Wigwams Nursery

Wigwams Neighbourhood Nursery Whitton Church Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 6LW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/07/2013 04/11/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are highly motivated and eager to take part in activities. They confidently take the lead in their play and skilled staff support and extend their learning enabling them to make exceptionally good progress in all areas.  All staff are highly skilled in supporting children to form secure emotional attachments. They value the uniqueness of each child and get to know the children and families exceptionally well to secure very smooth transitions.  Children demonstrate high levels of self-control and negotiating skills and confidently express themselves ensuring their needs are met to a high standard.  The ethos of valuing and respecting is embedded in all areas of the nursery ensuring children, parents and staff have their voices heard and are fully involved in the shaping of the provision.  High quality professional supervision ensures that staff are motivated and take responsibility for their areas of expertise and share their knowledge and understanding

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This provision is outstanding

with all staff and parents.  The commitment and drive for excellence is strong with all the staff under the inspirational leadership of the manager.

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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 all three playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision, spoke to staff and interacted with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager in the pre-school room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the setting, the provider's self- evaluation and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection and of information included in the self-evaluation documents.

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Information about the setting

Wigwams Neighbourhood Nursery is one of three settings run by Bows and Arrows, an independent registered charity, managed by a board of trustees. The nursery opened in 2004 but changed to the current ownership in 2009. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register, and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a two storey, purpose-built building on the North West side of Ipswich, Suffolk. The premises have level access and a lift is available to the first floor. There is a secure, enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens five days a week from 8am to 6pm for 50 weeks of the year; closing for one week in August and over Christmas. Flexible session times are available to meet the individual needs of families. There are currently 112 children attending, 104 of whom are within the early years age group. The nursery also offers after school and holiday care for school aged children. The nursery supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and also children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 childcare staff, an administrator and a cook. Three of the staff, including the manager hold Early Years Professional Status. Four staff hold early years qualifications at level 4 or 5, six members of staff at level 3 and two hold early years qualifications at level 2. Seven staff are working towards higher qualifications. The nursery works in close partnership with Meredith Children's Centre and the community.

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

 continue to focus on the monitoring of outdoor play so that the physical development of all children is maintained to a high standard.

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who attend

Children thrive in the rich, varied and imaginative learning environment. They are eager to learn and are exceptionally keen to take part in the stimulating and exciting activities. Staff are highly skilled in identifying when they need to get involved and extend the children's learning and when they can step back and allow children to explore and try out their own ideas. Staff use extremely effective questioning to challenge the children to think for themselves, predict what might happen and work out problems. As a result, children are developing essential skills needed in readiness for their eventual move onto school. For example, children are fascinated as the ice cubes magnify their fingers and the dinosaur foot when they put them into the middle of the melting ice. They are given opportunities to find out if their predictions of the ice melting are accurate because the activities are left out and not rushed to be tidied up.

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who attend

Children happily involve the staff in their play as they enlist their support to help clear an area to make room for the wooden cylinders to roll down a ramp. They make the decision about what they want to build with the large blocks and negotiate with others to come up with a plan they are all happy with. Children's communication and language skills are exceptionally well supported as staff work closely with parents ensuring a consistent approach. Signing is used with all children and accessible pictorial clues are used by children and staff to provide additional effective methods of communication.

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who attend

Children have a wealth of opportunities to access their local community and enjoy meeting the local people and finding out about their roles. For example, an invitation from the local farmer to look at his tractor inspired an interest in many of the children who confidently asked lots of questions. They retell what they learnt by using photographs of the visit that are displayed in a book. They regularly visit the nursery's allotment where they dig, plant, water and harvest fresh produce. Staff support the children to learn from other allotment owners, who are sometimes more successful with the quantity and quality of their vegetables, and often share their produce. Staff encourage the children to gain a better understanding of how to reduce their carbon footprint as they help to recycle and to make less waste.

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who attend

Staff know their key children exceptionally well. They make regular observations which are skilfully assessed and fed into planning to ensure activities provide high levels of challenge and engage children's interests. Parents are fully involved in their children's learning and development at the nursery. They share information daily and have regular meetings with them to discuss achievements and plan together for their next steps in their learning. Therefore, any concerns are quickly identified and timely, appropriate support is provided.

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

Children are happy, extremely confident and have fun in the highly stimulating environment. The standards and obligations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are the foundation of their ethos which is extremely well embedded across all areas. Children's rights are acknowledged and respected and staff listen to them and encourage their views. In addition, they successfully use the High Scope approach to support the children's emerging social skills. Children are challenged when their behaviour is not appropriate and supported with learning alternative strategies. The staff ask the children for permission to change their nappies and from a very young age they are taught and supported to acknowledge each other's feelings. They learn to listen to one another and to respect the other children, staff and their environment. Staff encourage them to verbalise their emotions and feelings. They support them to recognise them by naming the feelings

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

and use picture cards of feelings as additional prompts. Older children demonstrate a clear understanding of what being respectful means and they are often heard reminding those who forget and role model it in their imaginative play. For example, as they talk to the dinosaurs, they ask them not to fight and to listen to each other.

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

The highly successful key person system ensures that children settle exceptionally well. The initial home visit provides valuable opportunities for the key person to get to know the children and their families and builds a strong foundation for the trusting relationships that follow. Staff follow the children's home routines and work closely with parents as the children develop and routines evolve. Transitions into the next room are seamless as they are supported by their key person and introduced to their new key person. Children have trial visits and take as much time as they need in order to feel fully comfortable.

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

Children learn to keep themselves healthy and parents are invited to healthy fun days, basic cooking and stay for lunch sessions to share the learning with their children. They prepare and eat the produce from the allotment and meals and snacks are varied, balanced and nutritious. Physical play is supported very well in all age groups. Very young children who are not yet walking use a small carpeted ramp and steps to climb up and shuffle down on their bottoms. They use furniture and/or staff hands to pull themselves up and proudly walk around. Toddlers are highly involved in choosing the climbing apparatus for their room and staff have seen some very positive results in children's confidence, risk taking and ability to balance and climb. The close monitoring of children's physical play has ensured that additional physical opportunities that are difficult to provide in the small garden, are available. For example, children have access to the local sports

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

centre, parks, woods and a field. There are plans to develop an additional outdoor area for the older children which will give scope to the development of the existing garden to cater solely for the younger children.

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

Children confidently take risks in the safety of the environment as they balance along the edge of the large sand pit and jump from log to log in the garden. They learn to keep themselves safe as they take care of their environment ensuring that toys and equipment are used appropriately and put away after use to ensure they are not a tripping hazard. The children talk about how to keep themselves safe when on outings to places in the community to help them to learn responsible behaviour on the roads.

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provision

The drive and commitment of the manager and senior staff is truly inspirational and infectious across the whole staff team. Professional development is supported and encouraged. As a result, they are a highly qualified team who are passionate about providing the very best for all children and families. They research and learn about a range of early years initiatives and best practice. They visit early years centres of excellence to inspire them further and embed the ideas into their own practices. Staff are excellent role models for the students who they support and mentor, passing on their valuable knowledge and experience.

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provision

Children are exceptionally well safeguarded because the staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities. They have received safeguarding training and know the course of action to take if they have a concern about a child's welfare or have any concerns regarding the behaviour of staff. All staff, students and trustees are subject to a rigorous recruitment and selection procedure and have Disclosure and Barring Service checks in place. Robust induction ensures that they are fully aware of the nursery's policies and procedures. Staff are vigilant about children's safety and through risk assessments ensure that the premises are safe and secure. Adult-to-child ratios are high to enable children to be supervised at all times and receive high levels of care and attention.

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provision

A high priority is given to partnership working as the staff fully understand the benefits. They welcome advice and guidance from the local authority and external agencies that work with individual children. They have close links with the local children's centre as well as the families from the local travellers' site. They work closely with the many schools that the children feed into to help children to make smooth transitions. Teachers visit the nursery to meet the children and share their developmental records. They provide examples of book bags and school uniform so that the children can become familiar with them. Parents are informed as to which children are going to attend the school their child is going to so they can make links with other parents. Partnerships with parents are exceptionally strong and parents feel very welcome, included and state that their views are listened to and acted upon. They speak very highly of the staff and value the strong

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provision

and trusting relationships. Parents state that their children have made exceptional progress, have gained confidence and their social and communication skills have greatly improved since attending nursery.

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provision

The culture of reflection, evaluation and development is of an exceptionally high standard and the manager knows her staff, their strengths and areas they need to develop very well. Parents and children are heavily involved in the monitoring and evaluation process. All those involved share a clear view of how they are going to develop the nursery further. With the help of a computer programme, the manager is able to analyse areas where children are progressing well and areas that may need further work. This provides additional information to clearly identify areas for development and form realistic and challenging targets.

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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 EY392538 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 915260

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 78 Number of children on roll 112 Name of provider Bows and Arrows Date of previous inspection 04/11/2009 Telephone number 01473 240304

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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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