Little Stars Day Nursery

Little Stars Day Nursery Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education, Laceby Road, GRIMSBY, South Humberside, DN34 5BQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/03/2013 18/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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's learning is effectively promoted as they engage in an interesting range of activities, which are planned around their interests and developmental needs. Staff and management also closely monitor the educational programmes to ensure every child is achieving to their full potential within the seven areas of learning.  Children form secure emotional attachments with their key person because staff work closely with parents, gathering clear information to ensure each child's specific needs are met.  The management team are committed to the continuous development of the provision, using a robust system of self-evaluation to secure improvements in all areas. This creates a dedicated, motivated staff team, where everyone works together to ensure children benefit from a continually improving provision.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always maximise opportunities to further develop children's very good growing independence and decision making skills. This is with regard to enabling children to pour their own drinks and serve their own meals, as well as allowing them to decide for themselves when they want to play inside or outside.  Freely accessible real life resources, which are familiar to children, are not always provided to fully extend their rich and imaginative play.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and care practices in all six ground floor playrooms and within the outside play areas. She conducted joint observations with the manager, looking at the practice of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the children and staff from each room. She also held a meeting with the manager and registered provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at relevant documentation, including planning, observations and assessment records. She also looked at a range of policies, including information used to assess the suitability of staff and the setting's self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took into account the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Little Stars Day Nursery first opened in 1986 and moved to a new building in 2008. It is run under the management of Grimsby Institute for Further and Higher Education and is situated within their grounds. Children are cared for in different rooms according to their age and each area has their own outside play space. The nursery serves the childcare needs of the students and staff from the college and any remaining places are open to the general public.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and there are currently 119 children on roll in this age range. The nursery opens all year round from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, apart from bank holidays and Christmas week. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 28 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two staff hold qualifications at level 2, 17 at level 3, three at level 4, three at level 5 and two staff hold degrees.

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

 support children's growing independence and decision making skills by allowing them to pour their own drinks, serve their own food and provide them with the choice of when they wish to play indoors and outdoors

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

 enhance children's learning experiences further by providing them with a variety of familiar resources reflecting everyday life, such as magazines, real kitchen items and telephones, to extend their imaginative play.

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who attend

Children have fun as they are cared for in different rooms according to their age. This results in children accessing a good range of developmentally appropriate toys and resources to meet their needs. It also enables staff to provide interesting, hands-on learning experiences, which results in children making progress from their unique starting points. Staff engage in children's play, chatting to them and asking questions, which helps them to become confident communicators and critical thinkers. For example, during a planned activity children choose an item out of a bag and identify what it is. When a child identifies a peg, staff extend their thinking and communicating skills by asking them what a peg is used for. The child confidently states, 'pegs hang mummy's washing out'. Older children enjoy listening to a story using rhyming words. The member of staff skilfully stops reading the story at certain points to encourage children to identify the next rhyming

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who attend

word. She also asks questions about what children can see in the book, again encouraging their communication skills.

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who attend

Future learning experiences are planned in line with children's current interests, which staff continually note down. Ongoing observational assessments monitor children's progress and are also used to identify and plan for their next steps for learning. Partnership working with parents, carers and outside agencies results in the continued support and development of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This results in children receiving additional targeted support, where needed, to aid their future development. This enables all children to make progress within the seven areas of learning, preparing them well for their eventual move to school. Parents are encouraged to share information on their children's interests and achievements from home and they receive regular information on their child's progress and development within the setting. This provides parents with clear opportunities to be actively involved in their child's

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who attend

Babies enjoy investigating and exploring messy play experiences using their senses. They use their hands to touch and feel wet porridge oats, moving their fingers and hands through the mixture as they make patterns. They also have fun as they grasp handfuls of oats, which they then spread over the table. Children develop their physical skills through inside and outside play experiences. While children are encouraged to develop their personal independence in some areas, like toileting, dressing and hand washing, their growing independence and decision making skills are not maximised in other areas. For example, although children are provided with daily outside play experiences, they have yet to be provided with opportunities to make their own decision about when they want to play inside or outside. Also, at snack time children are not always provided with opportunities to pour their own drinks and to serve their own food to further enhance their

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who attend

Welcome time activities are incorporated into the daily routine for older children, resulting in them feeling included and part of the setting. Their awareness of the days of the week is promoted during this time, as well as their counting skills as they count how many children are present. Children use their imagination as they play in the kitchen role play area. However, there is scope to further extend children's imaginative play by enhancing the range of resources which are accessible to them and reflect everyday life experiences, like telephones and real kitchen items.

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

All children are happy, settled and secure in their surroundings. Each child is assigned a key person who works closely with the child and their family to ensure they are cared for in line with their specific needs, backgrounds and beliefs. Babies' individual routines are adhered to, with staff holding them when they are bottle fed and children receive lots of cuddles and reassurance if they get upset, ensuring they always feel emotionally secure. All children benefit as improvements to staffing now result in them being cared for by consistent staff who work in each room. This further supports children to feel confident in their surroundings as they form secure emotional attachments to their key person and the wider consistent staff team.

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

Children engage well with staff and they are beginning to play cooperatively with their peers as they develop good social skills. Staff act as positive role models, reinforcing children's good behaviour as they provide them with lots of praise and encouragement. As children get older they learn how to sit, remain focused and listen to staff during activities, providing them with the key skills needed for when they start school. Transition arrangements for supporting children's move to other settings and school are good. Information is shared to ensure the new setting is aware of children's starting points. This enables children's learning to be continually promoted when they move to their new provision.

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

Children are encouraged to develop personal independence with their health and self-care skills. For example, children request their need for the toilet, wash their hands independently and access their own drinks when thirsty, showing awareness of how to meet their own needs. Children are encouraged to eat nutritious meals and snacks and they are provided with lots of physical play experiences. This helps children to develop a healthy lifestyle as they learn about the benefits of eating well and being active. Children play safely as they explore their surroundings under the close supervision of staff. For example, they learn to safely climb up the steps and to then go down the slide.

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provision

The management team are well aware of their roles and responsibilities. They oversee the work of staff to ensure the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, including the educational programmes, are effectively met. This creates a motivated staff team, where everyone works together to drive forward improvements to children's care and learning. The setting effectively evaluates their service through robust self-evaluation. This includes the setting actively seeking parents' views on the setting's practice and procedures through a parents' forum. This enables the setting to develop a good overview of their whole provision, resulting in children benefiting as continuous improvements are made.

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provision

Children are cared for by a qualified staff team whose suitability has been assessed through the setting's robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures. The ongoing suitability of the staff team is assured through the setting's clear performance management systems, which include regular supervisions and staff appraisals. This results in children benefitting from good standards of care and learning. Staff understand and implement the effective policies and procedures to ensure the well-being of children is maintained. For example, potential hazards are identified and minimised through risk assessments and staff have a good knowledge of child protection procedures. This results in children feeling safe and secure. Partnership working with outside agencies and the implementation of a new closed circuit television system within the setting, further safeguards children from potential harm.

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provision

The setting is well organised with staff working closely with parents, carers and other professionals to meet children's individual needs. Information sharing between the setting and parents is effective, resulting in them being kept well informed of their children's care, progress and development. Parents confirm they are happy with the setting and they state their children are making good progress. The setting promotes the inclusion of all children, resulting in every child achieving to their full potential as they develop the skills needed for their continued learning and development.

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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 205543 Local authority North East Lincolnshire Inspection number 905035

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 77 Number of children on roll 119 Name of provider Grimsby Institute for Further and Higher Education Date of previous inspection 18/05/2011 Telephone number 01472 315530

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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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