The Wishing Tree Children's Nursery

The Wishing Tree Children's Nursery 14 Carden Avenue, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 8NA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/07/2013 29/10/2008

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Children enjoy a rich and varied programme of experiences and activities throughout the nursery and many children make very good progress in their learning and development.  The staff team create a harmonious and friendly environment, treating children with respect and enable every child to form strong emotional attachments.  Children keep safe within the nursery, and on outings because staff are very attentive, follow thorough safeguarding procedures and understand their role and responsibilities.  The nursery management team strongly drive improvement in the quality of the provision, rapidly addressing any weaknesses and making sure outcomes for children are at least good.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The nursery is continuing to develop and improve the range of challenging physical play experiences for children in the garden.

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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 nursery and observed staff and children in the indoor and outside play environments.  The inspector discussed practice with staff, including the management team.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including learning journals, planning, staff records, safeguarding policies and procedures, risk assessments, registers and self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents, including three parents from the nursery parents' committee.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation of an activity with one of the managers.

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Information about the setting

The Wishing Tree Children's Nursery registered in 2004. It operates from nine playrooms, spread over three floors in a converted house in the Withdean area of Brighton and Hove in Sussex. The first and second floors are accessible via stairs. Children have access to an enclosed outside area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 180 children on roll aged from three months to five years. The nursery gets funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four years.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 44 staff and eight non-childcare ancillary staff. 25 staff work full-time and 27 staff work part-time. The majority of staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above. Two members of staff are in training.

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

 extend opportunities for children to develop a wide range of physical skills in the outside learning environment.

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who attend

Children enjoy an extremely purposeful range of experiences in a highly stimulating learning environment. The staff team confidently plan activities that are consistently based on children's developmental needs and current interests. Consequently children engage extremely well and enthusiastically take ownership over their own learning. For example, a small group of children work well together as they decide to fill a wheelbarrow with sand and water. They chat and problem solve how to lift it up without it falling over after it does so initially, tipping water everywhere, much to their delight. Toddlers experiment using different resources to paint and print with on large pieces of paper on the floor. This builds on children's experiences of body painting at home. Initial hesitation about getting paint on their bodies is soon overtaken by their eagerness to dab paint on their feet and the arms of staff working with them. Staff's initial fears about doing such creative activities

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who attend

lessen as they see how much children enjoy these experiences. They carefully introduce new vocabulary while the children paint, with words such as 'slippery' to develop young children's early language. Babies sit and explore different musical instruments to express themselves, working out what happens if they bang them on the floor or shake them. They greatly benefit from play with a wide range of sensory resources, such as flour, pasta and natural materials including shells and wood.

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who attend

The children move with confidence around their base rooms and the garden, making their own decisions about what to do and play with from the extensive range of resources. Story times are popular and children listen attentively as staff read to them, snuggling up together as they do so. Staff skilfully use books as a valuable resource to teach children other skills, such as simple addition and subtraction, as they count objects on the page. The older children greatly benefit from opportunities to move freely between the indoors and outside environments. They use materials imaginatively, such as sand and twigs to create make-believe birthday cakes with candles and show very good language skills as they talk about raking and digging. Staff give children valuable time to persevere, concentrate and pursue their own learning without excessive intervention. This results in children who are extremely eager to learn through play. For example, children concentrate

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who attend

hard as they practise their early writing skills using a white board, while babies develop their physical agility as they learn how to stand and walk unaided.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of their role as a key person and of the learning & development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They provide extremely good levels of teaching to stimulate and challenge children to think critically and make at least good progress from their starting points. Staff make excellent use of technology to record their observations and take photographs of children busily playing. They closely monitor children's progress, including with the required progress check for children aged between two and three years. They identify achievable next steps to help children move forward in their development. The learning journals are delightful records of children's achievements and show the progress they make very clearly. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive excellent support because staff know how to meet their specific needs in purposeful ways and work closely with external

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who attend

agencies to support each child's inclusion. Outings around the local community and further afield to farms provide children with exciting and extremely good opportunities to learn about the wider world. Children eagerly chat about their impending trip to the theatre in Brighton and how they are going by bus with some of their mums and dads and staff. On their return from the outing, other children eagerly ask if they have had a nice time, showing good friendships are established.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are extremely good. Parents praise the exceptional levels of care and education their children receive, and comment how 'my child loves it here and so do I'. The nursery uses comprehensive systems to engage all parents in their children's learning and development, both within the nursery and at home. Parents are able to borrow resources to share with their child at home, such as dual language books and physical activity bags. They attend parents' evenings and know they can talk to their child's key person at any time. The nursery also works collaboratively with other early years settings children attend, with local feeder schools and support services to fully meet every child's unique needs and support them as they move on in their education.

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

All of the children show they feel very happy, safe and settled within the nursery. There is a harmonious atmosphere in the homely environment, which is busy and fun, while also having an underlying sense of calm. This is particularly beneficial for the youngest children who receive good levels of consistent care, with their routines followed from home. The staff adorn walls with children's creative efforts and photographs of them engaged in activities to foster a sense of belonging. The children receive plenty of praise and encouragement to promote their self-esteem and confidence, while also having clear behaviour expectations and boundaries.

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

The staff teach children to keep safe and healthy through daily routines, outings and as they play. For example, when older children step from a low wooden balance beam into the small paddling pool and begin to slip, staff remind them about the dangers to themselves and others in the pool. Visits to the nursery by the emergency services help reinforce important messages to children about keeping safe.

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

The nursery cook provides children with a good variety of wholesome, nutritious meals and snacks, which the children thoroughly enjoy. Children serve themselves when they are able to do so and pour their own drinks of water so they learn to recognise when they might be thirsty. Babies are offered regular drinks of water and staff follow very good procedures regarding bottle feeds to promote health and safety. The nursery is clean and well maintained throughout all areas. Children learn to follow good hygiene routines regarding their personal care and show they understand this as they comment to a friend 'I think you need a tissue'. Children have very good opportunities to develop healthy lifestyles and get plenty of exercise each day. They gain skills by jumping, running, building large structures using crates, digging and kicking balls. Toddlers and babies develop resilience as they gain physical strength crawling, standing and walking. The

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

nursery is working hard to develop and enhance their outdoor provision even further. They recognise that some children do not always have excellent opportunities to climb, balance and develop further their physical capabilities and skills.

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

The nursery strongly prepares children for their move to school. They teach them important self-care skills and above all encourage children to be confident learners with high levels of self-esteem. Key skills such as learning to hold a pencil, recognise their first name and sit and listen are all embedded through daily routines with the oldest children.

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provision

The nursery implements robust procedures to safeguard children and promote their welfare. They conscientiously and thoroughly fulfil their responsibilities in meeting the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The management team is strong and provides effective leadership throughout the nursery to maintain good quality care and drive improvement in the outcomes for children. They act quickly upon any concerns or incidents to safeguard children. For instance, after a recent incident where a child was left unsupervised in the garden the nursery completed a through investigation. The nursery reviewed their procedures, ratios, supervision of children and how staff are deployed. This identified some areas were improvements can be made and the nursery has implemented these. Risk assessments are thorough and cover all aspects of the nursery provision, so make sure safeguarding procedures are

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provision

embedded into practice. For example, staff closely monitor children going in and out of the garden, doing regular head counts and registers. Access to the nursery is secure and staff are vigilant at all times about children's whereabouts. They understand their roles and responsibilities regarding child protection, including about whistle blowing and the use of mobile phones. Comprehensive policies and procedures are in place and implemented routinely by staff to maintain high quality and safe care for children.

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provision

All documentation required to safely manage the nursery is in place. There is a comprehensive range of records and procedures in place, many of which are put on display around the nursery. This helps parents be aware of how the nursery cares for their children. Parents can access the informative nursery website and also receive newsletters regularly so they keep informed about events happening that may involve their child.

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provision

The nursery is rigorous in its approach to reflective practice and self-evaluation in order to drive and maintain continuous improvement. They conduct surveys, seek the views of children and their parents to identify priorities for improvement, using action and operational plans to plan their next steps. Management implement robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures to make sure staff are suitable to work with children. They support staff's professional development with training, meetings, appraisals and have an open door policy for staff to share any ideas or issues. Any underperformance is quickly identified and supported through monitoring, training and staff meetings. They also reflect and critically evaluate the educational programmes and assessment systems. This enables them to check that they are narrowing achievement gaps for particular groups of children, meeting each child's needs fully and that all children are making progress from their

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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 EY283126 Local authority Brighton & Hove Inspection number 922521

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 86 Number of children on roll 180 Name of provider Lewis Wood and Jayne Wood Partnership Date of previous inspection 29/10/2008 Telephone number 01273 551515

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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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