Rainbow Day Nursery

Rainbow Day Nursery Westgate Primary School, Summerhill Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2LP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/06/2013 14/05/2009

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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

 Both the indoors and outdoors environments are stimulating for children as staff provide activities which cover all the required areas of learning.  The nursery operates an effective self-evaluation system, identifying areas to develop further and their strengths, incorporating the views of staff, parents and children.  The nursery works in partnership with external agencies and other professionals to support all children to make continual progress in their learning.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not always appropriately supervise children throughout the day's routines, such as tidying away times, which has resulted in some children having serious injuries.  The nursery has procedures in place to follow when accidents and incidents occur. However, staff do not always fully implement these as not all details of these are recorded and shared with parents appropriately.  The procedures for settling in children, and sharing information at this time with parents, are inconsistently implemented by staff.

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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 held a meeting with the providers and the unit manager of the baby room.  The inspector observed activities in the main play rooms and outdoor areas.  The inspector spoke to available parents and staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the unit manager of the baby room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a selection of policies and procedures and a sample of children's development records.

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Information about the setting

Rainbow Day Nursery Early Years Centre Ltd, opened in 1985. It operates from a purpose built premises, which has wheelchair access, in Dartford, Kent. The nursery is open each weekday from 6:45am to 6pm, all year round. All children share access to secure, enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery employs 37 members of staff to work directly with children, of whom 25 hold an appropriate early years qualification. Currently there are 183 on roll in the nursery, most of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years old. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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must:

 ensure that staff deployment adequately supervises children, particularly during outdoor play and tidying up periods, to ensure their needs are met and their safety ensured

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must:

 improve systems and procedures for recording accidents and informing parents, so that staff appropriately record all incidents and are clear under what circumstances parents must be promptly informed.

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

 review the procedures for settling children into the nursery to ensure staff implement these consistently and all relevant information is shared with parents.

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who attend

Staff provide fun activities, covering all the required areas of learning that help children make sound progress in their learning and development. For example, in the baby room children enjoy exploring posting activities. They move excitedly as they watch staff post the balls into the holes and wait for them to reappear. In the toddler room children sign 'hello' to one another to support their language and communication development when saying 'good morning' during group times. Staff read familiar stories to children and encourage them to join in with familiar phrases. This helps build up children's vocabulary and develops their language skills. Children aged three and four play cooperatively together in the 'mud kitchen' outdoors. They busily make mud pies using soil and real life equipment. They say 'I'm doing a cup cake, would you like one?' as they mix, stir and create during imaginary play. They confidently use bikes, scooters and large climbing

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who attend

equipment to develop their physical skills. Staff know children well and ensure that the activities provided meet the individual interests of children. Children are developing their self-confidence and self-esteem. They enjoy their time at nursery and comment 'I like coming to nursery because I can dress up like a princess', 'I ride my bike' and 'we play pirates on the pirate ship'. Staff set up exciting areas that encourage children to look and see what resources are there to use. For example, staff create 'writing dens' outdoors to encourage children to make marks with pens and use clipboards to hold their paper; therefore, developing their pre-writing skills. A 'cosy nest' area is created to encourage children's communication and language skills as they sit and look at the books available. Children also enjoy developing their imagination by dressing up as 'super heroes and princess' in the role play area. Staff encourage children to search for soldiers hidden in

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who attend

wood chips and play with large tires and this supports children's physical development and helps them develop their coordination.

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who attend

Staff use the systems in place to observe children's development well. They know the children and plan appropriately to meet their individual needs. All children, including those who are learning English as an additional language, are making steady progress in their learning. As a result, children are developing the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. The developmental progress check for children aged two is in place. It highlights children's current achievements and involves the comments of parents.

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who attend

Parents state they feel happy with the nursery and feel well-informed of their children's learning and development. The nursery works well with all parents. Staff share information with them daily through general discussions and sharing of children's daily journals. Parents are welcomed into their child's play-room to observe how their children interact with other children and what activities they are taking part in. Staff carry out home visits and welcome parents into the nursery as their child settles in. There are systems in place to develop partnerships with parents. However, staff do not implement these consistently or use this session effectively to inform parents about details of the nursery routine or the layout of the environment, unless parents ask.

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

Children in the nursery generally feel safe and secure and have formed close attachments to staff. For example, children in the toddler room seek reassurance from familiar staff, they reach up for cuddles and staff respond well by giving children individual time and attention. In the baby room babies crawl around confidently, exploring their environment. They accept the presence of new people because they have developed positive relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff meet babies emotional needs well. For example, as they awake from their sleep they receive lots of cuddles and staff speak to them using soft reassuring voices.

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

Staff appropriately encourage children's independence. Staff support toddlers well, they teach them how to use a knife and fork to eat their lunch and praise them for their achievements. All children manage their own personal care needs relative to their individual age and stage of development. Pre-school children go to the toilet independently and pour their own water from large jugs when they are thirsty. The environment is stimulating and welcoming for children, with all resources and equipment stored at the children's level. The nursery has low sinks in the playrooms and low outdoor facilities for children to wash their own hands. This means children can make their own decisions about their needs and practise developing these skills by themselves. The outdoor environments provide lots of physical challenges for children. Staff enable children to make decisions and manage their own risks when using the large equipment. As a

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

result children are confident when using the outside play resources, such as the climbing frames, trampoline or slide. However, staff do not set clear guidelines for children about when it is safe to manage their own risks when using this equipment. For example, during tidy up sessions staff allow children to continue using the large equipment, although staff cannot effectively supervise this; this has resulted in children sustaining serious injuries.

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

There are appropriate systems to support children as they prepare to move between rooms within the nursery and to new settings, such as school. Staff use familiar photos, personalised books and share development records with other professionals to meet individual children's needs.

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provision

This inspection was brought forward following concerns being raised with regards to the safety of children. Recent incidents in the outdoor play area have resulted in children sustaining serious injuries. The management demonstrate a suitable knowledge and understanding of the learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements. They have designed and implemented a range of policies and procedures, which are in place to support staff to keep children safe. However, some staff did not follow these policies and procedures appropriately. This has resulted in a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. For example, children's accidents and injuries are not always recorded and shared appropriately with parents to ensure they are fully informed of what has happened. In addition, senior staff do not always provide sufficient information or supervise the responsibilities of trainees effectively. Staff ratios are

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provision

maintained, however at times, such as during tidying up, staff deployment does not effectively supervise the children as they learn to manage their own risks.

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provision

The nursery has a lead practitioner who is responsible for implementing effective safeguarding policies and procedures. All staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of the procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child or an allegation is made against a member of staff. The nursery follows these procedures well to notify relevant professional agencies following allegations made against staff. Any allegations against staff are dealt with appropriately by management to ensure that children are safeguarded.

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provision

There are suitable systems to monitor individual children's development records and the progress they make in their learning. This means children who are not developing at the expected stage for their age are identified quickly and therefore, receive appropriate support. Managers within the nursery support each other well to plan interesting activities, which are suitable to the age and stage of all children and help them make continual progress.

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provision

The nursery operates a staff appraisal system, which identifies individual training needs and monitors staff performance. Managers within the nursery share the responsibilities of lead roles for behaviour management, special education needs, and safeguarding children. These roles require regular training to keep up-to-date with requirements and managers share this information with the staff team during team meetings. Partnerships with all parents and external agencies have been developed. The nursery works with the local authority, children's services and other professionals in order to meet the individual needs of all children and extend their learning.

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provision

The nursery has systems in place for self-evaluation, which includes the views of all staff, parents and children. A well-documented system identifies strengths, areas for development and the impact changes have made on the provision. All senior staff contribute to the ongoing system and the views of all staff are sought during team meetings. Parents views are gathered through questionnaires and children's views are gained during daily observations and discussions. Positive changes to the environment have been made as a result of this reflective system.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure records are kept, and retained for two years, of accidents on the premises (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure records are kept, and retained for two years, of accidents on the premises (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 127485 Local authority Kent Inspection number 920974 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 124 Number of children on roll 183 Name of provider Rainbow Day Nursery (Early Years Centre Ltd) Date of previous inspection 14/05/2009 Telephone number 01322 270909 / 290680

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Setting details

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

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

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

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