Klas Childrens Day Nurseries

Klas Childrens Day Nurseries The Farm House, Bell Plantation, Watling Street, TOWCESTER, Northamptonshire, NN12 6HN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/06/2013 15/10/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children are not safeguarded because the provider does not follow effective procedures to ensure that all staff working with children have enhanced disclosure and barring service checks in place.  Children are less likely to receive good interaction at all times because the provider does not always deploy staff effectively to ensure their needs are met.

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It has the following strengths

 Children in each of the nursery rooms are able to make choices about their play materials and activities. The staff encourage them to help themselves to toys from the low-level shelves and drawers.  Children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development because the staff know them well. They plan activities that follow the children's interests and that provide suitable challenge to help them achieve their next steps in learning.  Children benefit from the partnership working that is in place with their parents. The staff keep parents informed of their progress at nursery and value the information parents provide about their child's interests and achievements at home.

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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 three play rooms and in the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the owner of the provision, with the deputy manager and with three members of child care staff.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.  The inspector spoke with one parent on the day of inspection.

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Information about the setting

Klas Children's Day Nurseries is run by Klas Children's Day Nurseries Limited. It was registered in October 2003 and operates from a converted farmhouse which comprises two floors and a separate single storey building, within the grounds of The Bell Plantation on the outskirts of Towcester, in the South of Northamptonshire. The ground floor rooms are accessible. Each nursery room has its own separate enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 members of childcare staff. Of these, 14 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 3 and 6 and one holds Early Years Professional Status. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 85 children on roll all of which are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four- year-old children. It supports a number of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 make sure that children are always well supervised and review staff deployment to ensure children's needs are met at all times.

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must:

 ensure there are effective systems in place to confirm that all staff are suitable to work with children and obtain enhanced disclosure and barring service checks for every person aged 16 and over who works with children

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who attend

Children throughout the nursery are provided with activities that are planned by the staff to take account of their interests and that respond to their ideas and suggestions. Children enjoy the positive interaction from the staff and they eagerly join in with activities the staff are involved in. For example, a child in the toddler room chooses a book. They take it to a member of staff who willingly sits down with them and they look at it together. The child responds to the staff member's questions about what they can see in the pictures and she continues to engage the child in the book. Babies playing outside are keen to use the small ride on toys. They are supported by the staff to safely sit on the toys and proceed to use their feet to push themselves along. Children in the pre-school room are supported during group time to take turns in choosing the songs and rhymes. Staff enhance the children's enjoyment by providing finger puppets they use during a favourite song.

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who attend

Children in the pre-school room are helped in their preparation to move onto school. For example, the staff engage them in activities that promote their independence, such as, dressing up and managing themselves in the bathroom. Children behave well. They listen to the staff and they are keen to work together. The key persons provide opportunities for them to explore making marks and writing their name. Staff from the local schools are invited to visit the children at the nursery in order to introduce themselves. Younger children in the nursery are enthusiastic in their involvement in the activities and they are suitably supported in their personal, social and emotional development. Children with special educational needs receive targeted support and intervention following guidance received from other professionals, such as, speech and language therapists.

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who attend

Pre-school children's awareness of numbers and mathematical concepts are developing because the staff encourage them to take part in songs that involve them thinking about how to count down from five to zero. The children are keen to say how many items are left when each one is removed as the song progresses. Staff play with the babies; offering them activities that catch their interest. For example, a member of staff suggests they get the threading tub. The older babies show anticipation in their faces and eagerly tip the buttons, cotton reels and laces from the tub. They concentrate as they attempt to thread the lace through the buttons and reels. They respond to the staff's gentle encouragement by smiling and showing them what they are trying to do. This contributes to their confidence and willingness to persist at their chosen activity. Toddlers enjoy working together on a group drawing activity. They are monitored by the staff who use positive

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who attend

language to comment on what they are doing and how well they are all joining in. Children are encouraged by the staff members comments to lead the activity themselves. They make numerous marks of different sizes on the paper, they choose the colours of the pens themselves and begin to learn about working alongside each other. Children enjoy using the garden areas that have equipment in place that is suitable for the different ages of the children. They use the equipment for role play, to develop their physical skills and there is space for them to run around. There are areas of shade and the baby room garden has a sun canopy to protect children from the sun.

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who attend

Parents are involved in their children's learning. When they start attending they are asked to complete an "All about Me" form that contains questions relating to their child's interests at home and the progress they are making. The key persons take account of this information to help them identify each child's starting points. The staff regularly share children's progress with their parents through sending their scrapbook home that contains observations, samples of their art work and photographs. Parents are encouraged to make some observations at home which the staff then use to inform their planning of activities for that child. The staff record a summative assessment of each child's progress every four months and they complete the progress check at age two when required for each child of this age. This information is also shared with parents and they are invited to add their own comments or suggestions. This effective engagement with children's parents promotes a

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who attend

consistent approach for them. The children enjoy looking at their own scrapbooks and proudly show the photographs. They spontaneously recall previous events and point out their friends in the pictures. All the observations made by the key persons are used to inform the planning or the summative assessments and this demonstrates the progress in development each child is making.

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

The provider does not always ensure that members of staff are suitably deployed in the nursery, particularly during outdoor play and, therefore, children are less likely to have their needs met during this time. Children's ability to develop secure bonds and attachments in the nursery is potentially compromised because the provider does not follow effective procedures to ensure the suitability of all the members of staff.

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

The staff follow suitable procedures to manage each child's care needs on an individual basis. For example, they work closely with parents to ensure that babies feeding and sleeping routines at home are matched wherever possible. The staff wear gloves when changing nappies and changing the clothes of children who have toilet accidents. The changing mats are cleaned after each change. These procedures help to protect children from cross infection. Children enjoy the freshly prepared meals and snacks. They are provided with regular drinks and they enjoy helping themselves to slices of apple and a drink during outside play on warm days. Their individual dietary needs are taken account of following discussion with their parents.

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

Children are generally confident to move freely between their chosen activities and they approach the staff for comfort and reassurance when they need it. The staff work closely with parents to help their children settle in to the nursery when they start attending. They seek information recorded on the all about me form about children's routines and preferences at home and these are taken account of whenever possible in the nursery. Parents are encouraged to visit with their child and to leave them for gradually extending periods of time. Children and their parents are supported when they are preparing to move between the rooms within the nursery. Parents are invited to visit the new room with their child and the key person produces a summary of the child's progress, interests and their identified next steps for the new key person. This preparation and working together contributes to children experiencing a positive move within the nursery.

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provision

This inspection was bought forward because of concerns relating to aspects of children's care and welfare. The inspection found that children are not suitably safeguarded in this nursery because the provider has not been robust in meeting the requirement for checking the suitability of all the staff working with the children. One member of staff does not have the required disclosure and barring service clearance in place. This member of staff does not have any unsupervised contact with the children. Although, there is the correct amount of staff on the premises overall, the deployment of these staff sometimes means that the children are less likely to receive suitable supervision and interaction during their outdoor activities. These weaknesses also relate to the Childcare Register and, therefore, actions have also been raised to address these breaches of requirements.

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provision

Children's safety on the premises is managed adequately. The building is secure and all parents and visitors are greeted when they arrive. Safety gates are in place where appropriate and suitable procedures are in place for preparing food and for storing it safely in the fridge. Children who sleep are checked regularly. The provider is generally aware of the importance of carrying out risk assessments and takes action to address issues that arise such as the repair of faulty mechanisms on the fire doors, maintaining the garden areas and the re-decoration of the building.

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provision

The management and staff team demonstrate a suitable understanding of how to implement the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage for each of the children attending the nursery. The key persons show how they plan activities for each child as an individual and work with children's parents to help them make satisfactory progress in their learning and development. Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported through the use of individual educational programmes. These are devised with the involvement of their parents, the special educational needs co-ordinator in the nursery and with any other agencies who are involved with the child. The key persons work together and a buddy system helps to ensure that children and their parents receive a consistent approach because they share details about planned activities and identified next steps for the children.

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provision

The management team provide the staff with regular team meetings and individual time to promote their professional development. They spend time in the nursery rooms to observe the staff's activity with the children and they provide feedback to support this development. They are keen to encourage the staff to attend training courses and to work towards qualifications. When staff have attended training they are encouraged to share the information with their colleagues. Systems are in place to monitor the educational programmes to ensure they are individual to each child and cover all the areas of learning appropriately.

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provision

The management and staff team evaluate their service to enable them to continue to meet the needs of the children attending. The staff make evaluations of the activities they do with the children which enables them to make any adaptations required for each child. The team has identified plans for the future development of the nursery and they have taken appropriate action to address the recommendations made at the previous inspection.

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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 there are effective systems in place to confirm that all practitioners are suitable to work with children and obtain enhanced disclosure and barring service checks for every person aged 16 and over who works with children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the childcare is accessible and inclusive by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of each child, relating to their childcare, are met (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure there are effective systems in place to confirm that all practitioners are suitable to work with children and obtain enhanced disclosure and barring service checks for every person aged 16 and over who works with children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the childcare is accessible and inclusive by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of each child, relating to their childcare, are met (voluntary

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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 EY277096 Local authority Northamptonshire Inspection number 923672

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 85 Name of provider Klas Day Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection 15/10/2012 Telephone number 01327 358876

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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

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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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