Smilers Ltd

Smilers Ltd Wainscott Primary School, Wainscott Road, Wainscott, Rochester, Kent, ME2 4JY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/06/2013 22/03/2012

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children make generally sound progress in all areas of learning due to adults' positive support and warm interaction, and a well resourced setting.  Positive and friendly relationships with parents make them feel valued and supported, and they are informed about their children's day in the setting.  Children are kept safe as staff are knowledgeable about child protection issues and procedures.  Managers show a satisfactory commitment to improvements and development.

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It is not yet good because

 The monitoring of children's progress is of variable quality, due to inconsistencies in the observation and assessment process.  Adults working with the pre-school children do not routinely encourage children to think about the sounds of letters and how words are made up.  Babies do not have an enclosed, quiet area to relax. Children who learn best outdoors do not experience learning opportunities across all the areas of learning.  Not all parents have the opportunity to discuss children's progress with staff, and find out how they can continue their learning 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 held meetings with the manager of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan and scrutinized relevant supporting documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager of the provision in the pre-school room.

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Information about the setting

Smilers Ltd Nursery is one of two privately owned nurseries. It opened in 2001. It is located on a school site in Wainscott, Rochester, Kent, and operates from two rooms in a purpose built mobile premises and a room in a main building. All children have access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 112 children in the early years age range on roll. More children attend the after school club. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 5.30pm all year round. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for three and four year olds. The nursery has supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs 13 staff. Of these, 12 staff, including the manager and supervisors, hold appropriate early years qualifications. There are two members of staff working

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must:

 ensure that assessments of children's progress throughout the nursery are of consistent quality, and are sufficiently detailed to enable staff to monitor progress accurately, and to plan for each child as an individual

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must:

 improve the educational programme for literacy by helping the older children make links between letters and sounds.

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

 provide babies and young children with a cosy, quiet place to be calm and relax

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

 develop the outdoor area to provide opportunities for children to explore all areas of learning outside

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

 improve the two-way flow of information with parents by sharing assessments of progress to involve them more in practical ways to support their child's learning and development.

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who attend

Children make satisfactory progress across the areas of learning, although the quality of planning and assessment throughout the setting is inconsistent. Some staff use their observations of children's interests to a satisfactory extent to plan further activities to interest them and help them make progress. Other staff, especially those working in the baby room, have no clear system to plan for babies' progress. As a result, babies make progress due to the variety of toys and adults interaction, rather than because of careful planning in response to individual needs. Teaching techniques are generally positive and adults enthuse and motivate children. In the kindergarten room, adults hold children's attention well. For example, children turn over cards and talk about what they see. All children are keen to contribute, chatting about what noises animals make, and remembering with pleasure when the nursery went to see new-born lambs. Adults use

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who attend

their knowledge of children's lives to talk about what they have done at home, and children respond with interest. As a result, children's confidence and communication skills are therefore promoted well.

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who attend

Adults in the pre-school room acknowledge and build on children's interests. They note these interests and extend activities, bringing in other areas of learning. For example, children who are fascinated by bugs search for these outside. They then come indoors and choose how they want to represent them, for example, by using painting or drawing. However, there is a weakness in the educational programme for literacy in the pre-school room. This is because although children are ready to learn about sounds, letters and words, adults do not draw children's attention to the first letters of words, or encourage them to think about how words are constructed.

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who attend

Babies move around their room freely, and adults join them in their chosen activities and extend their play and learning. Staff take small groups of babies and toddlers out securely in the six seater buggy. This enables the children to benefit from learning about their local community, as they interact with the people who chat to them on the street and in shops. The kindergarten and pre-school rooms each have their own outside area, so children have frequent access to outdoor play. Children are asked for their ideas as to what resources they would like to take outside, and so to a satisfactory extent, the outside learning environment mirrors activities indoors. However, this system relies on children being confident to express their wishes. There is no planning in place to ensure that activities outside include all areas of learning. Therefore children who learn best in the open air are sometimes disadvantaged.

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who attend

Parents report strong, friendly and supportive relationships with staff. They are informed daily on a contact sheet about significant events and activities. Parents' evenings have been introduced for parents of older children, but not many have attended. Parents of children in the baby room have not yet been invited. Therefore not all parents are fully included in and informed about their children's progress. As they do not know what staff are working on with their children in the nursery, this limits parents' ability to continue children's learning at home. Monitoring of children's progress and staff's knowledge of individual children is just sufficient to identify if children are falling behind, and there are links in place with other professionals to get support. Strong links with the local Surestart Centre enable staff to ensure families get appropriate support where needed.

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

A key person system operates within the setting. Parents confirm this is successful, as their children have strong bonds with their key person. Children are confident and happy to seek adults' help and attention, knowing they will get a kind response. Some pre-school age children know what to do if the fire bell rings, and state that they will 'line up on the field' and say their names when the register is called. Children are starting to learn about safe behaviour. They are gaining an understanding of road safety through outings in the local area, and know to hold hands and stop and look as they cross the road. They say that they will tell an adult if they are hurt, showing that they trust the staff to take care of them.

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

Children are motivated and enthusiastic. They are keen to take part and benefit from learning experiences. They are interested and confident, skills which will benefit them in the next stage of their learning. For example, in the kindergarten room, children delight in asking for their favourite songs, and join in noisily and enthusiastically. Older children have a basic understanding of rules for sociable behaviour. Children generally have good self-esteem, due to adults' praise for achievements and contributions.

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

Children throughout the nursery play in the fresh air daily. Pre-school age children develop coordination and balance on the variety of bikes and climbing apparatus, and use the school grounds for bug hunts and nature walks. Children in the pre-school room demonstrate that they understand about caring for their own personal hygiene. They discuss washing their hands 'loads of times' with 'soap and water'. They do this before snacks because they 'get germs'. The baby and toddler room is very welcoming, bright and clean, with a range of age appropriate and interesting resources set out so that they can find favourites. Adults deploy themselves well, supporting children's play. However, the room is very stimulating, with wall and ceiling space covered with eye-catching pictures and mobiles. This means young children do not have a quiet, enclosed, secluded place where they can go to be calm and relaxed.

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

Children's transition to school is eased as teachers from local primary schools visit them in the nursery setting. Teachers are therefore able to better meet children's needs as they enter school. In addition, children are able to become familiar with their future teacher, which will help them feel more settled as they move on to school. Within the setting, children are able to spend time in the next room, getting to know the environment and adults there, before moving 'up'. Staff are sensitive to toddlers' needs during this process, and allow them to stay in the baby room for a while longer, if they are not ready for the transition. This helps young children feel safe and secure.

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provision

Children are keep safe within the setting. All staff undergo appropriate checks to ensure their suitability to work with children. Recent training about child protection has resulted in staff having good knowledge of the action to take should they have concerns about a child. The premises are safe, secure and well maintained, and sensible precautions are in place for the collection of children.

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provision

During the day, there are times when children need to be moved around the school site in groups. There are also regular outings in to the local community for the under two year olds. Each of these outings are specifically risk assessed and the required ratios are fully maintained to ensure children remain well-supervised. Staff also take items which they may need in an emergency, including a first aid kit and telephone. This demonstrates staff take appropriate measures to keep children safe.

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provision

Throughout the setting, the quality of the assessments of children's progress is variable. Although staff know children well enough to assess whether they have any special educational needs, they have not gained sufficient knowledge to consistently identify gaps in provision or in individual children's learning.

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provision

There has been uncertainty about the future of the nursery, which has recently been resolved. This is reported to have resulted in low staff morale and lack of development and improvement. For example, not all staff are aware of the recent changes in the learning and development requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Nonetheless, management have worked to ensure the setting remains open, and this has clearly been an appropriate priority. There is a suitable action plan in place for future development, including building on partnership with parents. This means managers are able to demonstrate a satisfactory capacity for improvement. The manager spends time in the various rooms, so supervises staff well. Furthermore, appraisals are in use to encourage and support staff, and identify training needs where appropriate. Staff work well as a team, and are enthusiastic and keen to provide a good service.

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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 156085 Local authority Medway Towns Inspection number 919334 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 64 Number of children on roll 112 Name of provider Smilers Ltd Date of previous inspection 22/03/2012 Telephone number 01634 297658

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Setting details

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

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

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

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