Baby Ducks

Baby Ducks St Nicholas and St Andrew Parish Centre, South Street, Portslade, BRIGHTON, East Sussex, BN41 2LE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/06/2013 14/01/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The staff provide a safe and caring environment where children's personal, social and emotional development is truly encouraged.  The staff help children develop confidence and a positive awareness of how to keep themselves safe.  There is a very good range of resources inside and out that promote children's learning as they make independent choices about their play.  Children benefit greatly from outdoor play experiences that support their physical development and a healthy lifestyle.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children have access to writing tools but are not always consistently encouraged to make use of these in their play.

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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 children and activities in the playrooms and outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the owner and manager of the nursery and carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector spoke to staff, children and parents during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of safeguarding practices, staff recruitment, ongoing professional development and self-evaluation processes.

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Information about the setting

Baby Ducks nursery is privately run and registered in 2012. It operates at the St Nicholas and St Andrews Parish Centre, in the Portslade area of Brighton and Hove. Children use the main hall and one smaller room, with access to an outdoor play area. The nursery is open five days a week, during term time only. It runs Monday to Thursday from 8.30am to 3.30pm, with a morning session only on Fridays until 12.30pm.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 29 childrenaged from two years on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery care provides support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

There are seven members of staff, four of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least National Vocational Qualification at level 3 and two are currently at level 2. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year- olds.

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

 encourage children further to experiment with writing.

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who attend

Staff effectively promote children's learning and development as they get to know them well. Key persons competently assess children's progress from their starting points and identify the next step in their learning using a national childcare development guide. They plan appropriate activities and make resources available that reflect children's interests. As a result, this engages children and motivates them to join in. The key person ably produces the progress check reports for two-year-olds that they share with parents. Staff encourage parents to share children's achievements at home. Because parents are made aware of individual children's identified next stages in their learning, they can support these at home. This enables them to contribute to their child's assessment process. Regular two-way communication means that parents know how well their child is progressing. Staff competently support any additional learning and development need a

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who attend

child may have, such as for speech and language. They support individual learning plans within planned group activities so children feel included and not singled out. The staff know that speech and language exercises benefit all children in improving their communication and language skills.

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who attend

Children settle well and demonstrate positive personal, social and emotional development. They are clearly gaining the skills and abilities they need to support their future learning. Staff help prepare children well for school. Small group activities, such as a memory game help children learn to take turns, listen and play cooperatively with others. Children confidently make choices about their play. They enjoy activities when the staff join in but are also happy playing on their own or with friends. For example, children make models with construction bricks together or sit looking at a book on their own. The staff value children's contributions, ideas and suggestions. For example, their artwork is displayed and staff support children who decide that adding water to the sand will make it easier to make sand castles.

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who attend

The outdoor play area is very popular, providing opportunities across the areas of learning. Children demonstrate their physical abilities as they manoeuvre the ride in cars or scooters. They help to grow plants and seeds in the outdoor garden trays and get water for them. Children dig and explore a tray full of soil, using a range of physical skills. This also helps with children's understanding of the natural world. The staff extend children's learning by following up on their finds or questions by looking up information in reference books or on the internet. There are early writing materials and tools available indoors and outside, supporting children's literacy skills. However, the staff do not always fully encourage children to use these for different purposes as they play.

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

The staff create a welcoming and child-friendly environment with a very good range of accessible resources, that fully supports children's learning and development needs. The staff are attentive to children's needs and develop very positive relationships with them. Each key person has a good knowledge of their key children and ensures that activity planning supports their ongoing progress. Children are very settled and extremely happy. They gain independence skills and confidence. This helps support them when they go to school, attend other settings or deal with new situations and unfamiliar people. Children learn responsible behaviours. For example, children carry out small tasks, such as putting left over foods in the bin or pouring their own drinks. The children who are due to go to school have their packed lunches to unpack. This is so staff can note if children have difficulties with certain packaging that they can then inform parents about. The snacks are

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

healthy and children choose from a variety of healthy options, such as grapes or apples. The staff provide parents with informative detail about healthy eating for young children. This includes detail such as portion sizes or ideas for a healthy lunch box. It also informs them about the positive changes in school dinners since they were at school.

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

The children gain a good awareness of the need for a healthy lifestyle. For example, they understand that they need to wear hats in the sun or use umbrellas in the rain. They enjoy outdoor play and benefit from being able to make the choice of whether they play indoors or outside. The staff ably promote children's physical development as children easily manoeuvre the ride on toys or use various tools and containers as they explore the sand.

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

The staff supervise children well but are very aware of the need for children to take calculated risks. For example, they walk confidently up the steps to the outdoor area. Children learn to keep safe as they practise fire drills. They demonstrate their awareness of safety as they do not cross the line of cones with the ride-on cars or when watching the fence being put up. Children play cooperatively with others, such as sharing resources and pay attention to what the staff say. Their behaviour is very good and the staff are beginning to use elements of the HighScope early education approach to help children resolve disagreements themselves.

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provision

The staff meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements very well. There is a good awareness across the staff team of how to keep children safe but enable them to take calculated risks. For example, as they supervise children balancing and walking on the rocks in the garden area. The safeguarding procedures are very clear and staff know what their responsibilities are and who to contact if there is a concern. The staff complete and maintain the accident or incident records well, with parents signing to show they have been informed. The manager regularly monitors the records so she can note any patterns or concerns. The premises are secure and staff take care in keeping children safe in the outdoor play area. The staff carry out risk assessments and complete daily checks. The staff are devising ways to involve the children more in assessing risks to build on their already good awareness of safety. A robust recruitment process is in place to help ensure

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provision

the suitability of staff. There is effective support for staff's continuing professional development with regular supervision, annual appraisals and the availability of training. As a result, staff are motivated and involved in plans to improve outcomes for children. The nursery demonstrates a strong capacity to maintain improvement.

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provision

The manager carefully monitors how well key persons cover the areas of learning for each child. From the detail available, she can look to see if there are any gaps for different groups of children. For example, the manager can monitor children who are two years old or for boys, as well as viewing each key group. This ensures that planning and assessment covers all of the educational programmes effectively. She is currently devising a more comprehensive system to easily show how well individual children are progressing to ensure there are no achievement gaps. Currently, detail is available through the key persons' tracking sheets and summary reports. The staff team regularly evaluate their practices and are very aware of their strengths. They are in the process of working on the recommendation from their last inspection. The staff engage with parents and children to decide on improvements. Since the last inspection, a garden area has been developed in

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provision

the outdoor area. Each key group has their own garden box where they grow plants and seeds donated by parents. Currently, they are placing a fence along one wall, to provide improved safety and shade. Plans are in place to enable children to have easier access to the water butt, so they can use this in their play.

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provision

The staff establish good partnerships with parents and others to positively support children's individual learning and development needs. For example, support for children who have individual plans for speech and language is met well within planned activities. Liaison with parents and others, including other early years settings and health care professionals, helps to ensure that there is a consistent approach to meeting children's needs.

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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 EY448830 Local authority Brighton & Hove Inspection number 921648 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 29 Name of provider Gary Robert Cambell-Smith Date of previous inspection 14/01/2013 Telephone number 01273 911 373

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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