Rascals

Rascals Fairways Primary School, The Fairway, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 4QW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/08/2013 10/11/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress as staff's practice is based on a secure knowledge and understanding of how to promote their learning and development.  Children and babies are confident, settled and happy as they have good relationships with staff and each other.  Children are well prepared for school as there are good links with other settings and visits are made into the school, which supports effective transitions.  Very effective partnership working with parents means that there is a united approach to meeting individual children's needs and helping them to develop relevant skills for the future.  Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and successfully promote children's safety and well-being.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The opportunities for children to spend time concentrating on their chosen activities, and to make the choice between indoor or outside play, are not fully maximised during the daily routines.

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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 indoor and outdoor learning environments, this included a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held discussions with the management, staff and children.  The inspector viewed a sample of children's learning journey books.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector saw evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff, risk assessment, policies and procedures and other documentation in relation to health and safety checks.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day and from questionnaires obtained by the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Rascals was registered in 2003 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a self-contained building in the grounds of Fairways Primary School in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. It is one of two nurseries run and managed by Polardreams Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from two playrooms and a hall. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play and children also use the school playgrounds and playing fields.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 14 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or 4. The nursery also employs a bank member of staff and a cook.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Opening times are between 7am until 7pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 84 children attending, who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It also offers care to children aged five years to 11 years, before and after school and during the school holidays. There are 50 children attending the out of school club. The nursery and out of school club supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance active learning by reviewing routines, so that children have more sustained time to concentrate on activities and can make free use of the indoor and outdoor spaces.

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who attend

Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of how young children learn. Activity planning is precise as the key persons know what children enjoy and understand each child's learning priorities. A good focus is placed on promoting the prime areas of learning. As a result, children have a firm knowledge base from which they can build on and learn new skills. Progress is monitored through a variety of methods of observation and assessments. The observations are supported by photographs and examples of creative work in individual learning journey books. In addition, staff have successfully implemented a robust process to complete the required progress checks for children when they reach the age of two. This means that staff promptly identify when children are progressing well or if progress is less than expected, so that any additional support from outside agencies can be secured without delay.

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who attend

Interaction is very good and communication skills are promoted particularly well as staff speak clearly and respectfully to children, asking carefully framed questions to check their understanding. Children become confident communicators as staff encourage them to work things out for themselves and highly value what they have to say. Sign language is used throughout the nursery and this gives children and babies greater confidence in knowing that their requests are understood by all. There are effective systems to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Essential early intervention is sought, in partnership with parents, to ensure that no child gets left behind. Consequently, families receive the necessary additional advice from outside professionals to promote young children's physical or speech and language development. The nursery manager and special educational needs coordinator are experienced in working with other agencies

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who attend

when making assessments and contributing towards individual education plans.

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who attend

Children clearly enjoy their time at the nursery and are confident and self-assured. There is lots of laughter and children are actively engaged and interested in their play experiences. The nursery offers a mainly good blend of adult-led experiences and activities that children choose for themselves. This means that children are curious and often inventive learners. For example, children and babies eagerly explore and experiment with sensory materials, such as, paint, sand, water or rice pudding and older children help to mix ingredients to make playdough. For much of each session, children concentrate, persevere and show high levels of imagination. However, there is scope to extend active play further as at times the nursery routine interrupts children's learning. For example, children sometimes have to tidy away activities they are deeply involved in, so that they get ready for snack time. This also sometimes involves periods of inactivity as children

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who attend

queue to wash their hands. In addition, although, there is a super garden with a rich variety of experiences available, the opportunities for children to choose between indoor and outdoor play are not fully maximised during the sessions.

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who attend

The skilful support from staff promotes children's all-round development and prepares them well for their next stage in learning, particularly their readiness for starting school. Children have many opportunities to practise their early writing skills as they create captions and labels for display. They look at books for pleasure and enthusiastically recognise their sounds and letters. Children experience many opportunities to develop their mathematical skills as they play. For example, they use multi-coloured pegs and construction toys to count and recreate patterns. They develop independence skills as they serve their own food at lunch time or practise putting on or taking off clothes when dressing up in school uniforms. Children in the out of school club take part in fun activities that complement their learning in the classroom, where they spend more time.

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who attend

Parents of all children are kept well informed about their children's progress through regular summary reports and access to their children's learning journey records. They are beginning to become more involved in their children's learning as they now regularly see and discuss the planning for the next steps with the key persons. They are also invited to come into the nursery to share their skills with children and take part in special events, such as sports day and the recent graduation ceremony. In addition, the nursery has just started implementing newsletters with ideas of activities that parents can share with their children at home.

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

Children and babies are cared for in a nurturing and supportive environment. There are supportive settling-in procedures, which mean that children and babies get to know their key persons and form strong bonds. Parents provide plenty of information about their children's interests, enthusiasm and capabilities from the outset. Children feel a strong sense of belonging to the nursery when they see their photographs on display and know where to find their place mats and coat pegs. To help babies settle, staff have compiled laminated photographs of their family members and this also encourages language development, promotes confidence and raises self-esteem.

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

Children are supported well by all staff as they move to other rooms in the nursery. The key person eases the handover by making sure all the essential information is passed on. Moves are smooth and easy, due to the interconnecting play areas and this means children get to know all staff. When children are due to start full-time education at the host school, they go on regular visits into the classroom and teachers are invited to visit children at the nursery. Staff provide the school with the learning journey books, so that teachers are fully aware of children's achievements. This enables children to receive a consistent approach to enhance their development and provide continuity of care and learning over time.

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

Staff are caring and attentive to children. As a result, children feel safe and their well- being is successfully promoted. Staff are skilful in their ability to promote children's safety as they teach them how to identify and manage everyday risk. They talk about moving carefully while indoors to avoid trips or falls. When outdoors, children know to steer thoughtfully to avoid collisions when riding the bicycles. Children learn to handle tools safely. For example, they capably use cutlery when cutting their food at mealtimes and older children learn about the importance of being responsible when using woodworking tools, in the out of school club. All children behave well and stop, listen and respond immediately to staff's instructions and politely share and take turns with the play equipment. Regular fire drills are held, so that everyone can swiftly evacuate the premises in an emergency.

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

Children are developing a good understanding of why it is important to lead healthy lives. Many opportunities are planned each day for children to play energetically and develop their coordination and physical skills. They relish being outside and particularly enjoy walks around the school grounds, so they can tackle more challenging physical apparatus. Older children in the out of school club make good use of the playground, where they engage in racing and chasing games or ride their scooters. In addition, children also benefit from the opportunity to take part in outdoor activities linked to the forest school approach. Children follow very effective personal hygiene routines and develop a strong sense of responsibility as older children make sure that younger ones remember to use the liquid soap and disposable towels. A nutritious and balanced menu is provided each day and children discuss the food that is good for you. Children's knowledge of healthy

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

eating is enhanced through activities, such as planting and growing cress seeds. The nursery efficiently caters for children, who have allergies or special dietary requirements. Children develop their independence skills at mealtimes as they pour their drinks and serve their food. In the out of school club, children adeptly manage to unwrap or undo food and lunchbox containers while eating in social groups with staff.

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provision

The management and staff have a good understanding of the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They effectively protect children's health, safety and welfare by implementing thorough policies and procedures. All staff have completed safeguarding training as part of their induction and are confident in the procedures to follow if they were to have any concerns about children in their care. Robust systems are in place for the safe recruitment and continuing suitability of staff. Frequent risk assessments are carried out and these enable staff to identify and minimise potential hazards in relation to the premises or any activities that children take part in. Sleeping babies are checked regularly and key persons are conscientious in maintaining essential documentation, for example, when administering medication or recording minor accidents.

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provision

The nursery has worked hard to address the recommendations from the last inspection. Children's safety has been improved as they are no longer able to open the kitchen door. To support children's development and progress staff now attend local hub meetings to effectively share information with other early years providers and local schools. Staff are also receptive to visits made by the local authority advisors and have successfully established effective links with external agencies, such as speech and language professionals and the area special educational needs coordinator.

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provision

The owner and manager provide positive role models to the enthusiastic staff team. They carry out regular monitoring of the educational programme and do spot checks of the development records to ensure that no child gets left behind. Regular performance reviews are undertaken, including staff appraisals and supervision meetings. This means that each member of staff develops in confidence and has the opportunity to improve their knowledge and professional practice. Staff meetings are also used well to gauge staff's knowledge and to share ideas about best practice. All staff are committed to continuous improvement and regularly reflect on the quality of their work, as there is a self-evaluation book in each room. Parents and children also regularly contribute their views about the nursery by completing questionnaires. As a result, the formal self-evaluation is collaborative, thorough and highly comprehensive and is used as a super working tool to

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provision

continually improve outcomes for children.

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provision

Parents make very positive comments on how well their children have developed at the nursery and appreciate the communication and commitment of the staff team. They receive well-written, accurate information about the running of the nursery and are kept up to date with any changes through regular letters and via noticeboards. Daily diary sheets are shared, so that parents are kept fully informed about care routines. Formal opportunities are also provided for consultation with key workers when children's development records are viewed and discussed.

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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 EY271249 Local authority Southend on Sea Inspection number 915151

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 73 Number of children on roll 134 Name of provider Polardreams Limited Date of previous inspection 10/11/2011 Telephone number 07787 124754

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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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