Busy Bees Day Nursery at Nottingham, Wollaton

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Nottingham, Wollaton Bramcote Lane, Wollaton, Nottingham, NG8 2NG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/04/2013 20/12/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 The practitioners are led by a highly committed manager. She, in turn, is supported within a strong, wider management team. This means there is a culture of continuous reflection and improvement and children's individual needs are well met.  Any additional support that children may need is quickly provided through effective partnerships with parents and other agencies. This means all children make good progress in their learning and development.  The management team and staff have a good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding procedures and practice. This helps keep children safe.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Practitioners are sometimes over directive and do not always take full advantage of opportunities to extend children's interests, especially outdoors. This means children are not always as well motivated as possible or wholly engaged in purposeful activities.  Practitioners do not routinely encourage children to be independent by, for example, selecting creative resources and serving their own food. This lessens opportunities for them to develop their very good independence skills in learning and in self-care.

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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 inspector had a tour of the setting and discussed with the manager how the setting operates.  The inspector spoke to parents throughout the day.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager of the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed practice in the various rooms in the setting and observed the children playing outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to children, practitioners, the cook and the managers throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The Busy Bees Day Nursery was registered in 2002 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It operates from three rooms in a converted and extended former school building in the Wollaton area of Nottingham. It is one of a chain of nurseries owned by the Busy Bees Group. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. Each age group has its own separately fenced area, which is accessible directly from their rooms.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 21 members of childcare staff. Of these, 18 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and the manager also has a BA (Hons) Degree in Early Childhood Studies.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round except for bank holidays. Sessions are from 7am until 7pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 132 children attending, 113 of whom are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery is a member of the National Day Nursery Association and has attained their 'e-Quality Counts' award.

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

 allow children more opportunities to make suggestions and adapt adult-led activities, especially outdoors, to increase their motivation and engagement

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

 encourage children to be independent by, for example, allowing them to select creative resources for themselves and serve their own food.

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who attend

The setting meets the needs of all children well. Practitioners know that children learn as they play and explore. They provide a stimulating environment that is very well resourced. This supports children to make good progress towards the early learning goals. For example, two children independently use a computer with a large horizontal screen. This helps children learn about and practise using information technology. Practitioners set up a garden centre in the role play area and children grow plants from seeds in a garden area. In this way children find out about living things and what plants need to grow. This type of activity also gives practitioners opportunities to develop children's communication and language skills. They teach children maths, for example, they count and talk about tiny seeds and heavy pots. They also practise handling very small objects as they plant the seeds. However, children do not have many opportunities to make suggestions and adapt

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who attend

some adult-led activities. This lessens their motivation and enthusiasm.

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who attend

Practitioners plan activities and experiences for children based on observations of what they like doing. For example, a group of two-year-olds explore corn flour paste in a large shallow tray. The children very much enjoy this activity. They notice the marks they make with their hands, fingers and brushes. This helps them begin to develop skills in art and design. Practitioners add coloured paint to the mix. They ask children what other colours they would like added. In this way children learn about colours and as the different colours are added, about how colours change when they are mixed. This is an effective activity that the children enjoy. However, because the group size is large and children do not have opportunities to add colours themselves, some children cannot experiment with mixing colours. The mark-making utensils are also limited. This sometimes lessens children's opportunities to explore, be creative and investigate ideas for themselves.

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who attend

The detailed planning and reporting system helps practitioners to keep parents informed about their child's learning. They provide them with regular assessments of their children's progress, including the formal progress check when they are between 24- and 35-months- old. This means parents and the setting can work closely together to ensure children make good progress in their learning and development. It also means parents and practitioners can quickly identify and provide any additional support children may require. The setting successfully works with a range of other professionals to provide for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and to progress their learning.

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

Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is generally good. They share well and pass each other resources. This is because their key persons are good role models. However, practitioners do not always take opportunities to extend children's learning, especially outdoors, where practitioners often supervise rather than extend children's learning. This sometimes means children become bored and behaviour is inappropriate. Practitioners encourage children to help risk assess the outdoor environment and help them record the results. Visitors from the police force, fire brigade and ambulance service raise children's awareness of how to keep themselves safe. Children get plenty of exercise as they run about. They learn to share and take turns using the equipment. The nursery provides children with healthy food. However, children do not serve their own food. This lessens opportunities for them to further develop independence in self-care, express their food

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

preferences and develop an understanding of appropriate portion size.

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

Children have very strong supportive relationships with their key persons, which means children are confident and have a high sense of well-being. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is a particular strength of this nursery. The manager and her practitioners skilfully support children's transitions, both within the setting, and to other settings and school. Parents are actively involved in this process. Babies develop strong attachments with their key person as they snuggle and drink their milk.

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

The environment is generally well organised and offers a wealth of opportunities for children to learn and develop independently. The outdoor space is divided to ensure that older children can get vigorous exercise without endangering younger children and in this way they learn about keeping safe. The outdoor space is well used. All children have regular opportunities to get fresh air and exercise and all children can choose to go outside for most of the day.

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provision

The practitioners are led by a committed manager who is supported within a strong, wider management team who regularly audit provision at all the settings. The results of these audits are shared with the rest of the staff team and action plans are set out where required. Managers' meetings take place where they can share ideas and any future developments. The manager also provides support for other settings. Team meetings take place within the age groups to discuss and improve working together. A senior member of staff has the responsibility of supporting other practitioners as a training mentor. Training is identified to meet the needs of the nursery, but staff preferences and enthusiasms are also taken into account. This culture of constant reflection and improvement ensures standards of care and teaching throughout the nursery continue to improve for children and their families.

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provision

Children's progress is monitored closely by each child's key person and the room leaders. The manager also monitors practitioners' work on a daily basis. She reinforces good practice and makes suggestions for further improvements to enable them to improve the way they work with children. She samples children's records monthly and each term reviews the progress of all individual children. This enables the manager to quickly identify any additional support children may need to help them meet learning and development targets. She is also beginning to use these assessments to identify groups of children who are making less progress than others so they can target improvements for specific groups. The manager monitors the way practitioners carry out children's observations and assessments.

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provision

The nursery works very closely with a wide range of other agencies, for example, specialist teachers, to provide extra support for children. The analysis of children's progress also allows the manager to identify any extra support or training practitioners may require. Parents are also encouraged to actively be involved with the children's learning in a variety of ways. The setting has a parent liaison group that meets regularly and makes suggestions to improve practice. For example, the manager has redesigned the parent information boards following a suggestion from this group. Posters, notes, information boards and leaflets are very informative and encourage parents to extend children's learning at home. Parents are also encouraged to contribute to their children's assessments. The manager also takes children's views into account and a pre-school council regularly meets so their ideas can be incorporated into the nursery's development

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provision

The company and manager give high priority to the safety of children. There is a designated Health and Safety Coordinator who takes responsibility for completing risk assessments, checking suitability of equipment and making sure that all staff are fully trained in health and safety policies and procedures. There are comprehensive risk assessments, which are checked daily and reviewed regularly. Robust systems ensure children with special dietary requirements have appropriate diets. Recruitment processes are rigorous and include an in-depth induction process. This supports new staff and ensures they know how the nursery runs and enables them to develop good practice. The management team and staff have a very good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding issues and accident and incident procedures. Accidents and incidents are uploaded onto a company computer-based system that monitors these. This system helps

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provision

identify any potential risks to children. The management team ensures all staff are kept up to date with current guidance and have regular refresher training on safeguarding children so they know who to report any concerns to. This helps keep children safe.

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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 EY218040 Local authority Nottingham City Inspection number 909305

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 108 Number of children on roll 132 Name of provider Busy Bees Day Nurseries (Trading) Limited Date of previous inspection 20/12/2010 Telephone number 0115 9280508

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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.

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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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