Magic Tree Day Nursery

The Magic Tree Day Nursery 35 Yaxham Road, Dereham, NORFOLK, NR19 1HD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/05/2013 20/06/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children feel safe and secure in their relationships with staff and the implementation of an appropriate key person system secures good relationships with the children and their families. This satisfactorily supports the children's well-being.  Self-evaluation takes into consideration the views of parents and children and this supports the identification of the nurseries strengths and weaknesses.  There are strong partnerships with parents and others who are involved in the care and learning of the children which ensures that children receive relevant support and consistency in their learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 Resources and equipment are not sufficient for both indoors and outdoors to promote active learning so that children can make good progress in all areas of learning and development.  There are few opportunities for children with English as an additional language to use their home language in their play and learning, so that these strong foundations support the development of English.  The older children are not always well supported as the range of experiences staff plan for them do not always provide challenge to actively engage them and meet their interests.

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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 both rooms and the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at planning, children's learning story records and a selection of policies and records.  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of several parents spoken to at the nursery.

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Information about the setting

The Magic Tree Day nursery is one of seven nurseries owned by Alpha Nurseries ltd. It originally opened in 2006 and is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery operates from two rooms in a converted building on an industrial estate in East Dereham, Norfolk. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open Monday to Friday, all year round from 7.30am to 6pm. There are currently 49 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery supports some children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of staff, of these 12 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and the manager holds a qualification at level 6. The setting is supported by the local authority.

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must:

 use the information gained from observations and assessment to plan a range of challenging experiences for older children, that consistently engage and interest them

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must:

 provide more opportunities and resources for children with English as an additional language to use their home language in their play and learning.

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

 review the learning environment to ensure children are provided with a good range of resources that enrich their learning and development and support their play both in and outside.

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who attend

Staff have begun to complete the progress check at age two, to ensure that they have a secure understanding of children's capabilities in their learning and development and to highlight any possible concerns with their progress. These are clearly linked to the prime areas of learning and show the developmental milestones that children have achieved. The nursery have recently introduced a form to track and monitor children's progress. This is used to show that they are making good progress in their learning and development in line with the typical range of development expected for their age as detailed in the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage publication. Staff promote children's creative and thinking skills and there is an emphasis on early language and communication as they ask children questions, interact with them, get down to their level and join in with their play. Staff give children instructions to follow to support their

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who attend

thinking skills. The older room has a wide range of children of different ages. Children can move through to this room from 18 months old, if parents and staff feel that they are ready for the transition. However, opportunities are not used effectively to support more able and independent children in their play, as staff are fully involved with supporting and meeting the needs of the younger children. For example, the older children are not always fully engaged with the activities and resources, or provided with challenge that stimulates and motivates them.

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who attend

Staff obtain relevant information from parents when children first attend the nursery, through the trial visits and discussing their children and by completing an 'All about me' booklet. This provides staff with a record of children's likes, dislikes, interests and home routines. This helps staff to identify children's starting points about where children are in their learning and development, from which to build on. Each child has an individual learning story record, which is completed by their key person. This reflects the range of activities, written observations and shows how they are progressing in their learning and development. Staff monitor their progress and have identified the next steps in children's learning which are then included in the range of planned educational activities. Staff list children's interests and plan activities or provide appropriate resources to help support most children in their play.

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who attend

Staff get on the floor with the babies as they offer cuddles and reassurance and they hold them when feeding bottles. Their language development is promoted as staff sing songs and action rhymes with children and babies. Babies have opportunities to explore a range of textures and materials in treasure baskets. Staff play music and provide babies with musical instruments to develop their creativity as they listen to the different sounds that are made. Babies are able to crawl and pull themselves up to standing on furniture to support their growth and muscle development in readiness for walking. Children wait for their turn as staff apply sun cream before they go outside, helping them to develop an understanding on why this is needed to promote their health. For example, when asked why this is important, children say 'The sun is hot'. Staff count how many children there are, as they line up before going outside, to develop the children's knowledge of numbers.

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who attend

Some older children are developing good pencil control and their knowledge of letters as they confidently write their own names on their work.

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

Children have access to some toys and resources which are age-appropriate and suitable for their purpose. However, the learning environment is not rich with resources to fully support children's learning and development. For example, the sand is running out, there are few books that children can access independently and the writing area has minimal resources, as the pencils are not sharpened so that children can write for a purpose. Children can choose what they want to play with, which promotes their independence, as resources are placed within their reach, especially in the baby room for none mobile babies. Children behave well and staff provide consistent boundaries to help them learn expected codes of behaviour. Staff teach and encourage children to share and take turns with resources, helping them play together. Staff provide praise for children's achievements to help develop their self-esteem and confidence.

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

Menus for children's meals are displayed for parents to see and include a range of foods to help promote children's health. The cook ensures that snacks and meals include foods that children like and enjoy, so that they are encouraged to eat sufficiently for their needs to support their healthy growth and development. Children's independent skills are promoted, as they serve themselves at snack and mealtimes in the older room. All children are encouraged to feed themselves and children in the older room are also supported with pouring their own drinks. Children are encouraged to sit when eating to keep themselves safe to prevent choking. They are given gentle reminders to wash their hands after touching the guinea pig to remove germs, which develops their understanding about how to promote their own health. Staff sit and eat with children, which helps to make mealtimes a sociable occasion and children's dietary requirements are respected and they

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

are provided with alternative foods by the cook to meet their needs. All staff are aware of any allergies or intolerances to ensure that children's health is promoted appropriately.

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

Staff follow babies home routines and respect parents' wishes regarding their sleeping and dietary requirements which helps them to settle appropriately. Children are provided with a key person to help them to settle, and form close bonds. The key person system is monitored and can be changed if children always go to another member of staff to have their needs met. When children make the transition to the next room, they go for trial visits and are assigned another key person who will support them in the older room. This ensures that, when children move permanently, they have made a bond with the new key person to help them to settle. Staff plan a range of activities to help children to learn about the wider world and the cultures of others. However, children with English as an additional language are not consistently well supported, as there are few resources and printed words in their home language for children to develop and use their home language

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

in their play. For example, there are no dual language books or a useful range of words displayed to support both languages that they use.

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provision

The implementation of the learning and development requirements is monitored satisfactorily. The manager undertakes regular supervision of staff to support and develop their knowledge and skills, so that staff practice can be developed further. As part of this, there are also regular team meetings, where staff practice is discussed to help develop the nursery to benefit the children attending. Staff work well together as part of a team and are enthusiastic and motivated. The nursery receives regular, on-going support from local authority staff to help set clear targets for improvements to practice. Staff are fully supported by the nursery with training on what they want to do to develop their own knowledge and skills, which will also enhance practice and meet the nursery's needs. The views of parents are sought through their attendance at the regular parents evenings and by completing questionnaires. All the parents spoken to during the inspection speak highly

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provision

of the staff and the progress their children have achieved in their learning and development.

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provision

Staff fully understand their responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of children. They have an awareness of the signs and symptoms of abuse, to help them recognise children at risk. They know who to report any concerns to, this was discussed and their knowledge on safeguarding children was reinforced and up-dated through a recent staff meeting. The procedure for staff to follow if they have concerns about a child's welfare is clearly recorded in the nursery's safeguarding policy. The clear recruitment processes for new staff ensures that those working with children are suitable to do so. A record of Disclosure and Barring Service checks are in place for all staff. The nursery ensures that the premises are safe and secure. Through the risk assessments staff ensure that there are no hazards accessible to children, which enables children to play safely both inside and outside.

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provision

Staff have developed close links with the local primary schools that children will attend so that, when they start full-time education, children are fully supported with the transition. The nursery uses home contact books to exchange information with other settings children attend; parents can also use this to keep staff informed of any changes to their routines or learning at home.

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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 EY314212 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 912197

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 49 Name of provider Alpha Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection 20/06/2011 Telephone number 01362 694690

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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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