Hearts and Minds

Hearts And Minds Childcare Billinge House, Euxton Lane, Euxton, CHORLEY, Lancashire, PR7 6DL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/08/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 The nursery is led by enthusiastic owners and management team who are well- organised and who strive to improve the experiences for all children.  Children are happy, content and enjoy attending this welcoming nursery. They make good progress in their learning and development and are supported by caring, nurturing practitioners who plan activities based on children's interests and play preferences.  Children's behaviour is good as staff are good role models. They are deployed well and provide clear guidance for children about what is acceptable behaviour.  Staff meet safeguarding and welfare requirements well for each child. Robust and rigorous policies and procedures are implemented, which ensure that children are protected.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is further scope to extend opportunities that help children to develop their interest in early writing and mark-making.

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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

 The inspector carried out a tour of the nursery.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and observed the children while they were engaged in activities throughout the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the manager and staff at different times, taking account of the needs of the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection and the information from the setting's self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

The Hearts and Minds Nursery was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register. The Nursery is owned and managed by a limited company, Sasha UK Limited. It is situated in a two storey detached building in the Euxton area of Lancashire. The nursery accommodates babies and children under two years old on the ground floor. Children aged two years to five years of age are accommodated in three rooms on the first floor. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 14 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above, including one member of staff with Qualified Teacher Status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round apart from bank holidays and Christmas, from 7am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 75 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 extend further children's opportunities to make marks in all areas of the learning environment by providing them with more writing tools to practise early writing skills.

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery and quickly engage in play activities. Staff have a secure understanding of how to implement the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are well-deployed, enthusiastic and eager to help all children settle into the group. Key persons build effective relationships with parents to gain information about each child, their interests and their achievements, to identify initial starting points. This helps them plan for each child's individual learning needs. The quality of teaching is good and observation of the children playing and assessments of their progress assist in the planning of a broad range of fun and challenging play experiences and activities. As a consequence, children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Staff complete with parents the progress checks for children at the age of two. This is effective in highlighting

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who attend

any gaps in learning and also enables them to secure early intervention to ensure that no child gets left behind in their development. Parents receive regular updates of their child's day at nursery through their daily diary that goes home with them every evening. Children benefit from this shared approach to learning and make good progress as a result.

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who attend

Staff ensure children have the skills, attitudes and dispositions they need to be ready to make the transition into school. They work closely with parents and other professionals if concerns are identified with children's speech. This helps children to make as much progress as possible. Very young children's language skills are enhanced when staff respond sensitively to their early attempts to communicate. They notice the sounds children are making and 'tune in' to the different messages they are trying to convey. Staff make eye contact with babies, say their name and wait for them to react. This helps children to develop relationships with their key person and supports their understanding of familiar words and sounds. Staff ask older children questions to make them think and give them the time to express their views. Children are becoming increasingly independent. Staff arrange resources so children can easily access them and make choices about what

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who attend

they wish to play with. Arrangements at lunchtime enable older children to serve themselves their food and pour their own water, which they do successfully. Planned activities, such as making marks with water and paintbrushes in the garden or writing their names on displays mean children develop skills for writing. However, there is capacity to extend opportunities further by ensuring writing materials are readily available for all activities, such as in the role play areas. Children's reading skills are promoted well in the nursery and staff make sure there is a good range of books available to them. They have favourites and can often be found sitting quietly and looking through them or taking them to staff so they can read them together. Good opportunities are provided for older children to learn about words. All resources are clearly labelled and good use is made of signs and other texts.

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who attend

Staff plan first-hand experiences and challenges appropriate to the development of the children. They support them to enter into imaginary worlds by encouraging inventiveness and ensure they have experiences that stimulate their interests. For example, older children thoroughly enjoy climbing on the pirate ship climbing frame to look for treasure. They stand at the wheel on the top deck to look around and listen to the sounds they can hear. This stimulates their imagination and expressive language skills as they make comments such as, 'I'm the pirate sailing the boat'. Staff provide a stimulating range of open-ended resources in the outdoor environment and children explore, build and role play with the selection available. For example, children pretend to make cakes or ice- creams with the range of sensory materials made available to them. They fill up bowls with flour or rice and make comments, such as 'I need to put my cake in the oven' and

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who attend

'What flavour ice-cream would you like?' Staff make suggestions at appropriate times as children play, which further enhances their creativity and problem solving skills.

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who attend

Staff provide good opportunities during child-initiated and adult-led activities to develop children's mathematical skills. For example, they count the number of spots on large wooden dominoes and provide containers clearly displaying the numerals one, two and three. Children use positional language as they play and climb 'under' and 'up to the top' of the climbing frame. Children are provided with good opportunities to learn about other people and cultures. They have weekly sessions with a French teacher where they learn key words and phrases. As a result, children are beginning to use this knowledge in their everyday play and interactions in the nursery. For example, during a painting activity, children use the French words for 'blue' and say 'pain' for bread during snack time. Children are provided with a broad range of experiences to develop their physical skills. In the indoor environment, babies reach out for and begin to hold objects, make marks with

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who attend

their fingers using paint and feed themselves competently using cutlery. In the outdoor environment, children use a range of sensory materials to fill different sized containers, skilfully move lengths of guttering to create ramps for boats and walk across the balancing logs. As a result, children effectively develop the key skills they need for the next steps in their learning.

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

A warm, friendly and very congenial atmosphere is created in the nursery. This ensures children and their parents are welcomed and their individual needs are supported and well-met. Staff have very good awareness of children's emotional and physical needs and comfort them when they are feeling tired or upset. For example, when babies show signs of tiredness they cuddle into their key person who talks to them in a gentle and sensitive way before carefully laying them down to sleep. As a result, relationships between staff and children are strong and good attachments are formed. There are many smiles and positive language used with the children of all ages. Staff begin to label emotions and feelings. For example, during circle time, staff ask children to look at their faces as they are sad because children are not listening. Children behave well throughout the nursery and demonstrate good awareness of rules and boundaries. This is because staff make

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

behavioural expectations clear and provide gentle and effective reminders when required.

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

Staff encourage all children to develop independence skills. Meal and snack times are well- managed and provide opportunities for children to set the table, serve their own food and feed themselves. As a result, children develop good skills in their personal, social and emotional development, which supports their all-round learning. Healthy snacks and meals are prepared on site each day by the cook. Children learn all about making healthy food choices, including fresh fruit and vegetables. For example, they help to grow, pick and prepare foods that will be used to prepare their snack and lunch. Consequently, children learn the importance of developing a healthy lifestyle. Children use bathroom facilities and wash their own hands after activities and before eating. This develops their awareness of good hygiene and promotes their physical well-being.

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

Children are supported well as they prepare for transition to school. For example, teachers visit the nursery, children visit the school to take photographs for a book to share about school and samples of the uniforms are used during role play. This helps to reduce children's anxiousness about forthcoming changes.

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

Children learn about safety through everyday practices and routines. They take part in regular emergency evacuation drills which help them to act in a safe manner. The areas outside are well set up to meet the children's individual care and play needs. For example, as well as having plenty of space and equipment to play physically, there are shaded areas to ensure that children are protected from strong sunlight. Staff also provide sun screen for all children and ensure that they can help themselves to drinks of fresh water. Alongside this, children are reminded to be careful during play and they show good awareness of safety. For example, they skilfully change direction while riding bikes to avoid colliding with other children. Therefore, children are safe, happy, fully occupied and make independent choices about what they want to do.

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provision

The manager demonstrates a good understanding of her responsibility to meet the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All required documentation is in place and maintained well, and the nursery is safe and secure. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. They understand their role in child protection and know the procedures to follow should they have a concern about a child in their care. Robust systems are in place for the recruitment and vetting of any new staff, for their induction and to appraise the performance of all members on an ongoing basis. Professional development is encouraged by the enthusiastic and supportive owners and management team. Staff have attended a variety of training courses to enhance their knowledge and practice. For example, the majority of staff have undertaken food safety, safeguarding and first aid training. As a

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provision

result, staff are better informed to promote children's welfare and safety.

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provision

The manager has a secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and uses this well to support the staff team. She spends time working in the rooms, where first-hand knowledge is gained about what is working well and she can address issues raised. Observation, assessment and planning documentation is reviewed on a regular basis. The manager monitors this information to make sure it is consistent, precise, and displays an accurate picture of all children's skills, abilities and progress. Documentation for tracking children's progress is in place and an electronic system has recently been introduced. The manager and deputy manager maintain an overview of this information so that individual children with identified needs are targeted. As a result, appropriate support and intervention is sought and gaps in achievement are closing.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and carers are a clear strength of the nursery. Words, such as 'absolutely fantastic' are used to describe the care and support the nursery provides to children and their families. Parents are happy with the information provided about their child and provide regular feedback to staff, both verbal and written. For example, parents write statements, such as 'We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all of you have done for our child and would recommend you to anyone in need of childcare', to describe how satisfied they are with the service provided. The manager and staff are committed to working in partnership with the adjoining children's centre. This makes an excellent contribution to meeting the needs of individual children. For example, the outreach worker visits the nursery to offer further support to children and families where required. Learning at home is actively encouraged, which supports children's all round

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provision

development. The nursery works well with other agencies, such as speech and language therapy services and other health professionals. This ensures appropriate interventions are secured for children and they receive the support they need.

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provision

Self-evaluation takes into account the views of staff, children and their parents. Views are sought through regular meetings and one-to-one conversations with staff, and children have opportunities to share their opinions through discussion and circle time. This system helps to ensure good quality provision. Effective use is made of parents' boards, newsletters, social events and daily exchange of information helps to maintain good communication between nursery and parents. The owners and manager have a strong drive to improve the nursery and there is a clear and successful improvement plan that aims to support children's achievement over time. The nursery staff work hard to build partnerships with other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage to promote consistency of children's care and learning.

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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 EY458179 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 906417 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 75 Name of provider Sasha (UK) Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01257272515

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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

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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