Kids Academy - Holt Park

Kids Academy - Holt Park Holtdale Approach, Holt Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS16 7RX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/07/2013 03/09/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children are relaxed and confident as they explore this well-resourced environment. They demonstrate good levels of independence, curiosity and imagination and are making good progress in their learning and development.  All staff work very well as a team and are committed to providing the best they can for the children in their care. As a result, children feel safe, behave well and readily join in activities with staff and other children.  Staff have a good knowledge of how children learn and provide challenging, varied and interesting activities. They are committed to furthering their own professional development to continue to improve the service they provide.  Partnerships with parents are positive as staff are welcoming and friendly. The key person system is effective and ensures that all children are valued and their individual needs are met very well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The innovative use of flexible resources in the outdoors to further develop children's play and exploration linked to their interests is not fully embedded.  There is scope to develop further the processes, which enable parents to share information about their children's learning at home.

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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 all the rooms of the nursery and outside.  The inspector completed joint observations with the manager of the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the directors, manager, deputy manager and three parents.  The inspector spoke to the staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 A range of documents were inspected, including observations, planning, tracking of children's progress and daily diaries.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of staff suitability, parent questionnaires, training certificates, policies, safeguarding procedures and the setting's self-evaluation form.

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Information about the setting

Kids Academy - Holt Park opened in 2000 and is run by Kids Academy Ltd. The nursery is situated in the Holt Park area of Leeds and serves the local and surrounding areas. It is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a detached building. The premises comprise of six playrooms, offices, staff room, utility room, quite room, sensory room, store room, kitchen and toilet facilities. There is an enclosed play area available for outdoor play. The nursery is one of two nurseries run by the same providers.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens from 7.30am to 6pm five days a week for 51 weeks of the year, excluding public holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 80 children on roll, all of whom are within the early years age range. The nursery currently supports children, who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 15 members of staff to work with the children. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above and two at level 2. One staff member holds Early Years Professional Status and one staff member holds an early years degree level qualification.

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

 extend the use of flexible resources in the outdoors, so that they can be used in many different ways to facilitate children's play and exploration

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

 promote a more effective ongoing dialogue or sharing of regular two-way observations on learning with parents and use this shared knowledge and understanding to plan together and think through ideas of how to move the child forward.

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who attend

All staff have a clear understanding of how young children learn and use their knowledge to help them make good progress in their learning and development. Staff plan well together to make sure that there are exciting, practical activities for the children that cover all the seven areas of learning. This helps to keep children motivated and eager to learn new things. Ongoing observations of children's learning feed into assessments for the required progress check at age two and their learning records. This means that all children make good progress towards the early learning goals from their starting points. Children's starting points and interests are gathered at the start of the placement in an 'All about Me' booklet completed by parents. Generally, there are appropriate processes in place to engage parents involvement in children's learning. Parents receive good information regarding their children's achievements, but the processes for encouraging

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who attend

them to share information about their child's learning at home are less well developed. This means that staff do not always have a rounded picture of each child when planning for their next steps in learning.

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who attend

Children are very happy and content at the nursery. Children's communication and language skills are developing very well through the effective use of the 'Every Child a Talker' scheme. Staff talk with the children, developing their vocabulary. They give children time to think and respond during conversation and follow children's lead. Children listen well and remain attentive. They respond to questions, contribute to discussions when invited and focus for long periods of time on their chosen activities, for example, as they follow up a story on the looking for a lion as part of an outdoor role play activity. Children in all rooms are confident communicators. They express their feelings well through gestures and verbal communication. Younger children, including babies, babble happily and respond to staff through facial expressions of delight. Flashcards are used with children with communication difficulties to help them to follow instructions and

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who attend

understand the routine of the day, helping to prepare them for school.

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who attend

Children use their imagination well, as they dress up using the range of clothes available and explore the home corner with friends. They readily express their ideas and thoughts as they recognise that the puddles have dried up outside and plan to make their own using water. They enjoy a wide range of toys, resources and activities, which are used to support and promote their learning and development effectively. Children have opportunities to explore a range of programmable toys, such as, computers, cameras, electronic type games and disc players.

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who attend

Children are developing a good understanding of team work as they help each other with the outdoor games and they understand mathematical concepts through following instructions around weighing. For example, they talk about the different size items being 'heavy' and 'light', as they attempt to see if items float in the water. They take part in many counting games and recognise numerals in the display work around them. As a result, they are developing skills in mathematics. They also use their creativity and imagination well as they use role play equipment to play numerous games based around their interest around beach play. However, opportunities to fully extend their thinking linked to their interest in the outdoors are less flexible as the planning of the outdoors is not fully refined. For example, during the play games, there are no props or book areas with seating to carry on the learning games around their interest in the 'lion'.

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who attend

All children have good opportunities to learn by using their senses. Babies and young children regularly investigate the sensory play areas, use wooden objects in the treasure basket and experiment with paints, foam, cereals and 'gloop'. Staff provide lots of activities to help children to develop an understanding of the world. Children are involved in growing their own fruit and as such learn about what they need to do to help this process. They enjoy planting, watering, nurturing and monitoring the growth of their strawberries. This helps children to learn about food, how it grows and to explore the natural world. Children, with the support of staff, talk about where fruit comes from. This leads to further discussion about why they should eat vegetables with their food. All children are involved in creative activities. Staff support children to make their own sand pictures using glue and paper. Children make wide use of the good outdoor facilities, each

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who attend

age group having their own play area. The good access enhances opportunities for children to make independent choices about their play and fully enhances their physical development skills by freely moving between indoors and outdoors.

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who attend

Children, who speak English as an additional language, are supported well. There are bilingual members of staff employed across the two settings and staff work with parents to obtain key words in the child's home language to use in the setting to help them to settle and enhance learning. There is also a display of writing in children's home language and there are positive images of diversity around the playrooms to help everyone to feel equally welcome and valued.

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

Children are extremely well settled in the setting and have made secure attachments to their key person. Staff know children very well and understand the importance of having positive relationships with parents. They take time to support children to settle into the setting by implementing strong arrangements for settling the children in. For example, members of staff arrange discussion times with parents when there is a change to the children's key worker. The two-way flow of information between home and the setting means that staff are aware of children's routines, dietary requirements and general care needs. As a result, children's individual needs are well met and parents and staff work closely together to provide consistency of care. Effective transition systems are in place to ensure the children's smooth transition to school and as they move through the nursery areas. For example, the staff use transition documents to discuss children's interest and

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

preferences and this information is passed on to the relevant keyworkers.

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

The indoor and outdoor areas are bright and welcoming. Staff regularly and effectively review these areas to make sure that they meet children's changing interests and needs. Children's work is on display to show their contribution is valued and to help them to reflect on their achievements. The pre-school is well resourced and organised to meet the needs of children's differing ages and stages of development. Toys, good quality photographic displays, dressing-up clothes and books represent the diversity within today's society, help children learn about differences of culture and disability. This effectively supports inclusion of all children.

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

All children have daily opportunities to take exercise and access fresh air through outdoor play. They use a wide range of outdoor resources. Children use the slide with well- rehearsed technique and avoid their friends as they move through the area, showing good awareness of space. They have opportunities to run, balance and jump as they practise their physical skills during the outdoor games. Children also benefit from weekly indoor music and movement sessions, which are run by a dance teacher.

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

Children recognise when they are hot and have a cold drink to keep them cool from their own water bottles, which are in the outdoors. They benefit from a well-balanced healthy diet at the nursery. Menus are prepared and food prepared by the cook. All foods are prepared following the healthy eating guidelines. Formulated milk and bottles for babies are clearly labelled and prepared by staff. Children's dietary needs are followed rigorously to protect their well-being. Staff promote leading a healthy lifestyle and are very good role models to children. For example, they sit with them at mealtimes in the designated dining area and eat a selection of vegetables, talking to them about the benefits of healthy eating and having general discussions on their interests. They have good access to the outdoors daily to ensure that they benefit from exercise and the fresh air to boost their well-being.

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

Children behave very well in the setting and understand the rules, boundaries and behaviour expected of them. For instance, children explain they have to wait their turn to pull on the parachute games. They regularly practise fire drills and supporting children to understand how to keep themselves and others safe, is a high priority for staff. Staff reinforce children's understanding through group discussions and creating artwork of people, who help. This promotes children's thinking and prompts discussions around safety issues. They are developing a strong understanding of right and wrong because all staff implement the clear rules and boundaries consistently. Consequently, children follow instructions, such as helping to tidy away the resources before lunch, because they know what staff expect of them. Children cooperate well with each other during outdoor play and share resources as they recognise the needs of others. They show consideration for

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

others as they play in their key groups to join in the activities. This helps prepare them for their next stage in their learning. They demonstrate high levels of self-confidence as they explain to the inspector their names and what they are planning on doing.

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provision

The arrangements for managing children during their time at the nursery have considerably improved. For example, the staff are fully aware of their responsibilities of managing children during lunch periods and take all necessary steps for appropriate first aid treatment, informing parents and relevant authorities if any accidents occur. The management team has reviewed the arrangements for managing the lunchtime periods in the pre-school area. As a result, a designated area is now used for seating all children at lunchtime and all foods are cooled to ensure they are at the correct temperatures prior to being brought into the rooms. In addition, robust risk assessments have been further developed and are used by staff to ensure risks are minimised or eliminated. Staff are also knowledgeable on administering emergency first aid as the majority of staff are first aid trained. In addition, staff have attended safeguarding training and they are able to

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provision

demonstrate a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. The management team has reviewed the safeguarding procedures. As a result, there are stronger safeguarding procedures in place, which include clear reporting arrangements to protect the children, who attend. The nursery shares the full written policies and procedures with parents to ensure they are aware of the staff team's responsibilities towards protecting their children.

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provision

Children enjoy a safe and secure play and learning environment because staff carry out daily checks and written risk assessments are completed. The nursery follows robust recruitment and vetting procedures, alongside effective induction systems and these help to ensure all adults are suitable to work with children. The nursery uses closed circuit monitoring in all the rooms to ensure they can monitor access and safety in the nursery at all times.

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provision

Managers successfully monitor staff performance and their contributions to the nursery through regular team meetings, reviewing staff record keeping and annual appraisals. In addition, the early years practitioner regularly observes practice to provide support to the staff team. As a result, staff identify areas for development to help improve practice. All staff receive supervision, which provides a source of support, training and professional development. There are good systems in place to monitor the educational programmes to make sure all children are progressing well. For example, the manager works closely with the staff and reviews children's learning journal records and the planning to make sure all children are included. The recommendations raised at the last inspection have been successfully addressed, improving learning and development as well as independence during lunch times for the children. Realistic and achievable plans have been drawn up for

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provision

the future through the use of evaluations. This includes plans to develop and enhance the outdoor play spaces. This demonstrates that the nursery has a good capacity to maintain improvement.

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provision

Partnerships with parents, external agencies and other providers are well established and make a positive contribution to meeting children's needs. Information is shared with other early years providers and professionals. This includes information about the children's progress at the nursery and requests to work together to enhance children's learning in all early years settings. Informative noticeboards, newsletters, suggestion boxes and daily discussions keep parents up to date with the events at the nursery. Parents state that they are very pleased and happy with the service they receive. They say they have very positive relationships with staff and are confident to talk to the manager and the staff about any issues. Parents complete exit evaluations and all comments are very complimentary around their children's experiences at the nursery.

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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 320555 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 928069

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 117 Number of children on roll 80 Name of provider Kids Academy Ltd Date of previous inspection 03/09/2009 Telephone number 0113 2300990

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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