Cuerden Nursery School

Cuerden Nursery School Cuerden Church School, Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 6ED

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/04/2013 04/07/2011

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

p.1

This provision is satisfactory

 The setting is very welcoming and staff have a warm and loving relationship with the children, which means that they are happy and feel safe. Staff encourage them to be healthy, well-behaved and be independent learners.  Children are confident to make decisions about their play as they are able to make choices from the good range of resources available to them.  Staff are committed to promoting children's safety. They minimise risks and closely supervise children, so they play in a safe environment.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 The progress of two-year-old children is not being fully assessed or shared with their parents in a written record in line with requirements. This prevents staff identifying where children may need additional support.  Staff do not make best use of information gathered from observation to ensure that all children make good progress towards the early learning goals.  Some aspects of partnership working with parents are not fully robust as there is scope to extend the sharing of information about children's learning at home to enable them to make best 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 toured the premises and visited the outdoor play area.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children in the nursery and the out of school club; their interaction and involvement with the staff and their peers.  The inspector looked all relevant documentations provided.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and the information included in the self-evaluation form.

p.2

Information about the setting

Cuerden Nursery School was registered under the present owner in 2007, on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is one of a chain of three nurseries in the Preston area. It is situated within Cuerden Church School in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire. Children have use of a self-contained classroom, the school hall, computer suite and designated classroom within the school. The adjoining church room is also accessible. Children have access to enclosed outdoor areas. The setting serves the local area and is accessible to all children.

p.3

Information about the setting

The setting employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or level 3.

p.3

Information about the setting

The setting opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 42 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The setting also offers care to children aged eight years to 11 years, of whom there are currently 49 on roll. 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.

p.3

must:

 provide parents and/or carers with a short written summary of their child's development in the prime areas. This progress check must identify the child's strengths and any areas where the child's progress is less than expected

p.3

must:

 use information obtained from observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles and shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations to help children to make the best possible progress in their learning and development.

p.3

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

 promote an ongoing dialogue or sharing of regular two-way observations on learning with parents and use this shared knowledge and understanding to plan together and think through ideas of how to move the child forward.

p.3

who attend

Staff provide a caring and welcoming environment for children and their families. They demonstrate a secure understanding of the Early Years Foundations Stage learning and development requirements. They provide children with a wide range of fun activities. Staff observe children as they enjoy child-initiated free-play and give them appropriate support to promote their overall learning and development. A flexible planning system is implemented to enable children's learning and development to be promoted. Each child has an individual learning journey, where staff record their observations of the children. These observations contribute towards planning each child's next step in learning. However, staff do not make effective use of the information gathered and as a result, activities do not always provide sufficient differentiation to help all children make best progress.

p.4

who attend

Children's communication skills are fostered well due to the positive interaction by the staff. They provide a wide range of activities to support children's communication and language skills. Staff are particularly skilled at supporting young children's emerging language and communication skills throughout the daily routine. For example, during a singing session, children show real enjoyment and enthusiasm. They confidently sing along and join in with all the actions to 'Dingle dangle scarecrow'. Furthermore, staff show children how to pronounce or use words by responding and repeating what they say in the correct way, while praising them at the same time. This makes the children feel valued, while enabling them to hear how sentences are structured and words are pronounced. Staff are skilful at reading stories to motivate children to remember or anticipate what will happen next and this captures their imagination. Staff make the most of opportunities to

p.4

who attend

pause and ask children to think about sounds that animals make in the story. They ask them to predict what is likely to happen in the story. Children join in enthusiastically and become engrossed in the positive learning experience. Staff show a sincere interest in what older children have to say and encourage them to think further. They do this by asking lots of open questions to encourage them to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences. As a result, children are confident communicators and are happy to develop conversations with the visitor and discuss what they have been doing.

p.4

who attend

Children's early writing skills are developing well, because writing equipment is available, both indoors and outside. Children enjoy writing and drawing pictures using a range of materials, including pens, crayons paint and chalks. This promotes and encourages early writing. Older children label their own work and the letters they write, which they proudly identify correctly, are clearly recognisable. Young children are provided with opportunities to make marks and use chunky chalks, paint brushes and their fingers to make patterns and marks in sand and foam. There are ample opportunities for children to develop their numeracy and problem solving skills and staff make the most of opportunities to encourage children to count, recognise shape and colours. For example, children sing number songs, count the number of days in the month and able to describe shapes when making robots during creative activity. They understand and use everyday words to

p.4

who attend

describe size and positional language. For example, children playing with the fire engine, talk about 'putting the big fire out over there under the bridge'. This means that children gain the skills to prepare them for school.

p.4

who attend

Children celebrate different festivals and play with resources that promote positive attitudes about diversity. For example, they plan to celebrate St George's day. This means that children have opportunities to develop their understanding of differences between people from various communities and traditions. As a result, children develop an awareness of the diverse culture in which they live from an early age. Children with English as an additional language receive adequate support and benefit from hearing some instructions in their home language, because staff have learnt some phrases. This helps reinforce their understanding and their learning. As a result, they develop valuable skills for the next stage in their learning.

p.5

who attend

Most staff are also not aware of their responsibility in reviewing children's progress when they are aged between two and three years. This means that the staff may not be able to provide an accurate assessment of a child's strengths or identify where further support may be needed. However, a system for assessing the progress of two-year-olds in the three prime areas of learning is being introduced by the new manager. Parents are encouraged to support and share information about their child's learning and development at home through timely conversations at the start and end of sessions. However, the systems to find out about children's starting points in relation to their learning are not identified. Therefore, the planned group activities are not always effectively challenging to support children's individual needs. The setting does not have arrangements in place for parents to contribute to children's learning records and to share their progress, which

p.5

who attend

results in them not being involved in their child's learning.

p.5

who attend

The out of school provision runs from a very well-resourced school hall. Children are able to help themselves to suitable toys and equipment that enable them to develop skills to support their learning at school. For example, they enjoy colouring, drawing and writing to foster their early literacy skills. Children explore ways to make money for those, who are in need, for example, they discuss what they can sell on the table top sale and how much they will be able to raise. Staff encourage them to think about the types of toys and books they might be able to sell, they invite the visitor to contribute to the discussion. This positive approach helps children to develop their own ideas and ways of doing things.

p.5

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

Overall, children are relaxed and feel comfortable with the staff, who care for them. Most children are happy, confident and outgoing and respond well to the environment. When children start at the provision, the management allocates staff to help children settle and become familiar with their new surroundings. All children show a good sense of security and belonging within the setting. They are closely supervised by the staff, who are very attentive to them. For example, they sit on the floor with the children and get involved in their activity, or children sit on their lap when listening to stories. When staff offer specific activities, children eagerly join in because they thoroughly enjoy their positive and genuine interaction with them. Consequently, learning can be facilitated due to good emotional security. Staff know all of the children as individuals their different needs, skills and abilities. All

p.5

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

children make steady progress in their learning because they enjoy coming to the setting and have sound relationships with their key person. Children use simple tools, implements and toys safely and can talk about how to keep themselves safe in an age-appropriate manner. For example, they ask each other to be careful and not push when playing outdoors. Road safety activities and regular fire drills consolidate their understanding of staying safe and help children to learn about safety issues and develop their future independence skills.

p.6

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

Children stay healthy because the setting has appropriate procedures and daily practices, which meet their physical, nutritional and health needs. They are helped to make associations with good practice, for example, wiping runny noses when necessary, washing hands before meals and brushing their teeth after lunch. Staff take the necessary steps to prevent the spread of infection and appropriate action is taken when children are ill. The setting provides freshly prepared meals and snacks, which take account of children's preferences and dietary needs. Mealtimes are pleasant social occasions when the children sit together at low tables and chairs, using appropriate cutlery. Children are able to serve themselves at snack time, which supports their individuality and confidence. Staff place importance on encouraging independence and self-help. This helps to prepare them for the next stage in their learning.

p.6

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

Staff are quick to praise and build self-esteem and as a result, children develop the self- confidence to participate and experience a wide range of learning activities. This developing confidence is evident in the way that children move from one activity to another, observing the routines of the setting and sharing resources amicably. The good role models provided by staff give children a clear understanding of how to behave and begin to understand the impact of their actions on others. For example, they say 'sorry and give hugs' if they have upset their peers. This means that they are beginning to recognise when their actions upset others.

p.6

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

Children are provided with opportunities to learn and develop an awareness of the diverse culture in which they live, because the staff have an understanding of differing cultures. They also plans a range of activities to enhance children's awareness of the wider world. For example, visits to community parks and trips to places of interest, such as the library and museums, which allows children to discover new environments. As a result, this provides them with opportunities to develop social and intellectual skills. This also helps them to develop social confidence and prepares them for their future transitions to nursery or school.

p.6

provision

The setting is very well organised, those in charge have an understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. A new manager has been recruited and she monitors the levels of planning and assessment for all children. However, these changes have not been in place for long enough to see the impact positively on children's learning and development. This means that planning and assessment is in its early stages and is not monitored consistently. The registered provider and the managers have a good understanding of its responsibility in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements and these are consistently met throughout the setting. All staff have attended safeguarding training and have a good understanding of the associated issues. Consequently, children's safety is promoted very well.

p.6

provision

Appropriate recruitment procedures ensure that all adults working in the setting are safe and suitable to do so. Staff successfully use a range of safety measures, such as risk assessments, checking that all areas, toys and resources are clean and safe. All staff understand the importance of maintaining a safe environment for children and are alert to potential risks, such as the gate in the outdoor play area, which is kept bolted when the setting is in operation. The registered provider and the manager ensure that staff are deployed appropriately to make sure children are within sight and hearing of staff at all time. This further ensures that they are supervised and kept safe within the setting.

p.7

provision

The setting is very keen to develop the service they provide. They have systems in place to help drive future improvements, such as using the Ofsted self-evaluation tool and asking parents to complete regular questionnaires. Clear policies and procedures are in place. These are regularly updated and known and understood by all staff. These are also readily available for parents, keeping them informed about the service provided. Staff supervision is in place and this provides opportunities for staff to improve their personal effectiveness and highlight any training needs. The registered provider support staff to improve their qualification level and all staff have relevant qualifications. The registered provider has addressed the recommendation at the previous inspection, which further promotes children's learning and development. The new manager is quick to identify any areas of practice that she feels do not fully meet children's care or learning needs and

p.7

provision

addresses this immediately. For example, she recognises that progress check at age two years is not yet being implemented and is introducing ways to monitor the children's records and the effectiveness and evaluations of planning.

p.7

provision

Parents' comment on the welcome they and their children receive. They feel reassured that their children are happy to come. Parents value the relaxed, friendly relationships and say that staff are helpful. The manager is already aware that there is scope to extend the partnership with parents, by strengthening the two-way flow of information sharing, so that staff can use this shared knowledge and understanding to plan together to support children's progress. The setting has suitable links with this school and other local schools to ensure that the children's transition to school runs smoothly.

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 EY359145 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 911039

p.9

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 91 Name of provider Ann Jeanette Walmsley Date of previous inspection 04/07/2011 Telephone number 01772 628 448

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