Busy Bees Day Nursery at Maidstone Hospital

Just Learning Nursery Maidstone Hospital, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 9QQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/02/2013 24/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children benefit from warm and caring relationships with all staff and in particular their key person.  The nursery has effective arrangements to help children settle when they first attend, when they move between rooms and when they move on to other settings.  Children are happy, demonstrate that they feel safe and are active learners. They show strong levels of confidence in the environment.  Staff value working in partnership with parents. Parents demonstrate that they are very happy with the care and learning opportunities available to their children and express that their children are making good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 younger children's personal self-care skills are not consistently promoted, such as staff encouragement to wash their hands and having free access to hand washing facilities.  Staff deployment during times when children may be feeling anxious, such as mealtimes, does not always enable children to receive all the comfort and support they may need.

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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 spent time talking to the parents, manager, staff and provider, and interacting with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and routines in the different group playrooms and the outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documents including checks on staff suitability, policies and procedures, risk assessments, children and staff daily sign in registers and children's developmental records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, observation and planning documentation and the provider's self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation with the assistant manager of the setting.

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Information about the setting

Just Learning Nursery opened in 2005 and operates from a purpose built single storey building in the grounds of Maidstone Hospital, Barming, Kent. The nursery is open each weekday from 6.45am to 7pm for 52 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 203 children on roll in the nursery and the holiday club for school aged children. The setting gets funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years. This setting is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities as well as children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 41 staff. 35 of the staff, including the manager, hold appropriate early years childcare qualifications and eight staff are

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Information about the setting

working towards a qualification. The group receives support from the company early years coordinator and the local authority advisor.

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

 review the procedures for promoting independent self-care skills, particularly with younger children, to consistently promote their skills in dressing/undressing and hygiene routines, such as promoting good hygiene routines by encouraging hand washing after nappy changing

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

 review deployment of staff with younger children to make sure the key person stays close by and provides a secure presence and a refuge at times a child may be feeling anxious. For example when feeling unsettled and in need of comfort at mealtimes.

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who attend

Young children in the designated baby unit make good progress in all areas of their learning and development in relation to their starting points. Staff clearly know the children in their care well and interact with them positively. Babies and toddlers settle quickly as they and their parents are warmly greeted by staff on arrival. Young children receive a good level of attention, enjoying the one-to-one attention they often receive. This helps them to feel secure and they demonstrate this by putting their hands up to staff when they need a cuddle. Children make good progress in their learning and development because staff have an appropriate knowledge and understanding of how children learn and develop and use this to plan children's next steps in their learning. Staff receive training on how to plan for individual children and are still in the process of embedding their learning to ensure all children make suitable individual progress from their starting

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who attend

points. Observations are carried out on all children and staff monitor their progress. This means they can suitably identify any emerging gaps in children's learning and development. There are new recording systems in place and staff are beginning to develop their understanding on how to use and complete these effectively.

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who attend

Resources are all at the children's level and are clearly labelled with words and pictures. This means that children can independently access them and engage in a range of play opportunities of their own choosing. For example, children enjoy going to choose a toy or activity of their choice after waking up, with the gently support of staff. These opportunities allow children to use their imaginative skills freely and support them in becoming independent as they make their own choice.

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who attend

Children are very confident and clearly enjoy their time in the setting. They are given individual attention and receive comfort when they need reassuring. However there are times when children are feeling unsettled and need additional reassurance and staff deployment does not always enable them to fully provide this. For example during younger children's mealtimes when staff are assisting several children to eat and one needs additional comfort or holding this restricts what they can do for all children. The children play well together and often enjoy sitting and talking to each other and staff, developing the children's communication skills as staff ask questions that encourage children's thinking skills and develop their vocabulary effectively.

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who attend

Staff supports children to prepare for school in a range of ways. For example, teachers from the local schools children will eventually attend visit them in the settling and then follow this up by an invitation to go and see their new class. This enables children to become familiar with their surroundings and aids a smoother transition to school and provides a positive experience for the children.

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who attend

Relationships with parents are positive and staff invite them into the setting to discuss their children's progress check at age two review. They receive regular newsletters regarding what is happening and informing them of any changes in the setting. Staff verbally discuss with parents what their children have done during the session when they are collected each day. There is a six monthly parents evening and as a result parents are kept effectively informed of their children's learning and development.

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

Children happily arrive at the setting ready to begin their play and learning. They are happy and confident and have formed secure relationships with staff. This is because there is a well-established key person system to ensure each child feels safe and secure while in the setting. There is an induction process where children are introduced to the setting slowly to get to know their new environment and get to know their key person. This ensures parents know which member of staff are the designated main carer for their children. Staff work together with parents to support children to settle when they first attend and tailor these to meet their individual need.

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

Children enjoy a range of healthy snacks during the session which support the children's learning as they begin to understand the importance of healthy eating. Children enjoy a range of fresh fruit and vegetables on a daily basis and are all offered fresh drinking water. The older children are encouraged to wash their hands before sitting down for snacks while the younger children are offered a bowl with water or wet wipes to wash their hands. Children's care routines are appropriately met and staff follow good hygiene practices by wearing aprons and gloves, which they change after each child. Older children use the toilet independently and are aware of the need to wash their hands afterwards. Younger children's development of their personal self-care skills are not consistently promoted. Staff do not always encourage them to wash their hands after nappy changes to develop good hygiene routines. In addition some cannot access hand

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

washing facilities freely for themselves and rely on staff providing a bowl of clean water. Staff provides opportunities for children to play outdoors daily and engage in exercise. This promotes their physical skills and enable the children to adopt healthy lifestyles.

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

Children demonstrate good behaviour and play together cooperatively. For example, they wait patiently at the tea table while the children are handed their tea individually. There is a designated member of staff responsible for behaviour management and a policy in place to inform staff and parents. At times, such as story time, older children were not always following the expected rules and boundaries and staff did not consistently reinforce these.

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provision

The manager is aware of her role and responsibility to keep children safe. She has attended safeguarding training and, along with the staff, is aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse. The setting has a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place. The manager has a clear understanding of the course of action she should take should she have any concerns regarding children's welfare. Risk assessments have been conducted and the staff ensure the premises are safe and secure. The minimum staff to child ratios are in place in each room. In reviewing setting documentation it was identified that previously on two occasions, within one week, this was not met for a brief time. This was due to bank staff not arriving when expected. The manager was not included in the ratios at the time, however this potentially placed children and staff at risk. This is a breach of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework requirements, and on this occasion, Ofsted

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provision

do not intend to take further action. Management quickly identified that its use of only bank staff to cover staff vacancies and absence provided insufficient cover staff to choose from. Management promptly put steps in place to ensure that staff deployment and staffing ratios would not compromised by this and now also use agency staff. This ensures that children remain suitably protected and the setting complies with their registration requirements. The manager carries out regular appraisals with staff and supports them to identify their training needs. Staff also chooses training courses they would like to access that are of particular interest to them. This ensures staff continues to develop their professional knowledge and understanding of childcare subjects. There are new recording systems to show planning, observations and assessments in place within the setting. Although staff are aware of individual children's needs they are less confident on how to record this

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provision

The manager and staff work together as a team and this is reflected in the welcoming environment the setting provides. They have completed a self-evaluation process and liaise with the parents to gather their views to include these. The setting uses this information to plan their improvements and share this with parents by displaying what they will be doing on a 'you say we did' board. The manager also provides support to the staff team, parents and children during their current period management change. This ensures that all are aware of what is happening and this runs as smoothly as possible for all involved.

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provision

Parents are kept suitably informed about their children's day. They are appropriately involved in their children's learning and have regular opportunities to contribute to this to ensure there is continuity between the setting and home.

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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 EY299059 Local authority Kent Inspection number 903793 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 112 Number of children on roll 203 Name of provider Just Learning Ltd Date of previous inspection 24/02/2009 Telephone number 01622 226515

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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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