Young Explorers Childcare Ltd

Young Explorers Childcare Biddulph Road, Chell, Stoke on Trent, ST6 6SW

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/04/2013 19/01/2010

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 3 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

p.1

This provision is outstanding

 Extremely strong and inspirational leadership drives this nursery in its vision and commitment to offering every child the best start possible in their early years development and education.  The quality of and consistency of teaching is exceptional as staff have an excellent knowledge of how children learn. This is supported through precise and accurate assessment and planning for individual children.  Children make exceptional progress in all aspects of their learning and development and gaps in individual children's attainment are closing rapidly, particularly in their communication and language development and their emotional attachments.  Excellent use is made to analyse accurate data collated from the nursery's records to ensure that children receive the support and guidance to make progress in all areas of their learning and development.  Partnerships with parents, schools and other agencies are extremely well-established to

p.1

This provision is outstanding

ensure that children requiring additional support or challenge, receive focused input as they make significant strides in their learning and development.  Self-evaluation is extremely thorough and involves all concerned including the children and their families. Parents are fully involved in their children's development and contribute actively to their children's progress.

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 observed activities throughout the nursery in both indoor and outdoor spaces, speaking and interacting with children appropriately during the inspection.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the nursery owner, deputy manager and staff at appropriate times throughout the day and undertook a number of joint observations with the owner.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including children's records, learning and development information, staff records and a selection of policies and procedures.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents through discussion and from written questionnaires sent out by the nursery.

p.2

Information about the setting

Young Explorers Childcare was registered in 2009 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in converted premises in the Chell area of Stoke-on-Trent and is one of two settings owned and managed by Young Explorers Childcare Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from five main care bases set out over two floors with stairs access to the first floor. There are enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery employs 21 members of childcare staff. Of these, 15 hold appropriate early years qualifications from level 2 to level 6, including the owner/manager who also holds Early Years Professional Status. Additional housekeeping and maintenance staff are also employed.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round from 7.30am to 6pm. Sessions are from 8am until 1pm and 1pm to 6pm. Older children from a number of local schools attend the out of school provision before and after school and during the main school holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 124 children on roll, of whom 88 are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

p.3

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

 encourage parents of children who are learning English as an additional language, to fully recognise the advantages of using home languages as an effective enhancement to their language development overall.

p.3

who attend

Every child in this vibrant nursery receives targeted support, guidance and excellent learning opportunities to promote their early education and development. The owner/manager and her enthusiastic and dedicated staff team work exceptionally hard to deliver highly effective practice that ensures every child makes rapid progress, given their varied and diverse starting points. Children are highly motivated individuals who seek to explore their world, discover new skills and test out their confidence and self-esteem. Staff understand how important such self-awareness is to promoting children's emotional attachment and stability as they move through life. Teaching is of an exceptional quality as staff consider the theory behind the planning and delivery of the activities. They skilfully question the children appropriately, using open-ended questions to encourage children's thinking. For example, children use water and large paint brushes to make

p.3

who attend

marks outside and wash the blackboard. A child notices that the top of the board cannot be reached and is encouraged by staff to think about how this can be solved. A child selects the small slide, noticing the steps and making connections about using a ladder to reach high spaces. The child blossoms with pride when his efforts and 'good thinking' are acknowledged by staff. Children are able to record their findings in their play as for instance they observe the volume of traffic that passes by the nursery. Older toddlers used their clipboards and pictorial record sheets to mark off the various vehicles that travelled by. This promotes their mathematical and literacy development as well as encouraging observation and concentration skills.

p.4

who attend

Assessment of children's learning and development is highly accurate and precise, as staff use this to plan for each individual child and ensure they reach their full potential. Activities offer excitement, challenge and extension as staff have high expectations of what and how children learn. For example, babies delight in discovering the dark as they play in the glow-in-the-dark tent and wave their torches around vigorously. Older toddlers use ever increasing vocabulary as they discuss making small world 'habitats' for their plastic frogs, promoted by the favourite story of the week. They explain to visitors that a habitat is where animals live. Older children watch in awe and wonderment as they experiment with the 'lemonade fountain'. Staff are extremely skilful in their teaching, as for instance the member of staff asks children to listen to the noise and the children copy the 'cchhh' sound when the bottle of lemonade is opened.

p.4

who attend

Children's communication and language development is a key strength in the nursery. Highly effective and practical use has been made of the 'Stoke Speaks Out' language development tool to support this element. This is based on statistics both locally and nationally regarding concerns about communication skills in the early years. Planning denotes how staff prepare and implement effective strategies, such as 'attention grabbing' activities to engage children. Standing on a chair, with adult supervision, children perform 'egg splats' and 'jelly splats' onto a tray to motivate their language. They observe the mess and patterns made by the items and use a range of descriptive words to expand their vocal skills, such as 'splatty', 'gloopy' and 'yeuk'. The nursery supports children from families where English is an additional language and makes effective use of home languages, pictures and some sign language, where necessary, to ensure all children can

p.4

who attend

make their needs known. As part of the improvement action plan, the nursery is seeking to raise awareness with some parents of the advantages of using home languages alongside the acquisition of English.

p.4

who attend

Excellent systems are in place for working with parents, carers and other specialist agencies, where children have been identified as benefiting from additional support, challenge and extension. Staff formulate summary reports of children's development and share these with all involved to ensure a consistent approach develops to promote each child's progress. Information is shared with other settings as required, including the younger children attending the out of school club, complementing their activities and learning in the various establishments they attend. Children make smooth transitions throughout the nursery due to the systems used to assess and prepare them. Parents are fully involved in the process and express great confidence in the assessments, knowing that staff have the children's best interests at heart. Summary assessment reports are prepared for children who are getting ready to move to school. These detail not just their

p.4

who attend

achievement, but also emphasise how each child learns and acquires skills with an insight into their very special characters.

p.5

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

Staff are highly skilled and sensitive as they support children to feel settled and develop secure attachments. They work closely with parents and carers to moderate the settling-in process, which may differ for each individual child. This supports children very effectively through their transition as they move through the nursery. Children relate very positively to their key person, looking to them for reassurance, particularly when people they do not know may be present. Babies are extremely settled as they crawl to familiar staff for cuddles, stories and songs during the day and enjoy close and appropriate contact when having their bottle feeds or settling for sleep.

p.5

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

Excellent use is made of the vast resources and the environment to promote children's development. Babies and toddlers actively crawl and move around using the low-level furniture as they progress from tentative first steps in walking to clambering energetically on the slide, crates and tyres. Cardboard boxes are used enthusiastically by the children as they climb in and out, hide themselves inside and look for items hidden in boxes. Staff have also prepared sets of play equipment for parents to borrow and use at home, such as treasure baskets. This promotes children's exploratory drive and encourages active play with simple, generally easily accessible resources. All children have ready accesses to outdoor play and staff are aware that some children learn more effectively when they play outside.

p.5

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

Time is taken to encourage children to relax their minds and bodies as they lie down and view the sky, look for shapes in the clouds and notice the sights and sounds in this mindful way. Older children participate in gentle massage of each other's feet and hands, as parents have given consent when staff explained the benefits of such activity in calming and relaxing children. Children's more energetic activity is expertly promoted as they engage in physical activity. They prepared the ground in the garden, which they 'borrow' from a neighbour. Photographic records show how children actively dug and removed weeds and stones, with significant adult help, and applied the huge amount of topsoil to prepare the garden. This supports the children's excellent physical development.

p.5

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

Using the children's interest in the garden, the growing of vegetables and fruit enables them to understand where their food comes from. Children harvested their crops seasonally, enjoying the fruits of their labours added to the main meals and snacks in the nursery. Such practice ensures that children learn about healthy eating and keeping healthy. They develop independence as babies are encouraged to feed themselves with sensitive assistance from staff. Older children serve their own meals and organise their collection of cutlery and plates confidently. This is because staff have high expectations of what children are capable of, if given the right opportunities. Staff support children very sensitively as they manage their behaviour. Children are helped to cope with strong emotions and feelings as they develop their emotional attachment. Staff assess individual children and seek out further professional advice and guidance

p.5

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

where necessary, working closely with parents and carers at all times. Children forge friendships and seek out their peers to join in with play. Older children in the out of school club speak with great fervour, appreciating the time to relax after the 'boring school day' and being able to play with their friends. The children come from a number of different schools and there are no issues regarding behaviour because they understand the boundaries they have helped to devise. Children's safety is a high priority in the nursery. Rigorous risk assessments are carried out both on and off the premises and also cover many of the activities the children engage in. These are regularly updated as staff use data from accident and incident records to identify any possible areas of hazard and minimise the risks to children significantly.

p.6

provision

Inspired leadership and management drive the exceptional practice in this nursery. The owner/manager has great confidence and pride in her staff team, knowing their individual skills, talents and areas of expertise. These are carefully harnessed to ensure that educational programmes for each child are pertinent, cover all aspects of their learning and development and identify any areas where individual children require support to challenge in order to achieve. As a staff team, they celebrate the tiny milestones in children's progress as well as the major expectations. For example, a child who tends to be a reluctant eater at lunch time turns to a member of staff and comments on how tasty the dinner is and asks for another helping. This is shared with the child's key person and noted as important information to tell parents of this significant step.

p.6

provision

Staff take great pride in their work and are constantly reflecting on their practice to ensure that children have every possible opportunity to achieve in their early education and development. Highly professional supervision and appraisals are conducted for each member of staff to ensure that targets are set to bring about further improvement. This means that any concerns in practice would be identified swiftly and the appropriate support offered to staff to improve. Consequently, practice is exceptional. Practice is constantly evaluated to ensure consistency and the delivery of inspirational practice which motivates and engages all children. Observation and assessment is extremely thorough and parents are kept fully informed and involved with their children's achievements. They eagerly share their child's achievements and milestones from home, such as noting when a child has slept in their own bed for a few nights, or has succeeded in potty training. This

p.6

provision

promotes the partnership between home and the nursery as all concerned can celebrate success. Such strong partnerships also contribute to children being effectively supported for a smooth transition as they prepare for school.

p.6

provision

Safeguarding arrangements in the nursery are extremely rigorous and effective in ensuring that children are protected. Staff speak very confidently about the action they would take if necessary, ensuring that any child protection concerns would be managed in the best interests of the child at all times. Excellent partnerships exist between the nursery, schools and other agencies. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their families' needs are known and the relevant levels of support are sought swiftly and confidentially to improve their lives. Parents are also fully assured of the commitment from the nursery to ensure the suitability of staff. Robust and extremely detailed systems are in place for the recruitment and selection of staff. They are fully aware of their personal responsibility in ensuring their conduct is professional at all times and would not impact on their ongoing suitability to

p.6

provision

The views of parents, children and staff are all reflected in the self-evaluation. Children are tracked around the nursery as staff monitor the way in which children use the environment and make significant changes where necessary. Children take photos around the nursery and these are displayed to value their views. Excellent use is made of data collated by staff to monitor children's progress and ensure that every opportunity is exploited to the full in order to motivate, inspire and support children in reaching their full potential. The owner/manager's ethos is that 'confident children learn confidently' and this is shared with staff and parents to promote a cohesive approach to children's early education. A parents' forum has been set up and parents are very eager to 'give something back' to the nursery by supporting fundraising activity and being involved in planning some activities, trips and outings to join in with their children. Parents are

p.7

provision

extremely passionate when they speak or write their comments about the nursery. They state that they 'love this place!', they have 'great faith in the nursery' and 'the impact on my child's early start in life is fantastic'. They also state that 'nursery always goes the extra mile to keep parents very informed and involved'.

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 EY396361 Local authority Stoke on Trent Inspection number 909104

p.9

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 90 Number of children on roll 124 Name of provider Young Explorers Childcare Ltd Date of previous inspection 19/01/2010 Telephone number 01782577784

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