Leaps and Bounds Nursery

Leaps & Bounds Bond Street, New Rossington, DONCASTER, South Yorkshire, DN11 0BZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/07/2013 30/03/2009

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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 are happy and enjoy attending this welcoming setting. They settle well and follow a familiar routine. This helps children to form secure attachments with practitioners and develop a sense of belonging.  Children are supported to acquire the skills and capacity to develop and learn effectively and to be ready for the next stage in their learning. They are building attachments and bonds which promote well-being and independence.  Staff support children to develop a suitable understanding of health and hygiene through promoting the importance of physical exercise, a healthy diet and how to manage their own hygiene and personal needs.

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It is not yet good because

 Staffing arrangements do not ensure that child to staff ratios are adhered to, especially during the early morning opening period. Therefore, children's care needs are not always met.  Staff do not use observations and assessments effectively to identify children's next steps and do not obtain sufficient detail about children's starting points from parents in order to help children make the best progress.  There is scope to improve children's free access to the outdoors in order to enhance their learning and development.

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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 children and staff in the nursery rooms and the outdoor play area.  The inspector spoke with the joint owner /managers, and members of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, planning systems, a selection of policies and procedures and other relevant documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with one of the managers.

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Information about the setting

The nursery was registered in 2004 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The two joint owners are also the nursery mangers. The nursery is a purpose built one storey building and children are cared for in two large rooms with a secure outside play area. It is situated within the grounds of All Saints School, in the village of Rossington on the outskirts of Doncaster.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 6 and one holds a qualification at level 5. Two other staff hold a level 4 qualification and four staff hold a level 3. The cook also holds a level 2 child care qualification and covers in the nursery when needed.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 6pm for 50 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of full and part time sessions. There are currently 61 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early years education for two- three- and four-year-olds. The nursery is able to take and collect children from local school nurseries in Rossington. The nursery provides care for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and those with English as an additional language. The nursery is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association. The nursery has a five star food hygiene rating from the local authority. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 implement effective measures to ensure the deployment of staff meet required ratios at all times and children's care needs are continually met.

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

 monitor the consistent implementation of the assessment process to support children's individual learning and development, including establishing children's starting points with parents on entry to the setting and analysing the information gained from observations to identify children's individual next steps

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

 review planning and organisation of routines to allow children more free access to the outdoors so that children can more easily utilise the wide variety of activities available to enhance their learning.

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who attend

Children enjoy their time at this friendly and welcoming nursery. They clearly enjoy learning through play, entering happily and eagerly choosing what they wish to do from the range of resources offered. Children explore and play, displaying emerging levels of independence and demonstrate an appropriate attitude towards learning which is delivered through indoor and outdoor play. Children are enthusiastic and keen to learn, demonstrating the characteristics of effective learning. Staff are actively engaged in children's play, offering opportunities for them to explore and investigate using a variety of tools and equipment. Babies and pre-school children enjoy accessing a developmentally appropriate range of toys and resources, which they investigate and explore. Babies engage in activities which further enable them to use their senses. For example, they explore the texture of cornflour, watching as it drops from a member of staff's hands into the tray and are gently

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who attend

persuaded to have a go. Slightly older children enjoy playing with a tray of rice and a variety of scoops; children freely add resources to enhance their learning. For example, children fetch a tractor from the garage and enjoy scooping the rice up and moving it into a pile. Smiling and expressing pride in their achievements when praised and return to the activity with great excitement. Pre-school children write their names on their pictures and clearly enjoy playing with a range of diggers and trucks in a tray of green mashed potato.

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who attend

Staff promote children's physical skills well on a daily basis, both indoors and outside. However, currently children have restricted free movement to the outdoors, and routines currently limit children's opportunities to make independent choices between playing indoors and outdoors. This hinders children from freely exploring outside and so fully benefiting from experiencing learning in different ways and on a larger scale. Children complete puzzles, play in the sand, ride on sit and ride cars and play with a variety of balls which develop small and large muscles. Children have opportunities to learn about nature and the world around them through planned activities. For example, they have planted potatoes and young children excitedly pick strawberries to eat at snack time. They have opportunities to express their creativity and imagination well. For example, they pretend they are going on holiday and check in their luggage at the airport, carefully wheeling the

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who attend

suit case round the room. This activity is supported with a good range of props and children sit and look at travel brochures with each other talking about their holiday destinations and flying in an aeroplane to Spain. Children's mathematical knowledge is developing in a variety of ways. For example, they count the number of bricks in the tower before excitedly knocking it down. When playing in the water tray staff model language, such as full and empty, as children pour water from a jug into a bottle.

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who attend

Staff foster children's communication and language development effectively. They take time to listen to the children as they talk about the activities they are taking part in and make links to their home life. This promotes the children's self-confidence as well as challenges their thinking. For example, children talk about their weekend and playing in the paddling pool. Children have opportunities to handle books and enjoy the opportunities to sit cosily with staff in small groups and at whole group story time. Staff model reading a book well, so that children are interested and understand about turning pages and that print carries meaning. Younger children enjoy a one to one session and sing nursery rhymes and accompany this with music shakers, pointing to different shakers to make their needs known. Staff act on these gestures and respond with simple sentences and actions, smiling and praising children's efforts at communicating. Pre-school

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who attend

children enjoy singing sessions and have great fun with action rhymes. These activities, along with learning to write their names, help children to develop their literacy skills. In these activities, staff successfully promote children's positive attitudes to learning, such as developing their levels of concentration and attention, which prepares children well for their future learning, which is normally school.

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who attend

Staff have an appropriate understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and how to promote the learning and development of children. Initial written information is gathered from parents prior to children starting at the nursery. However, this focuses on children's routines and preferences, rather than children's learning and development. This potentially impacts upon the speed of children's progress in their early days at the setting. Planning is in place and covers all areas of learning to ensure that a good range of toys and activities are offered to support children's independent choice. Staff observe and assess children while they play and track their achievements suitably. Staff undertake short observations on children which are then linked to their own 'Personalised Play Plan' which has links to the child's interests and outlines activities for progression. However children's next steps are not currently linked to

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who attend

the observations undertaken by staff. Therefore, learning and development is not always maximised. Support is available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children with English as an additional language. Staff work closely with speech therapists and other professionals involved with children and their families. Parents are generally involved in their children's learning. Staff provide opportunities for parents to extend their children's learning at home. For example, they have opportunities to look at their children's learning journal, which contain observations of their children taking part in activities. This shows parents what their children have been doing while at nursery and is complimented by each child's 'Personalised Play Plan' which enables them to further support their learning at home. Parents are encouraged to completed regular updated 'I can do' sheets which enable parents to inform staff of the children learning at

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who attend

home. This is complimented by regular parents' evenings.

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

The appropriate key person system and procedures for working with parents help to ensure that all children are secure and can build good relationships with staff and each other. Children and parents are invited for visits early on, so they meet staff and other children, and good settling procedures prior to the child's start date ensure the transition is smooth. They show their confidence and have clearly formed secure attachments. Staff show warm affection for the children and encourage them to show caring attitudes. For example, when serving themselves at lunchtime children are encouraged to leave some for their friends. Staff are positive role models. They set good examples to children and encourage them to be helpful, kind and polite and gently remind children to say 'please' and 'thank you' at lunchtime. Children are respectful of people's differences, as they explore their own cultural festivals and those of others through planned activities. For

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

example, children participate in celebratory events, such as the Chinese New Year, which helps them to explore people and communities.

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

Older children are learning to take risks and keep themselves safe. Children are encouraged to 'choose, use and put away' to help prevent accidents. They enjoy taking responsibility for tidying away the wide ranging resources and sit patiently waiting their turn to have sun cream applied before going outside to play in the sunshine. They confidently talk about the need for sun cream and sun hats 'so that they won't burn'. They know to take care on the steps on the decking in case they fall. Children's independence is fostered well especially at lunchtime. Older children have a cafe self-service system and children collect their own knife and fork from the tray and set their own place at the table. They serve themselves competently from serving dishes and eat in a relaxed family atmosphere. Children then scrape any left-over food into the food bin and replace their plate and cutlery onto the tray. They pour their own drinks into a cup and serve

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

themselves desert. Younger children are encouraged to feed themselves with a spoon. Nutritious food is provided and cooked on site and children's dietary requirements are observed. Babies are closely monitored while they are sleeping to ensure they remain safe.

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

When children move to a new setting or school, or when care is shared between the setting and other providers, appropriate information is passed on. A transition report is also sent to the child's new school on leaving the setting and this provides the school with information regarding the child's progress. This promotes continuity of care and learning for these children and eases their transition when children leave to go to school. Resources and toys throughout the nursery are of a good quality and cover all seven areas of learning appropriately. Staff rota the toys regularly taking children's interests into account and children are able to access the toys available to enhance their play.

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

Children gain a sound understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. For example, during lunchtime, children discuss which food is good for you to eat and why it is important to eat their vegetables. Children are appropriately supported in developing their self-care skills. For instance, when asked by staff why they wash their hands, they confidently answer, 'because of germs'. They wash their hands before sitting down to eat snack and after using the toilet. They gain an awareness of the importance of exercise and physical activity as they participate in daily outside play and enjoy running around in the fresh air. Children take part in regular fire drills, which help them to understand how to keep themselves safe in an emergency.

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

The behaviour of children is good. Children are praised for their achievements promoting their self-esteem. For example, staff smile and offer warm, soft tones in their voice with babies. Older children are praised when they share toys and take turns in activities by staff saying 'well done'. Children are confident and make independent choices in their play. This is because staff place toys and resources on the floor, in baskets and in and on low-level shelving. Colourful displays of children's artwork, posters and photographs create a welcoming environment, which helps all children have a sense of belonging. Parent noticeboards contain a wealth of information to support children and their families. Parents spoken to on the day are happy with the service the nursery provides.

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provision

Children are cared for by a well-qualified staff team who work well together. Staffs' suitability has been assessed through the settings clear recruitment, vetting and induction procedures. Performance management systems are in place, like monthly supervisions and annual staff appraisals. This results in staff being committed to their ongoing personal development through training. Both nursery managers have recently gained a degree and other staff members are currently undertaking further qualifications. The setting is securely maintained, with risk assessments used to identify and minimise potential hazards in all areas. Staff are also knowledgeable about child protection procedures, which helps to safeguard children from potential harm. However, on the day of the inspection there were insufficient staff available to ensure required child to staff ratios were complied with for a short period of time within one care room. This occurred shortly after the nursery

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provision

had opened for the day and children in the toddler area were well-organised and happy, sitting in low chairs with trays, eating breakfast. As a result, they were safe and appropriately cared for during the short delay before required staff ratios were restored. Nevertheless, this is a failure to meet legal requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation stage. As a result, leadership and management is not fully effective in ensuring staff are deployed effectively to meet required ratios at all times. Good security systems are in place to ensure that no unauthorised person enters the nursery. For instance, the door is always monitored and entrance is gained by intercom. Visitors are signed in and out and identity is checked. All of which contribute to children's safety. The setting maintains clear and concise policies and procedures, which are made available to parents and staff are encouraged to read and discuss at staff meetings. These

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provision

have recently been updated. Staff ensure that children are provided with a safe and secure environment, both indoors and outside. They identify all hazards and take appropriate steps to minimise them. For example, the decking is regularly treated with a non slip paint to make it safer in wet weather. Staff work closely together to identify the strengths of the setting and areas for future improvement. All issues raised as recommendations at the last inspection have been addressed. In addition, the setting has improved the outdoor play area and now provides children with a decking area that is partially covered with sails to give the children shade from the sun. Plans for the future are realistic and include improving the observation, assessment and planning for children's learning and further additions to the outdoors.

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provision

Information is exchanged and shared between the staff and parents. This enables staff to respect the backgrounds and beliefs of all children. Written diaries and verbal discussions keep parents informed of how their children have been each day. Parents comment positively about the setting. They confirm their children are settled and engage in lots of interesting play experiences. They also state their children have made good progress since attending the provision.

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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 EY276443 Local authority Doncaster Inspection number 914987

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 61 Name of provider Lynn Henderson & Allison Dilworth Partnership Date of previous inspection 30/03/2009 Telephone number 01302 867531

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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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