Apple Tree Nursery

Apple Tree Nursery Priestley CP School, Prince Charles Drive, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8TG

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/06/2013 19/11/2010

p.1

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

p.1

This provision is good

 Staff have positive relationships with children. As a result, children are settled, secure, happy and motivated to explore and play.  The educational programme for communication and language is very good. This means children make effective progress in their speaking and listening skills.  Successful communication channels are in place between parents, staff and others. This allows the staff to be fully aware of and meet the children's individual needs.  All staff work well as a team. They fully understand their roles and responsibilities. The owner and deputy manager effectively monitor systems and offer regular training to enhance staff in developing their professional practice.

p.1

It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not fully promote children's independence at snack times, such as allowing them to choose what they would like to eat or enable children to learn valuable skills, such as pouring their own drinks.

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

 Inspector observed activities in the nursery and in the nursery garden.

p.2

Inspection activities

 Inspector spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection, during and after activities.

p.2

Inspection activities

 Inspector looked at documentation, including progress records and planning documents and discussed these with staff  The inspector and manager conducted a joint observation on a group activity.  The inspector spoke to available parents at inspection.

p.2

Information about the setting

Appletree Nursery has been registered since July 2005. It is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates within Calne Children's Centre in the grounds of Priestly School in Calne.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery provides a variety of sessions for children under five and also provides out of school care for older children. There are currently 122 children on roll. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three- and four- years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and disabilities and those for whom English is an additional language. The nursery opens between the hours of 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, 51 weeks a year. Fourteen staff, including the owner, work with the children. All the staff are suitably qualified and all hold a minimum Level 3 childcare qualification. The owner also has Early Years Professional Status.

p.3

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

 develop children's growing independence by providing opportunities for them to help prepare food for snack and tea time.

p.3

who attend

Children within the nursery are making good overall progress in their learning and development. They benefit considerably from the good staff team, who work effectively with them to promote their learning and development and individual needs. This along with a good amount of well-planned, purposeful activities enhances children's learning and development.

p.3

who attend

Staff promote children's communication and language skills very well. For example, through consistent questioning, conversations and singing. Listening skills are well supported as children listen to the computer programs in the pre-school room and children in the toddler room follow the instructions on the action song tape. Children happily play with staff during adult-led and spontaneous activities. This allows the staff to enhance children learning through purposeful play. For example, when children are exploring the shakers, a staff member joins in with them to discuss the noises these are making. Consequently, this leads to experimental play as they find a shaker that sounds the same. This promotes children's mathematical and speech development as they problem solve and join in with the discussions.

p.3

who attend

Children have many opportunities to develop their understanding that print carries meaning, through a variety of written and number labels on display. Babies have access to a good range and variety of books including those made from fabric. This enables them to develop an interest in reading material from an early age. Children develop good skills to help them to become ready for school. For example, they are encouraged to choose their own resources and change for physical sessions. Staff are proactive at supporting the children self confidence for moving onto school. Staff have created a display of pictures of the schools and their uniforms that children are due to attend. This is used for a discussion point with the children to talk about the next stage of their future learning.

p.4

who attend

Staff encourage the children to experiment with shapes and sizes as they play with puzzles and fit together blocks for an obstacle course. This supports their early mathematical skills and counting well. Staff develop children's creativity well through everyday activities. Babies enjoy exploring with paint and sticking materials onto paper, and older children experiment with chalks and sand to make different effects. Staff attractively display children's creative work throughout the nursery, which values their efforts and supports children's confidence.

p.4

who attend

The nursery has good systems in place to identify children's starting points. Staff make effective use of the settling-in visits to talk to parents and establish information about their children's needs and progress. They use this as a basis to develop the child's interest while promoting the child's learning, when they start at the nursery. Staff demonstrate a strong understanding of their roles and responsibilities to support and enhance children's learning and development. They have established good systems of observation and assessment. They use photographs and written observations and make links to national guidance to monitor children's progress effectively. Staff complete termly assessments on the children and this highlights children's next steps in learning successfully. Staff complete the required two-year checks securely to establish children's progress and share these with parents. In addition, parents receive informal ongoing feedback. This promotes continuity

p.4

who attend

to support children's learning and development progress in and outside of the nursery. This helps to prepare children for their next stage of learning effectively.

p.4

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

Staff support children well within the nursery and operate an effective key person system. Staff understand their roles well to help children to become familiar with the nursery and build good relationships with them. For example, staff offer babies a wealth of praise and actively engage in their play experiences, which enhances their self-esteem. The staff team and key persons meets the needs of each individual child in their care effectively. This enables them to responds sensitively to their welfare and individual needs securely.

p.4

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

All children within the nursery demonstrate that they are secure, happy and feel safe. Children behave well. This is because staff know the children well and work with them to maintain a consistent approach in sharing and turn taking. Children benefit from the vast amount of praise and encouragement they receive from staff. Children enter the nursery rooms with confidence and separate from their main carers with ease. This shows that they have formed trusting relationships with staff and their peers. Children play in well organised, clean and child friendly accommodation. Equipment, toys and resources are of good quality and meet the children's ages and stages of development.

p.4

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

Children's good health and well-being are promoted well through the good hygiene practices in place. Younger children have their welfare needs met during hygienic nappy changes. Older children confidently carry out self-care skills as they independently wash their hands and take themselves to the toilet. Parents provide children lunch, this is stored accordingly and heated as required to the food standard recommendations by using a food temperature probe. This ensures food reaches the required temperature in order that it is safe to eat after reheating. Staff work well with parents to promote children's understanding of healthy eating. For example, display boards have a wealth of information of healthy lunchbox ideas and suggestions. Children benefit from a varied, balanced and nutritious food at snack and tea time. However, although children's independence skills is well promote during activities, children have less opportunities to extend this skill during

p.5

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

snack and tea times. For example, children do not help to set the tables and not all children are given opportunities to pour their own drinks and select their own foods. Meal times are a sociable occasion where staff sit with the children, promoting good table manners and communication.

p.5

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

Children benefit from regular fresh air and exercise where they explore the resources, such as climbing equipment and riding bikes and cars. All rooms have individual secure covered outdoor areas, meaning children can play outdoors in all weathers. Pre-school children benefit from weekly physical education sessions using the school facilities on the same site. This enables children to become familiar with the school environment and to use varied physical play equipment to support their moving and balancing skills well.

p.5

provision

The nursery has a secure understanding of how to meet and maintain the safeguarding and welfare requirements. All staff understand their roles and responsibilities with regards to safeguarding children and have all undertaken safeguarding training. The nursery has detailed policies and procedures in place, including safeguarding. These are all available to parents to enable them to understand the nursery's responsibilities and duty of care.

p.5

provision

Children play in a secure, safe environment. Visitors to the premises sign a visitors' record documenting times of arrival and departure. There are effective procedures in place for recording accidents and incidents, which safeguards children well. The nursery has a detailed policy regarding their role in administering medication. They work with the Community Nursing Team, to ensure that they follow medical guidance appropriately and act within their legal duties. This allows them to seek training as required and to complete health care risk assessments when needed. Emergency procedures are in place to manage any serious incidents regarding children's health and wellbeing. This promotes children's good health. All staff are trained in first aid, which enables them to act accordingly in the event of illness or a accident.

p.5

provision

The nursery has an accurate understanding of its strengths and has a development plan in place to enhance the provision for the children. The management team has a good awareness of the safer recruitment system, which enables them to ensure that all staff recruited and working with children are suitable. Staff are well qualified and have regular opportunities to develop their knowledge and practice through regular in-house and outside training. They are well supported by the management team, who liaises with them daily, working alongside them and regularly monitoring their practice. This helps staff to feel valued and very much part of the team.

p.6

provision

Partnership with parents is very good. Staff communicate verbally with all parents to ensure that they are well-informed about their children's day. Further written records are available upon request. This includes daily dairies for younger children and learning records. Highly effective arrangements are in place for involving parents in children's learning. These include regular parents' evenings and the use of 'wow' cards for parents to share achievements in their child's development. The management team seeks the views from the parents by having an open door policy and the use of questionnaires. This allows the parents to feel involved in their children's learning, development and improvements of the nursery. Staff work well with other providers and agencies involved in children's care, which helps to support and close any identified gaps in children's learning.

p.6

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.6

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.7

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.7

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.8

Setting details

Unique reference number EY311880 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 921053 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 47 Number of children on roll 122 Name of provider Rachel Louisa Knights Date of previous inspection 19/11/2010 Telephone number 01249 819082

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.8

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.8

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.9

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.9

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.10

Type of provision

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

p.10