Pre-School Learning Alliance Bulwell Childcare

Pre-school Learning Alliance Bulwell Childcare Bulwell Children's Centre, Steadfold Close, Bulwell, NOTTINGHAM, NG6 8AX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/05/2013 08/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children are happy and enjoy attending this welcoming setting. They form secure attachments with staff, who meet their daily needs, help them to feel safe and promotes their health and well-being well.  Children are safeguarded well; risks to children are minimised through effective procedures, good supervision and vigilant staff.  A suitable variety of resources and play experiences are provided so that children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 Planning and observation is not consistently completed or evaluated. As a result, activities are sometimes not planned to enable children to make the best progress.  Monitoring of the educational programmes is not fully effective. As a result, there are gaps in some children's learning and development.  Self-evaluation lacks rigour as it does not include and take account of the views of parents and children, to help inform priorities for improvement in line with their needs.  Children's communication, literacy and sense of identity, is not always effectively promoted, particularly for those children who speak English as an additional language.

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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 baby room, main play areas, the outside learning environment and children having their lunchtime meal.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journey records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working in the setting and a range of other records, policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the managers, and talked to staff and the children during the inspection.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

The Pre-school Learning Alliance Bulwell Childcare was registered in 2004 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in the Bulwell area of Nottingham. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from four rooms within the Sure Start centre and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including one member of staff who has a qualification at level 5.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 125 children attending, of whom 88 children attending who are in 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 educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 ensure planning is consistently evaluated to take account of what each child knows and can do to ensure that sufficient differentiation helps all children make the best progress; improve the consistency of observations to ensure that these best support children's next steps in their learning.

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

 develop self-evaluation to take into account the views of parents and children; to identify improvement for the provision and to ensure the provision of good quality of care and learning for children

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

 recognise and equally value all languages spoken and written by parents and children, to support children's identity and sense of belonging

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

 monitor and analyse the educational programme more effectively to ensure that staff are planning appropriately for all children's individual learning needs.

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who attend

Staff have a suitable knowledge and understanding of how to support children's development across all areas of learning. As a result, children make steady progress in their learning and development towards the early learning goals. Staff generally plan a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities which children enjoy. They seek to establish children's starting points in their learning in discussion with parents, enabling them to plan initial activities to support their interests and enjoyment. Planning is completed and generally, this links to children's individual progress, helping staff to target children's learning. However, planning is not consistently evaluated to show the success of activities or to establish what children have learnt. In addition, although staff observe children, there are inconsistencies in the range and quality of observations obtained, leading to gaps in some children's learning. Despite this, staff know the children well and

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who attend

overall, support them appropriately in their learning and development. Staff are beginning to suggest ways for parents to support children's learning at home to consolidate their learning and development. As a result, parents have an insight into their child's learning. Staff have developed appropriate systems to enable relevant assessments to be made to inform the progress check at age two, and these are shared with parents.

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who attend

Children are content and settle well into the routines of the nursery. Overall, children are developing into confident communicators in line with their abilities. Staff are beginning to support children's development in spoken English by ensuring they know their home language, where this is spoken in addition to English. Procedures are being developed to enable staff to support children's home language, for example, by obtaining familiar words from home. However, as yet this procedure is not robust, which means there are times that familiar words are not obtained from parents to support children's growing communication and understanding. Children's understanding of print develops as they access a good range of books and spend time either alone or with familiar adults, looking through these and talking about what they see. In particular, babies and young children happily sit on staff's knee to explore the content of books, pointing to pictures and looking

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who attend

at staff as they tell the story. However, opportunities for children to explore print in other languages are minimal. As a result, children, particularly those who have English as an additional language, have fewer opportunities to share differing parts of their lives with their peers, in order to enhance their sense of identity.

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who attend

Generally, children have appropriate opportunities to choose from the range of resources and activities in specific continuous play provision areas, for example, construction areas, book dens and home corners, which reflect everyday life. They readily engage in role play, having sound access to a range of role-play equipment, such as pots and pans, dressing- up and hairdressing equipment. They seek out others to take part in their play during such activities. Staff observe children at play and become the 'customer' at the hairdressers to allow children to explore their imagination. Children have access to the outdoors each day, which for children aged two years and over, is generally a free choice between the indoor and outdoor environment due to the siting of this area. Younger children still have suitable access to this area through planned opportunities during the morning and afternoon. Children are observed to run and hop, climb steps, push buggies and kick footballs with

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who attend

growing skill and confidence. They manoeuvre their bodies skilfully and ably in and around the range of fixed play equipment. As a result, children of all ages have good physical skills and all enjoy using the range of equipment accessible to them.

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who attend

Children's mathematical skills are fostered appropriately. They learn about numbers and counting as they play and sing number songs. Older children, for example, show their younger peers how to display their age using their fingers. Children begin to solve problems as they work out when to stop pouring the juice into their beaker, choose the right shape to fit into a puzzle or stack varying sized beakers on top of one another. Staff suitably support children to learn about the community and the world around them through activities, such as national and international celebrations. They begin to learn about nature, for example, as they look at the tadpoles that have been brought into the nursery, commenting that 'they have a long tail, but no legs!'. The range of activities and learning opportunities offer children a suitable start in preparing them for the next stages in their learning.

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

Spaces that children access are homely and welcoming which contributes to them settling well at the setting. Children are cared for by a dedicated key person within a consistent team of staff, along with a 'buddy' key person, to ensure that children always have a familiar face to welcome them. This system successfully supports children with settling-in, developing secure attachments and having a secure base from which to learn and develop. Their transitions from one room to the next are well supported through gradual visits with their established key person. This supports a smooth and stress free transition. Children's transitions from the setting to other early years settings, such as school, have been developed to ensure that information about children's care and learning needs are shared, enabling children to feel secure with change. These sound processes contribute to children's self-confidence. Children are developing the skills and emotional security they

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

Children are well behaved. They play well with their peers, sharing and taking turns appropriately. Babies and young children begin to show an understanding of appropriate behaviour, for example, as they return a toy to another child when asked. This is supported through praise and encouragement from staff, developing their confidence and self-esteem. Older children begin to show responsibility for actions as they select appropriate boxes from the shelves to tidy the toys away at set times in the day. Children aged two years and over show good levels of independence and self-care skills. For example, they use the toilet confidently and know to wash their hands and to flush toilets. Babies and toddlers are supported in developing these skills as staff assist them to wash their hands before snacks and meals. Children learn about healthy eating as they take part in baking activities and are offered healthy snacks and meals. Parents are invited to share

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

as much information as possible about their child with staff, including any health needs and dietary preferences. This enables staff to plan a menu that takes account of their needs and to provide a variety of nutritious foods. Meal times are a social occasion with older children serving themselves, which supports their independence and enables them to make choices about how much they would like. Children feel and are safe within the setting and with staff, as they minimise any potential hazards within the setting. Children understand about keeping themselves safe because they learn about fire safety by practising the evacuation procedure. Children's knowledge of this is demonstrated while playing, as a child shakes the bells and calls 'everybody out, there's a fire, everybody out'.

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provision

The managers demonstrate a suitable understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage . Arrangements for safeguarding children are good and any concerns that arise are dealt with appropriately to support and maintain children's safety and well-being. The setting has a clear policy and procedure in place and all staff complete relevant safeguarding training. Further to this, a robust risk assessment ensures that all areas children access are safe and suitable and areas, such as the bathroom, used by children, are supervised effectively to ensure appropriate use. Entry and exits procedures are closely monitored to ensure that children remain safe. Secure recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that adults working with children are safe and suitable to do so. A range of policies and procedures are in place and made available to parents, enabling them to have an

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provision

awareness of the setting's responsibilities to support children's safety and well-being.

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provision

Regular staff meetings ensure that all those working with children are kept informed of changes and ensure that any gaps in knowledge or understanding are identified and addressed, through in-house training. This system supports and enhances staff's personal development and contributes to satisfactorily meeting the ongoing needs of children. Regular supervision and yearly appraisals enable the management team to identify learning and training needs for each individual staff member. As a result, the staff team are growing in confidence and developing skills in order for them to support children's wide ranging needs.

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provision

Children, generally receive appropriate support, which means they make suitable progress towards the early learning goals. This helps to prepare children for their next steps in learning and their move into school. Although the management team have begun to monitor and assess the educational programme, this is not robust. As a result, there are inconsistencies and gaps in some children's learning and development. Despite this, staff have a suitable understanding of how to deliver a range of activities across the seven areas of learning, leading to children making satisfactory progress. Recommendations raised at the previous inspection have mostly been addressed to support children's safety and well-being. For example, children are able to initiate their own play through the range of accessible resources and staff ensure that resources and activities accessible to children, are suitable for purpose. Self-evaluation is in place to assist the setting in

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provision

identifying their strengths and weaknesses, however, this does not reflect the views of the parents and children. Consequently, their ideas are not included to help fully promote the improvements over time in line with their needs and wishes.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are generally positive and they speak well of the welcoming staff group and the care that their children receive. There is a range of useful information made accessible to parents in the entrance to the nursery, ensuring that they are well informed. In addition, parents are able to view positive comments about their child's achievements on the 'tree' within the entrance to the setting. This is also used for parents to comment on any achievements from home, such as their child sleeping through the night, or listening when asked to do something. As a result, a sound partnership is in place. Parents and carers are invited to view their child's learning journal records and discuss any concerns they may have, along with sharing pertinent information from home regarding their child's needs. This supports children's learning and development. Staff work well with children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and positive

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provision

links are in place with external agencies to ensure that these children gain the support that is needed. Systems are in place to liaise with other providers the children may attend, to ensure information is shared about their learning, in order to promote continuity.

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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 EY295475 Local authority Nottingham City Inspection number 920341

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 54 Number of children on roll 125 Name of provider Pre-School Learning Alliance Date of previous inspection 08/06/2009 Telephone number 0750934874

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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

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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