Aldersyde Day Nursery Ltd

Aldersyde The Parade, Grange Road, HARTLEPOOL, Cleveland, TS26 0DS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/05/2013 11/01/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 The very knowledgeable staff team has an excellent awareness of safeguarding children and have robust procedures in place to monitor children's learning and their progress towards the early learning goals. Children make rapid progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points, as they are expertly motivated to learn.  The effective organisation of a key person for each child supports a mutual sharing of information with parents, which is expertly used to benefit all aspects of children's development. Parents' views are extremely well incorporated so that the individual needs of all children are superbly met.  The management team brings great stability to the nursery. The manager is very 'hands-on' in the nursery and she is an inspirational leader. Staff respond very well to her enthusiasm and they work closely with her to constantly meet children's needs.  The manager and staff continually monitor the provision. As a result, they carefully

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This provision is outstanding

identify clear plans for sustained improvement over time to support children's achievements.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager, held discussions with staff and spoke with children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's development records, planning documentation, the provider's self-evaluation form, evidence of suitability of practitioners working in the setting and a range of other records, policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Aldersyde day nursery originally opened in 1991 and was registered as a limited company in 2004. It is registered on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a detached Edwardian House in the town centre area of Hartlepool. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from nine rooms and there are two fully enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 21 members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, and 19 staff hold an appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 5.30pm, excluding bank holidays and two weeks during the summer months. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 96 children attending the nursery. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports 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:

 consider using the local area for exploring both the built and the natural environment. For example, the local park.

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who attend

Children show high levels of independence, curiosity, imagination and concentration. The educational programme reflects a range of rich, varied and imaginative experiences that meet the needs of all children. Staff's excellent understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage helps them to plan effectively around children interests and abilities. This ensures that teaching continually challenges children so they make rapid progress in their learning and development. Staff have developed very effective records of children's progress against each area of learning, which helps them to identify if there is any delay or gaps in their development. Children with identified special educational needs or disabilities are supported effectively through staff meeting regularly with outside professionals and support workers. They use the information gained from these meetings to plan appropriate steps in children's learning and development.

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who attend

Children are confident, happy and self-assured as they are free to take part in the many and varied activities inside and outdoors, and can explore resources in their own way and in their own time, helping them to become independent. Staff are skilled, knowing when to interact with children to extend their play and learning and when to allow them to play without their direct involvement. Babies and young children use staff as a secure base from which to explore independently in their playroom. Staff have incorporated recent training that they have attended, which recommends that children should have restrictive clothing removed to enable them to move freely in the environment. This has a very positive impact on babies movement, for example they take their first tentative steps with staff support. From a young age children make their needs known to staff. They communicate through the sounds they make, which develop over time into single words

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who attend

and then sentences. Pre-school children are enthusiastic about letters and the sounds that they make as they develop early reading skills. They respond with suggestions when staff ask what a word starts with and name other words with the same letter with success. They make their own suggestions for words and then say the sound of that word. There is consistent access in each age group to sand, water and craft activities. Babies enjoy walking through, sitting in and feeling the textures in the floor level sand and water trays. Other textures are explored as children aged one to two years play with shaving foam. They push toys through it, spread it with their hands and make marks with their fingers. These activities encourage children's large motor movements. Well-resourced imaginative areas enable children to develop their imaginative skills. For example, they pretend that they are making a cup of tea and pass a cup to another child. Children enjoy using

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who attend

number in their everyday play. They recognise written numbers and confidently count up to 14. Resources such as large number jigsaws help them to understand the order that the numbers go from nought to nine. Overall, children's learning and development is in line with the expected developmental ranges for their age. As a result, they are obtaining the skills, attitudes and dispositions they need to be ready for school or the next stage of learning.

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who attend

A particular strength of the nursery is the excellent working relationship that it has with parents, which engages parents in all aspects of their child's learning. Staff have informed them about the prime and specific areas of learning and how that impacts on their children. Parents of very young children note their children's achievements or interests on a post it note, which they add to a display board in their child's nursery room. Parents of older children have contributed to their children's Learning Journey through completing a form based on the Prime areas of learning, which informs staff about the children's interests at home. Pre-school staff have developed 'Communication Friendly Space' bags for children and parents to borrow and use at home. These contain various resources that stimulate children's imagination and promote communication at home. Parents contribute by recording what their child has done with the resources and include photographs. Staff

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who attend

then use all this information to effectively plan activities for individual children based on their interests.

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

Highly-skilled staff ensure that children are helped to form secure emotional attachments. Staff's warm approach helps them to settle quickly, helps them to feel safe and secure and aids a smooth transition from home into staff's care. Staff work exceptionally well with parents to quickly identify their needs. Parents complete a form about their child's needs, likes and dislikes and what they are able to do in the prime areas of learning. This helps staff to accurately identify the next steps in their child's development. Behaviour is very good and children enjoy social time together at mealtimes and during their activities. Staff quickly intervene if there are any disagreements with children and use lots of praise and stickers to recognise children's efforts, which promotes their self-esteem. Staff use gentle reminders regarding how children can keep themselves safe. For example, they remind children about how to walk down the stairs from the first floor safely. The spacious, light

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

and airy environment is inspiring and challenges children to learn continually through the extensive range of highly stimulating resources. These are organised invitingly for children to make their own choices, which promotes their confidence and self-assurance.

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

Children learn about health and hygiene because staff are very skilled in promoting this most effectively through daily routines. At snack time staff help children to recognise what they are eating by talking about the colour and naming the fruit. Activities where children sort out unhealthy and healthy foods help them to develop an understanding of healthy eating. From an early age staff encourage children to manage their own self-care. At lunch time children aged from birth to two years sit together on low-level seating round tables. They are provided with spoons and forks and develop skills to feed themselves. Drinks are available in each of the playrooms so that older children can identify their own cup and help themselves at any time. Children benefit greatly from the large garden areas that are attractively set out. Children run round the open space. They practiSe catching and throwing skills with a bean bag. Wheeled toys encourage children to navigate the space as

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

they sit on them and push themselves round with their feet. Water and brushes is provided so that children make lines and circular marks on the wall as part of early writing skills. Staff work hard to develop children's understanding of the world around us. They invite in other professionals, such as fire personnel and the dentist so that children learn about their work. They incorporate children's interests into planning such as a child's visit to the farm and interest in buses. However, they do not make the most of the local environment by taking children out on visits, to develop their understanding about features of the immediate environment, such as the local park.

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

The strong skills of staff ensure that children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning. Prior to children moving up a room they have visits with their key person, which helps them get used to the staff and children. When it is time for children to move to school, staff invite the teacher to come and visit the nursery so that children become familiar with them. As a result, of the exceptional care offered by staff, children learn independence skills which will support and promote their future learning and eventual move to school.

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provision

High priority is given to children's safety and welfare. The nursery is very well run by a knowledgeable, dedicated and reflective management team. Staff have a very good understanding of safeguarding procedures and capably describe procedures for reporting all concerns or incidents to relevant agencies to protect children from harm or neglect. The safeguarding children policy includes effective procedures to follow in the event of an allegation against staff. Procedures for whistleblowing, the use of mobile phones and cameras are also in place to safeguard children. Daily risk assessments for all areas of the nursery are carried out, which ensure that all aspects of the premises remain safe for children. Children are further safeguarded by the nursery's robust employment procedures which ensure the suitability of staff who work with the children. This is evident in the well- established committed staff team, with the majority having worked at the nursery for a

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provision

long time. Annual appraisals, staff supervision and management observations of staff's work, enables the manager to sharply focus evaluations of staff practice to identify their strengths and areas for further development and training.

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provision

The manager has an excellent overview of the educational programmes through effective monitoring. She analyses children's progress annually, which helps her to identify the progress that they make from their starting points, and if there are any gaps in staff's understanding, which can be addressed by staff attending training. This helps the nursery to maintain high levels of sustained achievement for all children. Managers and staff set themselves extremely high standards and excellent systems are in place to help them continually reflect on their practice. Self-evaluation processes actively contribute to the highly effective provision and the outstanding service they provide. Room staff meet together to identify improvements for their age groups. This feeds into the overall nursery self-evaluation which the manager completes with the management team. Highly effective action plans are produced which enable staff to bring about the improvements with

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provision

success. For example, recent action plans that have been implemented have brought about a higher involvement of parents in their children's learning and development in the setting. The recommendations raised at the last inspection have been effectively implemented. For example, the recording of observations of children's activities is consistent throughout the nursery and these clearly identify the areas of learning that they link into, helping staff to effectively plan the next step in children's learning and development.

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provision

Staff place the utmost priority on positive partnerships with parents and other professionals to enhance children's care, learning and development. As a result, this is a key strength of the nursery. Parents and carers were extremely enthusiastic about their child's care, learning and development at the nursery. They stated that they chose it because their child is comfortable there. They are kept fully informed about their child's activities and development and feel that they could raise any concerns with staff.

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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 EY286959 Local authority Hartlepool Inspection number 916938

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 75 Number of children on roll 96 Name of provider Aldersyde Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 11/01/2010 Telephone number 01429 263891

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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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