Playhouse Day Nursery

Playhouse Day Nursery 5 St. Marys Road, SMETHWICK, West Midlands, B67 5DG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/07/2013 20/05/2010

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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 enjoy a stimulating play environment which supports them to make good choices in their play and develops their imagination. Therefore, children make good progress in their learning and development.  Staff give high priority to the safeguarding of children. This ensures children are cared for safely, by suitable staff and are protected from harm.  The practice within the nursery is monitored well by managers. Staff show commitment to developing their own skills and the nursery as a whole. This supports continuous improvement throughout the nursery.  Strong partnerships are developed with parents and school teachers to ensure children receive consistently good support in their learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not make full use of all opportunities to help older children expand on what they are saying and to use mathematical language, such as 'fewer' and 'more'.  Staff do not always fully support children to develop their self-help skills during every day routines.

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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, the outdoor play area and completed a joint observation with the provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers included in the self- evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the staff and children about the daily routines, children's individual learning and self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of policies and procedures, which included safeguarding and complaints, recruitment, vetting and supervision of staff, children's learning records, the nursery's self-evaluation and a range of other documentation.

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Information about the setting

Playhouse Day Nursery was registered in 1987. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is situated in Smethwick, Sandwell. It is one of two nurseries owned and managed by a sole provider. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The provider has a BA (Hons) Degree in Early Childhood Studies.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 21 children attending, all of whom are in the early years age group. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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

 extend older children's thinking and learning by helping them expand on what they say and by supporting them to use mathematical language, such as 'fewer' and 'more' when counting sets of objects

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

 enhance children's self-help skills, for example, by encouraging older children to pour their own drinks throughout the day and supporting all children to dress themselves after a sleep.

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who attend

The nursery works effectively with parents, sharing valuable information to support children's learning and development. At the beginning of the placement staff encourage parents to complete an entry profile. This details what children know and can do, their specific interests and people that are special to them. In addition, staff complete their own observations to assess the good progress children making and their individual learning priorities. This completes an overview of children's development in all areas of learning. Parents benefit from receiving regular summaries of their children's learning and are encouraged to contribute by sharing their own comments and views. This includes the progress check at age two years. Parents get involved in their children's learning by helping them to complete work sent home by the nursery. This supports children to be well-prepared for their next stage in learning and for school.

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who attend

Staff recognise that children learn best through play. They plan and provide children with stimulating activities and experiences based on their interests and learning priorities. This supports children to make good choices throughout the day. Staff are skilful at joining in sensitively with children's play and fitting in with children's ideas. For example, while outdoors a group of children pretend to be cats. They play well together and develop their physical skills as they crawl around the outdoor environment with confidence and avoiding obstacles to keep themselves safe. Staff join in the fun and continue to stimulate children's imagination by offering them plastic bricks of pretend milk. As a result, children remained focussed and continued their make-believe play over a long period of time.

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who attend

Babies also enjoy developing their physical skills. They enjoy balancing bricks to make a tower and have great fun exploring large equipment, such as a slide, as they arrive in the morning. They are supported well by staff to climb the steps and slide down safely on their bottoms. Staff develop their skills in communication and language by modelling language, such as 'ready steady go!' This results in, children imitating words and sounds and receiving lots of praise for their efforts. This supports their good self-esteem. Some children who attend the nursery speak languages other than English at home. Staff work closely with parents to become familiar with words and phrases in their home languages, so that children can see, hear and use these languages in their play.

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who attend

All children are developing skills in technology. Younger children thoroughly enjoy baking cakes and are learning to use household items, such as an egg whisk and weighing scales. They watch intently to the changes made as they add egg and water to the cake mixture. Children's vocabulary is extended by staff as they are encouraged to consider and repeat new descriptive words such as 'soft' and 'sticky'. Older children in the pre-school room show interest in the laptop and monitor provided for them. They are supported well by staff to choose programmes that they enjoy and successfully use the mouse to select images linked to nursery rhymes. Staff ask open-ended questions to encourage children to think and talk about past events experienced with their families. This results in, children confidently talking about going to the park, to fast-food outlets and to Manchester. However, staff do not always help children expand on what they are saying to explore

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who attend

these experiences further. In addition, staff do not always use opportunities to enhance older children's learning in mathematics. For example, when older children confidently count eight children for dinner and three adults, staff do not fully support them to explore how many people there are altogether.

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

Children and their families experience a smooth transition from home into the warm and welcoming nursery. They all develop strong and trusting relationships with all staff, including the child's key person. Key information is shared with regards to children's lifestyles, interests and languages spoken at home. This ensures staff can tailor experiences, which reflect children's interests and individual needs. Therefore, children settle well in the nursery and feel at ease. Staff also ensure children enjoy a smooth transition into school. They work closely with school teachers who visit the nursery to meet and observe children in their play. Staff provide school teachers with a profile and final summary of children's learning. This ensures children benefit from consistency in their learning and development.

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

Children are developing the skills to embrace new experiences and demonstrate confidence to explore the world around them. For example, they eagerly engage with visitors to the nursery, initiating conversations and explaining what they enjoy playing with. All children enjoy lots of hugs and cuddles from caring staff throughout the day, and are supported to manage their feelings and behaviours. For example, young children are able to select resources, such as a puppet, which they choose to use as a comfort toy. Staff enable them to carry the puppet around the environment with them, which helps them to feel-re-assured, safe and secure.

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

Children benefit from consistent routines and are learning to adopt a safe and healthy lifestyle. They enjoy accessing the outdoor area throughout the day and regularly visit places of interest within the local community, such as a local church. This ensures children enjoy fresh air and exercise and learn about the area in which they live. Children are supported by staff to develop their self-care skills in various ways. For example, older children take turns to lay the table with utensils in preparation for lunch and younger children help themselves to snack items and a drink of water after their sleep. However, staff do not make full use of all opportunities to develop children's independence. For example, after a physical activity indoors, staff pour older children a drink rather than encourage children to do this for themselves. In addition, children aged from two years to four years are not always encouraged to dress themselves after their mid-day sleep.

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provision

All staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities to ensure the nursery meets the safeguarding, welfare and learning and development requirements. Staff are recruited and vetted rigorously and benefit from a thorough induction period. This ensures all staff are suitable to work with children. All staff demonstrate a strong knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and the action to take if concerned about a child's welfare. The designated person for safeguarding in the nursery has updated her knowledge in this area by accessing recent training. She cascades the information to the rest of the staff and presents them with tasks to complete linked to safeguarding. This ensures they are confident with the revised policy and procedures. In addition, staff have implemented 'Safeguarding' noticeboards in each playroom, which acts as a constant reminder to staff and parents of the procedures they must follow. As a result, children are

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provision

protected and their safety and welfare is promoted well. Ratios are well-maintained and staff are deployed effectively to ensure all children's needs are met well. Clear and concise risk assessments are completed by staff and all hazards are identified and minimised. This results in, children benefiting from playing in a safe and secure environment both indoors and outdoors.

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provision

Managers work closely with staff to monitor the good practice within the nursery and the interesting educational programmes provided for children. Staff provide each other with mutual support and work together as a team to promote continuous improvement. For example, staff research good childcare practices and share their views at regular team meetings. Staff benefit from supervision sessions with the provider and annual appraisals. This gives them the opportunity to identify their training needs and areas in which they might need support. As a result, children's learning experiences are constantly being improved through the development of staff's knowledge and skills.

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provision

Staff use a self-evaluation document to identify the strengths of the nursery and areas in which there is scope for future improvement. Since the previous inspection all recommendations have been improved upon. In addition, the nursery has enhanced the children's environment by refurbishing the outdoor area and including a toilet within the pre-school room. The nursery also has plans to improve the organisation within the nursery which will be supported by two newly recruited members of senior staff. Self- evaluation takes into account the views of all staff, children and parents. Overall, parents show satisfaction in the service they receive. Parents comment on the professional and friendly staff. They state that their children are happy in the nursery and enjoy new experiences presented to them. Staff listen to any suggestions parents have to offer and improve their practice as a result. For example, when parents feel they are not familiar

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provision

with all staff employed in the nursery, photographs of staff, together with their names and role within the nursery, are clearly displayed in the hallway. This ensures parents feel valued and listened to.

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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 255146 Local authority Sandwell Inspection number 926046

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 21 Name of provider Yvonne Kerr Date of previous inspection 20/05/2010 Telephone number 0121 429 4261

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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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