Hopscotch Nursery

Hopscotch Nursery The Old School, Church Street, SEAFORD, East Sussex, BN25 1HH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/05/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Staff create a welcoming, attractive and child friendly environment that helps to support children's safety and growing independence.  Children freely choose from a wide variety of interesting and stimulating resources both indoors and outdoors.  Staff form good relationships with children and this results in children being secure and very confident.  Staff support children well as they move on to other groups within the nursery and on to school. As a result, children settle quickly.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always make the best use of activities to challenge children and extend their thinking and language skills.  Staff have not fully extended ways in which parents can help consolidate children's learning at home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors observed activities in the play rooms and outside learning environment.  The inspectors held meetings with the Deputy Manager.  One of the inspectors carried out a joint observation with the Deputy Manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors sampled children's assessment records, planning, the provider's self- evaluation form and other documentation.  The inspectors took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Hopscotch Nursery in Seaford, East Sussex registered in 2012. It operates from a converted school building with eight play rooms in the centre of Seaford. The nursery opens five days a week all year round. Opening times are from 8am to 5.30pm. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 122 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery also offers care to children aged up to eight years in the 'kids club'. Children come from a wide catchment area. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and also supports a number of children who learn English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 staff. There are 15 staff, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff who is working towards a recognised qualification. There is one member of staff who has Early Years Professional Status.

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

 increase the use of skilful questioning to help extend children's learning in all planned activities

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

 enhance parent's involvement in their child's learning by supporting their child's identified next steps at home.

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who attend

Staff have good processes for establishing children's starting points in their learning and development. They make effective use of initial forms with parents to find out children's abilities and interests. This enables staff to successfully settle in new children and start to plan fun activities for them. Key persons use good ongoing observation and assessment systems to monitor children's progress and consistently identify learning priorities for each child. Staff use the information well to plan further activities that strongly focus on meeting children's individual needs. Key persons complete robust progress checks for two- year-old children and share these with parents. The detail includes helpful information on children's personal, social, emotional and physical progress, as well as their communication and language development. Staff keep all parents well informed about their child's progress through regular meetings and daily verbal feedback. Parents have

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who attend

easy access to the 'Learning Journeys' that help demonstrate the progress their child is making. Parents routinely share children's achievements at home through discussions or by completing the recently introduced 'wow' cards. However, staff do not always fully encourage parents to contribute to the assessment process by supporting identified next steps at home.

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who attend

Overall, staff interact effectively with children to promote their learning through play. As a result, children make good progress in relation to their starting points. However, staff do not always extend activities sufficiently well, for example, by skilfully questioning all children in order to challenge them and improve their learning. Staff help support young children's developing language with singing familiar songs. By joining in with the actions, this helps promote children's physical development. Staff value babies' early language as they respond to sounds and babbling. Older children are very confident speakers who enjoy the opportunities to share their thoughts with adults. They show an interest in adults and competently ask them questions about what they are doing.

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who attend

Young children begin to learn about the wider world and differences in others. For example, young children easily find the dual language books that reflect a friend's home language. Staff encourage babies and young children to have an interest in books. Older children enjoy looking at books on their own and with their friends. Children love to explore and investigate different materials and textures such as salt and dough. They develop good early writing skills as they form letters and marks in the salt. Adults introduce phonic sounds with children and promote their literacy skills well. Children have fun playing in the sand and talking about what it feels like. They develop good mathematical skills as they make models with construction sets.

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

Staff are very caring and supportive and, as a result, children form strong emotional attachments to adults. The key person system is effective as individual children receive the support they need. This results in children feeling secure, settled and keen to learn. Staff respect the differing needs of babies and toddlers. For example, staff settle babies for sleeping following discussions with parents about how and when. Staff take a sensitive approach when young children move through the group rooms. They include parents in making the decision about the best time for children to move on based on their individual stage of development and care needs.

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

Staff care for the different aged children in very child-centred rooms. Staff put thought into providing resources to promote exploration and investigation, particularly for the babies. For example, an area is set up with different textures in black and white that provides visual stimulation for young babies. Staff organise and use the resources well to meet children's needs. Resources are at low level througout the nursery to allow children of all ages to make independent choices. This helps all children to become confident, independent learners who like to work things out and solve problems. For example, a child decides he is going to use the cement mixer. Showing good physical coordination, he picks up leaf litter using the litter grabber and places it in the mixer. He then turns the handle to make the 'concrete' and calls his friend over to see what he is doing. This also shows that children form strong relationships with others. Children play well on their own and with

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

other children. They behave well and respond positively to instructions from staff. They like to carry out tasks and take on responsibilities.

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

Staff implement good hygiene practices that help promote children's health. They carry out nappy changes on a regular basis and when necessary. Staff follow very hygienic processes that involve using disposable aprons and gloves, followed by hand washing. Older children adopt good hygiene routines such as hand washing after playing with the salt. Children develop a good understanding of what is good to eat through planned activities and everyday routines. They help themselves to healthy snacks and have easy access to drinking water. The good quality low seating enables babies and toddlers to sit together at meal times, creating a social occasion.

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

Children thoroughly enjoy playing outside in the fresh air. They develop their understanding of the natural world as they show an interest in the worms and bugs. They develop good coordination as they explore the climbing equipment and use the ride on vehicles. Children excitedly join in with parachute games and have fun in the 'mud kitchen'.

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

Staff give high priority to keeping children safe in the nursery. As a result, children move around independently without coming to harm. Staff keep the resources clean and in a good condition. They help children develop a good understanding of how to stay safe through everyday practices and gentle reminders during the day. Children demonstrate a good awareness of safety as they decide for themselves that it is not safe to pull their friends along in the cars using a rope.

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provision

The leadership and management team show a good knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. They have rigorous recruitment procedures that help ensure staff are suitable to work with children. New staff undergo a thorough induction process that helps them understand their role and responsibilities. All staff undertake training in child protection so are very clear about the correct procedures if they have a concern about a child. Good security procedures help staff promote and safeguard children's welfare. Staff carry out thorough risk assessments and safety checks. These help staff identify and minimise risks to children effectively. All the required documentation to help support children's welfare is in place and well maintained. This documentation is used well with parents to keep them informed about their child's well-being and any incidents that take place at nursery. Staff make sure that parents are well informed if

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provision

there are cases of any infectious diseases in the nursery. Parents say that they feel their children are making good progress because of being in the nursery. They say that staff are very 'nurturing', supportive and confident when dealing with any health issues.

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provision

The leadership and management team demonstrate that they have effective systems for monitoring and promoting the professional development of staff. They carry out robust regular staff appraisals to help identify training needs. Staff are actively encouraged to access further training to continue to improve their knowledge and skills. The staff team regularly reflect on their practices and implement effective development plans that help improve outcomes for children. For example, they are currently developing their healthy eating programme to further improve children's health. They are also in the process of making further improvements to the outdoor area.

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provision

The managers and staff effectively review the educational programme to make sure it meets the needs of individual children. Staff have good procedures for accessing additional support for those children who need it to help them achieve. They form effective working partnerships with agencies and parents. As a result, gaps are narrowing in these children's learning and development. Staff also have good systems for linking with other settings who share the care and education of children. This helps to promote continuity in children's learning.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY455749 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 919232 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 92 Number of children on roll 122 Name of provider ACPH Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01323 492 123

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

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

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