Busy Bees at Biggleswade Saxon Centre

Toybox Day Nurseries The Saxon Centre, Kingsfield Road, BIGGLESWADE, Bedfordshire, SG18 8AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/08/2013 23/02/2011

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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

 Staff plan and provide a broad range of interesting activities that reflect children's individual interests and abilities. As a result, all children make good progress towards the early learning goals.  Children's communication and language is promoted particularly well through positive interactions and enjoyable conversations with staff.  Children's good health is promoted well through almost continuous access to fresh air and plenty of vigorous exercise that effectively supports their physical development.  Staff prepare children well for their transitions to new rooms and for their move into school. As a result, children confidently look forward to the next stage of their learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although the outdoor play area offers children exciting play experiences, there are fewer opportunities for them to develop their problem solving and design skills through open-ended play experiences.  Staff do not always encourage younger children to engage with risk and challenge to promote positive attitudes towards new experiences and enable them to learn about their own strengths and limitations.

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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 the children's activities and their interactions with staff. A joint observation was conducted with the deputy.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with managers about the underpinning systems, including staff recruitment, staff training and the nursery's self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with parents and took into account their views through surveys and testimonials.

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Inspection activities

 A range of documentation was examined, including children's learning records, policies and procedures, the complaints log and risk assessments.

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Information about the setting

Treetops Day Nursery has been operating since 2002, and was previously one of three nurseries operating under the name of Toybox Day Nurseries Ltd. In 2013 the company was purchased by Treetops Nurseries, a national nursery provider. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from the Saxon Centre business park in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. All children have access to enclosed outdoor areas. The nursery is open each weekday from 7am until 7pm all year round, except for bank holidays. There are currently 184 children on roll; of these, 114 are in the early years age range. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children with English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 19 staff to work directly with the children. There are 13 members of staff with a childcare qualification at level 3 and four have qualifications at level 2. One member of staff holds a childcare qualification at level 4.The nursery also employs support staff including a cook and cleaners. The nursery is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association.

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Information about the setting

The nursery also provides an out-of-school club, known as the Treehouse, for school aged children, which operates from the first floor of the building. The club is open each weekday through all school holidays from 7am until 7pm. During school terms times opening times are from 7am to 8.45am and from 3.30pm to 7pm each weekday.

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

 enhance children's open ended play opportunities outdoors, for example, by enabling them to build and construct their own play equipment by providing crates, tyres, planks and guttering

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

 encourage younger children to extend their confidence and learn about acceptable risk by providing positive support to try new activities, such as, climbing on a bench, or using a balance beam.

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who attend

Children demonstrate great interest in their activities. They make independent choices from the broad range of age appropriate resources and have a well-developed ability to focus and concentrate. For example, older children spend time mixing powder paint with a large quantity of water to see what happens. Staff support such activities very well, and ask children questions to extend their thinking. Some staff are very proficient, and give children ample time to think and consider their answers, enabling them to explore the possibilities. Staff and children join together in many enjoyable activities, for example, pre- school children explore a range of unusual musical instruments. They test each of them out, then sing and play songs and rhymes they have chosen to explore the different sounds.

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who attend

Children's communication and language skills develop quickly due to attentive staff and good quality two-way conversations. Staff engage in eye contact with young children to gain their attention; they support their early language, and play with words through babbles, songs and rhymes. Staff sing action songs with the children, encouraging them to follow the movements and move their bodies to the rhythm. Children who are learning English as an additional language are encouraged to use their home languages within the setting. Staff learn familiar words from parents and display words written in the home language. This helps children and parents to feel valued and supported. Children's mathematical skills are skilfully promoted, for example, as staff encourage them to trace their fingers around the lip of a bucket and recognise it is a circle. Children effectively develop their knowledge of technology as they play simple matching games on computers.

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who attend

Younger children learn about action and response as they push buttons on electronic toys and explore 'noisy' books.

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who attend

The outdoor play environment is mostly well-equipped, and is set up to test children's physical skills. For example, there is a challenging climbing area, balance beams and a range of wheeled toys. The toy train is a favourite and well-used by all ages. It helps children to develop their imagination as they pretend that it takes them to 'Africa' to look at wild animals and on trips to the seaside. Staff provide varied materials, such as sand, water, gloop and play dough to give children ample opportunities to explore all of their senses. However, there is scope to enhance children's problem solving and design skills by providing a wider range of open ended construction materials, such as, crates, tyres, planks and guttering.

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who attend

Staff collect information from parents regularly so they can reflect children's home experiences in the setting. For example, a recent trip to a zoo was marked by small world play and lots of discussions about wild animals. This results in a consistent approach between the nursery and home. Parents are free to access the children's learning records at any time, and have arranged meetings to discuss their children's progress with their key person. Staff plan flexibly for children's learning by assessing their activities at the end of each day and organising core activities for the next day. This organic way of working means there is a good capacity to ensure the uniqueness of each child is at the heart of the educational programme. Consequently all children make good progress towards the early learning goals, taking into account their starting points and individual abilities.

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

Children form strong attachments with staff due to effective settling-in procedures. Staff work closely with parents to find out about children's individual needs and home routines. They organise play visits where parents and children can meet other children and get to know their key person. Babies follow their own routines for rest and active play, which helps to ensure they feel secure and settled. Children moving rooms have regular visits to ensure they are confident before settling into the new routines. Although children have their own designated base rooms, they play together in mixed age groups for part of the day. This offers them good opportunities to develop their social skills and make wider relationships, ready for the next stage in their learning, including school.

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

Staff act as good role models and create a positive environment by encouraging children to play together cooperatively and learn good behaviour. The well-organised free-flow play environment helps children to become active and confident learners. They benefit from almost continuous access to the outdoor areas, which supports healthy lifestyles and vigorous, active play very well. Staff support older children's explorations effectively, and encourage them to extend their learning through new experiences. For example, children pile soft play shapes into the train so they can clamber and hide. This enables them to learn about risk and develop a good understanding of what they can do safely. Staff working with younger children have less enthusiasm when promoting children's healthy explorations, and sometimes erroneously tell them to 'be careful, you will fall'. This deters children from calculating risks and learning about their own limitations and abilities.

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

Children receive good support to develop practical life skills, such as, washing their hands independently and preparing for the nursery meals. Older children eat their snacks and meals flexibly so they have time to finish their activities. All the children are encouraged to participate in food preparation and help with simple tasks, such as, laying the table. Meals are freshly prepared and cooked on site each day. The nursery cook takes an active part in nursery life, and works closely with parents to meet special dietary needs. Children learn more about healthy eating through regular cooking activities and growing vegetables in the garden. Ongoing explanations from staff help children develop good practice in handling tools, such as eating utensils, safely. This helps children to gain a good understanding of safe practices and prepare them for school.

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provision

The management team demonstrates a good understanding of their responsibilities to meet the requirements for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The nursery has had an understandable period of uncertainty due to the purchase of the setting. This has led to necessary changes in the nursery and a loss of some key staff. Nonetheless the experienced management team has retained a secure grasp on the day-to-day operation to minimise any effect on the children. Essential systems to monitor the educational programme and ensure the wellbeing of both children and staff are firmly in place. For example, new appraisals and one-to-one supervision meetings are being conducted to assess staff skills and aptitudes. Staff have attended training days and had positive support so they implement the new nursery policies and procedures effectively. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure all adults who work with the children

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provision

Comprehensive risk assessments take into account all aspects of children's safety, including any equipment and activities. Staff implement these well and do frequent checks of the premises throughout the nursery day to keep children safe. Any accidents are appropriately recorded and shared with parents. Accident and incident records are carefully reviewed, both by the nursery and the company, to identify preventative measures and further minimise risks to children. All staff attend child protection training and demonstrate a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures. Local authority procedures and the contact telephone numbers of the child protection agency are displayed in various areas of the nursery. This enables staff and parents to understand what action to take if children are considered to be at risk. Any complaints or concerns raised by parents are carefully recorded and investigated appropriately.

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provision

There are good relations with parents who say they value the service the nursery provides. Parents spoken to on the day are generally positive and feel their children are well cared for. Several parents commented particularly on the effectiveness of the educational programme and how this prepares their children well for school. Information is exchanged with parents in various ways, such as day sheets for babies, and daily conversations with the key person, or their buddy. Staff collect information effectively from parents about children's experiences at home and these are often incorporated into the activities. This helps to support children's continuity of learning. The nursery works well with the local schools to support children's transitions. For example, visits to schools are arranged and teachers come into the nursery to meet the children. Staff share relevant information about children's progress with schools and other providers. This helps

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provision

to ensure the new settings have the opportunity to build on what children know and can do. There are secure links with other professionals and specialist agencies, which helps to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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provision

The current management have built on the existing self-evaluation to ensure areas for development continue to be effectively identified and addressed. Staff in each area of the nursery offer their input, and parents' opinions are taken into account. The focus of self- evaluation has been to establish a secure staff team and begin to develop and extend their skills. With this underway, the management team are looking at other aspects of good practice. For example, they have improved the way children's transitions between rooms are conducted, to make it a smoother experience. All this helps to set clear targets and action plans to improve the provision for all 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 EY239643 Local authority Central Bedfordshire Inspection number 934107

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 142 Number of children on roll 184 Name of provider Toybox Day Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection 23/02/2011 Telephone number 01767 313139

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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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