Wem Playmates Nursery

Wem Playmates Nursery Unit 1, Wem Business Park, New Street, Wem, SHREWSBURY, SY4 5JX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/07/2013 01/05/2013

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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

 Staff establish friendly relationships with parents and share information on a daily basis. This means parents feel reassured that their children are safe and they enjoy their time in the nursery.  Snack and meal times are enjoyable experiences for the children, where they confidently engage in conversations about their interests and preferences. This supports the development of their communication and language skills.  Staff organise the learning environment effectively. As a result, children are able to make independent choice from the toys and equipment available.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not record the names of all children and the hours of their attendance in the daily register in order to fully promote their safety.  The procedures for maintaining staff records are not fully robust. As a result, required information about vetting processes, in particular details of Disclosure and Barring Service checks, is not available for all staff.  Children are not always fully supported initially as staff do not conduct a base line assessment on their entry to fully support their progress from the start.

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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 looked at children's assessment records and a selection of other documentation.  The inspector conducted a tour of the premises during the inspection.  The inspector took account of the view of parents spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation of a teaching and learning activity with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities throughout the nursery in both indoor and outdoor spaces.  The inspector spoke to the manager, staff and children during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Wem Playmates Nursery re-opened in 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a business park in the town of Wem, Shropshire. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications; two staff have a level 2 qualification and four staff have a level 3 qualification.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 73 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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must:

 keep a record of staff identity checks and vetting processes that have been completed, including the Disclosure and Barring Service check, reference number and date it was obtained. To ensure staff are suitable to work with children

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must:

 maintain a daily record of the names of the children being cared for and their hours of attendance, to further promote children's safety

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must:

 ensure that ongoing assessment is accurate and precise, for example, by: obtaining information from parents about children's starting points on entry.

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who attend

All staff have a sound understanding of the seven areas of learning, which are promoted sufficiently well. Children can select from a varied range of age-appropriate equipment and resources and staff plan a suitable range of indoor and outdoor activities. For example, older children experiment with shape using a range of puzzles as they successfully complete the 'marble run' game. They roll the marble down as they celebrate their success in fitting the shapes and angles together. Staff observe children during activities and record this learning story into their profile book. This provides a general overview of the children's progress and identifies the next steps in learning as they plan for purposeful experiences within the educational programme. However, staff do not gain information about children's starting points from parents. This means that children's progress is not fully supported when they first attend

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who attend

and their learning is not progressed as well as possible.

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who attend

Daily diaries are shared with parents of younger children to help keep them informed of their child's activities and achievements and to support learning at home. In addition, parents are invited to make written comments about their child's achievements on their termly summary reports, which helps to include them in their child's learning.

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who attend

All staff are very playful in their interactions with the children and follow their lead in play, which in turn encourages them to have fun and actively learn. For example, children's physical skills and interest in technology are extended as they know how to press to activate the CD player. Staff join in with action songs and rhymes with the children, moving to the music, marching away to the 'Grand Old Duke of York'. Children's personal, social and emotional development is fostered appropriately. For example, children help lay the table for snack time and pour their own drinks. They begin to learn early calculation as they count the children at the table and calculate how many cups and plates are needed. In addition, children can independently access water from the water fountain or tissues to wipe their nose and they learn to dispose of these appropriately. This helps children to increase their independence and self-care skills as they develop the necessary skills

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who attend

Older children are supported in developing their thinking and imaginary play as they select from a wide range of interesting resources. They select magnetic shapes to create ice creams, which they hand out to the staff, children and the inspector. Staff develop this activity further with the children as they count the number of ice creams and ask them to think about the flavour of the ice cream, dependent on the colour. They decided on blueberry for blue and mint flavoured ice cream for green. This provides interesting learning as children develop an awareness of number and shapes.

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

The key person system works well and parents know who their child's key person is. A flexible settling-in programme is offered to parents to fully support children's transition from home to nursery. As result, children build bonds and babies form strong attachments with their key person and settle swiftly and easily. Children are sensitively prepared for their transition to the next room and, ultimately, their move to school. They can undertake visits to the new room, supported by their key person to help them settle. Parents appreciate the daily diaries in the baby room, which help to inform them about their child's routine and activities during the day. All relevant information is taken from parents to ensure children's needs are met appropriately. Children are suitably supported to develop an understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For example, they are reminded to sit appropriately on the chairs, and to push these

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

under the table when they get up to go outside. Children know the expectations of their behaviour and their self-esteem is promoted effectively. Staff are good role models for the children, and in turn children's behaviour is good as they understand the boundaries and consistent routines. For example, children work together at tidy-up time, putting the toys and equipment away before the sand timer has finished.

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

Children have daily opportunities to enjoy fresh air and exercise appropriately as they learn about healthy lifestyles. For example, they spend time in the garden area, feeding the birds, the nursery's rabbit, and watering the vegetables and plants. Staff support children to develop early skills for making marks as they use the chalks on the blackboard outside to create patterns and shapes.

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provision

Staff demonstrate a suitable understanding of their responsibility in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They attend regular training and are aware of the procedures to be followed should they have any concerns over a child in their care. This means they can recognise possible signs of abuse and know how to report concerns about children's welfare. Children are supervised well and staff conduct regular risk assessments to ensure their safety both indoors and outdoors. Staffing ratios are consistently met as parents book their children into nursery and the manager arranges the appropriate deployment of staff. However, the daily record of children's attendance is not consistently updated to ensure that this reflects their accurate hours of attendance. As a result, children's safety may be compromised.

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provision

There are some recruitment and vetting systems in place to ensure that staff working with the children are suitable to do so. However, required records to verify this information, in particular, recording information on Disclosure and Barring Service checks are not readily available for all staff. Consequently, procedures for ensuring the safe management of the nursery are not always fully robust. Systems are in place for mentoring, support and training and the manager carries out regular appraisals on all staff. This allows the staff team to develop and continue to keep their skills up-to-date.

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provision

Staff are aware of the importance of assessing and monitoring the planning and delivery of the educational programme. For example, they work well with other providers and their local authority advisory team to share ideas and identify best practice. The opinions of parents are collated and used to help develop evaluations and action plans. As a result, the nursery is focused on opportunities for development in order to continue to improve for the benefit of the children and their families. They have already acted on the recommendation from their last inspection and increased the learning opportunities for children in the outdoor classroom. Partnerships with parents, and links with the local schools are developing well. Staff establish friendly relationships with parents and talk to them about their children's play and learning, which keeps them suitably informed. Parents comment that they feel confident about leaving their child in the nursery and that their child enjoys attending.

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provision

Staff share information with other early years providers where children attend to ensure that there is a joint approach to promoting children's individual care and learning and this helps children to make satisfactory progress in their development.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 maintain a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  maintain a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY454398 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 925407

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 73 Name of provider Wem Playmates Nursery Committee Date of previous inspection 01/05/2013 Telephone number 01939 233 643

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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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