Pennywell Early Years Centre

Pennywell Early Years Centre Portsmouth Road, Pennywell, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 9AX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/06/2013 01/11/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children explore all areas of learning through enticing activities that fully engage them. They are expertly motivated to learn by staff and show considerable levels of curiosity and independence, which helps them to make rapid progress in their learning and development.  Children thrive in a nursery where their needs are put first. The key person system works exceptionally well to encourage children to feel welcomed and valued. Key persons work very closely with parents and carers and children benefit from very strong continuity of care.  Children's welfare is effectively safeguarded by staff, who have an excellent knowledge and understanding of how to protect the children in their care.  The management team brings great stability to the nursery. The manager is very 'hands-on' in the nursery, working closely with staff who are full of enthusiasm as they work to meet children's needs.  The management team and staff continually monitor the provision. As a result, they

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This provision is outstanding

carefully identify clear plans for sustained improvement over time to support children's high level of achievements.

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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 playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the registered person, held discussions with the manager and staff and spoke with children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's development records, planning documentation, the provider's self-evaluation and a range of other records, policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Pennywell Early Years Centre was registered in 2003 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in purpose built premises in the Pennywell area of Sunderland and is managed by the nursery governing body. The nursery serves the local area and is a delivery point for one of Sunderland's Children's Centres. The nursery is accessible to all children. It operates from three rooms and there are two fully enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 15 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above, including one member of staff with Early Years Professional Status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 48 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 8am until 5pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 102 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 with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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

 provide a sofa or comfy chair so that parents, practitioners and young children can sit together comfortably in the Kinder room.

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who attend

Children show high levels of independence, curiosity, imagination and concentration. The educational programme reflects a range of rich, varied and imaginative experiences that are exceptional in meeting the needs of all children. Staffs' excellent understanding of the prime and specific areas of learning and development helps them to plan effectively around children interests and abilities. This ensures that teaching continually challenges children, so they make rapid progress in their learning and development. Staff have developed very effective records of children's progress against each area of learning. They frequently record observations of children's activities and take photographs to support them. Beautifully presented, clear learning stories are produced for each child, which documents their experiences in the nursery. They explain in easily understandable language, which areas of learning the observation links to and the next step that staff will

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who attend

be focused on with the children. Every six weeks, staff complete a tracking sheet of children's learning and development, which helps them to easily identify if there are any delays or gaps in children's learning. Children with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very effectively through staff meeting regularly with parents and outside professionals. They use the information gained from these meetings to plan appropriate steps in children's learning and development that will help them make as much progress as they can.

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who attend

Children's independence is encouraged from an early age. Photographs of activity areas are shown to children at group time, which enables them to look at what is available and choose what they would like to do. This is ably supported by staff, who name the activities, introduce new words and so build up children's vocabulary. For example, children choose to take part in a craft activity. A story book has stimulated their interest in a stickman. Staff follow children's interest in the story and provide resources for joining things together and combining materials, such as, twigs, felt pens, card and sticking tape, to encourage them to make their own stick man. Communication and language is a strong focus at the setting. With the help of learning programmes, such as 'I Can', staff help children's spoken language to develop exceptionally well. Staff value what children have to say and listen carefully to them during their activities. They ask open-ended questions,

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who attend

which encourages children to think about their response and develop their own ideas. For example, children use their imagination in the sand tray, pretending that they are preparing food. They respond to staffs' questions by saying they have butter, jam and sweets. Staff value non-verbal communication, such as signing 'goodbye' at the end of the session, which shows children that there are different ways of communicating. Children become very confident speakers and show high levels of curiosity. They approach visitors and ask them questions, such as why they are in the setting and what are they doing. Familiar rhymes gain children's listening and attention. From an early age, they attempt to join in with the actions for the rhyme 'Miss Polly had a dolly'.

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who attend

Staff provide excellent opportunities for children to develop strong early writing skills. In the baby room, they enjoy the sensory experience of rubbing their hands in the shaving foam, making marks and clapping their hands together, splashing the foam around. In three- to four-year-old room, writing materials are in all areas, encouraging children to make marks on their work. For example, children draw a head for their stick man, while other children are very proud that they have made their own book. They have drawn pictures on each page, they read out their name demonstrating that they understand that print has meaning and enjoy showing it to everyone. Stories are an exciting experience for children. Staff read a story to a small group of children using props to support the characters and what happens in the story. Children are encouraged to interact through discussing what is happening in the pictures and at the end they are encouraged to use

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who attend

the story in their play by having a tea party, using the toy china cups and teapot. Staff incorporate number into everyday activities, such as singing counting songs and rhymes, which help to fully develop and extend children's understanding of number. For example, they sing five current buns and use props so that children can physically see what is happening. This helps them to count in sequence up to five and to know that a group of things changes in quantity when one is taken away. As a result of these activities, children are obtaining very strong skills, attitudes and dispositions towards learning, so are fully prepared for the next stage of learning and the move onto school.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents are fully involved with their children's learning from the moment their child starts at the setting. The manager and key person visit the parents and children at home and spend time gathering information about the children's learning, development and welfare. This helps staff to effectively plan for children as soon as they start. Parents have access to their children's learning story at anytime and take it home to add their own observations, photographs of activities and children's artwork. Staff use this information to effectively plan around children's interests. Parents are able to extend their children's learning at home because staff share information routinely about what they are working towards with them. Parental workshops are organised several times a year. Parents come into the setting for a session and play alongside their children. For example, last week they were able to make stick people with

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who attend

their children. This helps parents to fully understand and become involved in how children learn in the nursery.

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

All children are extremely happy and settled during their time at the nursery. Staff spend time getting to know the children and their families through carefully arranged settling in visits. This enables them to meet children's individual needs exceptionally well and for children to make a smooth transition from home to nursery. Children of all ages laugh and giggle as they enjoy their time at the nursery and learn without realising it because they are having so much fun. Children are polite and use their manners at all times. Their behaviour is managed highly effectively due to staff modelling good behaviour and speaking to children where needed. At group times, staff take the opportunity to reinforce the ground rules and use lots of books to help model how children should behave. Children learn how to keep themselves safe through careful guidance and very close supervision from staff during exciting learning activities, such as how to use the nails and

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

hammers safely in the building area. This results in children who feel very safe and secure in the nursery.

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

The environment is inspirational for children and highly stimulating. They access excellent quality natural and bought resources. For example, numbers are clearly evident in the environment on wooden blocks and in different sizes. Different coloured crystals, cut stones and buttons encourage children to match and count. Good quality resources, such as a nursing chair in the baby room, enable staff to sit closely with children while they give them a bottle or cuddle. However, there is no comfortable seating in the Kinder room that the youngest children move up to, so that they can continue to benefit from sitting in comfort with staff or their parents. Parent workshop days are used exceptionally well to introduce them to the high quality displays in each nursery room and are successfully used to explain to parents why certain activities take place. These displays are supported by the use of photographs and examples of children's work and inform parents and staff about

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

what learning opportunities there are in each area of the nursery and why. For example, staff develop a display from children's interest in a globe that they spotted in a cupboard. Staff explain what it is, which leads to children investigating where we live, supported by magnifying glasses, atlases, photographs of people from around the world and writing materials. This helps children to comment and ask questions about aspects of their familiar world, such as the place where they live or the natural world.

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

Children have wide opportunities to access the garden areas during the day. They take great pleasure in being able to move freely and with pleasure in a range of ways. For example, they run up the slope, climb the steps to go down the slide and balance along the wooden beams. Staff provide resources for children to observe things closely outdoors through a variety of means. For example, children access binoculars, so that they can watch the birds that they have spotted. Staff help children to look in a book what the bird is and a selection of books supports children to look on their own.

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

Children enjoy the experience of sitting together in a group while they have snacks and meals. They develop self-care skills, such as young children using their fingers to feed themselves. This develops into children becoming competent at using cutlery. Staff talk to children about the foods that are available, such as fruit at snack time and chicken curry, rice and peas at lunch time. This enables children to make their own choices about what they want to eat. Children become involved in planting and growing throughout the nursery. For example, courgettes, peas and tomatoes are growing outside and children enthusiastically remember that they need to be watered to grow.

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

Effective procedures are in place for when children move to the next room in the nursery. They visit with their key person so that they get to know the new environment and key person. The nursery liaises with the local school to ensure that parents are aware of the times they can visit with their children prior to them starting in September. As a result of the exceptional care offered by staff, children learn independence skills, which will support and promote their future learning and eventual move to school.

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provision

High priority is given to children's safety and welfare. Staff morale is very high and they all take responsibility for what they do within the nursery. The nursery is extremely well run by a knowledgeable, dedicated and reflective management team. Staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and they capably describe procedures for reporting all concerns or incidents to relevant agencies to protect children from harm or neglect. All children enjoy an extremely safe and secure play and learning environment because staff complete comprehensive daily checks. Excellent procedures are in place to find out about children's individual health needs prior to starting at the nursery and care plans are effectively put in place to meet children's needs, where they need one for medical reasons. This ensures that all staff know what to do and act appropriately, should a child become ill while in their care. Written policies and procedures are explained to

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provision

parents, so they are aware of how the nursery operates.

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provision

Robust systems ensure staff are suitably checked and qualified for their role. Annual appraisals take place in September to ensure staff's ongoing suitability. They are set development objectives by October, which are reviewed before the following summer holidays to see what progress they have made. Continual professional development has an extremely positive impact on outcomes for children's learning and development. For example, all staff have attended training that promotes the potential of natural materials for children's play. Staff are full of enthusiasm and have implemented this into the setting with great success. For example, it is very evident that there are lots of natural materials available and that staff strive to bring the outside in and vice versa for children's activities. Self-evaluation is at the core of the nursery's operation and both management and staff are highly skilled at recognising areas for improvement and implementing them

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provision

successfully, including the recommendation raised at the last inspection. The manager has highly effective procedures to monitor the overall educational programme for each child. This involves her tracking children from their starting points to when they leave, monitoring their progress over time and ensuring any delayed development or gaps in progress can be quickly and effectively addressed.

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provision

Highly successful procedures are in place for staff to liaise with other agencies that are involved with children. They attend meetings with outside agencies to discuss children's needs, which makes sure that children receive the support that they need and no child gets left behind. Parents are enthusiastic about their child's time at the nursery. They state that they are very happy with the care their children receive and that they have a really good relationship with the staff.

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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 EY260693 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 922882

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 72 Number of children on roll 102 Name of provider Pennywell Nursery School Governing Body Date of previous inspection 01/11/2012 Telephone number 0191 5536820

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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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