Moorlands Day Nursery

Moorlands Day Nursery Moorlands Children's Nursery, 340-342 Chorley New Road, Horwich, BOLTON, BL6 5PS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 thrive in the friendly, safe and caring atmosphere, well supported by experienced, consistent staff and effectively planned transitions through the nursery. As a result, they develop secure relationships and become confident, independent and enthusiastic learners.  Children make good progress and achieve well. Staff have a good awareness of how young children learn and create a stimulating and effective environment that supports children's curiosity, their keenness to explore and ability to follow through their own ideas and thinking.  Good leadership helps the nursery to continually improve. Managers understand quality practice and they effectively monitor, evaluate and encourage reflection. As a result, since registration, significant improvements have already been made that enhance the quality of the provision for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The organisation of space in outside play areas means that children, particularly in the lower toddler and pre-school areas, cannot always challenge their physical skills or use their large movements to their full capacity.  Occasionally, not all staff are deployed to best possible effect, particularly following children's lunch time. As a result, not all classroom children fully engage in story time.

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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 compulsory part 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 care practices and the delivery of children's activities in the baby room, the toddler room, upper toddlers and the classroom. The inspector also observed lunch time in the first floor area and outside play for all children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children at play and spoke with them at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 Discussions were held with staff, room leaders, parents, the manager and joint provider.

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Inspection activities

 A range of the nursery's documentation was examined, including the evaluation of how well it is doing, documents relating to monitoring and systems for tracking children's progress, documents regarding the safeguarding of children and key policies and procedures, including staff suitability checks.  The inspector took account of the nursery's most recent parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Moorlands Day Nursery originally opened in 1989 and was re-registered under new ownership in 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in the Horwich area of Bolton, and is managed by Ellanday Nurseries Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from four main playrooms on the ground floor of the building with additional rooms available on both the ground and first floor for library, dining and physical education activities. All children have access to fully enclosed areas for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round with the exception of a week at Christmas and bank holidays, from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. At present, there are 80 children on roll who are in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a small number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 18 members of childcare staff. Of these, 16 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, and of these, three hold qualifications at level 5. The nursery also employs several support staff including an administrator, caretaker, cook and cleaner.

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

 implement the planned action to improve outside play provision and reappraise how outside space is used to fully enable all children to enjoy energetic play and challenge their physical skills in safe ways, such as by using wheeled toys in clear space or by providing large portable equipment that children can move about safely and cooperatively to create their own structures

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

 reappraise the deployment of staff during transitions in the daily routine to ensure children's opportunities for learning are of consistently high quality, particularly during story time after lunch, in order to more effectively support children to listen to stories with increasing attention and recall.

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who attend

Children's enthusiasm for learning and the levels in which they succeed, is enhanced by experienced staff who have a good understanding of how to promote learning through play. Interaction between staff and every child is strong. This impacts significantly on the progress children make, particularly in communication and language, physical development and their personal, social and emotional development. Staff model rich language as they talk to children. Those working with the youngest children 'tune in' to their non-verbal cues as well as their emergent sounds and words, and they repeat them clearly. Consequently, babies begin to make attempts at verbal communication at an early stage. Staff question older children appropriately in play and allow time for them to think. They offer commentary during sand and water play, for example, encouraging children to notice the 'waterfall', when the tub is 'full to the top' and by counting the number of items

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who attend

they find hiding under the sand. By the time they are of pre-school age and in the 'classroom', children are very confident communicators who use talk to make relationships, make their needs known, find out information and to direct the sequence of play. Their confidence in speaking is significantly enhanced by their strong relationships with staff, their sense of security and levels of self-confidence.

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who attend

The well-planned continuous play provision is enhanced by secure planning and monitoring across the areas of learning. This ensures all areas are promoted both in play and through targeted adult-led experiences, with specific learning intentions in mind. Consequently, children thrive in the highly stimulating and imaginatively resourced environment. For example, babies show real curiosity and are inspired to become mobile when they are provided with some fascinating items to investigate in all corners of their room. They are stimulated to pull themselves up to stand, using the bar on the wall mounted mirror to view their reflection. They crawl across to the activity garden and explore treasure baskets. These include a wide range of natural materials and interesting items to investigate. Babies hide under fabric pieces, well supported to play 'peep' when they explore the concept of object permanence. They roll into balls and crawl to chase

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who attend

balloons across the floor. Learning opportunities are built into all parts of the daily routine. For example, young babies learn to anticipate mealtimes when they see familiar feeding equipment being brought into the room, young toddlers learn to associate words with actions when they take part in singing sessions before lunch, and in the classroom, children learn to recognise their own names on their placemat. However, following lunch when staff need to clean the area they are not always deployed to the best possible effect. Children wait for an extended period and this then impacts on their ability to listen and retain attention during story time. Children are well supported by the continuous play and learning provision throughout the nursery. By the time they enter the classroom, children are already becoming independent learners who follow their own ideas and thinking, and by the time they leave the nursery children are well prepared for the next

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who attend

The individual outside areas for every room enhance the continuous play provision and thus opportunities for learning for every child. Most areas offer stimulating and inviting play spaces, which are a hive of activity. Here, staff demonstrate how they use children's individual interests to enhance their learning experiences. For example, following children's interest in insects staff made a bug hotel for children to collect them and explore what they do. Children demonstrate their real sense of curiosity outside and a keenness to explore and investigate. Young toddlers watch woodlice with fascination and notice features of the environment, such as the wind blowing a flag and an apron on the washing line, while older children mould mounds of wet 'mulch' to make pies. Some outdoor areas have been recently enhanced and provide children with opportunities to learn in different ways. For example, children in the classroom sit on rugs or tree stumps

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who attend

under the canopy where they enjoy looking at books or completing jigsaws together and they use the playhouse in an open-ended way to develop their imaginations. Their ability to think about the resources they want, to access them freely and use them to support their ideas, extends their engagement. They challenge their physical skills readily balancing on the tyres and riding wheeled toys down the ramp, although a lack of clear space impacts on their ability to stretch themselves further and use their large movements in other ways.

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who attend

The accuracy of monitoring individual children's progress, using the comprehensive observation and assessment process, including a recently implemented tracker, ensures that children who need additional support are identified. Relevant advice is sought and targeted interventions are matched to their needs, therefore, ensuring that they continue to make progress. As a result, for example, children who are also learning English as an additional language and who have progressed through the nursery, achieve generally in line with expectations in almost all areas. This is because staff understand the need to value and reinforce their home languages by obtaining key words from parents. Children's starting points are discussed before their first day at nursery and staff work closely with parents during settling-in visits to establish what children can already do. This is recorded in their 'all about me' information so staff can clearly demonstrate how children have

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who attend

made progress since. Parents' evenings or 'stay and play' sessions provide parents with an opportunity to keep updated about their child's progress and to contribute their own observations of their child, to help inform staff's assessment and plans for future learning.

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

Highly experienced, consistent and long-serving staff ensure that all children are well cared for and form secure emotional attachments in the nursery. This provides a very strong base for babies developing independence and exploration and for all children developing skills for their future learning. The role of the key person is well embedded and provides securely for individual children's emotional well-being. As a result children's personal, social and emotional development is very good. All children are settled, happy and show an extremely strong sense of belonging within the nursery. Their transition through the nursery is very well managed and has been recently improved through the re- organisation of some rooms, providing a seamless change from one to the next. As a result, throughout the nursery children explore with interest and display high levels of confidence. Their ability to make relationships, underpinned by their good levels of self-

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

awareness and strong communication skills, is demonstrated from an early stage when they initiate conversations, are curious and ask questions, and when they seek out particular staff or children to play.

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

The wealth of experience across the staff team means they know the nursery very well. They are confident in managing children's care and, as a result, routines are calm and fluid, right across the nursery. The calm, relaxed atmosphere along with positive, nurturing relationships means that children are in turn relaxed. They know the consistent routines and because they are supported to operate independently they respond without over-direction. For example, babies cooperate with nappy changing by lifting up their legs as soon as they lie on the mat. Older children play cooperatively with friends and direct their younger peers to make sure they play safely. Staff manage children's behaviour well giving clear instructions and positive reinforcement. As a result, their behaviour is good and from a very early stage they know when they have done well and clap hands in response.

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

Children's good health and safety are well promoted. Staff adopt comprehensive hygiene practices and the nursery is very clean throughout. This is also facilitated by recent and on-going investment in the re-decoration and re-carpeting of parts of the premises. Individual care plans are in place for every child and implemented with care. For example, young babies are provided with foods blended specifically to their stage of weaning. All children enjoy home-cooked meals. They develop healthy tastes at an early stage, enjoying vegetable sticks for snack and by the time they are in classroom most select fruit rather than yoghurt following their meal. Children's ability to understand how to care for themselves is very well developed. Once toilet trained they access bathrooms integral to their playrooms, independently. They pour their own drink of water from a jug when they are thirsty and they take off their own shoes and swap them for wellington boots when

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

they want to play in the 'mulch' pit. These skills and attributes mean that children are very well prepared for school. Their transition to school is well supported. The nursery links closely with receiving teachers, some of whom, visit the children in nursery. Information is shared so that children's care and learning needs are known.

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provision

Leaders and managers demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of, and commitment to, meeting requirements. Arrangements for safeguarding are strong and well embedded with the designated officer and all practitioners having received training. As a result, they are secure in their understanding of procedures to follow in the event of concerns about children or about a colleague. The premises are secure and well maintained. Safeguarding procedures are freely accessible for parents and staff. Recruitment and selection procedures are comprehensively carried out, ensuring that all those working with children are safe and suitable to do so. Individual staff induction is well planned with mentoring provided.

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provision

Children's progress and the quality of teaching are monitored closely by the managers who regularly work alongside staff in the playrooms to model effective practice and conduct peer observation. A range of monitoring tools are used to check staff performance, including regular appraisals, staff meetings and staff supervision. The quality of staff observations of children's learning and progress is monitored, to ensure that they are accurate and used effectively. Additionally, systems have recently been put in place to monitor the progress of different groups of children such as boys and girls. This helps to identify any groups achieving below typical expectations, so that this can be addressed through provision and teaching practice. Good leadership helps the nursery continually improve. Both the providers, one of whom is also the manager, are very effectively using their previous knowledge and experience of

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provision

managing the nursery to carefully consider what works successfully and where improvements can be made. They have already made a positive difference following their take-over of the nursery several months ago. They have evaluated how space is used and changed the use of some of the rooms. As a result, all children are now based on the ground floor and have free-flow access to outside learning to enhance their indoor opportunities. Additionally, several rooms now join on to one another and are used interchangeably for different parts of the day. This significantly supports children's transitions. Leaders are highly motivated and there is a strong commitment to investment and further driving up quality. Their plans for improvement are relevant and, for example, they have already identified the need to continue to develop the outdoor learning provision.

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provision

The manager and deputy are both supernumerary and are readily available for guidance and advice. They value and support a long established team of experienced and well- qualified staff who have a good knowledge of the children, each other and the nursery. They meet regularly to plan and share information together. They are reflective and use new knowledge gained from training sessions well. Consequently, the period of change has been well managed and staff share the vision for quality and work effectively together to keep children safe and help them learn.

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provision

Partnerships are effective. The nursery liaises closely with schools, which helps children's transition when the time comes. They also provide children's learning journey records for parents when children leave the nursery and a summary of children's attainment, forming part of the progress check at age two. Parents are highly complimentary about the nursery and enthuse about the long-term relationships developed, the trust in being able to use the nursery for each of their children over a number of years and the confident, independent learners that children become.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY457836 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 895949 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 80 Name of provider Ellanday Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01204 669 518

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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

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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