Elizabeth Saunders Nursery

Elizabeth Saunders Nursery Saunders Lane, Hutton, PRESTON, PR4 5SA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children enjoy a wealth of stimulating and exciting activities delivered by highly skilled enthusiastic staff. As a result, children are making excellent progress in their learning and development.  The rich, well-planned and stimulating environment, combined with high-quality resources, means that children are provided with an exceptional education programme, which has depth and breadth across the curriculum.  Children are extremely happy and enjoy secure and trusting relationships with the staff, who provide them with constant praise and encouragement. As a result, this boosts their self-esteem and results in them being extremely confident and self-assured individuals.  Robust systems for observation, planning and assessment are in place. This ensures that the exemplary practice provides a range of challenging age and stage appropriate activities to capture children's interest.  The promotion of children's independence, decision making and understanding of their

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This provision is outstanding

own health and their own safety means that children are able to take calculated risks and to develop a positive approach to their own well-being.

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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 inspector observed activities in the nursery and the outside learning environment and viewed toys, equipment and resources.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager, registered provider and childcare staff at appropriate times during the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to members of the staff team about the progress of their key children and their understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation, including a representative sample of children's records, risk assessments, accident and medication records, safeguarding and complaints policies, staff suitability and training records.

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Information about the setting

Elizabeth Saunders Nursery was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in New Longton, on the outskirts of Preston. The nursery is one of three settings privately owned by the current registered provider. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from two playrooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs four members of childcare staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications to a minimum of National Vocational Qualification Level 3 and one member of staff holds a BA (Honours) in children's skills and families. There is also an area manager qualified at level 6.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens from Mondays to Friday from 7.30am until 6.30pm, and Saturday from 7.30am to 4pm, for 52 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 15 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery 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.

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

 develop further ways to enhance the well-equipped outdoor play area by providing more resources, such as, sound lines, chimes and plants, to further stimulate children's sensory experiences and encourage more investigation of the natural world.

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who attend

Staff have an excellent knowledge of how children learn and develop. They help children to settle at the nursery by gathering a wealth of information about their interests and individual needs from the parents when they first join. From this information, they ensure that activities are shaped to meet the children's individual interests and learning needs. This supports the children to make very rapid progress in their learning towards the early learning goals. Staff use Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance to assess and identify the children's starting points and ongoing developmental stages. Regular and well-focussed observations of the children and precise assessments are used to plan for their individual next steps in their learning. Children are highly motivated and enthusiastic learners. They become engrossed in their play on their own, with friends and staff. Children become highly confident

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who attend

communicators. Staff working with babies and young children respond swiftly and sensitively to their non-verbal communications. They encourage children's language development as they listen carefully to them, mirror language very well and routinely give commentary as they play. As children begin to talk, staff take many opportunities to encourage and extend their language development by asking open-ended questions throughout the daily routine and as they engage in play. Children, who speak English as an additional language make very good progress as staff offer them consistently high levels of support and work very closely with their parents. They learn key words in the children's home language and use these to reinforce requests and praise.

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who attend

Children benefit greatly from the exciting outdoor play areas that are used creatively to enhance all areas of learning. They develop their physical skills as they balance, jump and ride bikes and scooters. Younger children run on the grassed area with exuberance. Children discover mark-making outside, using water and paint brushes, which are easy for them to hold. They concentrate when making marks and babble to the staff when they are asked about their drawings, helping develop their listening and speaking skills. However, there is scope to further stimulate children's sensory experiences and encourage more investigation of the natural world. Children are intrigued by what the farmer and tractor have been doing in the field. Staff skilfully encourage their interest in this and take many opportunities to develop their understanding of the world around them. Discussing why the grass had been cut and what animals it may be used to feed. During lunch, staff and

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who attend

children talk about the food they are eating and where it has come from. A child stated that 'eggs come from mummy's cupboard'. Staff praise the comment and skilfully get the children to recall that the duck that laid her eggs in the nest they had built under the climbing frame. They talk about the duck and how many chicks she had, developing their knowledge of living things. Children's understanding of their own and others' cultures, beliefs and lifestyles is promoted well through activities and an extensive range of toys, resources, books and posters that reflect positive images of diversity.

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who attend

Evidence gathered from observing children, talking to their key persons, as well as reading their progress records, confirms that all of them are making excellent progress towards the early learning goals, given their starting points. Staff have an exceptionally good understanding about the characteristics of effective learning and they use expert teaching methods to highly motivate and extend the children's learning. All children are extremely well supported in acquiring very good communication and language skills as they engage in conversations with the staff and their peers while they play together.

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who attend

Older children have enjoyed planting and growing a variety of vegetables, which when ready to eat will be cooked and served for lunch. This has successfully promoted children's understanding of healthy eating and sustainability. There is a planting area that encourages children to practise their digging and planting skills, giving them the opportunity to investigate and experiment with the soil. Children add water and watch what happens, mixing it into mud, filling the plant pots and comparing the differences in weight, texture and smell. Staff use this opportunity and take many others, to extend children's language with the introduction of word, such as, 'texture', 'smooth', 'experiment'.

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who attend

Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their children's learning in many ways. They are invited to the nursery at weekends to 'stay and play' giving parents the opportunity to learn about the activities their children experience. A parent commented 'we really enjoy coming, we get involved in the topics and learn how the activities provided help our children learn'. Parents are able to see their children's progress records and share information with the children's key persons. Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their children's learning, for example, providing bread for the 'mummy duck'. All of these methods are highly effective in helping parents to be fully involved in their children's learning and development.

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who attend

Excellent opportunities are provided for children to learn about the similarities and differences in the world around them. Staff are committed to providing an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, valued and respected. Children understand about different festivals and cultures and play with multicultural toys. In this way, they learn about similarities and differences between people and their diverse backgrounds. They have numerous opportunities to use technology, as they competently and independently use the computer, printer and various programmable toys. Due to the excellent range of activities and learning opportunities available to the children, they are prepared extremely well for their readiness for school.

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

Children thrive in this welcoming, dynamic and vibrant nursery. They enjoy extremely secure and warm relationships with their key persons and the staff team as a whole. Children's individual needs are very well known because the staff work extremely closely with parents. This approach ensures that the move from home to nursery is smooth, resulting in children settling easily and happily. Children are extremely well behaved and thrive on the individual attention received from the staff, who consistently boost their confidence and self-esteem. Staff have high expectations of the children and encourage their independence by giving them appropriate responsibility to undertake tasks, such as helping to tidy up and helping to prepare their snacks. Staff provide consistently high levels of praise and encouragement for children to try new activities and develop their independence.

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

Children develop excellent self-care skills and are becoming competent in managing their personal needs relative to their ages. For example, they are learning to wash their hands when finishing playing in messy play, before going outside to play. Children have an excellent understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. They help themselves to drinking water when they are thirsty and are offered a range of healthy snacks and meals each day. Staff closely monitor what the children eat and encourage them to eat healthily. Children are aware of the importance of following good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before eating and after playing outside. They do this spontaneously, often without having to be reminded by the staff. Very good hygiene practices are adhered to when staff change children's nappies. They record routine information about nappy changes and details of food eaten by the children, which is given to parents at the

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

end of each day. This information, in addition to the verbal feedback, ensure that parents are kept fully informed about their children's routines throughout the day.

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

Children independently make choices from an exceptional range of stimulating and exciting play equipment. The easy accessibility of the resources and the ability to move freely between the indoor and outside environment significantly supports the children's all- round learning and development. Children enjoy playing in the outdoor area with numerous outdoor toys. They move with confidence as they carefully manoeuvre the low raised bridge and skilfully avoid obstacles. Children are developing very good awareness of how to keep themselves safe, for example, by re-placing resources, so that other children and staff do not fall over. The extremely varied and stimulating resources and the expert support provided by the staff equip children with excellent skills for their next stages in their learning and their move to school.

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provision

Staff have an excellent knowledge of the learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They continually evaluate and plan an inspiring range of activities and experiences that highly motivate and interest children. Their planning is based on their excellent knowledge of the areas of learning and of how children learn. The robust recruitment and vetting procedures undertaken by the registered provider ensure that staff are suitable and safe to work with children. They are extremely well safeguarded as the staff make sure their welfare and safety is of the utmost priority at all times and in all situations. They demonstrate an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities to protect the children in their care and this is further supported by a meticulously maintained set of policies and procedures. Staff ensure children's safety throughout the nursery and on

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provision

outings as they complete extremely comprehensive risk assessments that are regularly reviewed and adapted, as and when required. They also ensure that the correct staff ratios are maintained to make sure children are supervised, safe and secure at all times.

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provision

The partnership with parents and others involved in the children's care is outstanding. Parents and carers receive extensive information through policies, procedures, daily diaries, verbal discussion and children's progress records. Information displayed on the noticeboard, as well as regular newsletters and the recently created website, provide an abundance of useful information to keep parents fully informed about the nursery. Parents are consulted regularly through discussion and questionnaires about the service to help the staff consistently meet children's individual needs. They are highly complementary about the care and education their children receive. Parents' comment upon the excellent care and range of activities provided, as well as the extremely good two-way flow of information.

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provision

Management and staff are highly motivated, enthusiastic and committed to the continuous development of their early years practice. The manager and some staff have worked in other nurseries belonging to the provider, bringing excellent practice and expectations to this nursery. Staff attend a significant number of training courses provided by the local authority and external agencies and plan ahead to update their knowledge. Regular team meetings, training and meetings with the local authority advisors also effectively support staff well in their daily work with the children. There are excellent systems in place for monitoring and evaluating practice through appraisals and supervision. The manager also regularly reviews children's progress by sampling learning journals to oversee the quality of assessment and planning for their individual learning needs. Regular reflection and self- evaluation assist the staff in continuing to make improvements to an already outstanding

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provision

service provided for the children and their families.

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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 EY455360 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 896697 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 15 Name of provider Ann Jeanette Walmsley Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01772 619064

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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

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’.

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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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