Cygnets Day Nursery

Cygnets Day Nursery Hartwood House, High Street, Bordon, Hampshire, GU35 0AU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/09/2013 19/03/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children are happy and settled at the nursery as staff treat them with kindness, leading to the development of trusting relationships.  Parents are happy with their children's care and feel involved in the nursery through regular newsletters and daily handovers.  The nursery is well resourced giving the children the opportunity to engage in activities which interest them and which will support their independent learning.

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It is not yet good because

 Monitoring systems do not robustly address identified weaknesses in implementation of learning and development systems to ensure children make the best progress they can.  Not all parents receive clear information about their children's current achievements and next steps in learning to continue children's learning at home and share their achievements back into the nursery.  Younger children's personal independence skills during mealtimes are not always promoted appropriately as staff do not always let them choose what they want, how much they take or explore the texture of their food.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspectors observed activities in all the classrooms and outside.  The manager and inspector undertook a joint observation.  The inspector had discussions with parents, staff and the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors analysed samples of the children's learning journals, planning documentation, and a selection of the group policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Cygnets Day Nursery opened in 2004. It operates from two buildings situated in the grounds of The Church of the Sacred Heart in Bordon, Hampshire. The nursery consists of five rooms, four of which are in the main building with kitchen and laundry facilities on site and one in the church hall. There are secure outside play areas available. There are 23 staff who work with the children and 19 staff hold a relevant childcare qualification. One member of staff is a qualified teacher with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. Currently there are 88 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery gets funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The group opens Monday to Friday all year round from 8am to 6pm with the exception of bank

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Information about the setting

holidays. The nursery receives support from the Local Authority.

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must:

 improve how staff implement the systems for observing, assessing and identifying individual next steps for children based on their personal needs in order to use this information to plan suitably challenging experiences for each child, and consistently involve parents to promote two-way sharing of information

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must:

 improve the systems used to foster continuous improvement; make sure that monitoring and self-evaluation identifies inconsistencies in staff practice, priorities and targets for improvement based on rigorous monitoring of practice.

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

 increase opportunities for younger children to promote their personal independence and feeding skills.

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who attend

The nursery is well resourced and there are activities available to support learning across the educational programmes in each room. Overall, staff have a satisfactory understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. The senior staff working with the older children demonstrate a secure understanding of how to promote and record children's learning and development. However, this understanding is not consistent across all staff. Each child has a learning journal and an assessment profile. However following the introduction of the new assessment programme, at the start of the year, staff have not consistently implemented these to identify children's achievements and next steps in learning. Therefore, not all staff have a clear understanding of what children can do and what has been identified as their next steps in learning. Consequently, activities are not always tailored to support

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who attend

individual children's learning and therefore help them make the best progress they can.

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who attend

Children's language development is generally well promoted as they chat confidently to each other and staff during activities and at meal times. Toddlers talk about the lorry that comes to deliver food to the nursery and which colour bag they prefer from the role play box. They look at books and sing songs with actions. Older children enjoy stories and some are able to recognise their names on their coat pegs. During adult led times, older children sing number songs and have the opportunity to hold different number cards and be part of the song. Some children can identify the numbers from the cards and can count which number will come next. However, some staff do not always recognise those children who require more help to answer and these children become restless as they find it difficult to take part. Staff generally interact well with children although at times during free play sessions some staff miss opportunities to encourage children's learning in

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who attend

counting or language development further.

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who attend

Children have access to a variety of resources and activities each day. They appear interested in their environment and are able to extend their learning through independent play. Some staff play alongside the children and help them to extend their learning. For example, staff join in role play and ask children 'who is on the phone?', 'where are you going?' and 'what will you buy?'. Some staff use snack and meal times to support learning. For example, a staff member engages the two year olds sitting with her at the snack table. She asks them to look at their pot and they talk about the images on the packaging, differences and similarities and they identify the different flavours. However, staff in the one to two year olds room give children their half of banana a portion at a time. This means they were not able to select or explore the pieces for themselves to develop their self-feeding skills.

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who attend

Parents comment that their children settle well at the nursery. The nursery staff promote a home from home routine and try to mirror the child's daily pattern to help them settle as quickly as possible. Settling in sessions are developed on an individual basis and respond to the specific needs of the child and their family. This is part of the relationship building process developed by the staff team which benefits both the child and their family and supports early confidence at the nursery. However, they do not all receive clear information about their children's current achievements or the identified next steps in learning. This means that not all parents are fully aware of how to continue their children's learning at home or the benefit of sharing achievements back into the nursery.

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

A key person system is in place across the nursery and generally works well. As the children start at the nursery parents are encouraged to give detailed information to support their child to settle in. Care practices support each child to feel secure and staff work with the children to ensure they are mindful of keeping healthy. For example, all children wash their hands before meals and snack times and where possible this is with minimal adult intervention. In addition, after activities where food is explored such as when the children collect blackberries from the nursery garden and make their own desert. Some children attempt to put on their own coats and wellington boots in readiness to going outside, whilst others wait for staff to do this for them. Staff remind them when it is registration time, tidy up time, snack, lunch or tea time. Staff are organised within each room so that children always have supervision and guidance. They intervene if there are

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

any issues regarding sharing or turn taking and most give children a clear explanation to promote their understanding of expected behaviour. Children are provided with healthy snacks and are offered drinks. Meals are served to the children in the main building whilst those in the annexe who attend for shorter periods bring their own packed lunches.

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

Staff meet children's emotional needs. Consequently, children are confident. They behave well and listen when they are asked to do something, responding appropriately. Staff are clear and consistent in how they communicate expected behaviour to children. For example, a one year old playing with bricks on the floor is clearly told why they should not throw them. He babbles in reply to the member of staff but does as he is asked for a short while before repeating the behaviour. He responds positively again to the second request to not throw bricks and happily moves on to another activity. Children's behaviour is good and they demonstrate that they are able to co-operate and show concern for each other. For example, some say sorry if they bump into each other in the room or outside. Younger children play alongside each other, watching out for each other as they play. This helps children to develop good friendship bonds.

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

Systems are in place to ensure that staff help children with their move up to the next age group room. Staff take children to visit the room for short periods to get to know the staff, children and environment, before moving up formally. Parents are also introduced to the new room team so they are aware of who will be providing their children's care.

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provision

Safeguarding and welfare requirements are met and children are making satisfactory progress. The manager is supported by deputies and an early years teacher. Staff demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of what they would do if they had a concern about a child's welfare. There are robust suitability and vetting procedures in place. Management follow up references and undertake suitability checks to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with the children.

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provision

The senior management team are motivated and enthusiastic. They have undertaken an assessment of how they were using the space and resources and then positively re- developed these areas. This provides children with a well-resourced area to develop their learning and development within. Staff attend training identified by the manager and all staff have at least an annual appraisal. Self-evaluation involves the whole staff team. Management encourages them to add to the annual evaluation process. However, the monitoring systems have not effectively addressed the identified gaps in how staff use the assessment systems, promote children's ongoing progress through planning and inconsistencies in staff practice. This means that not all children may be making the best progress they can. The manager is aware that the new assessment process is not being satisfactorily delivered. She understands that this needs to be addressed to ensure the

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provision

needs of all children are promoted, however, has yet to achieve this.

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provision

Partnerships are in place with parents and outside agencies. These provide opportunities for children to access additional support where it has been identified. The nursery provides parents with a lot of day to day information about what they are planning to do. However they do not always receive clear details on what staff have identified as children's next steps in learning to extend this at home with the children and provide a cohesive approach to their learning.

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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 EY272736 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 833394 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 75 Number of children on roll 88 Name of provider Cygnets Day Nurseries Ltd. Date of previous inspection 19/03/2009 Telephone number 01420 487000

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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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