Appletree Nursery

Appletree Nursery The Pavilion, Main Street, Grenoside, Sheffield, S35 8PR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/05/2013 30/10/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff interaction is very positive and enables children to feel settled and happy while at the nursery.  Children are provided with a good variety of challenging activities that are informed by their interests. Consequently, they continue to make good progress in their learning.  Staff effectively promote children's language and communication skills as they talk through activities and comment on what is taking place. As a result, children are willing to express themselves and to use new words as they build their vocabulary and become skilful communicators.  Children's development and progress is fully supported through effective partnerships with other professionals, parents and carers.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The involvement of children in further extending their already good self-help skills is less well explored at snack and meal times.  There is scope to provide more opportunities for older children to strengthen their writing skills, such as using mark-making materials in the role play area or recognising and writing their own name on artwork.

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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 all rooms in both buildings and the outside learning environments.  The inspector took part in a joint observation of an activity in the pre-school room.  The inspector held meetings and observed practice with the manager of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the nursery, the provider's self- evaluation form and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Appletree Nursery was registered in 2008 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from two adjacent single-storey buildings situated in the Grenoside area of Sheffield, and is managed by Appletree Childcare (Sheffield) Limited. There are a group of settings owned by the same company consisting of five out of school clubs and a holiday playscheme. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from one large room in each of the two buildings and there are two enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 26 members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold Early Years Professional Status, 20 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round, excluding bank holidays and a week at Christmas. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm and the nursery offers before school care as well as holiday provision. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 76 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery also offers care to children aged from five to 11 years of age. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance and support children's self-help skills even further by involving them more in the serving of their own meals and pouring of their own drinks

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

 strengthen opportunities for children to further extend their writing skills, for example, by making mark-making materials more accessible in the role play area and by ensuring all staff consistently support children in recognising and writing their own name.

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who attend

Staff and managers are secure in their knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which enables them to provide a range of interesting and challenging activities for all children. Staff understand the seven areas of learning. As a result, babies, toddlers and older children are well supported in the prime areas of learning and therefore, best prepared for the next stage in their development. Through individual planning and a clear identification of children's next steps, they make good progress in their learning and development, considering their starting point, age and capabilities. Staff complete detailed observations and assessments on children's learning and consistently track their progress across all of the seven areas of learning. Consequently, planning fully reflects their individual needs, in order that they continue to make good progress and any gaps in their development are closing. Staff have high expectations for the children and work closely

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who attend

with parents on the planning and assessment of each child's needs. For example, parents share and contribute to their child's assessment and development using 'Wow cards' and communication books for babies. This provides a consistent approach. Children, who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are effectively supported. Staff work closely with their parents and other agencies, such as speech and language therapists, to ensure they receive tailored individual support. Therefore, children make good progress and develop the skills necessary for their future learning.

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who attend

A well-organised balance of adult-led and child-initiated play means that children are very interested and engaged. Consequently, their learning is progressed. Babies and toddlers are gently encouraged to explore their environment because a variety of toys, soft play and natural materials are located around the room to promote crawling, rolling and climbing. They are encouraged to use their senses when exploring different textures, such as water, sand and paint. As a result, children are appropriately engaged and interested in their play. All children are becoming independent as they choose all their own resources, what they want to do and what they want to play with, while at the nursery. Older children manage their personal needs well as they put on and take off their coats as they get ready to go outside. A range of resources, which allows writing on the move and provides opportunities to develop writing skills outside, such as chalks and free painting

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who attend

with water and brushes, engages those more reluctant writers. In addition, named coat pegs and self-registration cards help children to identify their name. However, other opportunities to strengthen children's writing skills even further, have not been explored. This includes opportunities, such as the provision of mark-making materials in the role play area and ensuring all staff consistently support children in recognising and writing their name, for example, on artwork. Staff develop young children's communication and language skills effectively as they sit together and discuss the different dressing-up outfits and equipment. Older children eagerly dress-up as favourite superheroes, police and fire officers and discuss with staff what they do. Others enjoy exploring the play doctors set and happily bandage each other's arms whilst staff explain what a stethoscope and thermometer are used for. As a result, children learn to listen and to repeat new words as

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who attend

they play. Through staff's good use of open-ended questions and discussion with children, their language skills are strong and their thinking extended. Older children use their language skills to negotiate their play and express their thoughts. They ask questions as they show their natural curiosity, such as 'what colour will white and red make?' as they mix different coloured paints together. Staff encourage them to try first and see what happens and offer lots of praise as they say, 'pink'. Others independently mix blue and yellow together and say, 'it's going green'. This enhances children's investigation and learning skills effectively. Toddlers and older children learn about volume and capacity as they delight in pouring sand from one container to another. They confidently use mathematical language as they describe the containers being 'full' and 'empty'. Children confidently count how many cats there are in a picture book and then count how many big

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who attend

ones there are. As a result, children develop good number awareness and recognition. Children understand numbers have meaning and they demonstrate their competence and confidence in using mathematics as they play. Consequently, children are active and interested as they are prepared for the next stage in their learning.

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who attend

Children delight in playing together in the role play area as they use dried pasta and baking trays to make cakes for their friends. They recognise colours and the difference in patterns as they make happy and sad faces on peg boards. They laugh together, clearly enjoying themselves as they learn. They name shapes, such as circle, triangle, square and rectangle as they build in the construction area. Consequently, they apply their knowledge to practical situations. Children enjoy the social aspect of their play as they make friends and decide how to spend their time. They delight in sitting in the cosy book corner reading together or playing in the role play area as they use their reading skills and imagination. For example, children enjoy telling each other stories and then use dressing-up clothes to pretend to be Indian princesses. Children learn about programmable toys and information and communication technology as they confidently switch them on and off and use them

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who attend

in their play. Overall, children's independence is effectively promoted. However, there is scope to build upon this and include children more in the breakfast and lunch time routine, for example, by allowing them to serve their own meals and to pour their own drinks, to enhance their participation and strengthen their self-help skills. All children benefit from daily opportunities to play outside. They enthusiastically use cardboard tubes to roll objects down, balance on blocks and use a hose pipe to pretend to fill the cars with petrol. Others enjoy digging in the dirt, looking for worms and other insects which they collect in a jar to show their friends. As a result children's physical skills and understanding of the world are developing well.

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who attend

Good quality information regarding children's needs and the activities which they take part in, is shared with parents. For example, information is shared through informative notice boards, parent workshops, newsletters and parents' events. Through the completion of information regarding children's starting points, parents contribute what they know about their child with the key person. This is enhanced by the sharing of 'Good news certificates' which celebrate when children have been kind or brave. These are complemented by parents completing 'Wow sheets' which detail any special events or achievements from home. Daily discussions regarding their child's progress and a culture of working together to assess and contribute to each child's learning and development record, results in a consistent approach to their learning. Staff are very successful in engaging all parents in supporting their children's learning and consequently, their learning is effectively

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who attend

enhanced. Partnerships with local schools are well developed and sensitive support provided by staff ensures that children are well prepared for their transition into school.

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

Effective key person relationships means that children are happy and settled as they form secure attachments with staff. For example, young babies snuggle into staff as they seek the reassurance of their key person in the presence of visitors to the nursery. Children are confident and interact positively with both staff and other children as they learn to make relationships and develop their personal and social skills. Children show a strong sense of belonging as they hang their coats on their pegs and move around freely both indoors and outside. The learning environment fully promotes children's overall development as they play with good quality resources. All toys and most equipment are freely accessible to babies, toddlers and older children. This encourages them to become active and independent learners and to make choices and decisions about their play. Children are very well supported in their transitions within the nursery. An assigned key person

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

completes a new assessment on the children and this includes information from parents to inform this assessment. Settling-in sessions are undertaken in consultation with parents and consequently, children's individual welfare and development needs are effectively supported, resulting in settled and secure children. This is particularly strong for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and as a result they develop their confidence and future skills for learning well.

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

Children's safety is effectively promoted as they understand what is expected of them regarding their behaviour. Older children actively listen to staff, line up and respond to staff signalling tidy-up time, as they recognise the routines of the day. Children eagerly help put toys back in their boxes and listen carefully to staff about the dangers of throwing sand and running indoors. This helps children to take responsibility and to understand the danger to other children and what they can to do to solve the problem. Consequently, children learn right from wrong and take some responsibility for their own behaviour. Children learn to play cooperatively from an early age as staff encourage them to share and take turns. They regularly participate in the fire drill, which helps them to be aware of keeping themselves safe in an emergency.

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

Children are developing an understanding of a healthy lifestyle as they enjoy regular access to both the indoor and outside learning environments. They delight in climbing, running and riding wheeled toys as they develop their coordination and bodily strength. Babies and toddlers confidently play ball games and explore the slide, tunnel and pots and pans. As a result, children develop their physical skills effectively. Children's good health and self-care is securely embedded as they attend to their personal needs. They talk about good foods as they eat their packed lunch with staff engaging in discussions regarding what are healthy foods. Babies' individual dietary requirements are discussed regularly with parents and meal times adapted to suit their needs. Babies are changed regularly, with hygienic procedures in place. They go to sleep happily with staff close by to help them settle.

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provision

The managers have a very good understanding of their roles and responsibilities with regard to the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage welfare and learning and development requirements. Through effective monitoring of the educational programmes, managers ensure that overall, children are provided with a wide range of challenging experiences. As a result, children make good progress in their learning and development and there is a targeted approach to their individual learning. All staff are very clear and confident of their responsibilities to safeguard children. They fully understand whom to report any concerns to, including the action to be taken in event of an allegation being made against a member of staff. Detailed supporting procedures are in place and well embedded, in order for children to be further protected. Children's safety is of paramount importance. Children are kept safe as the staff complete robust risk assessments for all

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provision

areas of the premises and outings in the local community. These are displayed and checked daily to ensure that they are meaningful and acted upon.

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provision

Through the robust procedures for the supervision and appraisal of staff to monitor their performance, children are kept safe. A training programme for all staff is in place and monitored for its effectiveness. As a result, staff's knowledge and skills are regularly increased to promote the education and development of all children. Regular team meetings are a strong part of the nursery's management procedures. Therefore, staff are able to give their ideas and contribute to the evaluation and development of the nursery. In addition managers actively seek the views of parents and children. The evaluation of the nursery is comprehensive and clear targets are set for improvements, for example, more training to even further develop and improve the quality of teaching. Recommendations from the last inspection have been addressed successfully, which demonstrates a good capacity to improve.

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provision

Highly beneficial relationships with parents and other settings, such as the health and social services, means relevant information, which promotes the health and well-being of children, is effectively shared. As a result, all children are valued and provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. Parents are invited into the nursery to discuss their children. They are also included in the assessment of their children. Comments from parents are very positive and include the good progress their children have made, for example, in their communication and language and personal and social skills.

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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 EY368525 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 911377

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 76 Name of provider Appletree Childcare (Sheffield) Ltd Date of previous inspection 30/10/2008 Telephone number 01142 571 427

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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

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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