Dunky's Day Nursery (Runcorn)

Dunky's Day Nursery (Runcorn) 2 Mather Avenue, Weston Point, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 4JJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/07/2013 06/11/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The setting has a good range of resources, which is presented, so that children can access them, enabling them to become independent learners.  Staff have good partnerships with parents. Information is effectively shared, which supports consistency of care for children.  Children are happy and settled. Relationships with staff are strong and secure attachments are made, which adequately supports children's emotional well-being.  Staff have a sound knowledge of safeguarding and the building is very secure. Risk assessments and regular checks identify potential risks. As a result, children are safe.

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It is not yet good because

 Practice across the team is variable and some staff do not consistently use language well to support children's creative and critical thinking skills.  Practitioners routinely give general praise but do not often extend this to provide individual children with a clear understanding of what exactly what they have done well.  Children are not always given encouragement to dress or undress themselves, so opportunities to develop independent self-care are not maximised.

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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 and children at play throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with children, parents, staff and the management team throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documentation, including children's records to ascertain children's progress towards the early learning goals.  The inspector looked at the provision's self-evaluation processes.

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Information about the setting

Dunky's Day Nursery (Runcorn) has been open since 1990 and was registered again in 2008 following a change in ownership. The nursery is one of two nurseries run by a limited company. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from a converted building situated in the Weston Point area of Runcorn. Children are cared for on two floors, with a ramp providing access to the ground floor. All children share access to secure, enclosed outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Mondays to Fridays, all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 61 children on roll, of these, 21 are in the early years age range. 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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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 childcare staff. Nine hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and 3. One staff member holds a relevant qualification at level 6 and another has qualified teacher status.

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must:

 improve ways in which staff use language and engage and interact with children to include more opportunities to develop children's critical thinking skills.

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

 improve further individual children's understanding of their own learning by providing more focused and directed praise, so that they know that their efforts are valued and gain increased self-esteem from having their positive actions affirmed

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

 provide further opportunities for children to develop self-care skills by supporting them to do everyday tasks independently, such as dressing and undressing as appropriate for the activity.

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who attend

Staff understand the requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage and frequently observe children, in order to plan appropriate activities to extend their learning. Clear assessments of children's progress are used to help provide continuity in their learning when they move into the next room or on to another setting and parents are fully involved in this process, so that transition times are eased. Parents are given lots of opportunities to engage in the setting in a variety of ways. They know who their child's key person is, regularly discuss their child's progress and are given opportunities to share information about what their child learns at home. This allows parents and staff to work together to ensure suitable learning experiences are provided for each child. The nursery team includes a qualified teacher, who supports staff in planning for individual children and this has had a positive impact on practice.

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who attend

Rooms are laid out with a wide variety of play opportunities, which children can then self- select, encouraging them to become independent, active learners. For instance, the water play has a variety of toys on a nearby shelf that children can choose from and use to extend their play and discovery. Staff frequently use play experiences to engage children in discussions about everyday life. This helps children to develop their communication skills. Children are happily engaged in purposeful play and staff interact appropriately, joining in and extending language by asking questions about the play. For example, when toddlers play outside rolling coloured balls and vehicles down a tube into a tray, staff extend this activity by shouting 'ready, steady, go' and making appropriate noises as the ball or vehicle descends. Staff ask children about the colours of the balls and cars and which one is going next, so that they have fun while learning about sequencing and

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who attend

Children's love of books and stories is evident as they become very excited when they learn that the Library Bus is visiting. Children and staff work together and have great fun searching the books on the bus for those that they have not yet read, or for old favourites. There is lots of discussion about stories and decisions made about whether they would like to borrow them. Numeracy skills are also supported as children and staff talk together about how many books they have so far and how many more they can choose. Children are encouraged to take the lead in asking the library staff to order a particular book for their next visit, increasing their self-esteem and confidence. On their return from the bus, armed with a pile of new books, children excitedly sort through the stories to choose one to share. They sit quietly and listen carefully as the member of staff reads and shares the story, enjoying how staff use different voices and facial expressions

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who attend

to bring the story to life. Children are, therefore, fully engaged and listening skills are being further developed. Generally, staff support children's language development by repeating words back to them, extending sentences and asking questions. However, some staff do not always use clear and correct language when helping children to learn new words. For example, one member of staff refers to a police car as a 'nee-naw'. As a result, children's language is not always appropriately supported. Children are happy to play together in small groups and staff intervene appropriately in the play, extending language by using questions to engage the children. Children's thinking skills are sometimes encouraged by staff using some open-ended questions, such as 'where's your car going?' However, this is not consistently applied across the setting as some staff do not always use open-ended questions or get involved in the thinking process

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who attend

by helping children to clarify their ideas and make connections in their learning. As a result, staff do not always extend children's creative and sustained thinking skills.

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who attend

Children's numeracy skills are developed as a member of staff talk about how many trains they each have and uses language, such as 'more than', 'less than' and 'sharing', to support children's learning. Staff encourage children's social skills by modelling good manners and reminding them to say 'hello' to visitors and library bus staff. Craft activities, which allow children to make lots of choices, are provided. For example, children make sock puppets for a puppet show and are supported to make choices about the character and what resources to use. This enhances children's creativity and planning for the coming show later in the day. Children use chalks on slate boards and are encouraged to 'write' names and are praised for their efforts, so practising mark making and gaining self- esteem.

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

Settling arrangements are secure. Staff greet parents and support them and their children for the transition from home to nursery. Links with home are encouraged through use of photographs on displays, family pictures and comments, thus, supporting children to feel settled and secure within the setting. As a result, close relationships are formed and secure attachments made. Children's behaviour shows they are happy, settled and their care needs and well-being are supported. Staff are accessible to children at all times and respond to questions and conversations appropriately. Children show their excitement at seeing a member of staff, who has been away, greeting her with open arms and talking, showing there are good relationships between children and staff. Times of transition are handled effectively, with staff completing 'handover' sheets when children move from one age room to another. This allows the staff, who will be caring for the children to

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

appropriately plan for the child's care and learning and understand their needs and interests. Older children talk confidently about moving onto other settings, showing that staff and parents have supported them in this important transition.

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

While overall children behave well, some staff do not always intervene to consistently promote positive reinforcement strategies. This does not effectively help children to manage minor squabbles that arise during the day and their emotions. Staff frequently use praise, such as 'good girl' or 'clever boy', during play and acknowledge when children are being kind to one another. However, they do not routinely use focused praise to further reinforce children's positive actions, raise their self-esteem and help children to develop a clear understanding of their own learning achievements.

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

Young children are appropriately supported at rest times by being provided with a mattress with their own bedding to sleep or rest. Staff know children well and encourage younger children to lie on a mattress. Children, who do not sleep after a short period of time are asked if they want to get up and then encouraged to engage in quiet play with other children. Staff are responsive to children's needs, responding to a child, who is indicating that they need a nappy change and praising their request, thus, supporting their emerging self-care skills and independence. Children are also asked about their feelings at appropriate times, for example, a young child, who is rubbing their eyes is asked 'are you feeling tired', supporting their emotional recognition and vocabulary.

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

Healthy eating is promoted on a display board in reception, which includes a range of advice and information for families and nursery menus are devised to ensure food is nutritious. Opportunities to develop social skills are maximised at mealtimes as staff sit with children while they eat lunch. The room is calm and organised and tables are set with table cloths. Staff encourage children to converse with each other, supporting them to talk about a particular event, thus, they are learning how to communicate within a social situation. Children's well-being and self-care is supported as they are asked to choose if they want more water to drink. Children play outdoors at scheduled times for an hour at a time and water the flowers and plants that they have planted, thus, learning about the natural world as they enjoy playing in the fresh air.

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

Children's behaviour during a trip to the library bus demonstrates that they feel safe and comfortable and they are willing follow instructions given by the staff as they talk about different books they find with their friends, staff and library staff. Children are kept safe by staff reminding them to stay away from the door of the bus. Safety is further reinforced when children are independently using scissors, as staff stay close by, carefully supervising the children and gently reminding them about proper use. Children's skills show they have been suitably coached in this difficult task. Children's self-help is supported as they are reminded to dress appropriately to play in the water and to remove their shoes while indoors and put them back on for outdoor play. Staff help children when dressing and undressing, although, they do not always provide enough opportunities for children to do so independently, so that they fully develop the skills, which they will need

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

in their later learning and for the move onto school.

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provision

Senior managers have a clear view of the setting's strengths and areas for improvement. The recent self-evaluation process included all staff and parents' comments and a variety of techniques were used to critically analyse practice. The nursery team includes a qualified teacher, who is instrumental in supporting curriculum development. Planning and assessment is monitored on a six weekly basis, with each member of staff looking at each child in their key group and the teacher providing advice and directing improvements as required. However, practice across the team is variable and although, changes to the reviewing and monitoring process have recently been made, this is still being rolled out across the setting and has not yet been in place long enough to aid consistency of practice. Staff development is well supported through regular supervision and appraisal systems. Management continually reflect on practice and review procedures to make improvements.

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provision

For instance, following recommendations from the last inspection, there has been a range of in-house training provided to the staff regarding appropriate interactions with the children. This has contributed to an improvement in how staff engage with children, including an emphasis on the use of open-ended questions, although, this is not yet consistently applied by the whole nursery team. Staff are given a range of support to develop their skills in working with children and help them to make continued progress. For example, regular meetings are held to share practice and coach staff. Staff also meet regularly and evaluate the effectiveness of planned activities in supporting children's progress. This actively helps them to identify areas for development and they show a positive approach to making continual improvements. In addition, the settings manager has planned supervision with a nursery director when her approach and practice is

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provision

The senior management team are fully aware of their responsibilities regarding maintaining staff to child ratios and the manager is available to provide cover during staff absences. Children are kept safe through a range of measures. For example, all doors are monitored and controlled; there are telephones and intercom systems in each room and learning activities are risk assessed. There is a suite of policies and procedures for keeping children safe, including accident forms. These are completed after each incident, signed by a staff member and shown to parents, who are also asked to sign. When children bump their heads, parents are given a separate form to clearly highlight this, which also contains additional advice and information. There are clear procedures for logging complaints and issues and recording the setting's response to them. The complaints procedure has also recently been highlighted in a newsletter to parents, ensuring they are clear about the

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provision

process should they wish to use it. Staff are clear about identifying the possible signs of child abuse or neglect and know the procedures to follow to refer any concerns. They have all completed recent training on safeguarding and use the nursery's telephones, intercom and closed circuit television systems to liaise with each other, or gain assistance when needed, without having to leave the children.

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provision

The nursery uses external agencies, where necessary, to help those in charge lead and manage, for instance, a local business is used to support the nursery on employment law and the local authority provides support on quality. This enhances the ability of the provider to deliver a better quality service for children and families. The nursery is pro- active in involving parents both in their child's learning and development and in evaluating the service. There are clear communication links with parents and the others involved with children. This ensures steps can be taken to gain any help and support a child may need. Parents are given information about the setting and their child through different methods, including notice boards and displays in reception, a parents pack containing current information, summative assessments, such as the Progress check at age two and discussions with key workers. There are also opportunities to be involved through a

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provision

testimonials book, attending family events, such as a summer barbeque, and receiving regular newsletters. Parents evenings are planned twice per year, which parents are encouraged to attend to discuss their child's progress and achievements.

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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 EY375157 Local authority Halton Inspection number 923894

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 93 Number of children on roll 61 Name of provider Dunkys Day Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection 06/11/2012 Telephone number 01928 563 199

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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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