Sunny Day Nursery & Play Club

Sunny Day Nursery & Play Club Middle Farm Barn, Middle Farm Way, Poundbury, DORCHESTER, Dorset, DT1 3WA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/05/2013 16/05/2011

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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

 Children are good communicators. They behave well, have good manners and are able to share.  Staff extend children's learning through meaningful interaction and open questions.  Staff praise children for their achievements and children respond politely to adults.  Leadership and management have a clear vision of how to improve outcomes for children.  There are robust systems for appraisal and supervision to ensure good staff practice.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Babies and children learning English as an additional language do not have extensive opportunities to hear and use their language in everyday play.

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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 voluntary and compulsory parts 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 throughout all age groups.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors interviewed the manager, registered providers and other members of staff.  The inspector took part in a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors reviewed a range of documents and policies, including children's observation and assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Sunny Days Nursery opened in 1995 and transferred to the current premises in 2002. It is privately owned and is one of three Sunny Days' nurseries. It operates from a converted barn situated in the village of Poundbury, near to the town of Dorchester, Dorset. The accommodation is on two floors. The ground floor comprises of an entrance hall, five baby units, with one separate sleep room, two toddler units, and two pre-school rooms, each unit having its own integral kitchen and toilet facilities. The first floor, which is accessed by a lift or stairs, has the play loft soft play centre, a communal dining area and an after school and holiday club room. There is an enclosed, outdoor playground and grassed garden area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is open from Monday to Friday, from 7am to 7pm, all year round. There are 346 children on roll between the ages of three

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Information about the setting

months to 11 years. Children aged eight to 11 years attend before and after school and during school holidays. Children may attend on a part or full-time basis and come from local communities around Dorchester. There is a team of 41 staff who work directly with the children. Of these, 25 hold relevant childcare qualifications. The nursery has an 'Investors in People' award and is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association. The provider also works in liaison with Dorset Sure Start and has a Quality Counts Investors in Children award.

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

 strengthen opportunities for babies and children who have English as an additional language to hear and use their language in everyday play.

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who attend

The nursery meets the needs of children well. Children show that they enjoy their time at the nursery as they enter quickly and greet their friends on arrival. They are happy and independently play on their own or in small groups, confidently asking for adult support. All rooms are very well-resourced. Resources are labelled with photographs to help children recognise what is available and children move with confidence around the rooms. Staff show close, warm relationships with children and they know them well. Staff use good teaching techniques to motivate children to learn, preparing them well for their next stage of learning and for their eventual move to school. For example, in the pre-school circle time gives children the opportunity to talk about their learning and any issues that are important to them. Staff talk to children to assess what they already know and build on this to extend their learning. Each child has a development record called 'My Book',

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who attend

which includes planned observations and 'Wow' observations. Staff use this system effectively to track and monitor children's learning and development. In addition, these records enable staff to complete the two-year progress check for children. Staff plan well for children's interests and cover all areas of learning and development, both inside and out.

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who attend

Children are clearly enjoying their play and are keen to show their friends and staff what they can do, showing a positive attitude to learning. Staff are attentive and supportive to children's learning. Staff are fully engaged with babies using good eye contact, lots of cuddles and reassurance which supports them well. Staff are aware of the needs of the babies in their care and respond promptly to their gestures or clues that show they are tired or thirsty. Staff show respect for babies. They ask 'Can I change your nappy please?' rather than just picking them up and carrying them to the nappy changing area. Most babies respond by lifting their arms up in anticipation. Consequently, staff meet children's needs well.

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who attend

Children of all ages thoroughly enjoy water play. For example, staff sit with babies as they play with water. They extend their developing language well by introducing vocabulary, such as 'Soft bubbles', 'Splish, splash' and 'Wet hands'. They use gestures to successfully underpin their language. For example, they smile and shrug with open hands, with their head to one side asking 'Where's it gone?'

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who attend

Staff working with older children use open-ended questions and give them time to stop and think before giving an answer. Children's literacy skills are developing well. They show they are beginning to be aware of the way stories are structured. They predict how the story might end and listen to stories with increasing attention and recall. They also show a love of books by taking them to staff to read. Children who are learning English as an additional language are generally supported well. Staff are aware of some key words in children's home languages but systems to enable children to use their home language in their play are not extensive.

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who attend

Children in the pre-school are eager to see the differences between a map of the United Kingdom and a globe of the world. They know that the blue means that it is sea and the green is land, extending their understanding of the world. Older children are able to choose from a varied range of themed 'Under the sea' activities which support all areas of their development. Children are able to count and understand that numbers represent objects, for example, for the matching games they know that only five children can play. They also learn about ordering and understand whose go is first, second and third. Staff promote and extend learning during this game by talking to the children about the different creatures and asking questions. When children are unsure of the answer staff are quick to find reference books to help the children look for answers.

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy throwing feathers up and trying to catch them during dance sessions, developing their physical skills. They squeal with delight as they either miss or catch them. Children enjoy baking and are given opportunities to make food for the summer fete. They have chosen to make jam tarts. They learn about weights and measure by using scales to measure ingredients, and know they must reset the scales to zero before adding more ingredients.

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

Children show loving relationships with their friends and play in harmony together as they share their toys and communicate well. They are confident learners and either ask for support when needed or happily play independently. Children show they feel safe and secure as they move around with confidence. Staff encourage positive behaviour by using praise and encouragement for achievements. For younger children staff write their achievements on two balloons. One is displayed in the nursery room for all children to see, and the child takes the other home to share with their family. This system works effectively to encourage children to behave well. Children's positive behaviour is also promoted through a group reward system, with the children being able to choose the prize. The system is also themed to fit in with the current topic.

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

Babies' home routines are followed to help them feel secure. Nappy changes are managed sensitively, promoting children's health and wellbeing. Key persons interact positively during this time to help babies feel settled. Children are aware of the importance of self- care routines and know that they need to wash their hands before eating. They show their 'clean hands' to staff before sitting at the table. Children have a choice of a healthy meal provided by the nursery, or bring a packed lunch from home. They are able to cut their own food and pour their own drinks showing independence. This helps them to prepare for the move to school. The children talk about the water and the fact that because it does not taste salty it is not seawater. This shows that children are able to link what they have learnt to what they do.

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

Children enjoy physical play in the outdoor area. There are extensive gardens for them to explore and all ages have regular opportunities throughout the day to go outside. In addition, they use the play loft for indoor adventure play and weekly dance lessons. Staff working with younger children give simple explanations to help them learn about their own safety from a very early age, as they remind them to 'Hold on tight'. Pre-school children are reminded to think about their own safety as staff ask them questions about running inside and why it is better to run outside.

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

Children are prepared well for their moves through the nursery. They visit other rooms for several sessions beforehand to enable them to become familiar with the new environment, routine and staff. The children's 'My Books' and assessments move with the child and parents are kept informed when their child is due to transfer to the next room.

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provision

The provider clearly understands their responsibility in meeting the safeguarding and welfare and learning and development requirements. There are clear company aims that are shared with all staff and which give them a common goal to work towards. Effective monitoring is carried out to ensure the provision is planning for all areas of learning and development. Quality audits occur monthly and are outsourced to professionals to ensure they are of a high standard and are used to improve practice. All audits and actions are tracked to ensure they are completed. The management sets high standards for the nursery which staff share and work towards. Staff and management are involved in effective self-evaluation along with feedback from parent questionnaires. Parents can also use comment boxes to feed back as well as informal chats with the staff or manager. The manager and deputy work well together to run the nursery and monitor the delivery of the

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provision

The nursery has good recruitment and induction procedures in place to ensure that new staff and trainees clearly understand their roles and responsibilities. New staff are offered 'taster days' to see how they get on before being offered permanent employment. All staff are well supported by management through regular supervision and appraisals. This is used to support staff development and to identify any training required. It also gives staff the opportunity to comment on new policies and to have input when their employment conditions changed. Supervisors are all undertaking apprenticeships in team management to improve the running of the nursery. The staff undertake external and in-house training to ensure they keep up-to-date in changes in legislation and required training such as first aid training. There is a strong relationship with the local authority and staff attend regular workshops on training and safeguarding. As a result staff have a good understanding of

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provision

how to safeguard children and what to do if there is an allegation against a member of staff. The management team also demonstrates a good understanding of their role in protecting children.

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provision

Parents comment positively on the learning environment and how kind and caring the staff are. They are kept well-informed about their children's welfare and staff liaise with them to ensure that the routines of younger children are respected. Staff also share information about children's development which helps to involve parents in their children's learning.

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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

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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 EY216520 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 906976 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 173 Number of children on roll 346 Name of provider Sunny Day Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection 16/05/2011 Telephone number 01305 268577

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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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