Pumpkin Patch Day Nursery

Pumpkin Patch Day Nursery Pumpkin Patch Day Nursery, 166 Alexandra Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 6RY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/08/2013 02/12/2008

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are motivated to learn by highly stimulating resources and activities. Therefore, they make excellent progress in their learning and development.  Parents are actively involved in their children's learning, which offers continuity between the home and the nursery.  Skilled key persons support children's moves to nursery, between rooms and to school extremely well.  Staff practice is excellent and used as a good role model for other providers.  Staff's assessment of children's learning is based on a comprehensive knowledge of the child and is used to fully promote children's next steps in learning.  Children show high levels of confidence and independence relative to their ages.  Leadership is highly reflective and as a result staff are well motivated, which results in children's needs being met exceptionally well.

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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

 Two inspectors carried out the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors observed and spoke to the children during their activities both inside and outside.  A joint observation with the manager was completed.  The inspectors interviewed the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors sampled records and documentation, which included children's learning journeys and development records.  The inspectors spoke to and took account of parents' views.

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Information about the setting

Pumpkin Patch Day Nursery is the second setting owned by Pumpkin Patch Day Nurseries and registered in 2008. It is a privately-owned day nursery which is registered on the Early Years Register to provide care for a maximum of 36 children. The nursery operates from a private house close to Farnborough town centre and the local college. Children who attend have parents who work or live in the Farnborough area. The nursery consists of four separate rooms, which are located on the ground and first floor of the property. The children have the use of an enclosed rear outdoor play area. The nursery accepts children from six weeks to five years old. It currently has 61 children on roll and receives funding for the provision of free education for children aged three and four years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are learning English as an additional language. It is open every day except bank holidays from

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Information about the setting

8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and this can be extended in some circumstances from 7.30am to 6.30pm. There is a team of 13 full-time and part-time staff plus the cook and two bank staff working at the nursery. Over half the staff have appropriate qualifications and experience

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

 consider increasing children's involvement with their learning journeys by giving them more choice of what to include and how to display it.

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who attend

Children thrive at this exceptionally rich and stimulating nursery. Staff have an excellent knowledge of the children and provide highly motivating learning experiences. These are based on what children are able to do, with challenging elements to offer opportunities to learn new skills. Staff know the children exceptionally well through initial assessment and continuing observation and use this information effectively to identify their progress and next steps. Therefore, children make very good progress in relation to their starting points in all areas of learning.

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who attend

Staff provide many inspiring physical play activities such as music and movement sessions. Children develop many physical skills, such as rolling sticks down their bodies, and marching and jogging on the spot. Staff use this activity to develop children's skills in other areas, such as asking those children with a blue stick to put it in the circle, which they confidently do.

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who attend

Children are very eager to join in with all activities offered and staff focus on helping children to develop their communication and language skills very well. During a drawing activity about green objects when children are chalking on black paper, staff ask children questions about what they are drawing. Children confidently talk about their pictures and what they are representing on the paper. Staff then extend the conversation to talk about dinosaurs with a particular child as they know the child is going on a trip to the Natural History Museum. This helps children become confident speakers and to express their thoughts and ideas with others. Outside, a group of children find a bug and call to a member of staff to come over. The staff explain that it is a 'stink bug' helping children learn about the natural world. Children then extend their own learning by finding bug boxes and magnifiers to look at the bug more closely and talk about what they see. This

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who attend

shows children are curious and confident learners. Staff plan activities for their key group of children and this provides a secure attachment, which helps all children to be confident and independent in their learning. For example, children confidently choose the game they wish to play together and share their feelings with others in the group. This promotes their very good personal, social and emotional development.

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who attend

Children are exceptionally well prepared for school and next steps in their learning. The nursery works well with local schools and other provisions to support children's moves. Practitioners from schools and other provisions are invited to see the child at the nursery. This helps children become familiar with the new adults that will be caring for them, easing the move to their new learning environment.

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who attend

Parents are actively engaged in their children's learning both in the nursery and at home. This is through excellent communication between parents and staff to ensure that children's needs are met. Innovative ways of communication include voice calls over the internet for parents who are serving in the armed forces abroad. Parents have regular opportunities to discuss their children and are very welcome in the nursery. Staff complete regular and detailed assessments of children's development and share these with parents at regular intervals. However, children do not currently have much involvement in helping decide what photographs and descriptions of their activities and progress go into their learning journals in order that children become more confident in sharing their experiences with their families. Children who learn English as an additional language are well supported through practitioners using key words in their home language and in

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who attend

English. Parents provide words for the staff and explain how to say them. This helps children settle quickly and feel valued and included in the nursery.

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

All staff are extremely nurturing and sensitive to the needs of children. There are strong attachments between children and staff and this is promoted by a fully embedded and effective key person system. Children are encouraged to talk about their feelings in a safe and secure environment and this helps them develop high levels of self-esteem. Children talk openly about their feelings in an extremely respectful environment and children's views are valued. This further promotes children's confidence. To support the transition from home to nursery, parents provide family photos which staff make into a book for each child and these are accessible at all times. This effectively helps children settle quickly as staff are able to talk to children about, and show them photographs of, those people who are special to them. Children's behaviour is very good as they are fully engaged in their play. Staff use extremely positive behaviour managements techniques

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

including using stickers to praise children for good behaviour. Parents are fully included in this system and offer feedback about good behaviour at home, so children receive further rewards. This helps children learn right from wrong and receive consistent messages about behavioural boundaries at nursery and home.

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

Skilled staff support children to complete their own risk assessments and these are included in the planning of activities. For example, the garden area has recently been redesigned and children were actively involved in the risk assessment by deciding what activities would be safe or unsafe. All resources in and outdoors are highly stimulating and accessible and promote learning and challenge. This is through the provision of open ended resources, which includes stones, planks and crates in the outside area. Children use these confidently to make obstacle courses to test their developing physical skills and to take manageable risks.

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

Children have excellent opportunities to develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles. They receive freshly cooked food daily and the nursery has just introduced starters, instead of deserts, two days a week to further promote children's understanding of making healthy choices. Staff sit and eat with the children so that they are good role models and this increases opportunities for discussions about healthy foods at mealtimes. Young children are able to access their own drinks independently as staff label their cups and beakers with their photographs. This helps children learn how to respond to their own needs, such as when they are thirsty. Children have regular opportunities for outdoor play and physical exercise. Children are keen to go outside and play and this demonstrates they have a positive attitude towards physical exercise and fresh air.

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provision

The leadership and management are inspirational and as a result staff are highly motivated. This means that children's care and learning needs are being met exceptionally well. There are well organised management systems in place which reflect the high aspirations of the nursery. This is achieved through highly effective self-reflective practice, which offers all children a high quality learning experience. The manager has an excellent understanding of the responsibility to meet all children's needs, which results in high quality practitioners. The nursery has introduced a computerised tracking system to help to identify the progress of individual and groups of children, which will further enhance evaluation and planning. Self-assessment is fully embedded and input is gathered from all practitioners to inform planning.

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provision

Safety of children is paramount in all areas of practice. There is a close circuit television system in place so that practitioners are able to monitor who is at the front door before allowing entry. All practitioners are knowledgeable and confident in their knowledge of safeguarding procedures and practice. This means children's welfare is exceptionally well promoted. In addition, parents are sent the safeguarding policy and are offered the opportunity to contribute to its annual review. This demonstrates the nursery fully welcome and act on the views of the parents.

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provision

Practitioners have professional supervision which is focussed consistently on their practice and the impact on children's care and learning. Practitioners are constantly improving through training and professional development and this means that there are excellent experiences offered to children. The staff put children at the centre of their practice and they know every child extremely well. All practitioners disseminate learning in regular staff meetings and have responsibility to introduce new practice. For example, training to develop boys' 'mark making' inspired the introduction of individual white boards and markers for young children. This has motivated children to be fully engaged and creative, particularly boys, who now engage well and for long periods in drawing activities. The nursery is part of the local authority communication training and is used as an example of good practice to other early years settings. Staff respond to children's views and are

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provision

flexible in their approach so as to meet all children's needs. For example, practitioners are flexible as to which resources are able to be used both inside and out and this means children are able to extend their learning form the indoor to the outdoor environment using the resources of their choice. This enhances children's experiences and means they are motivated and eager to learn.

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provision

Partnerships with parents, external agencies and other providers are fully established. The nursery embraces the views of children and parents and uses them to influence future development. Information gathered from and shared with parents is, for example, through annual questionnaires, open discussions, parents' evenings, internet telephone calls, tips and ideas sheets and photographs from home. This means parents are kept fully informed about the nursery, their child's progress and how to support and continue learning at home.

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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 EY363805 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 828892 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 61 Name of provider Pumpkin Patch Day Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 02/12/2008 Telephone number 01252 545898

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Setting details

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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