The Co-operative Childcare Oxford

The Co-operative Childcare Oxford 1 Roger Dudman Way, OXFORD, OX1 1HW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/08/2013 10/03/2011

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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

 Older children are curious and excited learners who explore the environment and express their creativity during large scale art and craft activities.  Staff respond to children's changing interests and encourage them to explore new things to spark their curiosity.  Early intervention and close monitoring helps children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make rapid progress in their learning and development.  The active parent representatives encourage parents' voices to be heard and the nursery acts upon this to provide information and make changes to the nursery.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 When children arrive in the morning some staff in the younger children's room are preoccupied with completing paperwork, affecting the quality of interactions with children.  Staff do not always fully encourage babies to freely move their bodies in different ways, such as by laying them on their stomachs and backs before they can sit up unaided.

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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 conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector had a meeting with the manager.  The inspector spoke with parents, staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled required documentation, such as safeguarding procedures, children's records and self-evaluation.  The inspector observed activities in all rooms and the garden areas.

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Information about the setting

Buffer Bear Nursery @ Oxford registered in 1993 and is owned by The Cooperative Childcare. It operates from a single storey building beside Oxford railway station. The nursery serves the local area and families of people who work in the city. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 75 children in the early years age range on roll. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education to children aged two, three and four years. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am until 6.30pm, all year round except Bank Holidays. All children use enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery currently supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language, and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs 17 staff. The manager and a further member of staff have a relevant

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Information about the setting

degree in early years. The deputy and a further member of staff hold a relevant qualification at level 4 and five staff hold a qualification at level 3. All other staff are qualified at level 2.

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

 strengthen staff deployment to enable high quality interactions with children, especially when they arrive in the mornings

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

 provide more ways for babies to move their bodies in different ways, such as through laying on their stomachs and backs.

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who attend

Children are keen learners who enjoy a wide range of opportunities to build upon their learning. Staff engage children in activities they enjoy and are creative in their planning of new experiences. For example, children look at a map with staff and take delight in finding places of interest they observe in the map key. The staff explain that the writing is very small and children run off to find magnifying glasses, which they use excitedly. The quality of staff interactions with children is consistently good throughout the nursery. However, staff in the youngest room sometimes complete paperwork as children arrive in the morning. This hinders their high quality interactions with children at this time. Staff observe children in their daily activities to find out about what interests them and what they can do. They share this learning with parents who contribute towards children's learning by sharing 'wow' moments. Staff value the observations parents make and put

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who attend

these on display around the nursery, raising children's sense of achievement. This means that the assessments staff make of children's learning and development are very well- informed and help children to make good progress. The accurate monitoring of children's progress helps to identify when they need extra support. The special educational needs coordinator is committed to working closely with families and others who work with children to promote their inclusion. This means that the nursery develops effective plans for meeting children's individual needs. This good effort means that children make rapid progress and enjoy their time at the nursery.

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who attend

Children are capable communicators who express themselves clearly. All staff are good role models who get down to children's own level, maintain eye contact and talk to children in positive ways. When children talk, staff listen, showing them that what they say is valuable. Babies use babble and individual words to express themselves and staff are aware of what they mean and congratulate their efforts. Older children talk at length about things that interest them and share their knowledge, such as 'African elephants have different sized ears to Indian elephants'. When children learn English as an additional language, staff learn key words to talk to them about their needs. This shows children that their home language is important when they learn a new language. This encourages children to feel confident to communicate with others and have good understanding. Children show great interest in their discoveries, such as how they can place a magnet on

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who attend

either side of their hand and make it stick. Children explain that this is because they have 'magic powers'.

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who attend

Children are able to uses tools for purpose, such as scissors and glue sticks. This is because staff trust children to be able to use them safely. Staff recognise when young children show an interest in climbing on furniture and develop this by making assault courses in the garden. Here, children use logs as stepping stones as they move across the play area. At the end they crawl through a tunnel, ducking down and changing the way they move. Older children move in a variety of ways, but at times, young babies cannot enjoy such freedom of movement. This is because babies sometimes sit in support chairs, which prevent them from crawling, rolling over and reaching for things.

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who attend

Staff respond to children's changing interests. For example, when children show an interest in laptop computers, staff find a keyboard for them to play with. As a result of the stimulating experiences on offer, children become confident learners who lead their own play. This equips children very well for their future learning and eventual readiness for school.

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

Children show their fondness for staff as they rush into the nursery and hug them warmly. The nursery welcomes parents to stay during the mornings when they drop children off. This means that some parents choose to stay while children eat breakfast and in turn, children settle quickly when they leave. Children see their parents have close relationships with staff and understand that they are there to care for them. Staff tenderly give babies their bottle as they drift off to sleep and they cuddle up to them when they first wake up. This means that children feel secure and build close bonds with those who care for them. Parents express that staff seem to 'genuinely care about children' and this makes their children happy to attend the nursery.

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

Staff manage children's move into new rooms well by taking them into the room to visit. Children join together at the beginning and end of the day so that each room and staff are familiar to them. The nursery is working to try to engage with local schools, so that teachers might visit the nursery to meet with children. Staff prepare summaries of children's learning for parents to share with their next setting. This helps to communicate children's individual needs.

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

Staff follow children's home routines and work closely with parents to implement changes, such as dropping nap time and introducing toilet training. This helps children to experience continuity in their care. Children meet their own personal needs by learning to wash their hands at low-level sinks. Children go between the indoor and outdoor areas as they please and dress suitably for all weather ensuring their comfort. Children recognise when they are starting to feel hungry and tell staff it must be lunchtime. Meal times are sociable occasions where children eat freshly cooked meals that meet their individual nutritional needs. This helps children to learn about healthy eating and lifestyles.

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

Staff encourage children to express themselves and their feelings in a variety of ways. This helps them minimise frustration and promotes good behaviour. Children also have many opportunities to use their imagination and creativity as they use paint, glitter and differing media to make large scale art projects. Children work collaboratively on these and have determined ideas about what they are creating. Staff display their work, helping them to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work.

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provision

The nursery staff are vigilant in maintaining a safe environment for children. Visitors can only enter the nursery through the main door, which has security cameras in place. This helps staff to see who is at the door before they open it. Visitors sign in and staff confirm their identity before entry, which helps to protect children. The doors which lead to outside areas have finger guards and hooks to prevent any possible injury to children. Staff carry out thorough risk assessments on all aspects of the nursery and outings children attend. This helps them to consider children's safety, while visual checks and vigilant staff maintain the areas where children play. Safe and legal staff to children ratios make sure that children are closely supervised at all times, including when they sleep. Staff are aware of the policies and procedures that underpin their work. They can confidently explain the signs and symptoms that might cause them concern about

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provision

children's welfare and how they report any concerns. This creates a culture of responsibility among staff who are clear about their individual roles. Induction is well embedded and effective in helping to confirm the suitability of all staff. There are multiple checks to ensure staff suitability and monitor their work. This means that those who work with children are suitable and capable.

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provision

The competent manager is driven to raise standards at the nursery. She leads a strong and able team who are dedicated to their work. The supervision of staff helps each to recognise their own strengths and as a result, staff are motivated to increase their qualifications. This has a positive impact upon children as the staff who care for them are knowledgeable about their needs. Staff contribute their views about how to improve the nursery and suggest their ideas about new ways of working. Parents are highly involved in the nursery. Parent representatives help to raise the voice of those whose children attend. They identify common issues which affect parents and share ideas about improvements. The parents and nursery are working together to find ways to develop the garden in the limited space available. The nursery holds information and training nights for parents, such as first aid and sleep specialist talks. This supports parents and builds very firm

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provision

foundations for close partnership working which benefits children. The nursery uses self- evaluation to effectively identify strengths and weaknesses. Recommendations from the previous inspection have been fully addressed. Staff reflect upon any changes or incidents to review the organisation, environment and resources for children. Therefore, the nursery has a strong capacity to maintain ongoing improvement in quality for children the future.

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provision

Staff undertake the progress check for children at age two as part of their summative assessments of children's learning. Parents' observations of what children can do at home inform these, meaning that they reflect the whole development of children in an accurate way. Staff are introducing further ways to monitor children's achievements by age and group to further research ways to extend upon their very good progress.

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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 134030 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 909619 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 66 Number of children on roll 75 Name of provider Buffer Bear Ltd Date of previous inspection 10/03/2011 Telephone number 01865 200967

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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