The nursery staff, environment and routines support children in acquiring a firm foundation in skills such as self- confidence and independence. These support children in the next stage of their learning, for example, when they leave nursery or move onto school.

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who attend

Excellent use is made of both the indoor and outdoor environments. For example, older children have the choice of moving between the indoors and outdoors throughout the day. They excitedly explore the garden, pretending to be dinosaurs. Children roar loudly as they move around the different surfaces in the garden looking for twigs. They are energetic and use their large physical skills as they run, climb and ride wheeled toys. Younger children lie on the top of a mound in the garden with a member of staff watching the clouds move overhead and use magnifying panels to examine their hands and the ground. Babies explore natural materials outside sitting in a sheltered spot. They feel, rub and shake sealed bottles containing glitter and brightly coloured liquid.

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who attend

Children are excited, motivated and eager to play and learn. Older children are confident and articulate, initiating and joining in constant discussion with staff and each other. They listen, speak confidently, share humour and respond to adult suggestions. Staff are creative and enthusiastic in their response to children's spontaneous discussion and interest, relating these in an age- and stage-appropriate way. For example, children arrive at nursery talking about their recent visit to the dentist. A member of staff responds to this impromptu conversation by extending the discussion into how and why we need to keep our teeth clean. Children contribute with descriptions of how the dentist looked and what they wore, explaining they had to open their mouths wide, say 'ahhh' and there was definitely 'no laughing'. The member of staff extends this child-initiated discussion by recalling the topic later in the day and linking it to an activity which children thoroughly

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who attend

enjoy, using toothbrushes and toothpaste to clean a set of 'teeth'. Children involve each other in their play and staff join in with their game. Children giggle and laugh as they realise a member of staff has 'fallen asleep' in the home area. They share the joke realising she is pretending and follow another member of staff's suggestion that they try to wake her by all shouting together. Aspects of the daily routine such as tidying away and lunch time are well planned and included as positive learning experiences for children. For example younger children help by opening their fold away mattresses for rest after lunch and setting these out on the floor. They calculate if their mattress will fit into the space, open the mattress, and position it on the floor.

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who attend

Babies are cared for in a stimulating, nurturing environment where individual routines are followed in order to provide reassurance and continuity. Staff provide exciting tactile experiences, such as exploring paint with hands and feet and feeling flour and glitter. Babies gurgle as they feel the paint on their hands, rubbing them together and making marks with their hands on a canvas frame. Babies use their physical skills, excitedly moving their bodies as they splash with their hands in a bowl of water. They shout with excitement as they generate movement in the water and splash themselves. Cosy sleep baskets on the floor provide a safe and cuddly place for babies to rest as they snuggle in to have a nap. Staff are constantly nearby providing a reassuring and encouraging presence, supporting babies in their exploration.

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who attend

The extensive and creative use of photographs of children throughout the nursery contributes to the sense of belonging children have and the homely atmosphere. Children use and enjoy a comprehensive range of good quality and interesting books. They listen avidly to stories that staff read imaginatively. Babies show enjoyment and great interest in handling and looking at illustrations in books and magazines. There is some scope to enhance the existing very good use of books to support literacy by extending the use of resources. For example, making books with the children which use photographs of them doing various tasks and activities would offer further opportunities for children to sue language for thought and to recall past experiences.

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

The nursery is organised highly effectively to provide a home from home environment which helps children feel secure. This is particularly emphasised in the baby area where a very strong focus is placed on creating a homely, nurturing environment. Children's emotional well-being is promoted extremely well by their close relationships with their key persons and other staff and the stimulating and exciting indoor and outdoor environments. As a result children behave extremely well, and show they feel very safe and secure. They are consistently interested and engaged in their play and are excited and happy. Older children show a developing confidence and independence and understand the 'golden rules' of sharing, taking turns and being kind. Staff frequently praise and encourage children, promoting positive behaviour and contributing to the happy atmosphere of the nursery.

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

Staff make excellent and extensive use of the outdoor area, encouraging all children to enjoy the outdoors, exercise, and physical play. This provides excellent support for children's good health and physical development. Staff make highly effective use of continual discussion about health to help children learn about good hygiene practice. For example, they remind children to wash their hands and explain why they need to do so. Meaningful activities, such as using gel to show germs on children's hands, support their understanding of this in a practical way. Children enjoy a healthy balanced diet and are ready for their tasty home-cooked lunch of pasta with sauce at lunch time.

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

Staff supervise children very closely at all times and discussions that support children's understanding of their own safety regularly take place. For example, staff remind them about being careful as they move around and talk about 'stranger danger'. Discussions which are linked to safety, such as being careful near barbeques, encourage children's awareness of their own safety. Fire drills and evacuation of the nursery are practised regularly ensuring that children know what to do in an emergency and that the premises can be evacuated swiftly if needed.

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provision

The nursery provides a stimulating, exciting and welcoming atmosphere. The current refurbishment of the premises is resulting in a very high quality environment, both indoors and outside which is equipped with a wide range of quality resources, furniture and equipment. Staff make excellent use of everyday, 'real' utensils and materials and resources reflecting diversity and the wider world to help children make progress. The staff team take great pride in their work and make highly effective use of the wide range of resources. They plan and provide a varied and extensive range of interesting, challenging and stimulating activities and play experiences for children, making full and effective use of the indoor and outdoor environments. The staff team are enthusiastic and confident. Their interaction with children is supportive, enabling and encouraging. They create a sense of fun and humour through an extensive range of well-planned and

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provision

creatively implemented activities. Staff implement excellent systems to observe, record, and monitor children's development and progress. Staff link their observations to their planning of activities using individual children's next steps to support their progress. They creatively respond to individual interests and follow spontaneous discussions that arise.

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provision

The highly effective corporate and management structure provides a clear framework that staff are fully committed to and understand how to implement. Regular individual staff supervision and appraisals take place, effectively identifying strengths and training needs or interests to support staff in their professional development. The well-embedded culture of sharing good practice and learning from each other encourages staff to develop and take pride in their work. Secure and robust recruitment and vetting procedures are in place to establish staff are qualified and suitable to work with children. The staff team have an excellent understanding of their responsibilities relating to child protection. They are aware of the procedures to follow if concerns arise about children's welfare or if they have concerns about a colleague.

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provision

The manager and company are aware of the need to inform Ofsted of significant events, such as the recent building works. They check that the nursery is meeting all legal requirements, such as maintaining staff to child ratios, through robust monitoring. The nursery team use self-evaluation comprehensively and highly effectively to maintain and drive improvement. Each room has action plans in place of areas they have identified or want to develop. For example, they are introducing a self-registration system for children by using key rings with their photographs on that children hang in a low-level key cupboard when they arrive. Staff have identified that this will help strengthen children's feeling of belonging in nursery.

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provision

The nursery builds excellent relationships with parents. Information is shared very well through daily discussion with staff, informative displays, home-link books for babies and regular updates through newsletters. Those parents spoken to praised the nursery and staff, commenting on how happy their children are and that they feel reassured by the good communication with staff. Parents are actively involved in their children's learning. For example, advice is sought from parents related to planned activities such as Mehndi hand decorating in the nursery. Highly effective strategies in the baby room such as a home-nursery soft cuddly bear and interactive story sacks that parents can borrow encourage the links and familiarity between home and nursery.

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provision

The nursery has highly effective systems in place to work in partnerships with other settings and professionals involved in children's care. For example, excellent links are built with local schools and exchange visits and ongoing discussion with teachers take place. Staff also make links with other settings that children have attended prior to coming to nursery to obtain relevant information and enable them to plan and support children. Information is shared fully with other professionals involved in children's care and used to provide continuity and support children's progress.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY404028 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 909518

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 68 Number of children on roll 115 Name of provider Treetops Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 22/07/2010 Telephone number 01372745905

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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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