St Joseph's Nursery

St Joseph's Nursery 221 Doncaster Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 3QY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/08/2013 21/03/2011

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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

 Teaching is based on an excellent knowledge and understanding of the areas of learning. The practice of practitioners is inspiring and provides rich and varied experiences for all children. This ensures children make rapid progress in their learning from their starting points.  Children show an excellent disposition to learning. They are curious, exceptionally well motivated and eager to learn.  Leadership is inspiring, there are high expectations for practitioners, whose performance and its impact on children's learning are exceptionally well monitored. This ensures that very high standards are achieved for all children.  The excellent partnerships between parents, other providers and external agencies ensure that children's needs are quickly identified and exceptionally well met.

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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 the inside and outside environment, and carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, evidence of staff's suitability and a range of other documentation, including policies, procedures and risk assessments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day, and the information included in parental questionnaires and the provision's self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the manager, members of staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

St Joseph's Nursery was registered in 1998 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is a privately owned setting and operates from converted premises close to Barnsley town centre. There are nine rooms on two levels available for children's play on the ground and first floors of the building. All children share access to two enclosed outdoor play areas, plus an allotment.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open from 8am until 6pm each weekday all year round, excluding Bank Holidays. There are currently 103 children on roll in the early years age group. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 14 members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. It receives support from the local authority.

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

 enhance opportunities that help children in the toddler room start to experiment with numbers and letters in their play.

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who attend

Practitioners have an excellent understanding of how children learn, and their teaching is based on their expert knowledge and understanding of the seven areas of learning. Practitioners have very high expectations for all children, and their teaching highly motivates them. All practitioners are involved in the planning of the educational programmes and, as a result, provide rich and varied opportunities that successfully extend all children's learning and development. However, there is scope to provide more opportunities to draw the attention of children in the toddler room to numbers, words and symbols in their play. Practitioners are extremely confident and enthusiastic, and actively contribute to children's independent learning. They follow children's interests and time their interventions exceptionally well. They provide optimal challenges through their excellent use of open-ended questions. Consequently, children learn to think and talk

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who attend

about what they are doing, and this helps them to consolidate their own learning. The utmost priority is given to the planning of an environment that successfully incorporates all seven areas of learning and provides a wealth of interesting and varied activities and resources. This helps to keep children motivated and eager to learn.

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who attend

The systems for observing and assessing children's progress are excellent. Practitioners use the accurate assessment of children's prior skills on entry to the provision to effectively plan for their first day. There is a particular focus on children's personal, social and emotional development during their transition from home to the provision. For example, parents provide photographs of key family members and pets. When children are a little unsettled, they are encouraged to look at their photo album and their faces visibly brighten as they point at, and name, people who are important to them. Parents, carers, other early years professionals and outside agencies, such as the local authority inclusion team and the hearing impairment team, are fully included to order to secure timely interventions and support. This is extremely effective in ensuring all children acquire the skills required to ensure they are very well prepared for their transition to

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who attend

Parents are invited to help incorporate their home language into the provision by helping practitioners to use the correct word in their language to write single words and labels. Children are provided with dual-language books and learn about different festivals, and parents are encouraged to come and talk to children about days that are special to their family. Practitioners confidently identify the correct development bands that children are presently working within and their next steps in learning. This was confirmed by the joint observation carried out during the inspection and the meticulous evidence clearly recorded in children's progress files, which include written observations, photographs and examples of children's work. Partnerships with parents are given priority and this helps to promote the learning and development of all children. For example, parents are invited to share information about what their children can do, their likes and dislikes, their family and

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who attend

familiar routines. Parents speak very highly of how much the provision keeps them informed. They feel very involved in their children's learning, and state that whatever they share with practitioners is always valued and included in their children's progress record. Practitioners research children's home language and seek support from the local authority cultural diversity team to help support individual children.

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

The key person system is very well embedded and ensures that parents and children are introduced to their key person during the settling-in process. This ensures children are quickly settled and begin to build very strong bonds with their key person. Staff are exceptional role models; they model good behaviour, are polite with each other and work exceptionally well as a team. There are a variety of circle time and small group activities that encourage children to learn to share and take turns. This helps children learn about acceptable behaviour and how to cooperate with others. Parents of younger children feel exceptionally well supported by practitioners who work closely with them while their children are being potty trained. Children are taught to wash and dry their hands properly. This helps children quickly become independent in managing their own hygiene and personal needs. Children help themselves to water and clearly understand why they need

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

to have a drink when they are thirsty. Children's physical skills and their enjoyment of the outside area are actively promoted through an environment that children find interesting and challenging. For example, they develop large motor skills as they learn to ride bikes and scooters, and climb the steps to a slide. They use their bodies to negotiate space, carefully avoiding children and other obstacles in their way as they run around, and kick a football. Children fill a bucket with water and pour it down a chute. They enjoy running after the water trying to catch it before it spills over. When the water spills over they stand and watch it dry commenting 'it's gone', then they turn and run back to repeat the action. Children are provided with a nutritious and healthy balanced diet which the cook freshly prepares on a daily basis, taking account of all allergies and specific dietary needs. Children plant and carefully tend

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

vegetables in the allotment which helps them to learn about healthy foods and the importance of a healthy diet. Children behave in ways that are safe for themselves and others, and are learning to develop an understanding of dangers and how to stay safe through their daily routine and activities. For example, as they complete their own booklets about safety in the sun, they talk about protecting their skin by using sun cream and wearing sun hats. Children show they feel safe in their environment as they approach visitors to ask why they are there. They involve them in their game of football and ask for a turn on the laptop.

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

Practitioners give priority to enabling children to build on their existing skills, and this helps them make rapid progress in all areas of learning. Children's personal, social and emotional development, physical development, communication and language remain focal to the planning of activities and the environment. The well-planned environment is significantly enhanced through the excellent use of resources, varied and interesting activities and play opportunities that promote children's independence and choice. Parents and teachers are thoroughly involved in the transition process. This involves the key person contacting teachers who will receive children in their new school to share their care and development records, and discuss how best to support individual children in this important transition. This partnership working effectively eases children's transition into school. Children are very independent in their learning, and make confident choices about

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

what they want to do. This includes choosing to join in more focused activities alongside their friends, which shows they have developed a good disposition to learning. Practitioners listen carefully to what children are saying, and make excellent use of simple language. This helps children to develop their own communication skills. They become good listeners and show an understanding of what is being said. For example, when asked during lunchtime 'what gives us five a day', they clearly reply 'fruit and vegetables'.

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provision

Leadership and management are inspirational and they demonstrate an outstanding commitment to improving the quality of the provision. Priorities for improvement are identified through a thorough and robust evaluation process. This process includes and takes account of what practitioners and parents say through staff meetings, questionnaires and open discussion. A robust action plan successfully targets areas they wish to improve, and this has noticeably improved the quality of the provision. For example, the outdoor environment now includes an allotment for planting and growing, and recommendations from previous inspections have been successfully addressed. This has resulted in a marked improvement in the links established with other provisions that children attend, and the opportunities for children to be more independent, such as serving themselves at mealtimes.

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provision

The highest priority is given to safeguarding children. Practitioners demonstrate a first- class understanding of child protection and are extremely confident in their ability to implement safeguarding procedures in order to protect children. There is a clear procedure for safeguarding that is available to all practitioners, parents, carers and students. All practitioners attend safeguarding training and hold valid first aid certificates. The recruitment procedure is rigorous and ensures those working with children are suitable. All required documentation is in place and reviewed annually. Robust risk assessments clearly identify possible hazards and the action taken by the provision to eliminate or reduce any risks.

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provision

The provision is committed to providing fully inclusive, high quality care to ensure that children continue to make excellent progress according to their starting points. Practice and its impact on children's learning are constantly monitored, and all practitioners, including students, have regular meetings and a yearly review where they discuss their professional development and identify individual training needs. Practitioners have developed excellent systems that help them accurately observe, assess and monitor each child's progress and the effectiveness of the educational programmes on individual children's progress and learning. This is based on their expert knowledge and understanding of how children learn. The close partnership working with external agencies and other providers ensures that children receive the best possible care and support. This enhances their well-being and ensures they continue to make rapid progress in their

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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 302861 Local authority Barnsley Inspection number 915257

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 137 Name of provider St Joseph's Day Nursery & Pre School Ltd Date of previous inspection 21/03/2011 Telephone number 01226 290189

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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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