Playout Steeple Bumpstead

Blois Meadow Day Nursery Unit L/1, Blois Meadow Business Centre, Blois Road, Steeple Bumpstead, HAVERHILL, Suffolk, CB9 7BN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/05/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children flourish in the very safe, welcoming and inclusive environment. They settle very quickly, show high levels of confidence and independence, and are extremely motivated to learn.  Children's communication and language skills are promoted exceptionally well. In particular, they have rich opportunities to develop an excellent appreciation and knowledge of the different languages spoken by the children who attend.  Staff have an exemplary understanding of how young children learn and develop. As a result, they support children to make rapid progress in relation to their starting points.  All staff are highly skilled and sensitive in helping children form secure and reassuring emotional attachments. They work very closely with parents to promote excellent continuity in children's care, learning and development.  Leaders, managers and staff work very closely as a team to ensure procedures are

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This provision is outstanding

robust and that there is a strong focus on continuous improvement, achieved through extensive self-evaluation procedures.

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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 in three playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection and engaged in discussions with staff and children at appropriate times.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journey records, planning documentation, the provider's self-evaluation form and some written policy documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager and registered individual, and checked evidence of staff suitability and qualifications.

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Information about the setting

Blois Meadow Day Nursery was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, and is privately owned and managed. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from three main playrooms and there is a fully enclosed garden available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, eight staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above, including the manager who has Qualified Teacher Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7am until 7pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 39 children attending who are in the early years age group. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance the already very good provision for children's outdoor learning by extending opportunities for children in the 'Butterflies Room' and 'Poppies Room' to flow freely between the indoor and outdoor environments throughout the day.

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who attend

Children flourish at the nursery because their learning is effectively nurtured by the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. They know exactly what to provide because they have an extensive understanding of how children learn and develop, and get to know children extremely well from the very beginning. Through skilful observation of children's play, staff make precise assessments of each child's individual stages of development and use these to inform their planning. As a result, children experience a very broad range of challenging activities, that are expertly matched to their next steps in learning and individual interests, and support them to make rapid progress. The daily routine provides babies and children with plenty of scope to explore, experiment and discover in a vibrant and stimulating environment. As a result, they display superb levels of involvement in activities and are highly interested and motivated to learn.

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who attend

Children are able to self-select from a wealth of resources that inspire rich opportunities for early writing, including pencils, stencils, paintbrushes and shallow trays filled with sand. Younger children particularly delight in drawing lines and circles with chalks on a board made for them by a member of staff. Children develop exceptional competencies in communication and language. This prepares them extremely well for when they move onto school. Staff talk and sing to children throughout the day, showing great enthusiasm as they encourage a baby's babbling and encourage children to join in with the words as they play songs on the guitar. Conversations flow freely between the older children, as they tell stories and narrate in their role play situations. There is extensive use of labels written in different languages. This means that all children, including those who speak English as an additional language, often use key words in other languages. For example,

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who attend

children are particularly confident in saying colours and numbers in French as they enjoy fun activities with a French teacher who visits weekly.

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who attend

Staff skilfully enhance children's literacy skills by providing a broad range of books throughout the nursery. This includes a selection of laminated books which children delight in sharing with staff in the outdoor area. Staff are highly effective in their use of open-ended questions to extend children's mathematical language and critical thinking. For example, they encourage younger children to describe the different sizes of the bubbles as they blow them, prompting them to use new words such as 'bigger' and 'smaller'. Children's interests are celebrated by the staff. For example, a child's love of dragons is fully embraced as they have exciting opportunities to design a knight's helmet and to make play dough that looks like 'green dragon food'. Excellent opportunities are provided for children to develop their physical skills. Children confidently pedal bikes, crawl through tunnels and wave the parachute to develop great strength and coordination. Staff

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who attend

also intuitively provide soft mats to enable children to learn to roll over safety. Younger children show excellent control as they use spoons to scoop up the corn flour gloop, and refine their movements further as they manipulate a grabber toy to pick up the small balls. Babies develop great confidence in learning to stand and walk. They are provided with ample space and sturdy furniture to cruise along, with toys positioned effectively to challenge them to move a little further each time.

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who attend

Highly successful links with parents further enhance children's learning. Parents are actively encouraged to share any learning which has happened at home, helping staff to gain an even clearer picture of each child's stage of development. Furthermore, parents are regularly provided with suggestions for activities to extend children's learning at home, including fun counting and letter games. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive excellent, well-targeted support. Staff proactively seek advice from local authority advisors, enabling them to implement specialist guidance and provide equipment to meet children's needs. Parents are fully involved in developing support interventions, so that children experience excellent continuity between nursery and home.

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

The exceptionally well-managed key person system enables children to develop highly secure emotional attachments to their special person. Settling-in is carefully planned as staff work extremely closely with parents to ensure that children feel totally secure. Staff are particularly attentive to the needs of babies and their parents who are new to the nursery. They take time to talk with parents in detail about their children's care routines and starting points, ensuring they can provide babies with a seamless transition from their home into the nursery. For example, babies quickly develop a secure sense of belonging as their individual sleeping, nappy changing and eating routines are fully respected throughout the day. Parents are also encouraged to supply photographs of their families which are celebrated in displays to help babies and children to feel even more comfortable and safe. As children get older, their move into a different room of the nursery is

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

exceptionally well managed. In particular, children in the 'Poppies Room' benefit from daily opportunities to interact with the older children during shared outdoor play times, and become very familiar with the 'Buttercups Room' as they observe from the low-level gate between the two rooms. Babies and children are given plenty of time to settle into the new room and this is supported by their key person for as long as needed. As a result, children manage change confidently and quickly become fully engaged in purposeful play and learning. Staff also provide excellent support to children when they are preparing to move onto school. For example, they plan purposeful opportunities for children to visit their new school with their key person. As a result, children know what to expect from school life and are extremely well prepared for their transition.

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

Children behave superbly as staff ensure their needs are consistently met and the very few disagreements that arise are managed very calmly. As a result of highly effective support, older children learn to take full responsibility for their behaviour and frequently initiate turn taking and sharing for themselves. For example, they make full use of a sand timer to self-manage their turns on the popular ride-on toys. Children develop a strong respect for the nursery environment as they help themselves to tools such as brushes which they independently use to sweep up the sand, and cloths to wipe up spillages. Throughout the nursery, the staff are highly supportive of the children's needs, skilfully using praise and encouragement to reinforce their positive behaviour.

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

There are stringent regimes in place to ensure children are cared for in clean and safe surroundings. For example, the procedures for nappy changing in each room are very hygienic and give utmost respect to children's safety and privacy. Snack and mealtime menus are carefully planned to ensure children enjoy a wide selection of nutritious and enjoyable foods, with an array of fresh vegetables and fruit to boost their health. Staff make the most of opportunities to engage in rich conversations with children about healthy foods. For example, while making fruit kebabs, children talk about the foods they should enjoy regularly and those they should eat less often. Children's health is enhanced further as they benefit from access to the outdoor environment during most parts of the day. This includes babies who spend time sat outside on a rug in the fresh air, exploring a selection of soft silky scarves with great interest. Children remain very well-protected

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

when playing outdoors in sunnier weather, as the nursery proactively sources the safest and most suitable sun protection cream, and ensures this is carefully applied to all babies and children. Children intuitively follow a wide range of positively reinforced rules to keep themselves safe. For example, they remember to move the bicycles to the edge of the outdoor space so others do not bump into them, and draw 'hot hand' signs to remind others to be careful around the microwave.

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provision

Children's welfare is exceptionally well supported through strong leadership, effective management and a highly committed and experienced staff team. Comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures are diligently implemented by staff and reviewed regularly by management. All staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures. They have all completed safeguarding training and discuss safeguarding issues as a priority at all staff meetings. This means that staff are able to act quickly and effectively to protect children if there is a concern about their welfare. The manager monitors the records of minor accidents at the nursery, assessing if there are any reoccurrences that could cause a concern. A robust procedure for the recruitment of staff means that all staff have completed a broad range of checks to confirm their suitability to be in contact with children. Comprehensive risk assessments cover all areas of the

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provision

premises and these are extremely well thought through to ensure children's safety is given utmost priority. For example, the nursery has access to a purpose-designed buggy cart for transporting children safely in the event of an emergency evacuation.

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provision

Staff are highly effective in meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Together with the manager, they strive to achieve the highest standards for the children in their care. Staff are fully encouraged to undertake ongoing training courses to build on their existing high level of qualification. For example, the deputy manager is working towards a qualification in leadership at level 5, while two other members of staff are completing a course specifically related to work with babies. This means that children continue to be cared for by staff who are extremely knowledgeable in current good practice. Self-evaluation is extremely effective as it helps the management and staff to develop a very secure understanding of the nursery's strengths and a clear vision of the improvements they want to make. Staff continuously review the way the resources are organised, both inside and outside, to best meet the needs of the children. They have

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provision

ambitious and exciting plans for the development of the outdoor area, including a new area resourced specifically for babies. They also recognise that there is scope to offer more opportunities for children to move freely between the indoor and outside spaces during extended parts of the day. The manager closely monitors the performance of individual staff as well as the quality of the educational programmes. This ensures that any weaknesses can be identified and addressed in a timely manner, but also inspires staff to enhance their practice further. Outcomes for children are monitored further through the manager's direct observation and regular scrutiny of staff systems for tracking children's progress and planning for their next steps in learning. As a result, children benefit from a highly motivated approach to their learning and development, with new ideas continuously being introduced to extend their experiences.

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provision

Partnership working is exemplary as parents, staff and other professionals work exceedingly well together to ensure that all children's needs are met. Parents hold the nursery in the highest regard. They are amazed at how quickly the nursery has improved since the change in ownership, and extremely impressed by the tailored support offered to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery has a highly inclusive approach to welcoming parents in, and creates every opportunity for them to exchange information with their children's key person. This ensures that children experience extremely good levels of continuity in their care, learning and development. The management fully respects and values the views of parents, and proactively uses a formal online questionnaire to gather their opinions and suggestions. These are used effectively to inform the self-evaluation, ensuring the setting continues to meet the needs

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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 EY455056 Local authority Essex Inspection number 895151 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 39 Name of provider Blois Meadow Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01440 731731

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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

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’.

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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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