Old MacDonald's Day Nursery

Old MacDonald's Day Nursery Woodside House, Latimer, CHESHAM, Buckinghamshire, HP5 1UQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/04/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Staff work very well as a team and have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements, enabling them to provide a stimulating learning environment.  Children enjoy their time in the well-organised and child-friendly nursery as they independently access an interesting range of learning opportunities.  Staff form strong relationships with parents to keep them informed and help them support their child's ongoing development.  Children develop good independence, self-esteem and self-confidence as they receive continuous praise and encouragement. They form secure, emotional attachments because of the sensitive and skilful support they receive from the staff.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 the staff team do not consistently challenge individual children to strengthen and deepen their current learning and development.

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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 time observing staff with the children in the main play rooms, the adventure playroom and in the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journeys, planning documentation, the nursery's self-evaluation form and a selection of policies and children's records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to at the inspection and from information included in new parents' feedback file.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings and completed a joint observation with the manager of the nursery and spoke with staff at appropriate times throughout the observations.

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Information about the setting

Old MacDonald's Day Nursery - Latimer registered in 2012. It is privately owned by Old Macdonald's Day Nursery Ltd who own two other nurseries in Hertfordshire. The nursery is situated in the village of Latimer close to the town of Chesham in Buckinghamshire. Children play and are cared for in nine main dedicated rooms according to their age. There are additional sleep rooms available and a purpose-built soft play and ball pool adventure playroom. All children share access to a secure and enclosed garden with soft surface and have use of a nearby wood. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. The nursery is open each weekday for full day sessions from 7.30 am to 7.00pm, full year. Morning sessions run from 8.30am to 1pm and afternoon sessions are from 1.30pm to 6pm. Children may attend from three months to five years. A holiday club is open during every school holiday

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Information about the setting

for children aged five to eight years. There are currently 119 children on roll in the early years age range.

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Information about the setting

A total of 24 members of staff work with the children. Of these,17 hold appropriate early years qualification at level 3 or above and one member of staff holds a qualification at level 2. One member of staff holds Early Years Professional Status (EYPS). The nursery also employs a qualified cook.

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

 consider ways to further engage children in active learning; for example, by skilfully questioning them about what they are doing and by listening to them.

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who attend

Children make good progress in this secure, stimulating and inclusive environment. All the staff know the children and support their individual needs, interests and preferences really well. Children have built secure and trusting relationships with staff who are dedicated to making sure their time at the nursery is a positive experience. Children eagerly participate in an extensive range of exciting and stimulating activities which cover all areas of learning. Staff have a good knowledge of the learning and development requirements to promote children's learning. They effectively plan activities matched to the children's needs and interests, which they base on thorough and accurate observations and assessment of each child. Staff successfully use their observations to complete the required progress check for children aged between two and three years. This helps them assess young children's early developmental progress.

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who attend

Children play well independently as they become active and inquisitive learners. They are enthused by staff who enhance play situations. However, staff do not always maximise opportunities to fully listen and skilfully question children to strengthen and deepen their learning. The learning environment is well equipped with a wide range of resources and materials to keep children interested and encourage their exploration and curiosity. Throughout the nursery children are developing skills for the future through the variety of activities. Staff plan a balanced range of activities and children have access to purposeful play both indoors and outside. Young babies are happy and content. They confidently explore a range of materials and resources in their designated rooms to support their sensory play and early learning. The atmosphere is relaxed and babies demonstrate their natural curiosity and eagerness as they independently move around. They enthusiastically

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who attend

explore the resources which are accessible to them. For example, older babies join in an activity hitting pots and pans together to create their own sounds.

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who attend

Staff promote children's language development and understanding of writing through conversations, role play, sharing books, singing and opportunities to make marks. Children readily help themselves to books and delight in acting out imaginative play scenarios, such as shopping. Children have good opportunities to learn about plants and living creatures in the natural world around them. They enjoy caring for their growing plants in the nursery garden. Through their play they learn to respect different cultures and how people celebrate individual traditions all over the world. Daily opportunities to use small and large equipment help children to develop a range of physical skills. Children use numbers, values and mathematical ideas in age-appropriate ways as they play and tackle problems. For example, older children enjoy a cooking activity, weighing the cherries and counting the number of cake cases to arrange on the baking tray.

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who attend

The nursery promotes successful partnerships with parents. Parents and carers are well informed about all aspects of their children's achievements, well-being and development. The staff provide ongoing feedback about children through their work, discussions, detailed daily diaries and access to the children's progress records. They display tailored guidance and information about individual activities and ways parents can support their children's learning across different areas. This supports parents involvement in their child's learning and development at home.

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

Staff are effective in making sure that all children are well integrated into nursery life right from the start. This helps each child feel safe and comfortably secure in their new environment. Staff have a secure knowledge of each child's backgrounds and needs because they operate an effective key person system. Staff use the good key person system to build on the intimate and friendly feel that prevails throughout the nursery. Consequently, children are well settled and happy at the nursery. A warm, colourful, well- equipped and welcoming environment reflects the children's growing interests. They successfully create an environment where children have lots of choices about what they do and play with. This means they are able to lead their own play and benefit from the stimulating focussed activities.

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

The nursery takes effective steps to promote children's good health and well-being as they encourage them to adopt good personal hygiene routines. Children enjoy freshly cooked meals accompanied with fruit and vegetables. This supports their understanding of the importance of healthy eating and making healthy choices at snack and meal times. Children engage in a wide range of physical activities, both indoors and outside. This increases their understanding about the importance of regular exercise as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For example, children benefit from regular walks to the nearby woodland, go on trips to the local shops, and visit a Chinese restaurant. Children have fun outside using a range of equipment that encourages the development of physical skills as well as other areas of learning. They show delight when using the indoor soft play adventure zone. Staff skilfully utilise all these experiences to enhance children's learning.

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

Staff promote inclusive practice through the activities, procedures and the use of resources. They focus on making sure that each child progresses to at least their expected level of development, to prepare them for their move on to school. Staff use a variety of activities to explore different cultures to allow children to gain an understanding of diversity within their community. Their growing understanding of the world around them prepares them well for future life.

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

Staff enhance children's knowledge and understanding of safety issues through ongoing topics and many practices that they embed into their daily routines. For example, they have a growing understanding of how to keep safe as they help to tidy away resources and learn to use equipment safely. Children behave well as they learn to manage their own behaviour through clear and concise behaviour management strategies. Older children are polite and respectful of each other, as they learn the importance of taking turns. Staff act as positive role models. They foster children's self-esteem and offer praise and encouragement at all times. The nursery skilfully supports children's moves to other settings and schools. For example, the children have time in their daily routines to develop their independence, social and self-care skills.

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provision

The management team has a clear vision and leads the nursery efficiently on a day-to-day basis. They meet regularly with staff to evaluate all aspects of the nursery to drive improvement in their practice. Staff are deployed well to support children and this helps to ensure routines run smoothly. Staff work hard towards improving outcomes for children and they make the most of opportunities to attend extra training events. The nursery environment is well organised. Children have access to good-quality resources that are age appropriate and encourage them to make independent choices. There are a number of dedicated rooms with exciting and interesting materials set out for children to access in each unit. Children benefit from the freedom to move between the different play rooms, spending time following up their own interests. This helps them gain independence.

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provision

Effective recruitment, vetting and ongoing professional development of staff makes certain that adults working with the children are suitable and capable to do so. Staff effectively safeguard the children and have a good knowledge and understanding of what to do if they have any concerns regarding child protection. Arrangements for safeguarding children are regularly reviewed, carefully managed and understood by all staff. Comprehensive policies and procedures help staff protect and support children appropriately. Children benefit from the care of well-qualified staff who are guided by an effective and motivated senior management team. The children keep safe as a number of effective measures are in place to enhance their safety. For example, staff use comprehensive risk assessments to fully consider safety in all areas children come into contact with. Security of premises and the children's safety is a high priority of the

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provision

nursery. There is a secure buzzer entry system and closed circuit television to help staff remain vigilant about anyone entering the premises.

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provision

Staff show a positive attitude to making sure they offer good quality provision. The nursery is beginning to involve all its users in their self-evaluation to drive improvement. The staff effectively monitor and evaluate their practice to identify priorities for improvement in the outcomes for children. This contributes to maintaining and improving the nursery's effectiveness. The manager is passionate and confident about what the nursery needs to do to improve further. Any actions taken by the staff team are well chosen, so the impact is evident in most of the areas in which it is needed.

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provision

Good partnerships with parents help to ensure that every child receives strong levels of support from an early stage. Positive relationships with all parents and carers enable everyone to be involved in the decision-making process on key matters affecting the nursery and children. They do this by providing parents with newsletters and informative welcome packs and displays on notice boards. Parents have high levels of appreciation and respect for the nursery. Parents make positive and pleasing comments about their complete satisfaction with the care of their children. The nursery demonstrates a good understanding of the importance of establishing links with additional settings that children may attend. This effectively promotes continuity in children's care, learning and development.

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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 EY454950 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 890552 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 120 Number of children on roll 119 Name of provider Old Macdonald's Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01494 762 336

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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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