Queen Mary Nursery

Queen Mary Nursery Queen Mary Nursery, Middle Hill, ALDERSHOT, Hampshire, GU11 1PL

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/03/2013 Not Applicable

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Staff in the baby and toddler room do not effectively assess risks and hazards, to promote children's safety in this area.  The deployment of staff is not sufficiently meeting the individual needs of the babies and toddlers at all times of the day.  There is less planning for activities in the younger nursery rooms to provide enjoyable and challenging experiences to meet children's individual interests and learning needs.  Parents do not have full information at times and this lessens the opportunity to share two-way information.  Systems of monitoring and managing staff in the youngest nursery room are ineffective in meeting the needs of babies and toddlers.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 Management have suitably improved the systems of observing and assessing children's progress.  Staff in the older nursery room show effective skills of teaching through continual involvement in children's play and learning.  The provider has increased the opportunities for regular outdoor play provision for all children attending.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector arrived and explained the inspection process.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed all areas of the nursery, observing and interacting with children and staff.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector gained further evidence through discussion and from relevant documentation.  The inspector spoke with parents, managers and deputy managers.  The inspector provided feedback and gave the inspection judgements.

p.2

Information about the setting

Queen Mary's Day Nursery was registered under private ownership in 2012. It is one of four settings owned and managed by Aldershot Garrison Pre-school Settings. The nursery is situated on Ministry of Defence property in the garrison town of Aldershot in Hampshire and is mainly for children of serving forces personnel. The nursery consists of separate age-related rooms over two floors, with kitchen and office facilities. There are several secure outside play areas. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 76 children aged from birth to under five years on roll. The setting is in receipt of free early education for children aged two, three and four years old. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There is also support for children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery offers full day care only from

p.3

Information about the setting

Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. There are 25 members of staff working with the children and most staff hold relevant early years qualifications at level 3.

p.3

must:

 ensure that risk assessment processes are used following accidents, to inform staff daily practice and that this promotes the safety of babies and toddlers

p.3

must:

 ensure that babies and toddlers are adequately supervised at all times and that information about staff deployment is shared with parents

p.3

must:

 plan purposeful, challenging and enjoyable experiences for children in the younger age group and meet their individual learning needs.

p.3

must:

 improve systems to monitor, coach, mentor and support staff who work with babies and toddlers to identify and implement any professional development.

p.3

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

 strengthen the daily links with all parents to encourage a two-way flow of information sharing to meet children's individual learning and care needs.

p.3

who attend

Staff who work with babies and toddlers are able to share information about children's progress. They observe and record children's activities and achievements using the 'Development Matters in the Early years Foundation Stage' guidance. However, this does not lead to clear planning for activities that interest or challenge children. Staff working with babies and toddlers engage with children through singing and picture books, however this is not continual and there is no planning for the day. Staff provide some activities spontaneously, for example making marks on low boards for babies to crawl and reach. Although this interests some children, it does not hold their attention because they have not reached this level of capability. In other rooms where younger children attend there are ample resources and staff attention, but little purposeful play to challenge, inspire and motivate the youngest children. Staff sit with children and interact to encourage

p.4

who attend

communication and language skills. They talk about items that children bring to them but staff do not provide imaginative play ideas to stimulate children's interest.

p.4

who attend

Staff provide a suitable range of activities to help children make progress and help them gain confidence and make choices. This is especially strong for older children where staff demonstrate effective teaching methods. They are continually involved in children's play and learning. Staff provide one to one attention at times, they follow children's choice of activity and use appropriate questioning. For example, staff encourage and praise children when they succeed in managing a computer game, they clearly recognise and offer support and explanation when children need help. Older children show they are gaining independence in choosing outdoor play. They create their own balancing walkway and staff encourage children to think about safety when placing the boards on the crates. Children practise balancing, they tumble at times, but keenly try again. Children use the musical instruments to make different sounds and they clearly enjoy the repetition of

p.4

who attend

There are new systems in place for recording children's development following the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff gain information about children from parents at the start, through the 'All about me' form. Staff observe and record children's individual progress during activities and daily routines, most use this to form children's next steps in development. There are regular summaries of children's progress and staff share these with parents. This summary of development provides parents with a two-year assessment. Parents can write comments and the nursery encourages them to share in children's development by attending parents' meetings. However not all parents have clear daily information about their children and this reduces the opportunity to share information.

p.4

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

There is an established key person system and staff know the children for whom they have key responsibility; their names are linked and displayed in each nursery room. Staff show they know and understand children's needs and they appropriately respond by providing bottles and feeding children comfortably and individually. For example, staff gently calm crying babies by singing and walking with them, before attempting to encourage them to feed. However, there are times when newly attending toddlers cry and display signs of being unsettled. Staff are not always prompt in responding to children's needs for emotional support. This has a significant impact on the well-being of toddlers and their sense of belonging and settling. Staff do not supervise babies and toddlers effectively. They do not take into account their developing needs. Staff have not recognised the need for heightening levels of supervision to protect babies and toddlers

p.4

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

who are gaining physical strength and becoming more active. Consequently, younger children have more accidents as they learn to move about independently. This is because staff have not adapted the routine or risk assessed the environment to help them explore and develop safely.

p.5

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

Staff capably support older children by meeting their physical care needs and following planned daily routines. Older children show a sense of belonging, they have built relationships with staff and they seek resources and play activities independently. Children are encouraged to understand each other's feelings. For example, when all children settle to sleep on floor mats they learn to talk quietly and not disturb others. Children are encouraged to share and staff promote positive behaviour through clear comments and praise when children behave well towards each other. Older children learn about safety because they take some risks during outdoor play. They ride on wheeled toys, sometimes carrying passengers and they responsibly learn to steer and manoeuvre around the track. They handle the wooden planks to build the balancing beams, learning how to make these secure. Staff promote children's safety through using 'walkie talkie' radios during outdoor

p.5

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

play. Older children know how to keep themselves safe and use the stairs safely and independently. All children and staff take part in regular fire drills to encourage an understanding of fire safety and to practise the planned routines.

p.5

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

Children follow established daily routines for managing hygiene and this promotes their understanding of effective healthy routines. For example, children learn to wash their hands before all meal and snack times. They learn to find tissues themselves as they grow and become independent in personal care. Staff notice and respond to the needs of babies and toddlers by wiping noses and faces regularly. They talk to them as they clean babies to encourage their understanding. There are organised routines for nappy changing; staff wear gloves and aprons to appropriately maintain a hygienic environment. All staff in the baby/toddler unit wear slippers indoors, they change from their outdoor shoes and this protects the health of crawling babies. The nursery kitchen staff cook meals daily using fresh ingredients. They follow children's individual dietary needs to maintain their health. All children are encouraged to drink water frequently throughout each nursery room.

p.5

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

There is a suitable choice of resources for children throughout the nursery. In most nursery rooms children can access and choose play equipment. Older children make good progress. Staff focus on preparing them for their move to school, through planned activities and established links with the wider community. However, the educational programme for younger children is not well organised, because activities are based on spontaneous opportunities and not on considered planning.

p.5

provision

Although many children receive good quality care and education, younger children's experience is not as positive. Planning for these children is weak and the staff do not meet their developing needs to keep them safe and make them feel secure. The inspection was brought forward following concerns about the number of accidents reported for babies and toddlers. In addition, there were concerns about not administering medication and that medication bottles were not secured properly, and leaked. The inspection found that although staff ratios are met, supervision of the youngest children is poor, resulting in an increase in accidents. It was found that on one occasion staff failed to administer on time a dose of antibiotics to a child. Therefore, the nursery's systems for administering medicines were not sufficient to meet the individual needs of this child. This is a breach of the requirements. Management quickly reviewed with staff how this may have occurred,

p.6

provision

what should have happened and how to prevent it happening again. Since this the nursery has reviewed their policy, reinforced the importance of following the medication procedures with staff and improved recording and communication systems. On this occasion there was a limited impact on the child's safety and there have been no recorded incidents since.

p.6

provision

The nursery has several systems in place for sharing information with parents. Parents come directly into the nursery rooms and have opportunities to engage and obtain feedback from staff and at times key persons. There are newsletters and annual meetings which are planned to increase to termly. Parents are encouraged to contribute to their children's learning record. Parents state they are very satisfied with the information sharing, they know who their children's they key person is and the level of progress their children are making. However there is some inconsistency in the quality of information provided to parents about children's daily activities, achievements and incidents across the different nursery rooms.

p.6

provision

Management acknowledge that staff have a duty of care and there is evidence to show that this has been insufficient at times in the baby and toddler unit, especially when accidents have occurred. Staff are following all regulatory requirements for obtaining parental permission and for administering medication and recording accidents.

p.6

provision

The provider and managers use a range of measures to evaluate the provision. They have gained information from parents, staff and older children to complete a full self-evaluation. The nursery has made positive improvements, especially in the provision of continuous outdoor play and there are clear plans for future improvements to raise the quality of the provision. There are high levels of qualified staff employed and all staff have annual appraisals to measure their performance. However, systems to monitor practice of staff caring for younger children are less effective. Management have recently introduced peer observations in the baby/toddler unit as a trial and this will be included for staff in all nursery rooms over time.

p.6

provision

The provider and managers have organised recent learning and development training for a senior staff member and this has been cascaded to all staff. Managers and staff have also used this information to update the nursery systems for observing and assessing children's progress. They are continuing to apply new strategies to oversee all children's progress and close any gaps in achievement.

p.6

provision

The provider has clear systems in place for safeguarding children. There are organised procedures for staff employment. All checks are completed and evidence is available. Staff attend training in child protection, they show a secure knowledge of how to respond to any concerns. There are detailed written procedures for safeguarding; these have been updated and shared with parents. All safety equipment is in place and daily risk assessment checks are effective in most areas of the nursery.

p.7

provision

Staff have developed links with other agencies to support individual children and parents comment positively on the progress their children have made. Parents and staff have support and guidance from other professionals and this benefits children's progress. There are close connections with other provisions in the area under the same ownership and this enhances information sharing and widens staff knowledge.

p.7

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

p.7

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

Setting details

Unique reference number EY447668 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 908854

p.9

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 72 Number of children on roll 76 Name of provider Aldershot Garrison Pre-School Settings Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01252324042

p.9

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.

p.9

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

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,

p.10

Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.11

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.11