Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich 1 Kingsmead Square, Regency Way, NORTHWICH, Cheshire, CW9 8UW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/08/2013 02/04/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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

 The nursery is very vibrant and offers an inspiring environment and the key persons plan rich, varied and imaginative experiences, which are specifically tailored to children's individual needs. As a result, children make rapid progress in their learning and are eager and extremely confident to engage in activities.  Staff are highly skilled and provide excellent support to motivate children's learning. Their consistent and exceptional use of open-ended questions helps to promote children's language skills to an optimum level.  Behaviour is managed extremely well in the setting. Staff are very enthusiastic in their use of praise to develop children's self-esteem to a high level and the consistent boundaries applied ensures they learn to play together in a harmonious environment.  The utmost priority is given to promoting children's health and safety in the setting. An exceptional range of activities help children to learn what foods are good for them to

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This provision is outstanding

eat. Staff are highly skilled at ensuring children learn how to keep themselves safe as they play.  Robust systems implemented by the very strong leadership and management team means that there is a well-driven commitment to improvement. Consequently, staff are highly motivated to implement inspirational initiatives to continually enhance children's 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 compulsory part 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 looked at a range of documentation including the safeguarding policy, attendance records for children and staff, and recruitment documents.  The inspector observed activities in all rooms, including the outside areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, advisors from the company's childcare and curriculum team and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the staff about the daily routines, safeguarding procedures and children's learning and looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents following discussion with two parents on the day of the inspection and comments from parental questionnaires.

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Information about the setting

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich was registered in 2007. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It operates from purpose built premises in a single storey building, close to local schools and shops in Northwich, Cheshire. The provision is accessible to all children. The provision is one of over 200 nurseries that are part of Busy Bees Day Nurseries Limited and serves the local and wider community. There are enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The provision opens Monday to Friday all year round, except for bank holidays. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 87 children on roll. The provision provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The provision employs 22 members of staff, including an administrator and a chef. Of these, 16 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and/or 3. Two members of staff hold Qualified Teacher Status.

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

 consider enhancing opportunities for children to develop their physical skills further, for example, by providing more resources to develop climbing skills, such as slides and providing additional bikes with pedals.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate an exceptional knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and use this to plan exciting and inspirational activities to motivate children's learning. The educational programmes planned provide rich, varied and imaginative play experiences across the seven areas of learning. For instance, children thoroughly enjoy acting out stories as they engage in races outside wearing underpants on their heads and their obvious delight shows that they are having tremendous fun. Staff have an excellent knowledge of the children in their key group and the meticulous observations and assessments completed on children's learning enables them to plan challenging activities. The key person is highly-skilled in planning specific activities based on children's identified next steps in their learning. As a result, children are extremely confident and eager to learn and engage in activities. Every child has a 'learning journal' where staff record

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who attend

regular observations of children's achievements and every three months a summary of children's learning is completed. Staff are extremely confident in assessing children's progress towards the early learning goals and use a development tracker to ensure that there are high expectations for children's development, in order to support their readiness for school. Older children are encouraged to write their name and some are able to write recognisable numbers. The progress check at age two is completed for children in the Honey Bees room and these checks are shared with parents to ensure children's needs are fully met.

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who attend

The very vibrant and inspiring environment and the wealth of resources significantly enhance children's learning. Staff are continually looking at how to improve learning opportunities through inspirational guidance from the leadership and management for the setting. The many interest areas motivate children's eagerness to learn to a significant level. The pre-school room has recently introduced a science area, where children are learning about the human body and the babies have a 'Busy Babies' station where they can explore shiny objects, such as large balls, bowls and bags to enable their sensory development. The outside areas are highly stimulating and offer a vast range of learning experiences and each room has their own designated area, which they can freely access. This enables children to develop their physical skills very well. They are confident to use the climbing wall and enjoy running freely along the paths, although, there is scope to

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who attend

extend the resources, for example, with slides and additional pedal bikes.

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who attend

All children thoroughly enjoy being outside and staff's very enthusiastic approach and excellent understanding of how to promote learning ensures children are always motivated. The quality of teaching is exemplary and staff are extremely skilled in using open-ended questions to promote children's language to an optimum level. For instance, as children listen to the story outside, staff ask 'What did you see at the zoo?' and 'What did you do at the weekend?' Children show extreme confidence as they explain that they went to the seaside. Babies' language development is successfully encouraged as staff introduce words, such as 'dig' and 'digging' as they play in the sand and the excellent use of praise as they make a sandcastle develops their self-esteem very well. Children in the Honey Bees room have lots of fun as they take part in action rhymes outside, eagerly copying the actions for 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'. Staff consistently develop children's

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who attend

language as they paint their pictures and encourage children to talk about their trip to the farm. Children confidently talk about the gerbils and hamsters that they saw. They show great excitement as they watch the snails move around and listen very carefully to the staff's instructions about how they should feed and touch them. Children's learning is further extended as children look for snail trails in the garden. This helps to successfully develop children's understanding of the natural world. Older children show very good listening skills as they sit and answer questions about the story, confidently explaining where the panda might be, which develops their thinking skills very well.

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who attend

There are successful strategies used to support children with English as an additional language. The nursery environment is very rich in print both in English and a wide range of other languages. Staff ask parents to complete a 'communication and me' sheet to identify key words in the child's home language, which staff use during play and routines. This helps to effectively promote all children's language. There are persona dolls to enhance children's understanding and respect for other people's backgrounds. Consequently, children are gaining an extremely positive awareness of diversity. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is exceptional. There is very close liaison with external agencies and staff are able to provide individual attention where needed through additional funding. This enables targeted intervention to ensure all children make rapid progress in their learning and development.

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who attend

Children are prepared extremely well for their transition to school. Older children in the Butterflies room are able to recognise letters as they look for them in the sand and staff successfully enhance their learning as they encourage them to think of words that begin with the letter. Children confidently say that 'x' is for 'x-ray' and 'p' is for 'pen'. Excellent opportunities are provided to encourage children's mathematical development. As two- year-olds play in the water, they show great delight as they count how many pots it takes to fill the large bowl, successfully counting up to 16 and they know that they need one more penny to make five pennies to pay for the juice. They count how many bounces they can do as they play on the hopper outside and staff extend children's play to count how long it takes the cars to travel down the tyre. Staff are continually looking how mathematical opportunities can be provided and mealtimes are another means that they

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who attend

use. Children count how many cups are needed for the children sitting at the table and helpers are able to find the correct amount of cutlery to give to their friends. High importance is placed on children being able to freely express themselves and developing their imagination and staff are continually following children's interests during play. For example, during a painting activity children wanted to make and paint models after completing their pictures and the wide range of easily accessible resources enabled this to happen. They eagerly respond to staff's animated involvement during a 'pirate adventure'. They use the material to make a pirate ship to sail along the seas and children engage in conversations with their peers and staff as they talk about what they can see. They develop the activity themselves and use the canopy over the nature area to create a dark enclosed area where they have tremendous fun making ghost sounds. They develop their

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who attend

understanding of the world through outings to the local shops and visit the post office to post a card for the new royal baby.

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who attend

Staff have excellent partnerships with parents. The key person gathers extremely detailed information from parents through the 'Getting to know your child' booklets, relating to children's care and learning when they first start and these are used very effectively to ensure they are fully supported. The 'Early Assessment Record' takes account of learning in the home and enables staff to accurately assess children's starting points in their learning to enable staff to build on what children can already do. There are excellent systems in place to share information with parents about their child's care and learning on a daily basis and every three months the summary of children's learning is shared with their parents. Daily diaries are used for younger children and following discussions as part of the parent partnership group, regular emails are sent to parents on how their child is progressing. Parents spoken to at the inspection say that 'staff are brilliant' and that they

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who attend

feel fully informed about their child and how they are progressing. There are extremely effective methods to involve parents in their child's learning further. There is a library service where children can take books home and 'stay and play' sessions are organised so that parents can come in to the nursery and engage in activities. The setting's website provides a wealth of information, on the activities children are involved in each week and regular parents' evenings are held. This exceptional sharing of information is highly effective in supporting children's learning and development.

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

The nursery is fully inclusive where all children and their families are welcomed and supported in an exemplary way. The highly successful settling-in procedures implemented in partnership with parents ensures children are happy, relaxed and settle quickly into the setting. Parents spoken to as part of the inspection said that the settling-in process was good and very flexible to meet their needs. Extensive transition arrangements for children moving from room to room are sensitively managed by staff. The key person visits the room with the child to offer security and there is a detailed exchange of information on their learning and development to ensure they make continual rapid progress. First class procedures are implemented to enable smooth transitions to the local schools. All schools visit the nursery and if any school cannot attend then the key persons visit the school and transition documents are completed with details of children's progress. This ensures that

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

children will be effectively supported as soon as they move to the school.

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

The key person system is extremely effective and all staff are very skilful in helping children to develop very secure, strong and positive relationships with staff. Consequently, children are very confident to express their needs and preferences, such as when they want to take part in a different activity. Staff continually engage in very positive interaction with children and this ensures that their time at the nursery is an enjoyable one and that they develop exceptional levels of concentration in activities. Care practices are very good and staff respond extremely well to the individual needs of children. For example, they are very calm, using soothing tones and make excellent use of the quiet room with a lilac interest area, to help soothe young babies who are settling-in. Staff are very alert to children who are asking when their parent will return and spend quality time to explain the routine of the day so that they fully understand when to expect them to

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

arrive. As a result, their emotional needs are expertly met by staff.

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

Children's personal, social and emotional development is fostered exceptionally well. The setting offers an extremely clean, vibrant and welcoming environment for children with an excellent range of resources, which are very easily accessible to promote children's independence. Children have their own age appropriate room and outdoor play area, which helps them to feel secure and settled in the nursery. Resources are stored on low- level shelving and storage units, which successfully encourages children to make choices. Children are making excellent progress in their physical development as they play indoors and outdoors. Young children are confident to climb onto the rocker and trundle along with the push-along-toys. They have lots of fun as they dig in the sand and splash in the water and show extreme confidence as they tackle obstacles when they engage in races. Behaviour is managed extremely well in the setting. A pebble jar is used as a reward for

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

good behaviour and each time a child engages in positive interactions with others, for instance, sharing a toy, a pebble is put into the jar. Children in the Honey Bees room have filled their jar and as a reward, snails are brought into the nursery for them to learn about. Staff are very enthusiastic in their use of praise to develop children's self-esteem to a high level. Babies are praised for sharing a book and older children are encouraged to shake hands after having a disagreement about a toy. The extremely consistent boundaries applied ensure children learn to play together cooperatively in a harmonious environment. Mealtimes are a very social occasion where children and staff sit together to participate in discussions. Staff act as excellent role models, eating their lunch with the children and helping them to undertake tasks to develop their independence. They help to serve some of their own food and line up to put their cutlery into the pots when they have finished.

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

The utmost priority is given to promoting children's health and safety in the setting. Children gain an excellent understanding of a healthy diet as they learn about what foods are good for them as they look at the book about apples and gain an understanding of what foods they need to eat small amounts of, such as crisps, as they talk about the food triangle. In the garden they grow courgettes, which they then enjoy eating in their curry for lunch. They learn about parts of their body and how to care for them as they explore the large set of teeth in the science area. Menus offer an extremely nutritional and balanced diet and advice is sought from external chefs for additional recipes. The four- weekly menu is displayed and recipes are available for parents to try at home. Exemplary hygiene routines are implemented for children and staff, with regard to mealtimes and bathroom routines. Older children are very independent at washing their own hands very

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

thoroughly and know that it washes the germs away. This promotes their good health. Staff are highly skilled in ensuring children learn how to keep themselves safe by explaining to children consistently why they should not do something. For example, staff explain to children why they should not put their knife in their mouth as they may cut themselves and that they should not throw water as it may cause a flood and someone may fall. This means that children are developing an excellent understanding of how to manage risks.

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provision

Leadership and management for the setting is very strong and inspirational. The self- evaluation processes are robust and there is a well-driven and exceptional commitment to improvement. Consequently, staff are highly motivated to implement inspirational initiatives to continually enhance children's learning. The childcare and curriculum team for the Busy Bees company complete regular audits to ensure the Early Years Foundation Stage is implemented to a very high standard. A variety of other audits are completed by the company, such as health and safety, ensures the setting continues to offer a safe place for children to play. New initiatives are effectively implemented to continually enhance and motivate children's learning. For example, 'Steps to independence' encourages older children to learn how to use mops and brushes to help keep the water and sand tidy and to use trowels and watering cans for keeping the garden green. Parents

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provision

and children are fully involved in the evaluation process. An independent company is used for gathering questionnaires from parents and the management team are extremely proactive in addressing any issues identified. The setting has a display board which details parents comments and what action has been taken. A 'parent partnership' group meets regularly and is able to ask questions and provide feedback from the parents. For children staff use 'voice of the child' sheets and the use of smiley and sad faces to identify what they like and dislike. Staff are extremely proactive in responding to children's interests throughout the day.

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provision

There is a highly supportive management structure in place and they are fully involved in the monitoring of staff practices, which is exemplary. Management and peer observations of practitioner practice take place regularly and there is an extensive supervision and appraisal system implemented. This ensures that high aspirations run throughout the whole nursery and that every staff member is motivated to continue to enhance their practices. There is a rigorous process to monitor the completion of children's 'learning journals' by room leaders and managers and the company has introduced a tracker to monitor how well the different groups of children are progressing. This helps children maintain the excellent progress they are making towards the early learning goals.

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provision

Regular and rigorous views of documentation and procedures ensure that all requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are met effectively. A sample of records viewed on the day of inspection, demonstrates that recruitment procedures are robust and ensure that children are fully protected. The comprehensive range of written policies and procedures ensure the super organisation of the nursery. All areas are safe within the building and in the outside area and risk assessments are in place for all areas. This enables children to play safely at all times. On the day of the inspection ratios were met well and there is a high level of qualified staff working at the setting. There is an excellent programme of professional development planned for all staff to ensure children's care and learning is effectively promoted. The Busy Bees company provides regular training and there is a very robust induction procedure for all new staff.

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provision

This ensures they are fully aware of all of the policies and procedures and can implement them to a high standard. Safeguarding procedures are extremely robust. Discussions with staff show that they have an excellent knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and procedures for reporting any concerns. This helps to ensure children are fully safeguarded.

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provision

Highly successful partnerships are developed with parents and external agencies. Staff are extremely proactive in providing information for parents through newsletters, the website and regular events that they are invited to. They are given a welcome pack when their child first starts at the nursery and daily information is exchanged. Parents spoken to on the day are very positive about the nursery and the care and education that is provided. They comment that their child has 'progressed really well with their language and confidence' and comments detailed in parental questionnaires state that 'staff are exceptional' and thanks them for 'doing an amazing job with my child'. Staff work very well with other agencies, such as speech and language therapists, to ensure that all children's needs are met and they implement specific activities to help those with additional needs. High priority is given to developing partnerships with other settings that

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provision

children may attend. A book is used in order that the care and education between the settings complement the learning experiences for the child. As a result, all children make rapid progress in their learning. The company has an inspiring vision, in that, it has a 'community initiative' where managers work very closely with local health visitors to offer free places for specific children on a 10 week programme to support their development and learning. This demonstrates the company's superior commitment to their pursuit of excellence.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 305146 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 928966

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 107 Number of children on roll 87 Name of provider Busy Bees Day Nurseries (Trading) Limited Date of previous inspection 02/04/2013 Telephone number 01606 352614

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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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