Treetops Nursery

Treetops Nursery 52 North Street, HORNCASTLE, Lincolnshire, LN9 5DX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/08/2013 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

 Activities match children's interests and meet their needs. Adults listen to children and extend their learning by joining in their play and using open-ended questions to encourage further explorations.  Children are confident communicators who develop their speaking, listening and understanding skills well through a wide range of stimulating activities and effective teaching.  Children form strong attachments with their key person, other staff and children. They show a strong sense of belonging and are confident, motivated and enthusiastic learners.  There is a strong commitment to driving continuous improvement to benefit the children and to meet their needs.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to provide children with more opportunities to develop their independence and organisational skills, for example, at circle time and at meal times.  There is some scope for key persons to make information and about children's progress and next steps more readily available to colleagues so that they have a clear picture of the reasoning behind future plans and can all support children fully in their learning.

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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 had a tour of the premises and met with staff and children.  The inspector observed children in the two playrooms and outdoors.  The inspector and early years manager completed a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journals, care sheets, planning, a range of policies and procedures and spoke with parents.

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Information about the setting

Treetops Nursery was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. It operates from The Memorial Hospital premises in Horncastle, Lincolnshire. The nursery serves families from the local community. Children are cared for in four rooms and play areas are divided according to age. There is an enclosed area for outdoor play. Ample parking is available for parents, staff and visitors.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, all have qualifications at level 3. Two staff are currently undertaking their Early Years degrees. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 5.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 34 children attending who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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

 provide children with more opportunities to further develop their independence and organisational skills, for example, at circle time and at meal times

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

 develop systems for key persons to share information about children's progress and next steps so that other practitioners are also able to use effective, targeted strategies to support learning.

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who attend

Children and parents are greeted warmly at the start of each session by staff who have a strong commitment to making the nursery a welcoming environment. Children in all rooms enjoy leading their independent play with friends and toys of their choice, just as much as they enjoy engaging in well planned, purposeful activities. Children are highly motivated and eager to learn. All staff have good knowledge of how young children learn through play, and skilfully bring in the areas of learning to enhance and extend children's experiences. A lot of work has taken place with improving observations, assessment and planning since the nursery re-registered under new ownership. Planning covers all areas of learning well, and places equal emphasis on indoor and outdoor activities. Plans show how individual children are grouped appropriately to focus on their next steps in learning. Key persons know the individual children well and use their observations effectively to evaluate

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who attend

children's progress and identify their next steps. However, this information is not readily available to all practitioners so that they have a clear picture of children's progress and next steps and can fully share in supporting each child.

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who attend

Children develop their spoken language well through interaction, conversation and answering questions posed by staff. They initiate conversations and talk confidently about what they are doing. Children develop a good understanding of written language through the use of books, mark-making activities and from being in a print rich environment, with labels and signs. A group of children really enjoy sitting looking at books on the sofa with a member of staff. She reads to them and ensures that all children can snuggle up close and see the pictures as the story unfolds. Outdoors, the owner has made children a communication den, which they use as a cosy place to chat with friends and to look at books. Children enjoy a wide range of creative activities, for example, using different media and role play. They particularly like dressing up as different characters, such as postmen and fire fighters, and acting out delivering letters and putting out fires. Children

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who attend

have good access to technology, which develops their understanding of communication further and also their problem solving and physical co-ordination skills. They have a very good understanding of how to use computers, switching them on and using the mouse. Young children use the mouse and click somewhere on the screen, which makes the picture turn sideways and no-one can resolve the issue. To solve the problem, the children turn the computer monitor on its side so that it is the correct way up, which shows good critical thinking, independence, determination and problem solving skills. Children learn to count well and recognise shapes, colours, size, measure and quantity through every day experiences and through planned activities that extend and consolidate their learning. This contributes well to helping children acquire and apply appropriate skills for their future lives and their move on to school.

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who attend

Parents are included very well in their child's learning. Daily chats take place at the start and end of the day so that parents know what the day will consist of, what their child has been doing and how they have been. They have continuous access to their child's learning journal and can discuss this at any time with staff. All parents are invited to send observations and experiences of things their child is involved with at home, which many do. They have a WOW tree where they can add special moments and also an ideas wall where they can make suggestions about activities, for example. Staff use all information that parents provide effectively for planning, which helps to ensure that they take notice of the child's experiences and achievements in a wider context.

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

The nursery has a well-established key person system. Each child is allocated a member of staff who is responsible for their development and welfare. This helps children form strong attachments so they feel safe and happy while in the nursery. They have many transition visits before they move into their new room, which helps them to settle well and familiarise themselves with new routines. Children mostly learn to be independent and confident, although at times, there are missed opportunities to promote this to the fullest potential. For example, at circle time children are not responsible for getting their own cushions and at meal times they do not help set out the table. However, they do serve themselves at meal times and demonstrate positive social learning.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the prime and specific areas of learning and ensure that rooms are well organised to promote these fully. For example, the baby room has lots of clear floor space to promote the physical development of young babies. Babies can learn to roll, crawl, stand and take their first steps in safety. The manager and the staff treat all children respectfully, showing kindness and affection. Routines are clear and consistent so children know what is expected of them at any one time. As a result children behave very well at all times, showing kindness towards one another. They are emotionally well equipped for their next steps, particularly the move on to school.

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

Staff give high priority to children's safety and well-being. Older children are independent in taking care of their personal needs such as using the toilets, washing their hands and getting dressed to go out to play. Children eat healthy foods and learn to appreciate the importance of a healthy diet while in the nursery. Meals are prepared on the premises from fresh ingredients and children eat fresh fruits and lots of vegetables. Meals are supplemented with nutritious snacks each morning and afternoon. Children have the opportunity to rest during the day and babies have choice of sleeping in a cot or a sleep- pod, according to parents' preference. They also have a great deal of physical exercise and fresh air in the well-resourced outdoor area. They learn to take risks safely as they climb, ride bikes, dig and plant and enjoy playing in the newly installed mud kitchen. Additionally, children walk to places of interest and to and from school each day. They

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

learn how to be safe when walking, for example, they learn about road safety, use a walking rope and understand the importance of wearing high visibility vests so they can be seen.

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provision

Children are safeguarded well as staff are fully conversant with the policies and procedures and translate these effectively into practice. They all have a good knowledge of their duty to protect children and have completed relevant training. The setting is organised very well. All aspects of the premises and outings are fully risk assessed and daily safety checks are completed to help promote the continued safety of the children. Effective security systems and safety measures are in place and visitors are greeted personally, signed in and escorted. All staff are appropriately vetted for their suitability to work with children and all participate in a robust induction process and subsequent appraisals. All staff have current first-aid qualifications, which promotes children's health in the case of illness of injury.

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provision

This is a well-led and managed nursery where staff morale is high and team work is strong. The owner and staff share a vision for the nursery and have high aspirations for driving ongoing improvements. Systems for self-evaluation include regular visits from the local early years consultant, who complete audits. The setting issues 'parent surveys' to seek their views and also provides parents with a feedback and suggestion wall, which is used well. Purposeful targets are raised and as these are achieved, new targets replace them to keep the nursery moving forward. Since registration the nursery has been completely re-decorated and refurbished to make it bright and fresh. Many new resources have been purchased and a new kitchen has been installed. Outdoors has been developed further and children particularly enjoy using the mud kitchen and the communication den that have been installed.

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provision

The owner and manager are active members of staff and nursery life, effectively organising administrative duties and childcare duties between them. This enables both to be in the rooms with the staff and children and impart their skills and knowledge to staff in order to develop the educational programmes fully. The manager monitor's the effectiveness of teaching and learning well by overseeing observations, assessment and planning and by observing staff in practice to ensure they implement teaching to a high standard. She models good practice by often joining in with activities. She knows every child and parent in the nursery very well and uses this knowledge effectively to support and progress individual children with their learning and developmental needs. Staff are supported well through regular supervision sessions and appraisals, which help identify and address any training needs or requests. Partnerships with parents, other settings,

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provision

schools and specialised professionals are established well. Staff attend transition meetings with the schools children will attend and this helps with children's transition process. The owner has set up a parent partnership group, which is working very well. Parents help with fundraising events and have a strong voice in the nursery, helping to decide where money is best used to meet their needs of their children.

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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 EY458112 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 906780 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Treetops Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01507 526 755

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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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