Chestnut House Day Nursery

Chestnut House Day Nursery Chestnut House, Church Road, Saughall, CHESTER, CH1 6EN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/05/2013 23/10/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The team create a welcoming and nurturing environment for children and relationships between staff, children and parents are positive. Consequently, children are settled and happy in their play.  The garden offers plenty of space for children to enjoy a variety of outdoor experiences, including caring for nursery pets. This contributes positively to children's learning and benefits their health and well-being.  The nursery is steadily improving. New systems have been introduced to promote better communication with parents and staff are making effective use of external assessment to develop children's play areas.

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It is not yet good because

 The arrangements for assessing the development of young children do not fully meet requirements because staff are not undertaking a progress check at age two. This means that parents are not given enough information to enable them to understand their child's abilities and contribute to their learning.  Monitoring of practice across the nursery is not fully embedded, which means that the quality of teaching and children's learning experiences are variable. Consequently, children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development.  Self-evaluation does not routinely take into account the views of parents, children and staff, in order to help develop plans for improvement.

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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 three main playrooms and the outside play areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff, children and parents, carried out joint observations with the deputy manager and held meetings with the manager and the owner.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, checked evidence of staff suitability and sampled a range of other records and policies.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Chestnut House Day Nursery opened in 2004, but registered again in 2008 following a change in ownership. It is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in the Saughall area of Chester and is individually owned. The nursery serves the local area. It operates from a two-storey building, with three main playrooms located on two floors and staircases leading to the first floor. There are fully enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 members of childcare staff. Of these, 13 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round, from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 71 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children.

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must:

 ensure staff carry out a progress check at age two, so that parents are provided with a written summary of their child's development in the prime areas of learning.

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

 strengthen systems for monitoring staff performance to improve consistency in the quality of practice and children's learning experiences, for example, by introducing peer observations to identify and share effective teaching skills

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

 extend systems for self-evaluation, for example, by capturing the views of all those involved with the nursery, in order to develop a clear improvement plan to tackle priorities for development.

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who attend

Overall, children make steady progress in their learning and development. Staff plan a suitable range of activities to meet children's needs and interests and practice is generally sound. However, teaching skills are variable across the nursery. For example, pre-school staff interact very well with the children; organising purposeful activities and using skilful questioning to extend their learning. They also provide good opportunities for children to work in smaller groups, for instance, listening and responding to stories that they enhance using props. This contributes positively to encouraging children's communication and language skills. However, this effective practice is not as strong in the toddler room because staff are less experienced in supporting children's learning and sustaining their interests in activities.

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who attend

Children's playrooms have been decorated and reorganised, so that resources, equipment and display boards are more easily accessible, therefore, increasing children's independence and choice. Children benefit from having contact with nursery pets, such as ducks, chickens and pigs, which helps to teach them about caring for living things. Babies practise their walking skills with staff support. They have fun exploring in the sand and using the slide, which positively supports their physical development. Toddlers show some interest in activities, as they sit at the table to make marks on paper using sponges, brushes and water. They have opportunities to develop their imaginative skills, as staff join in with pretend play and encourage them to dress-up.

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who attend

Staff support older children's readiness for school, for example, by promoting their independence and encouraging their social skills. They provide good opportunities for children to enjoy their learning outdoors. For example, they organise large group activities with the parachute and skilfully introduce concepts to explore children's understanding of colour, opposites and number. Staff also plan exciting egg hunts that encourage children to search and match different numbers and shapes. This ignites children's interest and motivates them to explore.

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who attend

In the main, parents are suitably involved in their children's learning because staff talk to them each day and they are beginning to discuss and share children's profiles. Staff are starting to use systems to track children's emerging skills and progress across all areas of learning, but assessment is not yet consistently rigorous. For example, staff understand their responsibilities to conduct a progress check at age two and they have recently devised a system to help them undertake this in conjunction with parents. However, this has not yet been carried out, which means that parents are not provided with relevant information to help them understand their child's needs and abilities.

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

Staff show a suitable understanding of their role as key person in promoting children's care and well-being. They support children appropriately during their transition into nursery, for instance, by liaising with parents to find out about children's preferences and routines. This helps to ensure that care practices meet children's individual needs. Staff form caring and friendly relationships with the children, therefore, enabling them to feel happy and enjoy their time at nursery.

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

The garden offers plenty of space for all children to exercise and enjoy a range of outdoor experiences. Younger children benefit from direct access to outside areas, which means that they can freely move from indoors to outside for the majority of the day. Staff keep areas clean and encourage children to follow consistent hygiene routines, which helps to reduce the spread of germs. Children benefit from sitting together at lunchtime to enjoy healthy, freshly prepared food, which promotes their social skills and helps them to understand the importance of having a healthy diet.

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

The environment is secure and staff point out hazards to help raise children's awareness of safety. They are careful to ensure that children are well protected from the sun, for instance, making sure they wear sun hats and sun cream before going outside to play. Older children know how to use the stairs safely and they have some opportunities to take supervised risks, such as challenging their climbing skills on the large 'castle'. Children are becoming competent at managing their own personal needs relative to their age. They have some opportunities to develop their self-care skills, for instance, when they visit the bathroom or when they serve themselves at snack time. Staff offer encouragement and build children's confidence by praising them for their efforts. They help children to learn about acceptable behaviour and encourage them to play cooperatively with their friends.

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provision

Overall, managers and staff show a suitable understanding of their responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Recruitment and vetting procedures are secure, which helps to ensure children are cared for by suitable adults. Students are appropriately supervised and relevant policies and procedures are available to support staff in managing the nursery. Staff demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of their role in safeguarding children from harm. They supervise the children well and carry out adequate risk assessments of the premises, therefore, contributing to ensuring their safety and security.

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provision

The owner takes a more 'pro-active' approach and oversees the operation of the nursery on a full-time basis. The manager reviews children's profiles and talks to key staff about their children, which helps her to monitor the educational programme and gain an overview of children's learning and progress. However, strategies for monitoring staff performance and sharing good practice amongst the team are not fully secure. Managers are aware of this and are beginning to introduce some measures to address inconsistencies in practice, such as conducting six weekly reviews with the staff and helping them with ideas to extend activities. Some staff are in the process of enhancing their qualifications and regular team meetings and annual appraisals also contribute to supporting staff to develop their skills.

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provision

Managers are using the self-evaluation form to reflect on practice, but they are not yet seeking the views of parents, children and staff to help devise a clear improvement plan that targets areas for development. Nevertheless, recommendations from the last inspection have been appropriately addressed and managers have made concerted efforts to improve communication with parents, for instance, creating a useful and informative website. The out of school club no longer operates from the nursery and this has made a significant difference to the space available for the pre-school children. Also, an external assessment has taken place using the Infant and Toddler Environmental Rating Scales, which is having a positive impact on the children's play and learning. This shows a commitment to maintain continuous improvement.

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provision

Staff develop suitable links with other settings the children attend, in order to share information and promote continuity in children's care and learning. They support children's transition to school, for instance, by liaising with teachers and providing progress reports. Overall, engagement with parents is developing well and parents speak highly about the nursery's flexibility in meeting their needs. They comment that staff 'know their children well' and they receive a 'full round up about the children's day'.

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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 EY372432 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 911402

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 71 Name of provider Jonathon Jason Ashcroft Date of previous inspection 23/10/2008 Telephone number 01244 880371

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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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