Waterside Early Care and Education Centre

Waterside Early Care and Education Centre Waterside Early Care & Education Centre, 600 Thames Valley Park Drive, READING, RG6 1PT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/04/2013 17/01/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children settle quickly in the nursery as they feel secure with the familiar and friendly staff, who know the children very well and have a good knowledge of their individual needs.  Children enjoy playing outside. The outdoor areas are used well to promote their learning and development and contribute to children's healthy lifestyles.  Staff work very well as a team and have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They use this knowledge effectively to encourage children's learning and development continually while they play.  Positive relationships with parents are developed through effective inductions and frequent communications. Information is continually gathered and exchanged for the benefit of each child's continual care, learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 the organisation of some role- play resources does not fully support children's imaginative play and decision making skills  some resources are not readily accessible or a suitable size to fully support children in developing their self-care skills  staff do not always follow the behaviour management policy and procedures, so children receive mixed messages about how to behave.

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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 staff and children participating in activities in their rooms and the outside areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed specific activities observed jointly with the manager in the pre-school room and garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and children on the day to gather their views on the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documents including children's observation, assessment and planning records, children's details and other relevant information.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with individual staff members, the area manager, manager and deputy of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Waterside Early Care and Education Centre registered in 2008. It is one of a number of nurseries owned by Bright Horizons Family Solutions Ltd. It is situated on Thames Valley Business Park on the outskirts of Reading, Berkshire. The nursery has six rooms which all have access to their own secure garden area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are 95 children on roll and the nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years old. Children can attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery has some guinea pigs and fish.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open five days a week from 8am to 6pm all year. The nursery employs 20 staff who work with the children. There are two members of staff who hold BA in Early Years and Early Years Professional Status, one member of staff qualified at level four, 16 members of staff qualified at level three and two are qualified at level two in childcare and education. There are five members of staff are currently undertaking training for a range of childcare qualifications and the Foundation Degree. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure all staff understand and follow the behaviour management policy and the procedures in place.

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

 review the organisation of the role-play areas so children may see the costumes available, to further promote their imaginative play and decision making skills

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

 extend children's understanding of good hygiene routines and their ability to develop their personal care skills further, such as by providing suitable hand washing facilities outside and child sized jugs and cups

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy attending this nursery as staff provide a vibrant, welcoming and stimulating environment which enables children to learn as they play. The outdoor areas are used well in all weathers to encourage the children to learn in an outside environment and promote their learning in all areas. For example, children have great fun building an obstacle course out of crates and planks. Children enjoy listening to and participating in stories outside which helps to promote their literacy and communication skills in a fun and interactive way. Babies and toddlers physical skills are promoted well as they crawl or walk around the outdoor area exploring a range of equipment and resources. This also helps them to develop their confidence, curiosity and independence as they explore new environments.

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who attend

Children's mathematical skills are promoted well by staff in a variety of interesting ways that appeal to children. Younger children and staff sing number rhymes such as, 'Five little ducks'. Older children readily help to count the number of dinosaur shapes they are playing with and cooking activities provide children with opportunities to weigh, measure and experience shape, size and quantity. Children express their creativity in many different ways; for example, painting and making models. They readily approach visitors to show them the spaceship they have made out of re-cycled materials. Children create delightful pictures, and enjoy the chance to express themselves freely at the easel or with chalks outside. Children participate in a range of imaginary activities with each other, such as looking after their 'babies' as they push the buggies around the room. However, role-play costumes are not currently displayed suitably to enable children to see the variety

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who attend

available to them, to further develop and extend their imaginations. Babies gain reassurance from the close and familiar physical presence of staff, who sit with them on the floor as they play and investigate. Family books used in the baby room reinforce the good links between home and the nursery.

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who attend

All children are developing their listening and communication skills well. Staff continually talk to toddlers, telling them the names and colours of the resources they are playing with. Older children develop their communication skills by the effective use of good questioning by staff while they play. For example, they ask children to explain what they are drawing and making. Children readily respond by explaining about the tower they are building out of magnetic blocks and how tall it is going to be. Overall, each child is respected and valued by the caring staff team, which helps children to learn to respect themselves and others around them. Children learn about different cultures and the lives of others in a variety of ways, including celebrating festivals and children have the opportunity to learn French and Spanish which they thoroughly enjoy.

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who attend

Staff are secure in their knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and know each child extremely well. They skilfully use their knowledge to provide children with a range of highly interesting and challenging activities. Systems to assess children's starting points on entry to the nursery are strong. Parents are invited to contribute to starting points through comprehensive induction and settling-in sessions. The staff team in each room work together to target gaps in children's learning and adapt plans to meet their individual requirements and stages of development. Systems for observing what children can do, assessing their progress and planning for their next steps are good. The information gained from assessing the children is used effectively to plan interesting, challenging activities and experiences. Each child has a 'learning story' book which includes photographs of them at play and observations staff make. The 'magic moment' section

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who attend

included in the book also enables parents and children to contribute to the 'learning story'. This provides a consistent approach. Staff effectively use the comprehensive information contained in the 'learning story' book to help complete the two-year-old progress checks with parents. As a result of all these measures parents are well informed of the progress their children are making so they can continue to support their child's learning and development at home. Effective systems are in place to ensure the children's smooth move to another room, setting or school. This ensures continuity for each child in their individual care and learning.

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

All children are very happy and settled during their time at the nursery. Staff get to know the children and their families well, providing a welcoming and nurturing play and learning environment. As a result, children form very positive relationships with the staff and other children. Staff gather and record a wealth of information about each child from their parents. This enables staff to change and adapt the flexible routines and plan the daily activities to ensure they meet all children's needs as soon as they start attending the nursery. Children behave well as they usually know what is expected and they respond well to the high expectations of the staff team. However, on occasions staff have not followed the behaviour management policy in place, giving children mixed messages about what they can and cannot do.. Overall, staff focus on the children's positive behaviour, actively recognising and praising the children's achievements and efforts. This promotes

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

children's self-esteem and a positive and enthusiastic attitude to learning. Children demonstrate how secure they feel as they quite happily talk to visitors and include them in their play. Babies develop secure attachments and readily approach staff who immediately respond giving them a cuddle.

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

Children learn about the importance of keeping themselves safe through discussions and use of the popular company mascot called Candy Floss. Staff effectively use the mascot to help explain to children about health and safety issues. Children play and learn in a safe environment as staff complete a range of safety checks including completing a risk assessment for each outing. Overall, children's independence is effectively promoted. However, there is scope to build upon children's self-help and hygiene skills as currently not all children can independently use resources, such as suitably sized water jugs and hand washing units. Children's all round development is promoted effectively both indoors and outdoors. Their physical development is promoted well especially in the outdoor areas as they provide children with many opportunities, for example, to balance and climb. Children can select the toys and resources they wish to use as they are accessible to them

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

at their level and are bright and colourful.

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

All children can use the outdoor areas whenever they wish helping them to begin to understand the importance of being in the fresh air and develop an understanding of a healthy lifestyle. Snacks and meals are nutritionally balanced and children can take as long as they need to finish a meal. Mealtimes across the nursery are sociable and older children can serve themselves their own portions of food. Staff readily support children in beginning to feed themselves and babies are fed their food in a comforting and secure way.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward as a result of Ofsted being notified of a significant incident in the nursery. Although the provider acted appropriately as a result of the incident, procedures in the nursery did not ensure that children's welfare was promoted positively at all times. Young children's behaviour was not being managed appropriately and in a way that promoted their well-being. Overall, staff are now aware of their roles and responsibilities with regard to the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage welfare and learning and development requirements. Through effective monitoring of the educational programmes by the management team children are provided with a wide range of challenging experiences. As a result, children make good progress in their learning and development and there is a targeted approach to their individual learning.

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provision

Overall, staff are very clear and confident of their responsibilities to safeguard children and fully understand who to report any concerns to. They demonstrate a secure knowledge of the signs and symptoms that a child may be at risk of harm owing to the regular safeguarding training they receive. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures alongside effective induction systems help to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. Monitoring of staff performance helps to assess ongoing suitability. Owing to high security measures in place no unvetted persons can enter the nursery and staff are very vigilant when taking the children out on outings in the local community.

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provision

A training programme for all staff is in place and monitored for its effectiveness. As a result, staff's knowledge and skills are regularly increased to promote the care, education and development of all children. Staff underperformance is dealt with rigorously by management and specific training plans are implemented to improve practices. Regular team meetings enable staff to share their ideas and contribute to the evaluation and development of the nursery. A range of systems are in place to ensure the evaluation and continuous development of the nursery. These include parental questionnaires, seeking the views of children and regular monitoring by head office. The evaluation of the nursery is comprehensive and clear targets are set for improvements, for example, to continue to develop some of the outdoor areas.

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provision

Good partnerships are in place with parents. Their views and opinions are valued and acted upon and they are made very welcome by all staff. Parents have access to the nursery policies and procedures to develop their understanding of how the nursery operates. The parents' boards keep them informed of a variety of issues including information on Early Years Foundation Stage and any events and health issues. Parents have access to their children's records at anytime and are able to talk to their child's key person whenever they wish. Parents speak very highly of the nursery. They comment on how happy their children are at the nursery and the range of activities and resources provided. They appreciate all the information they receive on their child's day and the progress they are making. Partnerships with external agencies are securely established. This results in children's needs being effectively met through a range of professionals, who

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provision

all work closely together to benefit children's learning and development.

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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 EY368368 Local authority Wokingham Inspection number 912007

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 120 Number of children on roll 95 Name of provider Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited Date of previous inspection 17/01/2011 Telephone number 0118 926 6277

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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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