Annabelle's

Annabelle's Willow Dene, Great Coxwell Road, Great Coxwell, FARINGDON, Oxfordshire, SN7 7LU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/05/2013 17/01/2012

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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

 Children are active, motivated learners, independently accessing the abundant range of toys and stimulating resources very well to initiate and plan their play and learning.  Good quality planning places strong emphasis on promoting children's personal, social and emotional development, their communication and language and physical skills.  The key person arrangement is highly effective in establishing secure, emotional attachments with children and good partnerships with parents enabling them to take a very active part in the nursery.  Risk assessments and daily safety checks inside and outside are thorough and provide safe play environments for children.  The manager is very passionate and successfully motivates staff's enthusiasm through effective coaching and mentoring and monitoring of quality.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The understanding of some staff about the two year progress check is not as robust as other staff so there are some minor inconsistencies in the quality of these assessments.

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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's play in all of the base rooms and outside.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector had discussions with staff, children, the manager and three parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed a sample of children's planning and progress information, staff records, policies, the complaints file, risk assessments and parent questionnaire responses.

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Information about the setting

Annabelle's was registered in 2007. It is a privately run nursery that operates from a converted detached house in Great Coxwell, near Farringdon in Oxfordshire. Children are accommodated in a variety of rooms, according to age, over the ground and first floor. Children have use of a library area, sleep room, large kitchen and dining area, music room and a multi-function room. The extensive outside areas are divided up to include a paddock, open grass area and sand pit, hard-standing roundabout area, separate garden areas for babies and children under three years, a music room and outdoor classroom. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am until 6.30pm throughout the year, with the exception of bank holidays. The nursery provides a drop off and collection service for children attending schools and pre-schools in the local area and surrounding villages.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 376 children on roll aged between birth and 11 years. It provides funded early education for children age three and four and out of school and holiday care for school age children. The nursery employs 22 members of staff, to work directly with the children. The nursery manager and deputy both hold Early Years Professional Status and qualifications at level 4. Three staff are currently in their fourth year of a Foundation Degree in Early Years and all other staff hold childcare qualifications at level 3.

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

 develop consistency in staff's understanding of how to complete the progress check at age two.

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who attend

Children flourish in the nursery because the key person arrangements are good. Staff liaise closely with parents during settling in sessions to gain detailed knowledge about children's likes, dislikes, interests and starting points. As a result, staff know their key children's individual needs very well, so they can target planning effectively to any close gaps in their learning from the outset. Planning across the nursery is consistent with staff identifying, as a team, two fixed areas of learning each month to focus activities. Each week staff choose a set number of children within their group and plan in depth activities across the two key areas of learning based on the children's next steps. This ensures activities are appropriate and challenge their skills and learning effectively. Additional factors influencing each weeks planning include, national events, such as Comic Relief, children's holidays or a theme, such as mini beasts. Staff use this knowledge and

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who attend

information gained from on-going observation and assessment to plan a balance of stimulating activities across all areas of learning. These increase children's experiences and knowledge further ensuring children enjoy a balanced curriculum. Overall, staff make good use of the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance to assess closely their key children's learning and stage of development.

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who attend

Children benefit from small group work, one-to-one activities with their key person and whole group time to provide a good range of different learning opportunities. This promotes their confidence and ability to work co-operatively with their friends and helps them to learn in different ways. Planning for the seven areas of learning outside is developing with training and action plans in place to extend further children's experiences. Nevertheless, all children enjoy outside play daily. They have fun in the paddock, use large equipment in the younger children's gardens and have weekly French classes in an outdoor area. Children name and talk about various bug pictures during show and tell, increasing their confidence successfully at speaking in a group. The have fun going on bug hunts to explore the natural environment, counting legs or spots on the different insects, to cleverly introduce numbers. Children learn to move in different ways as they imitate

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who attend

different bugs, such as jumping on the trampoline and pretending to be frogs. The stimulating baby room provides many opportunities for children to climb, crawl and practise their early and independent walking. Children enjoy lots of treasure basket play which promotes children's curiosity as they explore how to use the wooden spoon to create different sounds in the pan and investigate different textures.

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who attend

Children throughout the nursery benefit from rich learning experiences that promote their communication and language. The tiny babies are most responsive to their key person's voice as they make eye contact, their face brightening and their arms and legs kicking in excitement. Babies have fun moving to music and begin to recognise parts of their body as they join in some actions for head, shoulders, knees and toes. Children have great fun in the music room. They explore and play instruments to their favourite songs and rhymes and begin to repeat words spoken by staff. Children are active, motivated learners who respond well to staff's positive and skilful interaction. Staff commentate on activities, speak clearly and ask good questions. This has a positive impact on children's engagement and learning. As a result, children make very good progress in their speaking, listening and understanding skills.

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who attend

Staff in preschool have high expectations of children to challenge and develop their early writing and reading skills. The graphics area is inviting and well resourced and staff make excellent use of circle time and everyday routines and activities to introduce letters and sounds. Children make caterpillars, finding the circles with the correct letters for their name and have fun playing word association games to identify the letter and day of the week. Staff sound out the initial letter for younger and less confident children's names and encourage them to think of another word that begins with that letter. As a result, children are motivated and confidently link sounds to letters.

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

Children adopt healthy habits and good independence in their personal care from a young age. A fun five minutes of exercise at the beginning of each day, stretching, bending and running around as aeroplanes, invigorates and prepares children's enthusiasm for learning. They are active and practise different skills using climbing apparatus, ride on toys and trampolines. They practise their manipulative skills by cutting and using writing tools. Children enjoy a wide range of healthy, home-cooked food in good quantities, exclaiming confidently 'this lunch is really yummy'. Changing the menu every term, enables staff, children and parents to contribute ideas and experience food they have grown in the nursery allotment. Encouraging children to eat in the multi-functional dining room, helps introduce school routines, and prepares children for school. Children's understanding of safety is threaded through play and daily routines. They learn that some resources such as

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

sand and dough tools must be used with care, and know that not more than two people may be on the trampoline at any one time.

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

All children are happy, move around the playrooms confidently and have real drive to succeed owing to the trusting relationships established with their key person. New children quickly build close bonds and by tailoring settling-in and arrangements for moving rooms with parents to each child's needs. This helps children to feel safe and build good relationships. For example, regular visits with their key person to the next age group help them to become familiar with routines and staff over time. The child's key person completes an informative report and shares this with the child's new key person. This enables them to tailor support and activities according to the key child's individual needs. As a result, transitions to the next age group are smooth and support children's emotional wellbeing effectively. Children are confident, express their needs, and in preschool readily talk about their feelings during circle time. Children play nicely with their friends making

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

their train track and work co-operatively to carry the big box of building blocks. Complying with expectations, making friends, learning self-care skills and being interested in their activities, means all children enjoy their nursery experiences. This helps them gain good skills and attitudes to support smooth moves to the next age group and underpin preschool children's eventual move to school.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding are thorough and well implemented by staff and management to protect children's welfare. Children stay safe because staff have good awareness of the nursery's policies and procedures and implement safety and security measures robustly. Good awareness of child protection issues and the procedures to follow with any child welfare concerns means prompt action is taken to protect children's welfare. Room leaders are responsible for undertaking rigorous daily risk assessments of their base rooms and outside areas, so that children throughout the nursery play in a safe, secure environment. New picket fencing to section part of the garden specifically for the younger children enables staff to monitor more closely children's safety and wellbeing. Staff are vigilant, routinely checking that safety gates and outside gates are secure and encourage children's safe use of the stairs. A gardener helps to maintain the grounds one

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provision

day a week trying to keep walkways and play areas safe for children. There is a robust complaints procedure in place and the manager makes sure that this is fully implemented if necessary.

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provision

The highly motivated manager implements robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures to ensure that new staff are suitable to work with children. She monitors and assesses staff's performance very closely through twice-yearly appraisals, frequent supervision and by undertaking regular observations of staff. These run parallel to the room leaders monitoring methods to help coach their staff with planning, giving staff strong mutual support and mentoring. This creates an effective and highly committed staff team. The manager is a very good role model for professional development having achieved Early Years Professional Status and actively encourages staff's access to training. As a result, a number of staff are currently working towards a foundation degree in childcare or undertaking additional childcare qualifications. Staff meetings every four weeks provide good opportunities to share and evaluate training, and exchange good

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provision

practice ideas to encourage continuous improvements.

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provision

Comprehensive methods of self-evaluation are inclusive and effective overall. The team analyse feedback from detailed parent questionnaires, Ofsted's self-evaluation, previous inspection reports and additional auditing methods to agree priorities for improvements. This has led to well targeted actions and meaningful improvements for children and parents. These include changing the menu and mealtime routines, improving children's access to resources, establishing two-way communications with other providers and devising a new parents' pack. As a result, children enjoy their food and eat very well, parents feel very well informed about the EYFS, and children are now very independent learners. Management make excellent use of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale and the infant and toddler auditing process to assess the quality of children's learning and development. This highlights robustly strengths and key improvements,

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provision

including developing the vast outside play spaces. As a result, the educational programmes provide many useful learning experiences for children. Staff use the prime areas of learning cleverly to underpin children's development and children now have individual trays for their personal items to help them feel a strong sense of belonging. Overall, assessments are robust and well-monitored by staff, thought there are some minor inconsistencies in the implementation of the progress check at age two.

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provision

Children are happy and their individual needs are well met because their key person establishes close and highly positive partnerships with their parents. This encourages their involvement in the nursery and nurtures engagement in their children's learning extremely well. Parents value the staff's hard work, good communication and numerous opportunities to engage fully in their children's education. They receive lots of on-going information through several newsletters each term to identify areas of the curriculum and associated activities taking place. Parents take home their children's learning journal every month and actively participate in termly progress meetings with their child's key person. Overall, this enables parents to frequently evaluate their child's progress, share additional learning taking place at home and jointly agree learning priorities.

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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 EY364740 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 912284

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 11 Total number of places 72 Number of children on roll 376 Name of provider Annabelle Lucy Wills Date of previous inspection 17/01/2012 Telephone number 07971 804 165

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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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