Ladybirds Neighbourhood Nursery

Ladybirds Neighbourhood Nursery Halton Lodge Children's Centre, Grangeway, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 5LU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/04/2013 23/11/2011

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children enjoy their time at nursery, they have lots of opportunities to be creative and benefit from daily singing time, which helps to promote their listening skills and language development.  Children are learning the importance of good behaviour. Pre-school children understand they must share and take turns.  Safeguarding arrangements are in place and practitioners have a good understanding of these. Children are safe within the setting. Policies and procedures are understood by practitioners.

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It is not yet good because

 Practitioners do not always make good enough use of unplanned opportunities to support children's learning and development, or use effective questioning. Therefore, they are not consistently extending the children's learning.  There is little opportunity for children to be independent at mealtimes. Therefore, they do not develop an understanding of the importance of physical exercise and a healthy diet.  Planning and assessment are not yet securely established across the whole nursery. Therefore, not all children are challenged sufficiently to make consistent progress.  Parents are not fully supported to extend their children's learning at home. This means that children do not progress as well as possible.

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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 toured the premises with the deputy manager.  The inspector observed the staff and children during free play and at snack time.  The inspector talked to the staff and the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a discussion with the manager and reviewed staff records and other relevant documentation.

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Information about the setting

Ladybirds Neighbourhood Nursery is operated by the Pre-School Learning Alliance and was registered in 2005. The setting operates from three designated rooms and associated facilities within Halton Lodge Children's Centre in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire. There is access to fully enclosed outdoor play areas. The setting is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. There are currently 100 children on roll, all of whom are within the early years age group. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those, who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The setting is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are 15 practitioners, including the managers, 14 of whom work directly with the children. Of these, one holds a Foundation Degree, five hold a qualification at level 4, a further seven practitioners hold a qualification at level 3 and one holds a qualification at level 2 in early years. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 provide a better balance of child-initiated and adult-led activities, in order to fully support children's learning and development and ensure that practitioners are responding to each child's emerging needs and interests by adapting the environment

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must:

 implement systems for monitoring, planning and assessment arrangements to ensure that all children are being challenged and that they make progress over time.

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

 develop practitioners quality of questioning and describing what the children are doing to ensure that children's learning is being extended and enhanced throughout each session

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

 improve the quality of support given to parents about how they can extend children's learning and development at home

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

 provide further opportunities for children to increase their independence at snack and mealtimes, including selecting and serving their own food, setting the table and tidying up after eating; increase their awareness of the importance of physical exercise and a healthy diet.

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who attend

Children arrive at nursery and all part happily and confidently from their caregivers. Children's independence skills are supported and provided for appropriately. They are supported by the practitioner to take off their coats and hang them up and select their names and stick them on a self-registration board. The indoor environment is organised well to enable children to have free access to all the areas and a varied range of resources from when they arrive. Children self-select the equipment and resources, allowing them to make decisions for themselves.

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who attend

Observations of the children are ongoing throughout the session. These observations are assessed and then used to inform the planning for the following week to incorporate activities, which meet the needs of the individual children. However, these individual plans are not monitored sufficiently well by practitioners to ensure that all areas of learning and development are planned for to meet the individual needs of all children. There is also a lack of on the spot planning in response to the children's play and child-initiated activities. This does not enable practitioners to ensure that the interests of the child are captured in the moment.

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who attend

The practitioners sit with the children while they play and make notes and observations. However, they do not use these opportunities to enhance the activities and experience of the children to extend their learning and development or introduce a new skill. Although, the practitioners talk to the children during play, they do not use questioning or commenting to extend and enhance their learning, vocabulary or knowledge. Younger children enjoy water play and fill and pour with confidence, the practitioners support their play, modelling how to use the equipment and allowing the children to test out the resources themselves. However, the practitioners do not use the opportunity to promote any mathematical language. As a result, the learning experience does not provide sufficient challenge for the children.

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who attend

Younger children are supported with sand play during the outdoor session, a practitioner models filling and emptying sand into buckets and making sand castles, giving the children plenty of time to 'have a go'. Children enjoy running and climbing through and on tunnels, with practitioners giving appropriate support when needed. This enables the children to manage and take risks for themselves.

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who attend

Older children play independently in the sand pit. A practitioner intervenes appropriately and supports the children to make and talk about patterns in the sand. They use their shoes and count the ridges with the support of the practitioner. This promotes some children's learning and development in mathematics.

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who attend

Older children are given time to talk and tell during a group session. Children choose and sing and sign songs independently and confidently. This promotes children's self- confidence to speak to others about their own needs, wants, interests and opinions. However, circle time for the younger children is not effective in capturing their interests or meeting the needs of all children. This means that some children are unable to sustain their attention and become very distracted.

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who attend

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are appropriately supported through individual education plans and children sign some songs in Makaton, which promotes inclusion. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator works closely with parents and they are involved in plans for how the nursery will support their children.

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who attend

The practitioners are completing the progress check at age two years. They use these to inform parents of the stage of development, which their child is in for all the areas of learning and development. The checks are also used to alert parents to any areas of concern. Parents are involved in this process and encouraged to write their own comments regarding their view of their child's stage of development.

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who attend

Practitioners work well with parents, as a result, they feel confident that the practitioners know the children well and support them with their personal, social and emotional needs, such as toilet training. The nursery encourages a link between home and nursery by sending home a communication book, which is used to record any activities or experiences that the child has been involved in. Parents are encouraged to share information with the setting through these books. However, practitioners are less effective at helping parents in supporting their children's learning and development at home, so children do not progress as well as possible.

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

The nursery has clearly recorded all legally required information regarding the individual needs of the children. The manager and practitioners have a good knowledge of the children's health needs to ensure that their care needs are well supported. Staff have attended relevant first aid training to meet children's needs in the event of an accident and they appropriately record all accidents and medication administered. Children form secure relationships with their key person, which means their transitions between home and the nursery and between rooms are well supported.

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

Older children are learning how to behave appropriately during different activities, such as Circle Time, with the practitioners modelling positive behaviour. There is a key person system in place. Each key person observes, assesses and plans for their key children and liaises with parents. They form good relationships with parents and regularly share information. They complete a summative assessment for each child every term and share these with parents.

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

Snack time and mealtimes are organised by practitioners with very little opportunity for the children to develop their independence by selecting their own food or helping to set the table. Practitioners are not sufficiently supporting children to develop their understanding of the need for a healthy diet. Children are all sent to wash their hands before mealtimes, however, practitioners do not discuss the importance of hand washing. Therefore, opportunities to ensure they develop an understanding of personal hygiene are not promoted. Children sit, where possible, with their key person giving them an opportunity to develop positive relationships.

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

The indoor environment is safe and clean, which provides the children with the freedom to move around as they want. Children have access to a climbing frame. A practitioner supervises a group of eight children; the children can take risks in a controlled environment with the support of the practitioner when needed.

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provision

The manager and practitioners have a good knowledge and understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities, the signs and symptoms of abuse and the correct agencies to contact if they have any concerns. The safeguarding policy is stored in the policies and procedures folder. All practitioners sign to confirm that they have read and understand this. Other safety measures are followed to protect children. For example, there is a mobile telephone and camera policy in place. The environment is safe and secure for children, the manager carries out risk assessments of the provision, equipment and resources. The room supervisors routinely carry out daily checks of the environment, which ensures that potential hazards are minimised and children are kept safe.

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provision

There is an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place to ensure the suitably of practitioners. The manager carries out supervision meetings to discuss strengths and areas for improvement in the practitioners' practice. The manager has been working with the local authority early years consultant to develop practitioners' skills in planning adult- led activities. However, some aspects in relation to planning require further development, including the monitoring of planning and assessments across the whole nursery to ensure the individual needs of children are met. Also in supporting practitioners about how to plan in response to children's play and child-initiated activities.

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provision

There is an overall development plan in place, which the manager is using to reflect on practice. Individual rooms have their own development plans, which are specific to the needs of that room and this ensures staff are involved in setting targets for improvement. Partnerships with parents, external agencies and other providers are established and contribute to meeting and continuing children's care and learning needs.

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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 EY279805 Local authority Halton Inspection number 890473

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 54 Number of children on roll 100 Name of provider Pre-School Learning Alliance Date of previous inspection 23/11/2011 Telephone number 01928 589234

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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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