Blenheim Primary School Nursery

Blenheim Primary School and Children's Centre Blenheim Cp School, School Way, LEIGH-ON-SEA, Essex, SS9 4HX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/07/2013 27/05/2009

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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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children show high levels of independence and demonstrate strong self-assurance because they form extremely secure attachments with their key persons.  Staff provide a vibrant and enabling environment for all children to engage in purposeful play. This means that children make good progress across the seven areas of learning.  Children's well-being is protected because all staff have a thorough understanding of their duty and responsibility in relation to all aspects of safeguarding.  Leadership and management are effective. Accurate self-evaluation and the nursery's drive for improvement is set by a clear plan that supports the outcomes for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities for extending the babies' communication and language skills, for example, by using photographs of activities and familiar people, have not been fully explored.  There is scope to enhance further the monitoring of children's progress, to make sure that the summary information provided to parents about their child's progress, provides more detail about how any gaps in children's learning will be addressed.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the indoor and outdoor learning environments, this included a joint observation with the Early Years Professional.  The inspector held discussions with the nursery management, staff and children.  The inspector viewed a sample of the children's development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector saw evidence of suitability and qualifications of the staff, risk assessment, policies and procedures and other documentation in relation to health and safety checks.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from responses to surveys organised by the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Blenheim Primary School and Children's Centre was registered in 2009 on the Early Years Register. It operates from a purpose-built children's centre in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. The nursery is run by the governing body of Blenheim Primary School. It serves the local and wider areas and is accessible to all children. The nursery operates from two playrooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 17 permanent members of childcare staff. There are two staff with Qualified Teacher Status and one member of staff with Early Years Professional Status. All other staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 3, or 4. There are also 15 support staff working in the children's centre, who are able to step in and provide cover in staff's absence. The children's centre also employs cooks and administrators to support the nursery.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 74 children attending, who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children, who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 use photographs of familiar people and activities to promote discussions with the children that introduce new words and encourage responses to extend their communication and language skills

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

 enhance the monitoring of children's learning and development to ensure that clear and concise information is used to provide more detail to parents about how any gaps in their children's learning will be addressed.

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who attend

The staff demonstrate a secure knowledge and understanding of how to promote young children's learning and development. The educational activities offered to children provide very stimulating opportunities to encourage good progress in each area of learning. Staff are fully aware of children's current interests and have regular meetings to share the possible lines of development, which they have identified. This means that activities are specifically planned to build on what the children know and can already do. The special educational needs coordinator is passionate about her role and works collaboratively with the inclusion team at the host school and any other professionals involved with a family. This means that effective support is offered to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those, who speak English as an additional language.

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who attend

Staff promote the older children's communication and language development well. They engage in sustained conversations with children, some of whom are very confident talkers. Staff extend children's learning by talking to them about their ideas and thoughts. A popular story is successfully used to broaden conversations and staff ask carefully formed questions to encourage interesting answers. For example, children explain the different ways they can blow bubbles, predict what will happen when they spray chalk marks with water, or confidently describe what they need to do to create new colours by mixing paints together. However, there is room to improve the opportunities for introducing new words and encouraging interesting responses from the youngest children, for example, by displaying photographs of people important to them, or using photographs of their participation in activities.

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who attend

The key person approach encourages engagement with all parents, including those, who may be more reluctant to contribute. The weekly newsletter contains ideas for activities at home and parents also receive the lyrics for the song of the week. In addition, Freddie the nursery teddy bear, goes home to share adventures with the children and their families. Parents join special events within the nursery and the key persons invite them for consultations to discuss their children's progress. Parents can view the development records at anytime as these are easily accessible. The required progress checks for children when they reach the age of two are now well established. However, the summary information available to parents about their children's progress does not always fully detail how any gaps in children's learning will be addressed to maximise their learning and development.

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who attend

Children are well prepared for their continued learning and enthusiastically develop the skills they need for starting school. Good quality planning and organisation, ensures that every child is suitably challenged by the learning experiences. Children confidently make choices throughout the sessions, as they independently select the resources and activities they prefer. They make good use of the available space, actively taking part in role play adventures and adapting well to the free-flow access, which includes outdoor activities. Children develop a love of reading, identify colours, problem solve and count in sequence. They are given many opportunities to practise their early writing skills and some can independently write their own names on their artwork.

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who attend

In the babies and toddler room, the environment is set out attractively to encourage them to move and explore. They also enjoy the freedom to explore the safe outdoor environment under the close supervision of the staff. Very young children pull themselves to standing positions against the furniture and take pleasure in walking and developing important physical skills. Babies also show great delight in exploring sensory materials, such as shaving foam or porridge oats.

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

Children are exceptionally happy and relish in their time in the nursery because they form very close bonds and attachments with their key persons. The preparation for babies and young children starting at the nursery is excellent. Home visits are carried out prior to every child starting, families are offered sensitive settling-in sessions and staff are on hand to offer additional support. The key persons actively seek the parents' knowledge of their children and this is effectively taken account of, to ensure that children settle well. In addition, there is extremely strong support given to children as they move up within the nursery. They make regular visits to their new playroom and all the essential information is passed on to the new key person. As a result, there is an extremely smooth transfer and children quickly adjust to changes in the people caring for them. The transitions to full- time education are promoted extremely well. Children share their excitement at moving

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

onto 'big school' and staff skilfully question them about their feelings. Planned activities, such as, trying on school uniforms help to promote children's confidence and support their independence skills.

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

The extremely well-organised nursery routines also means that children become fiercely independent and develop a very good understanding of healthy lifestyles. They enjoy serving their own food at mealtimes and also relish explaining to visitors how they look after and eat the salad vegetables, they grow in the garden. Children access drinking water throughout the day, both indoors and outside. They can explain why they need water to cool themselves down after exercise or during hot weather. Staff are extremely mindful of the effects of warm temperatures and make sure that all children wear appropriate sun protection and play in shaded areas. Children also learn about their personal safety as they practise evacuation procedures, so they know what to do in an emergency situation. The nursery has very clear health and hygiene policies and robust procedures to protect children from illness and cross-infection.

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

Children enjoy very nutritious, healthy meals and snacks, which are prepared and cooked in a kitchen that has been awarded five stars for food hygiene. The cook takes into account children's dietary needs and menus are clearly displayed, so parents know what their children have to eat. In addition, younger children's eating patterns are recorded on their daily diary sheets. A list of the food allergies of each child are discreetly displayed in each room, so that staff are able to check before serving food. Staff sit with the children at mealtimes to act as excellent role models as they demonstrate good table manners and social skills. As a result, children behave extremely well and show care and concern for each other.

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

Staff provide additional activities to support families in promoting their children's good health. For example, workshops are organised to help parents gain confidence in cooking healthy meals from scratch. Also the 'Come and make music' sessions encourage children to be very active and move expressively, with their parents, to the different sounds they make with musical instruments. Children have very good opportunities for physical exercise as they take part in a super range of outdoor activities. They have regular access to bicycles and skilfully steer and control their wheeled toys as they avoid obstacles. The nursery also make extremely good use of the school grounds, when babies are taken for daily outings in their pushchairs, or older children make effective use of the Forest Schools area.

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provision

The nursery effectively meets all the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. It provides a very welcoming environment where all children and their parents are valued and respected. The manager motivates the well- qualified staff team to strive to achieve the very best for children. She is strongly supported by the governing body and head teacher of the school. The recommendation made at the last inspection has been addressed successfully. An accurate and realistic self-evaluation of the nursery is in place and staff, parents and children have all contributed to this. This demonstrates that the management team are proactive at ensuring everyone involved with the nursery can influence its development. There is now a parent forum, which also provides an opportunity for parents to meet and share their views and ideas for development. The management also welcome the advice and support

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provision

of the local authority in developing their service. As a result, the nursery has a very good capacity to continue to make further improvements.

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provision

There is a very strong culture of continuous professional development amongst staff, who welcome ongoing training opportunities. Staff work together very well and are very supportive of each other. Annual appraisals, regular supervision sessions, room meetings and regular management observations ensure that any potential concerns and issues are quickly identified and dealt with. The staff team is also participating in a recognised quality assurance scheme, which has helped them to further identify and develop the practices they offer. Overall, the monitoring of children's progress is good. Assessments for the older children are linked to a target tracker used by the school, to ensure that the impact of the educational programmes in the nursery are systematically measured. The assessment arrangements are continually reviewed and revised, to ensure their specific needs are assessed and that support is given. However, information provided to parents

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provision

does not always provide great detail about how gaps in their child's learning will be addressed.

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provision

All the required documentation for the safe organisation and management of the nursery is in place and is effectively maintained. Everyone at the nursery understands the importance of safeguarding the children. Robust recruitment and induction procedures ensure the suitability of all new staff. Detailed risk assessments and routine safety checks throughout the nursery contribute significantly to children's safety. All staff know their role and responsibility relating to child protection issues. They are vigilant about the security of the children. There are controlled entry systems and all visitors are closely monitored.

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provision

The nursery staff recognise the importance of developing positive partnerships with parents and other professionals for the benefit of the children. A wealth of information is shared through displays, newsletters and a dedicated social networking site. The majority of parents say they feel confident about the care their children receive. They praise the child-centred family atmosphere and the use made of the outdoor environment. Effective partnerships exist with local primary schools to promote continuity in children's care and learning.

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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 EY388015 Local authority Southend on Sea Inspection number 927351

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 68 Number of children on roll 74 Name of provider Blenheim Primary School Governing Body Date of previous inspection 27/05/2009 Telephone number 01702 474 684

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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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