Little Oaks Margate

Little Oaks Margate Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mothers Hospital, St. Peters Road, MARGATE, Kent, CT9 4AN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/04/2013 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

 Children feel very included and secure within the nursery, due to the very strong key person system. This ensures staff know each child well, and meet individual needs.  Children who are learning English as an additional language, and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported well.  Staff in the setting show a good ability to maintain continuous improvement and a commitment to raising standards.  Staff are competent and use skilled teaching techniques, which results in children making good progress from their starting points.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 In the garden, there are limited large resources such as crates, tubes or boxes which children can move around cooperatively to create their own structures.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the four play rooms and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation in the toddler room with the manager of the provision.  The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including children's assessment records and planning, evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, and the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Little Oaks Margate is owned and operated by Little Oaks Early Years Ltd. It opened under its current owner in 2012. It operates from a large detached building in the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent. The nursery comprises of five playrooms, a sleep room and a separate staff room and office. There is a kitchen, milk kitchen and toilet facilities. Children have access to a secure outdoor play area. There are steps and a ramp to access the front of the premises. The nursery serves families from the local community and surrounding areas.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 79 children on roll, aged between 15 months and under five years. There is also a holiday play scheme, which runs every school holiday. The nursery receives funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens five days a week from 7am until 6pm all year round, closing for bank holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

There are 15 members of staff who work with the children, including the two principals, a finance officer, two apprentices and the manager. Of these, all have recognised early years qualifications between levels 2 to 6; one has Early Years Professional Status.

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

 develop further the educational programme for physical development by providing large resources which children can move around and use cooperatively to create their own structures.

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who attend

Children make good progress from their starting points. Planning of activities is very much led by children's interests, to ensure that they enjoy and learn from activities. For example, the book of the month, which was chosen by the children, is about a caterpillar who ate many plants. This led to art work about plants, and the children were inspired by this. Subsequently the role- play area was turned into a flower shop, and children have planted seeds. . Children's progress towards the early learning goals is carefully assessed. Clear progress records ensure that any gaps in learning are noted and addressed, so that all children make the best progress from their starting points.

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who attend

Furthermore, children make good progress due to effective teaching strategies. Staff follow children's interests and include all areas of learning in activities. They provide a running commentary as they play with children in the role-play area, modelling good communication skills and introducing new vocabulary. They ask open questions, for example discussing what flowers need to grow, so children think for themselves and solve problems. Children recognise numbers on the calculator as they pretend to sell the flowers. Staff draw children's attention to the sounds of the first letters of words, skilfully introducing an understanding of phonics.

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who attend

Key persons have clear and effective systems in place to track each child's progress. As a result, they notice gaps in learning, such as in children's speech and language development, and put strategies in place to help them to catch up and reach their potential. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff seek and act on advice from specialist teachers. They are introducing the use of sign language to help children's communication and understanding. Some children have English as an additional language; staff work with parents to understand their cultures and learn words in children's home language, to help them feel secure.

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who attend

Parents are included in many ways in their children's learning, and are offered a wealth of information about the setting. For example, stay and play sessions give them the opportunity to see how the sessions run, and the chance to go through their children's progress records with their key person. Parents appreciate the friendliness and approachability of staff. They know who their child's key person is, and appreciate having someone to talk to about their child. They feel included in children's learning, and are knowledgeable about what staff are currently working on with their child, which enables them to continue children's learning at home.

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

The key person system works well to make children feel safe. Children spend time in 'care groups', which increases their sense of security, as well as their confidence. It also enables staff to get to know them well, and respond to their interests. Children show a strong sense of belonging. When staff announce 'care group time', children comment confidently 'I'm in your care group'. Therefore children's well-being and learning are enhanced. As they interact with children, adults remind them about the safety rules, so children learn to keep themselves safe. For example, they remind children that 'we don't run indoors in case we hurt ourselves'. Therefore children start to understand the reasons behind their actions.

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

Frequent use is made of the exciting outdoor area, where children climb on challenging apparatus, balance on tyres, and develop coordination by chasing one another around. Therefore their physical development is promoted well. As they play, staff chat about food and health, so children start to understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Children look after their own personal hygiene independently, saying 'rub, rub' to themselves as they wash their hands.

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

Children feel valued as adults take every opportunity to praise what they have done. At story time, every child's contribution is acknowledged and appreciated, so children's self- esteem is good. Much of the children's art work is displayed low on the walls so they can see it, helping to make them feel proud of their achievements. Children's behaviour is managed well by adults, which helps them to behave in line with expectations. During a dancing activity, adults invite children who are not engaged to help them, and the responsibility instantly distracts and includes them. Some staff are extremely enthusiastic and good at motivating children, so that children laugh loudly as they run around outside, pretending to be a favourite cartoon character. Children contribute well and are enthusiastic learners, prepared for the next stages in their learning.

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

The nursery is well resourced, with base rooms set out with stimulating, age- appropriate toys. These are stored low down to enable children to initiate their own activities. An area in the pre-school room is equipped with imaginative and exciting natural resources, as well as non-fiction science books, to help children learn about the natural world. The garden lacks resources which children can use open-endedly to create and design, for example crates to make a bus, or tubes to roll balls down.

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

Within the nursery there are clear processes to enable children to move to the next room confidently. For example, both child and parents meet the new key person. Parents receive a leaflet informing them about the routines in the next room, so they are able to prepare their children. Children are also well prepared for school. For example, staff obtain photos of their teacher, so that they can talk to the child. The nursery has a lending library, and parents borrow books to read with their children about moving on to school, to help them feel prepared and confident.

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provision

The premises are well organised, safe and secure, showing that children's safety is a priority. Staff's good knowledge of child protection procedures, and their confidence to take action on a child's behalf if necessary, mean that children are well protected. All welfare requirements are met to a high standard, showing a good commitment to keeping children safe. Recruitment procedures are thorough, making sure staff are suitable for their roles. New staff are supported well, and any training needs identified and addressed, so they have the skills to do their job well.

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provision

There are good procedures in place to monitor the planning and delivery of the educational programmes. Furthermore, staff's practice is carefully monitored. Room leaders scrutinise children's progress folders, which ensures observations are used well to plan for individual children's progress. Peer observations are used to check that all staff use consistently good teaching techniques. As a result practice across the nursery is good, and children's progress records are used constructively to plan to meet their needs and interests.

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provision

In-house training days are used effectively to plan improvements to the nursery. This ensures that staff feel involved, and their views are taken into account. For example, at the next meeting they will discuss how to make improvements to the use of the hallway. A high priority is placed on staff's professional development. Relevant training courses are attended and staff are enabled to use what they have learnt to benefit the children. For example, a lovely sensory area has been included in the toddlers' room as a result of staff attending training about exciting environments for two-year-olds.

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provision

Managers show a good ability to develop and improve the nursery, including staff, parents and children in a self-evaluation process. Challenging action plans show that in the short time since registration, there have been many improvements, which have had a positive impact on the children and their families. Well-targeted plans for the future include extending the monitoring of children's progress to look at groups of children, such as boys, or children who speak English as an additional language, to ensure they make maximum progress.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY455548 Local authority Kent Inspection number 890135 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 79 Name of provider Little Oaks Early Years Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07747620333

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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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