High Hopes at Longview

High Hopes at Longview Longview Primary School, Astley Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L36 8DB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/08/2013 14/10/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 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 spacious and welcoming. It supports children's all-round development and provides a broad range of experiences that develop their growing independence.  Highly effective partnerships with other professionals involved with individual children ensure children receive the support they need.  Staff know the children and families well, which helps children feel secure.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to better organise the staffing and use of space in the early morning. This is in order to ensure children are engaged in an activity and their good learning and good social skills are consistently promoted.  There is scope to raise two-year-old children's awareness of the uses of technology by incorporating equipment, such as magnifying glasses, microscopes and torches in their self-chosen play, such as bug hunting.  The nursery does not have a whole setting approach to labelling of resources and displays. As a result, a mix of capital and lower case letters are used, which makes it difficult for children in the early stages of learning to read.

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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 nursery rooms and in the gardens.  The inspector looked at a sample of children's records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of staff's suitability to work with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and self-identified development plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, individual staff and children at appropriate times throughout the observations.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the deputy manager.

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Information about the setting

High Hopes Childcare was registered in 2006 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a self- contained space attached to New Horizon Children Centre on the site of Longview Primary School in Huyton, Knowsley. It is managed by a committee and serves the local area. It is accessible to all children. Children use four rooms and there are three enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one holds a qualification at level 2. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.45pm, for 50 weeks a year. The out-of-school club operates from 7.30am to 9am and from 3pm to 5.45pm during school term time; and from 7.30am to 5.45pm during school holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 88 children attending, of which 72 are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It 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:

 ensure best use is made of space and staffing at the start of the day, in order for staff to promote children's learning and reinforce their good social skills as well as they do at other times of the day

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

 support two-year-old children to use technological items, such as torches, magnifying glasses and microscopes during self-chosen activities, such as bug hunting

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

 improve children's ability to recognise familiar words and decode words, by labelling resources and displays in lower case letters consistently across the nursery.

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who attend

When children start nursery, staff work closely with their parents to identify what they already know and can do. Where gaps in children's learning are identified, staff at the nursery help to close that gap. They work very well with parents and other professionals to ensure that children receive the support they need and make good progress over time. Children who speak English as an additional language receive appropriate support, for example, through the use of pictures and signs and by staff using key words in their home language. As a result, children are generally working comfortably within the typical range of development expected for their age. Where children's starting points are below those of others of their age, assessment shows that they are improving consistently and the gap is steadily closing.

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who attend

Staff regularly share with parents what they know about children's learning and development, verbally and through regular written summaries. Parents are being encouraged, with increasing success, to update their child's records with any new information about their learning at home and photographs. This keeps staff aware of children's rapidly changing interests and helps them purposefully plan activities that interest children and effectively promote their learning.

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who attend

While they play alongside, staff purposefully encourage children's communication and language skills and effectively promote their physical, personal, social and emotional development. Children's good progress in these three areas ensures that they have the key skills needed for the next steps in their learning, such as moving on to school. Children listen to stories and frequently sing songs and rhymes. Group activities are purposefully planned to encourage children's communication and language skills and their social skills. For example, children learn to take turns as they take an item from a bag and sing songs about it. Babies play with toy animals and copy animal noises made by staff, which encourage and develop their speaking and listening skills.

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who attend

Children demonstrate their good mathematical knowledge as they play. They correctly identify numerals as they pull them from the water tray and use appropriate language, such as 'big' and 'bigger', to describe their height as they measure themselves against a chart. Children's early writing, with some recognisable letters, is clearly valued by staff who use it in wall displays. However, the nursery does not have a consistent approach to the labelling of resources and displays. As a result, there is a confusing mix of capital and lower case letters, which lessens children's ability to recognise words or easily decode them. Children help themselves to pens, crayons and chalks from a wide range of readily available materials. They enjoy painting, writing and drawing, which effectively promote their early writing skills and their creativity. Babies enjoy moving their fingers through breakfast cereals and cooked spaghetti. Babies have good access to manufactured toys,

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who attend

natural items and everyday objects, such as soft brushes and loofahs, which they freely explore and investigate. A range of sensory experiences, such as these, provide effective opportunities for babies to learn about their world.

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who attend

Staff purposefully plan new experiences around children's current interests. For instance, children excitedly look for bugs and hunt for butterflies with nets in the garden, so they are taken to the city bug museum to widen their knowledge. This develops children's awareness of their community and develops their understanding of the world. However, two-year-old children have few opportunities to use technology for a purpose to investigate the natural world and look closely at what they find. This is because they are not always encouraged or reminded to use equipment, such as torches, magnifying glasses or bug boxes for a purpose as they play.

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who attend

Babies explore technology as they push buttons on toys to activate sounds and lights. Older children refine their mouse skills as they operate computer programmes with increasing skill. Children enjoy simple experiences, which relate to their own culture and are beginning to raise their awareness of the culture of others. For example, they make cards for Easter and Mother's day. At Chinese New Year, children taste different foods. Staff value the home languages of children and raise their other children's awareness of different languages and prints by providing dual language books.

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

The nursery rooms are spacious and well-organised, which gives babies ample space to roll, crawl and practise walking. Indoors and outdoors, children move freely around and access a broad range of experiences that develop their growing independence and physical ability. Children develop healthy lifestyles as they gain an understanding of the need for physical exercise. Older children demonstrate increasing balance as they climb on outdoor equipment and manoeuvre scooters and other wheeled vehicles around the garden. Good access to bathrooms enables children to independently go to the toilet. They recognise and manage their personal needs increasingly well, relative to their ages. Children develop a good understanding of risks and how to manage them. They listen to stories with safety messages, enjoy a range of activities themed on the emergency services, and know why they put on cream to protect their skin in the sun.

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

Most staff are suitably qualified and throughout the day, the required staffing levels are effectively maintained. It is a strength of the provision that children freely use plenty of well-resourced space, indoors and outdoors. However, at the beginning of the day, prior to all staff and children arriving, staff are sometimes working on their own with a small group of children in large spaces. At these times, staff rely on sight to supervise children and are less able to judge when children require support. Staff sort minor squabbles sensitively, although, they are less able to pre-empt children's behaviour at this time. However, children demonstrate secure attachments to staff and confidently make it known if they are upset or concerned, which demonstrates their developing understanding of acceptable behaviour. Older children are given plenty of time and freedom to become deeply involved in activities they are enjoying. Children receive praise from staff for

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

achievements and positive behaviour, which promotes their self-esteem and confidence.

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

Children continue to feel safe and secure as they move up from one room to the next. This is because they visit the next room with their key person as many times as they need in order to settle well. The transition is discussed thoroughly with parents and the new key person has a written assessment of the child's prior skills, knowledge and understanding. Therefore, children's good progress continues. Similarly, children are well supported by staff to move on to other settings and to school and are, therefore, well prepared for the next stage in their learning. Staff are aware of each child's individual health or dietary needs and meet them appropriately. Babies sleep comfortably in cots or on beds at times appropriate to their needs. Cooked meals are brought in daily. The nursery uses a school meals service during term time and an outside caterer during holiday time. Children discuss the health benefits

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

of foods and sometimes help to prepare foods for snacks. For example, they handle, look closely at and taste different fruits. They talk about healthy eating as they prepare some of their own healthy snacks, for instance, they make toast and fill pitta bread with ham and salad.

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provision

Since the last inspection, a new management team has been formed who have developed beneficial links with the attached children centre and early years support team. They have a strong drive and ability to build on their good practice. They seek and make good use of staff, parent and children's views to effectively identify areas for improvement. A wealth of ways to audit all aspects of the nursery are in place. These are having a positive impact on the organisation of the nursery and staff performance.

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provision

The manager has an administrator who takes care of some office responsibilities. This enables her to use her skills and knowledge to monitor the educational programmes, review and change practice across the whole nursery, in order to develop a more consistent approach. Recently, she has improved the way she monitors staff performance and the effectiveness of teaching. This is already having a positive impact on children's learning. On return from training, staff share what they have learnt with other staff in order to benefit the team. They also share with parents, for example, information is clearly displayed on sudden unexplained death in infants.

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provision

The management team and staff have a good awareness of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Written risk assessments are regularly reviewed and staff follow a useful checklist to help visually check their rooms are suitable and safe for children. Robust recruitment and vetting, followed by indepth induction, check staff's suitability to work with children. Arrangements for safeguarding children within the nursery and through work with outside agencies are good. All staff regularly update their awareness of child protection and there is always a named staff, on site, to support them. This is because priority has been given to training all the management team to a higher level in safeguarding. Parents and staff have a pocket booklet on what to do if worried a child is being abused. Parents have access to a wealth of information about the nursery on notice boards and in newsletters.

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provision

Staff effectively support children to make good progress in their learning and development. Children freely choose activities from a wide range of accessible toys and books. In addition, each week, a key person individually plans activities for each child based on their good knowledge of the child's abilities. Checks are more regularly being made to oversee the assessment and planning in each room to ensure that they are effective for each child. Nursery staff are also well supported by the local authority and children centre teaching staff to regularly assess children's learning and well-being.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and external agencies strongly contribute to meeting children's needs and securing the support they need. Positive links with professionals, such as health visitors, portage workers and speech and language therapists, effectively support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff follow individual learning plans, which include their parents' views and any professionals involved with them, to make sure that children make consistent progress in the areas where they need extra support. Those parents, who expressed a view at the inspection, are very complimentary about the way staff care about 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 EY335090 Local authority Knowsley Inspection number 915008

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 57 Number of children on roll 88 Name of provider Beechwood Educare Centre Date of previous inspection 14/10/2008 Telephone number 0151 477 8626

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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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