Barney Bears Nursery

Barney Bear's Nursery 406 Manford Way, CHIGWELL, Essex, IG7 4AS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/07/2013 15/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The passionate leadership and management team demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Children make good progress in their learning and development due to high quality teaching in a stimulating environment where children are able to follow their interests.  Staff follow procedures which give the highest priority to the safety and wellbeing of children. Staff very effectively support children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Babies do not always have the same inspiring opportunities and resources to investigate in the outdoor area as they do indoors.

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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 looked at all required documentation and sampled policies, procedures and children's progress records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the registered provider and manager about the provision and the self-evaluation processes.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff in all rooms, and outside, interacting with children and held discussions with them.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents via questionnaires and references.

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Information about the setting

Barney Bear's Nursery registered in 2008 and is one of four nurseries owned by the company. The nursery is in a residential area and operates from a converted house in Chigwell. The baby room is located on the first floor while children over the age of two are based on the ground floor. All children have shared access to a sensory room and outdoor play area. The nursery kitchen is located on the ground floor while staff facilities and the office are located on the first floor. The nursery is open every weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks a year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Currently there are 38 children on roll within the early years age group. There are twelve staff employed to work with the children and all hold an appropriate early years qualification. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an

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Information about the setting

additional language. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for three and four-year-olds.

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

 take every opportunity to arouse babies and young children's curiosity and learning in the outdoors.

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who attend

A keen focus on learning and development for all children has prompted a recent review of the assessment and planning systems. This is to ensure the educational programmes harness children's individual interests and more actively involve parents in contributing to planning their child's next steps alongside staff. Staff discuss children's stages of development with parents to establish their starting points. This, combined with their own observations, mean they can quickly assess each child's capabilities and skills and put plans in place to successfully build on, and develop these. Routines and activities are now very much based around individual children's individual learning styles and preferences. Staff are clear about what they hope children will learn and have high expectations. They work in partnership with parents to support children's continued learning at home. Staff work well with other professionals to devise individual care and education plans which

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who attend

enables all key people to work towards the same aspirations for children.

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who attend

Children's communication and language skills are effectively nurtured throughout the nursery. Staff in the baby room recognise the way in which individual children communicate and respond appropriately to this. They reinforce the sounds babies make and support this with facial expressions, songs and actions. Babies join in enthusiastically, smiling, clapping and raising their arms. Staff help older, more vocal babies to expand and develop their basic communication skills by reading books and encouraging them to repeat words and the sounds they make. Staff regularly use different forms of non-verbal communication, such as a visual time-line, to assist children who may require additional support. Children know that their comments are welcomed and valued because staff show interest, and actively listen to what they have to say. Parents of children who speak English as an additional language are welcomed into the nursery and work with staff to

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who attend

help them understand and pronounce key words in their child's home language. Some staff are bi-lingual and feedback to parents about their child's day in their home language. This makes parents feel valued and fully involved in their child's learning.

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who attend

Children clearly enjoy their time at the nursery, there is lots of laughter and children are confident and self-assured. Children are actively engaged and interested in available activities and resources. Children are encouraged to think critically and develop their own ideas as they create landscapes and homes for different toy animals. They fetch bark, grass, sand and stones from outside, before carefully positioning twigs as trees and sorting the animals out into different categories. Children enjoy their time outdoors and develop confidence and physical skills as they negotiate a range of equipment, levels and surfaces in the nursery garden and local forest area. Staff encourage children to be observant and provide magnifying glasses so that children can gain a better view of bugs and the outdoor world. Children have recently observed the lifecycle of butterflies and watched as eggs hatch into chicks. As a result, they learn about growth and change in a

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who attend

way they can easily relate to and understand. However, resources and activities to stimulate babies and young children's curiosity outdoors are not so plentiful. For example, it is generally staff working with the older children who set out the garden toys and equipment each day as the baby room staff prioritise bringing the babies downstairs safely. This means that the range of play resources and activities available outdoors, compared to indoors, are fewer. This includes resources that support mobility and the more exciting activities, such as water and messy play trays are not always brought down and made available to them.

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who attend

Children learn to respect each other's similarities and differences through a range of well- considered activities as well as through the positive images displayed all around the nursery. Play resources and books represent the wider community and enable staff and children to talk about and explore people from a range of different backgrounds. Outings are based on children's interests and have included trips to museums and to experience a meal in a restaurant in China Town.

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who attend

Staff use everyday situations to develop children's mathematical skills. Children count reliably and talk about size, weight and capacity as children play with construction toys, mix ingredients and play in the water and sand. All children are given ample opportunities to experiment with different media when making marks. Babies' squeal with delight as paint oozes out onto the paper, from between their fingers and toes, to produce hand and foot prints. Toddlers use tools to scratch and scrape patterns into dough and to trace shapes in a 'gloop' mix. They watch with fascination as the marks they make on the ground with a paintbrush and water slowly evaporate. Staff explain how the heat from the sun is causing this to happen. Older children are encouraged to develop their handwriting skills both indoors and outside. They practise writing for a purpose when they produce menus and shopping lists in the role play area and jot down measurements of their

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who attend

sunflowers. Staff skilfully capture and maintain children's attention during story time. A love of literature is promoted as children are encouraged to produce their own poems and stories and parents were delighted when their children's efforts were recently published.

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

There is a very happy and relaxed atmosphere within the nursery. Children's emotional well-being is extremely well supported due to their individual needs being met and their feelings respected. Key staff gather high quality information from parents when their children first start attending to ensure they are fully aware of children's care needs, interests, likes and dislikes. Staff are patient, warm and approachable and these factors help ease the transition between home and nursery. Children in the nursery demonstrate that they feel safe as they are settled and confident in their surroundings and show excellent levels of self-esteem.

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

The nursery environment is vibrant and welcoming. Children enjoy easy access to a wide selection of resources and, as a result, their independence and freedom of choice is enhanced. Babies actively explore their environment and well-deployed staff ensure all children are fully supported in their play. Staff promptly recognise when children are tired or hungry and are on hand to provide support, reassurance and interaction. Children learn how to protect themselves from harm because staff talk to them about possible dangers and plan relevant experiences. Activities planned around a topic on 'people who help us' helped to promote safe practices and raise children's awareness of who they can trust. Staff give children the confidence to test their own abilities as they work out how to carefully stack crates or climb on play equipment.

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

Children develop an excellent understanding of the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. They enjoy plenty of fresh air and physical activity each day. Children develop an understanding of healthy eating and where food comes from by planting and harvesting herbs and salad which are used in their meals. All food is carefully sourced and freshly cooked at the nursery and individual dietary needs are extremely well catered for. Mealtimes are highly sociable occasions. Older children competently serve themselves at lunchtime while staff feed babies in a reassuring and comforting way. Toddlers are given time to explore and taste new foods as well as being encouraged to feed themselves.

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

Children are extremely well-behaved because they are purposefully occupied. Clear boundaries and rules are supported by calm, simple, age-appropriate explanations from staff. Children demonstrate behaviour which is kind and considerate and are beginning to learn about the impact their words and actions have on themselves and others. Staff are aware of what triggers individual children to become upset or frustrated and are alert to the signs. As a result, they can intervene appropriately and diffuse potential conflicts or calm children. Staff encourage children to respect each other, make friends, take turns and to invite each other to join in play. This prepares them well for the larger social environment in school.

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

Throughout the nursery, children spend time with other groups during outdoor activities. This helps them to become familiar with other children and staff. Great care is taken to ensure that children are well prepared when they are ready to move into a different room. They go on visits so they become familiar with their new surroundings and the new staff who will be caring for them. This ensures the children's move is as smooth and trouble free as possible. Positive feedback is received from local schools about how quickly children, who have attended the nursery, settle. This is because children have acquired the necessary skills to prepare them for school and the firm foundations for their future learning.

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provision

Robust recruitment and vetting procedures ensure the suitability of all adults working in the nursery. Furthermore, visitors are closely supervised and children are only released into the care of authorised individuals. Thorough induction procedures ensure that all adults working in the nursery understand their role and responsibilities and follow the nursery's policies and procedures. The provider and manager routinely observe staff, and provide regular feedback on their practice and performance. Regular team meetings, supervision and appraisals underpin the implementation of professional development programs for all staff. This helps to ensure training is selected which will appropriately supports children's needs and drives improvement in the educational programmes. Staff are enthusiastic and motivated and inspection of training files confirms their commitment.

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provision

Children's safety and welfare is ensured because robust procedures are in place and the vigilance of staff ensures they are implemented effectively. The premises are secure and children are well supervised. Staff complete risk assessments and daily checks which make certain that children enjoy an environment that is clean and well-maintained. Appropriate action is taken if hazards are identified ensuring that children are kept safe and accidents are kept to a minimum. Children are protected because staff have a good knowledge and understanding of child protection issues. Staff confidently describe appropriate recording and reporting procedures and the nursery safeguarding policy includes the required information and are consistently implemented.

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provision

Staff provide parents with good quality advice, reassurance and support on a daily basis. In addition, parents are invited to regular meetings where they can discuss and contribute to their children's learning and development records. Parents comment very positively about the nursery, particularly about the progress their children make, and the friendliness of the staff. Strong partnerships with external agencies involved in the children's care and development ensures that all children receive targeted support and interventions to promote their learning and meet their individual needs.

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provision

The leadership and management team have high aspirations for quality. This is evident through ongoing improvement in all areas, in close consultation with staff, parents and children. Suggestions are acted upon and a display in the nursery entrance informs parents about the changes and improvements they have influenced. Good links are maintained with the local authority and their support and advice is welcomed and utilised well to enhance practice and children's welfare. The provider and manager regularly network with other professionals and keep abreast of changes in policy and ideas to support best practice. Regular and robust reviews of all paperwork and procedures take place to ensure that all requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. The manager routinely monitors the educational programmes and progress of individual children to ensure staff are effectively promoting their learning

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provision

and development in all areas. Consequently, there is a strong culture of reflection and a clear desire for sustained improvement.

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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 EY376461 Local authority Redbridge Inspection number 918618 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 38 Name of provider Barney Bears Date of previous inspection 15/01/2009 Telephone number 020 8500 0980

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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

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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