Roundabout Nursery

Roundabout Day Care Centre Embankment Road, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 9HP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/06/2013 09/02/2011

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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 have an enabling environment in which to play.  Children are supervised well to ensure they are safe and secure.  Children behave well and have a positive rapport with their friends and the staff.  Effective systems are in place to monitor children's progress and to support them in their next steps of learning and development. Consequently they make good progress across all areas.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some planned group activities are not always organised to support all children who want to participate, and staff do not always give children enough thinking time to respond to questions.  Although the setting is well resourced overall, resources are not always available to support children learning across all areas during role-play activities.

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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 the children at play in the playrooms and the outside play areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a sample of children's assessment records, planning documentation and policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector, manager, and deputy manager undertook an observation of a planned activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with the manager, the deputy manager and staff during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The Roundabout Day Care Centre opened in 1986. It operates from several rooms within the Plymouth Christian Centre, situated close to the city centre. The nursery centre serves the local and surrounding areas of Plymouth. Children have access to secure outside play areas. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 133 children on roll, attending at various times of the week. Children attend from three months to the end of the early years age group. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four years. It is open Monday to Friday all year round from 7.45am to 6pm. There are 37 staff employed, of whom 32 work with the children; of these, 25 staff hold appropriate childcare qualification or are working towards them. The nursery supports children with special needs and/or disabilities and children

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

 review the organisation of planned group activities to ensure all children can fully participate, and give children more thinking time to respond to questions, to enhance their communication and language

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

 provide resources for children in their role play to extend imaginative play opportunities and literacy skills.

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who attend

Children have a calm and enabling environment in which to play. They are happy, safe and secure. The children interact well with their friends, learning good co-operation skills as they play, for example to share and take turns. There is good interaction between the staff and the children as they play, with the staff asking open-ended questions to extend children's thinking and curiosity. However, at times they do not give children sufficient thinking time to respond. Staff plan activities well overall, giving careful thought to the outcomes they want to achieve for the children. The children are extremely keen to join in and participate; however, occasionally, due to the number of the children at the table, some have to sit and watch, and wait patiently to join in, rather than being fully involved. Children have a good range of books to choose from and enjoy stories. They are keen to participate in music sessions and physical activities. This supports their physical

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who attend

development well. Children listen well to instructions and they respond appropriately. They are familiar with the routine for the day such as knowing to line up to go outside to play and helping at tidy up time. This helps them to learn the skills they need in readiness for school. Children are keen to express themselves and confidently share their home news. They enjoy action songs and learn their colours and numbers naturally as they play and when listening to stories. Children enjoy role-play opportunities such as the 'Seaside Cafe', giving each other a menu and pretending to write the orders they take on a clip board. However, resources are not always available to support all aspects of learning during role play, such as crayons and pencils to develop their writing skills as they take each other's orders.

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who attend

Children enjoy making play dough. They talk about the texture as they manipulate the dough and discuss what they are making, such as worms and spiders, saying how many eyes and how many legs they need. The younger children enjoy exploring during messy play activities such as blue gloop, and have access to sensory and heuristic play resources. The children learn problem solving by completing puzzles and playing with water and sand to support their understanding of volume as they fill containers. There are secure systems in place to support children with special needs and/or disabilities and children with English as an additional language. They have individual learning plans to support them to make good progress. These are shared with parents and the nursery has good links with outside agencies to seek advice and support.

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who attend

Key persons know their key children well and plan effectively to support them. Staff have recently reviewed how they complete their observations and assessments on the children. This is to provide consistency throughout the nursery and to use these effectively to support their planning, children's individual interests and the next steps in their learning and development. Children receive consistent praise and encouragement and the staff record 'wow moments' to share with parents. Children concentrate well at their chosen task and they are proud of their finished product. They are keen to show pictures they have made to the staff, proudly putting them in their drawer to take home.

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

Children are confident, happily settle on arrival and quickly engage in play. They are well supported by the staff members, who act as positive role models and are deployed well to ensure that children are supervised at all times. Children learn about keeping themselves and each other safe as they play. For example, staff talk with the children as they put on sun lotion, explaining how they must protect themselves from the sun, and during craft activities to help them to use scissors carefully. Younger children are supported well as they start to be more mobile, with toys being put at a distance to encourage them to explore and investigate. There are good systems in place for the key person to liaise with parents, to ensure consistency of care and to meet each child's individual needs, routines and sleeping patterns. Children are confident in their self-care and familiar with the routines of washing hands

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

before meals. They confidently tell each other to have a drink before they go outside to play, so they will not be thirsty. Children have a healthy diet provided and a cooked lunch. Meal times are social occasions, with the staff sitting with the children to support their social skills. The older children have a self-service meal time and pour their own drinks. This supports them to learn skills they need in readiness for school. Children behave well and know what is expected of them. They learn about their local community and the wider world, celebrating festivals throughout the year.

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

Children have fresh air each day in the outside play areas, where they are keen to explore and engage in role play. They have good opportunities to play with sand and water, grow plants and use equipment to support their physical development. The nursery has identified the outside play areas as an area for improvement, to extend the range of play experiences for children during outside play.

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provision

There is an effective committee and management team in place to monitor the nursery and to support the staff. Members are very motivated and work effectively as a team. There have been recent changes to the staff in the toddler and baby rooms. The nursery has made these changes to support best practice, enhance the staff's skills and to have staff teams in each room that complement each other. Each child has a key person who completes an 'All About Me' form with parents when their child first starts. This form has been revised as part of the review of how staff complete their observations and assessments on the children. The children in the baby and toddler rooms have a home link book, which is completed daily by the child's key person to share with parents. This includes what the children have been doing and their daily routine. The pre-school children have a welcome to pre-school letter when they transfer to this room, which

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provision

includes details of their child's key person. Parents are invited in prior to children's transitions from each room to meet their new child's key person. These strategies successfully build strong partnerships with parents. Parents are also invited in to stay and play sessions. The nursery operates an open door policy. Once a year staff have an open day and each term parents are invited in to have an informal meeting with their child's key person, to share their child's progress. The nursery has good links with outside agencies and other settings that children attend, to provide a shared approach to children's learning and development.

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provision

Regular supervision, appraisals and training are undertaken to support staff's development. The staff have completed safeguarding training and there is a clear procedure to follow in the event of a child protection concern. There are robust procedures in place for the appointment of new staff, with an induction process to ensure that all staff and students on placement are familiar with the nursery's policies and procedures. Daily checks are completed of all areas used by the children and rigorous risk assessments are undertaken to minimise any potential risks to children. There are good procedures in place for dealing with complaints from parents and an informative notice board for parents that includes details of how to make a complaint, as well as useful information about the daily menu and the planned activities.

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provision

The staff reflect on their practice through their effective self-evaluation and have identified areas that they want to improve, to enhance the learning environment for the children. These include adding to the toys and resources. Staff are also in the process of making a parents' room available. Staff also seek the views of parents through questionnaires and parents are able to write comments on a notice board.

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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 117151 Local authority Plymouth Inspection number 916213 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 69 Number of children on roll 133 Name of provider Roundabout Day Care Centre Committee Date of previous inspection 09/02/2011 Telephone number 01752 229563

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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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