Rainbow Childcare

Rainbow Childcare 152 Wakefield Road, Ossett, West Yorkshire, WF5 9AQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/02/2013 19/10/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children are not always provided with learning experiences that help them to make the best start in their learning because their individual starting points gained from parents are not used well enough by all practitioners to support children's individual interests when planning educational programmes.  For the youngest children, the outdoor resources are not sufficient to capture their interest, activities are not planned and there is little adult-initiated play. As a result, not all children enjoy their time outside.  Lack of appropriate record keeping means that staff suitability is not known and there are insufficient staff available at times in some rooms to meet children's needs.

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It has the following strengths

 Children's speech and language development is supported well by staff, using a wide variety of activities and teaching methods.  An effective key person structure means that information about children's individual needs is shared between staff in each room. This ensures that they are well-supported during transitions.  Partnerships with other professionals ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well and that they make good progress in most respects.

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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 the main play rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector held meetings with the nursery manager and the business manager.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's evaluation forms and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of a parent spoken to on the day and from information included in the setting's own evaluations.

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Information about the setting

Rainbow Childcare was registered in 2005 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in purpose-built premises in the Ossett area of Wakefield. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from six rooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 18 members of child care staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 120 children attending who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 ensure staffing levels are sufficient to meet the current legal requirement for ratios so that children's well-being is fully supported at all times

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must:

 obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service check for every member of staff who works directly with the children. Record information about staff vetting procedures including Disclosure and Barring Service checks, reference number, date of disclosure and details of who obtained it

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must:

 improve planning to ensure learning experiences take account of children's individual interests, ensuring that there is enough differentiation in planned activities to consistently meet the learning needs of all children.

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

 obtain information from parents about children's starting points when they first start in the nursery and use this information as a basis for planning to ensure their learning needs are met

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

 improve the outdoor area to achieve a balance of adult- and child-led play and provide children with enjoyable opportunities that support their learning and development.

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who attend

Practitioners have a suitable knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The majority of them use their knowledge to provide a range of age-appropriate activities to promote children's learning. Children's acquisition of language, including those who speak English as an additional language, is supported well through regular conversations during play and activities, care routines and singing. Adult- led activities for older children, such as 'Letters and Sounds' are skilfully delivered to promote their understanding of early literacy and they begin to work together in small groups in preparation for starting school. Partnerships with other professionals ensure that learning experiences are suitable to meet the needs of children with special needs and/or disabilities and as a result, they make good progress in most respects.

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who attend

Using Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage as a guide, practitioners plan activities to support children's next steps and spend time playing with them to support their learning. As a result, children make steady progress towards the early learning goals. Practitioners engage less confident or less able children by maintaining eye contact with them and using physical gestures to convey meaning. One example is encouraging physical development by using a ball and hand gestures to encourage children to move across the floor. Young children's moving and handling skills are promoted effectively during indoor play as they use small tools to transfer sand between different sized containers. They show excitement when the sand falls through the sieve and pours over their hands and they laugh as they try to catch it. Practitioners use opportunities to prompt and question children to make links between their experiences

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who attend

and this extends their learning, such as helping them to understand what coins are used for. Through discussion, practitioners show that they are knowledgeable about children's individual interests. However, the interests of the youngest children are not taken into account when learning experiences are planned and as a result, resources and activities are not managed effectively to ensure all children make better than satisfactory progress in their learning. For example, several children show interest in playing with the sand table but those using it are restricted to two when there is room for four children to play happily together.

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who attend

Practitioners complete observations to help them to understand where children are in their development and assess how to help them make progress in their learning. However, information about the skills children have already acquired is not used in conjunction with the staff's initial assessments to provide a solid basis on which to support individual children's learning. Therefore learning is less targeted when children first attend the setting. Progress towards the early learning goals is monitored through the use of 'matrix sheets'. Practitioners feedback to parents on a daily basis. They also record each child's 'learning journey' for parents through 'progress books' which give them ideas of how to support their children's learning at home. Practitioners in the pre-school rooms are currently completing the progress check at age two.

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who attend

Children are learning to negotiate, share and take turns, for example, taking turns to answer questions during story time. Learning to cooperate and work with others helps to prepare them for the larger social environment when they move on to the local pre- school. They enjoy learning about the world around them through the use of technology. The use of resources, such as small world play and role play are developing their understanding of equality and diversity.

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

Early in the morning, staffing levels in the rooms which the youngest children use are not sufficient to meet the current required ratios of one adult to three children. Other practitioners in the nursery are deployed to meet the staffing requirements across the nursery, however, they are not always in sight and/or hearing of the other rooms, posing a risk to children's well-being. This means that there are sometimes insufficient staff on hand to deal with children's immediate needs. However, in general, children in the nursery appear to be happy and settled. They enjoy close relationships with key people and they seek them out for support when they feel insecure or upset. Practitioners receive information from parents about children's routines, individual care needs and their likes and dislikes. This helps them settle children and provides a smooth transition from home to the setting by ensuring some continuity in their care.

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

Children enjoy a welcoming environment and age-appropriate indoor resources support their all-round development. Practitioners are good role models, prompting children to say, 'Please' and 'Thank you'. Children are developing good peer relationships within their group, demonstrating behaviour which is kind as they share and take turns. They spend time in adjoining rooms so they are building relationships in a larger social group and this supports them during transition when they move into rooms with older children. Age- appropriate explanations support children's developing understanding of right and wrong and this helps them to be well-behaved.

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

Older children enjoy outside play in all weathers where they develop physical skills, while learning how their bodies benefit from healthy exercise. They use equipment for climbing and stepping stones for balancing. They enjoy lively parachute games that encourage them to bend and stretch. However, during the winter, activities for the youngest children are not planned for the outdoor area. Because of this there is not enough adult-initiated play and there are insufficient resources to stimulate children's interests. As a result, not all children enjoy their play time outside. Practitioners ensure drinking water is available and children are given choices of fresh fruit and vegetables at snack and meal times. Home-cooked meals are balanced and nutritious and this supports children's understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Children's independence is promoted well through daily routines. Younger children are encouraged to feed themselves and support

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

is given where needed. They learn personal hygiene through daily routines and this helps to prepare them for independence in school.

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provision

Recruitment procedures are not implemented effectively enough to ensure that staff employed to work in the nursery are suitable to care for young children. The manager does not keep accurate records to show that staff have been through Disclosure and Barring Service checks because records of such checks are incomplete. This means that the management team cannot be certain that children are being kept safe at all times. In other respects, practitioners have a good knowledge of child protection issues. They have completed safeguarding training to develop their understanding of how to keep children safe. Daily checks ensure the physical environment is safe and suitable for children and practitioners follow policies and procedures to safeguard children when in the nursery. Six members of staff hold current first aid certificates and this means that there is always a member of staff in the nursery who can give appropriate treatment if there is an accident

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provision

involving a child in their care. Detailed records are maintained of all visitors to the nursery and a register of the children's attendance, including when they arrive and leave, is in place. The nursery supports parents' understanding of their practice by providing them with copies of the policies and procedures so they are clear about the service they provide.

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provision

The management team have a satisfactory understanding of the learning and development requirements and, through regular assessment and staff appraisal, they monitor how these are implemented. Room leaders access training, such as 'The Early Years Foundation Stage 6 months on' and their knowledge is shared with practitioners through in-house training programmes. Team meetings ensure that information about children's development is shared and any training that ensures the provision meets their needs is addressed. For example, they access training in giving medication and supporting children who have difficulty with feeding.

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provision

The nursery consults with parents through daily feedback, evaluation sheets and annual open days. They respond positively to any suggestions, enabling parents to be involved in the evaluation of her provision. For example, 'Meet the team boards' are displayed outside each room to ensure parents know which staff are caring for their children. Partnership with other settings, such as the local children's centre, schools and other early years providers is effective. This ensures information is shared to support the care of children and provides a smooth transition process for children moving on to the next stage in their learning. The management team evaluate their practice and are aware of the strengths and some of the areas for development in their practice. However, self-evaluation is not sufficiently rigorous to ensure that all legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. Partnerships with the local authority and the local children's centre ensure

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provision

that information is shared about the needs of the community. There are action plans in place to support the nursery's sustainability, such as building an extension to increase provision for funded children. The nursery provides care for children who have special needs and/or disabilities and the professional partnerships they have in place support early intervention.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service check for every member of staff who works directly with the children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  obtain a Disclosure and Barring Service check for every member of staff who works directly with the children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY315014 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 856773

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 63 Number of children on roll 120 Name of provider Anna McKann Date of previous inspection 19/10/2009 Telephone number 01924 277260

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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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