Cleverkidz

Cleverkidz Tithe Farm Road, Houghton Regis, DUNSTABLE, Bedfordshire, LU5 5JB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/09/2013 16/01/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children investigate new materials and, as a result, they are fully engaged in their learning. The well-planned playrooms create enabling environments for all ages of children to promote independence.  Children are motivated to learn and are physically active because the staff provide an inviting outdoor space. As a result, children are eager to learn and develop good health.  The managers employ thorough induction for new staff and good methods of performance management and supervision, which means staff are always motivated.  The nursery works closely with other agencies and provides very good support and information regarding learning and development for children moving on to a new setting. This helps to support every child to learn and develop well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children are on occasion not provided with sufficient time to solve problems, make decisions, and be independent because staff are sometimes over eager to support them as they play.  Opportunities for children to gain a greater awareness of the wider diversities of society, languages and the world around them are not fully explored.  Children under two-year-olds do not always receive consistent guidance from some staff to enable them to learn to manage their own behaviour and understand boundaries.

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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 inspector observed activities in all rooms and the outside areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of policies, procedures and information, including the safeguarding procedures, provided by the nursery.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the practice manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the two managers, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a selection of children's observation and assessment development files with key persons.

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Information about the setting

Cleverkidz was registered in 2004 and is on the Early Years Register. It operates from purpose-built premises within the grounds of Tithe Farm Lower School in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. The nursery is operated by Cleverkidz Limited. It is accessible to all children and there are enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 17 members of childcare staff. Of these, 15 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 3 or above, including one with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round with the exception of bank holidays and two weeks at Christmas. Sessions are from 7pm to 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 97 children attending all whom are in the early years age group.

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Information about the setting

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.

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

 consolidate children's problem solving skills and independence by allowing them more time and spontaneous opportunities to organise themselves, think through solutions and use their emergent skills and knowledge

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

 extend the educational opportunities for children to understand the world and society around them further by encouraging them to investigate families, communities and traditions, and by encouraging further parent involvement to share home languages

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

 develop children's understanding of acceptable behaviour by making sure all staff consistently provide clear guidance and strategies.

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who attend

Children are happy and motivated in the nursery and, consequently, make good progress in their learning and development given their starting points. Staff in all rooms provide resources that support children to explore new materials to make discoveries. For example, younger children eagerly explore shaving foam and paint. They find out what happens when they mix blue and red paint together, and persist for extended periods of time as they make marks in it using their fingers, pencils and cars. Staff watch what children do and describe the marks they are making, they recognise the benefits to the children of finding out and exploring materials around them. Other children enjoy tactile discovery using breakfast cereals, pasta or compost. They dig in the compost and bury vehicles beneath as they learn about weight and capacity of free-flowing materials. As a result, children are motivated learners who confidently investigate new experiences. All

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who attend

children enjoy role play and singing. Two-year-old children sing enthusiastically and carry out actions to popular songs that help them to use developing vocabulary. Older children develop extensive games where they make up rules together and invite staff to join in. They are well-motivated and eager to join in; they demonstrate good characteristics of effective learning. All staff are supportive and, as a result of their good teaching children confidently display their knowledge. This prepares them for future learning and, eventually, school.

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who attend

All children work with materials that encourage them to think about how things work. For example, the youngest babies and toddlers investigate the wheels on vehicles as they spin, and they set mechanical cars to speed across the floor. The children begin to organise different sizes of blocks and build towers together. Gentle encouragement from staff means that children persist as they manipulate the different blocks to build towers. Children cheer and clap each other as the tower becomes taller and squeal with delight when they knock it over. The staff closely observe such interests and maximise the opportunities for learning by offering consistent praise as children show their emergent knowledge. Children of all ages have opportunities to explore making marks and early writing. For instance, the babies and younger toddlers use pencils or chalks to draw on a table covered with paper. Staff recognise the benefits of making large marks to the

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who attend

younger children and reduce frustration by attaching the paper to the table. Older children develop books together showing projects in which they have been interested. For example, when developing a mini beast area outdoors, they create large wall displays and a joint book in which they all draw and write about their favourite part of the area. Toddlers enjoy making models together using glue and boxes. They are motivated and keen to join in, and work comfortably alongside each other. However, on occasion, staff's eagerness to support children in their play means that they do not always have the chance to find things out for themselves or extend their independence fully. For example, when objects do not stick together staff make suggestions to hold them for longer and move them to a different box that will stick. They do not, in this case, urge the children to think what else they could try, think about why they do, or do not, stick, or wait for them to

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who attend

carry out the task themselves. This means that their involvement and decision-making is not maximised.

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who attend

Observation and assessment is focused and builds from an initial assessment that parents also contribute to. Ongoing assessment tracks children's progression each week and informs the weekly planning with next steps for each child. In addition, close monitoring of children's interests adds to the weekly planning showing child-led play. A medium term plan shows the additional activities provided to support all areas of development. Staff update an overall summary of children's progression frequently. These methods are closely monitored by the managers and, as a result, progression for all children is good. Face-to-face contact with parents plays a key part in the communication about children's learning and development. They take part in a review of development every six months. This is supplemented by parental contributions to the learning journal through starting points and the completion of records from home entitled 'learning goals'. This provides

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who attend

further information to the nursery to build on their interests and achievements. In this way, the nursery ensure that they are using the information that they have to help children to make the most progress possible at home and in the nursery. A progress check at age two is completed and shared with parents. Children with English as an additional language receive well-planned support to ensure that they make good progress. Staff ask parents to provide key words and phrases to assist children to settle and feel secure. Children are introduced to their local community because they make regular excursions to venues, such as the library. Some resources and activities are used to promote children's interest in the wider society. Some parents offer help during 'world cooking week' to share dishes that children enjoy at home. However, activities, resources and the involvement of parents are not used to the full, to promote children's greater awareness of their local or

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who attend

wider society, or to make full use of the richness of each other's language.

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

The key persons in this nursery are attentive and form very good relationships with children and families and, as a result, children form close bonds and attachment with them. The use of clear summaries of development, passed between rooms, means that new staff can quickly understand the next steps for children, and their characteristics of learning. This ensures that the key person relationship remains consistent to support stability for children. The managers complete audits throughout the day to make sure that the deployment of staff is managed in the best possible manner to meet the needs of all children. They have staff who can be deployed, in addition to the permanent room staff, and this helps to ensure that all children's needs are met. Each child and parent is introduced to the nursery using a very clear induction process. Staff are enthusiastic, model good social behaviour for children and offer them frequent praise throughout the

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

day. Children understand that they are all respected as individuals. They are asked their views and are given time to make choices. The systems of 'reward boards' to recognise achievements and positive behaviour help to reinforce good behaviours. A clear positive behaviour policy, shared with parents, demonstrates the views of the nursery. However, some staff, in the under two-year-old room do not always provide consistent and clear messages to children about their behaviour. This means that some children are not always guided to learn to manage their own behaviour.

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

Children show clear self-care skills and develop a secure understanding of healthy eating. They are very well-nourished and their good health is fostered. The cook delivers a menu that is freshly cooked and which accommodates every child's specific need. Children sit together and enjoy a social meal time to enhance their preparation for school. Children's health is well-supported. For example, all children have access to water to drink at all times and receive frequent reminders to have a drink. Children aged two years and over have free and independent access to the bathrooms to meet their own self-care needs. This supports independence. Children develop good physical health. The garden areas are safe and provide scope for large active play. Exciting equipment, including climbing walls, a large play house, a pirate ship, and a train, promote both imaginative play and safe risk taking as children climb. This helps them to explore physical movement and activity

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

Children learn about keeping safe during every day play. For instance, they help to tidy resources away, take part in emergency evacuation, and practise road safety when visiting local venues. Children's moves between rooms are very well-planned to ensure that they are settled and ready for the move. The staff use detailed plans for each child to support them through the process and each key person provides a detailed summary of all aspects of care and learning to the new key person. This ensures that children's security is promoted to the optimum level. Children are prepared well for any move to school. Their independence is fostered and activities focus on the exciting move. As a result, all children are well-prepared for school or a move to another room in the nursery.

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provision

The managers have high expectations for the quality of care that is offered to children and families. A regular review of all paperwork and procedures takes place to ensure that all requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are met. Arrangements to safeguard children within the nursery are robust. All staff have mandatory in-house safeguarding training and the managers ensure that safeguarding is reviewed frequently. Spot quizzes, questionnaires, lunch time and staff meeting discussions, and individual talks with staff in the rooms, all support and maintain staff understanding to protect children. The managers maintain this level of staff understanding by reviewing with them all published serious case reviews in order to learn from those outcomes. There are clearly mapped procedures for monitoring any safeguarding concern and for investigating any allegation against staff members. As part of the safeguarding

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provision

procedures, there are very thorough recruitment and suitability checks, which include a detailed three-part induction and probationary period for new staff. New staff are monitored closely by the room leader and a probation review forms part of a focused training plan. As a result, the nursery ensures that children are protected. The environment is very secure. External doors are kept locked; entry for parents and visitors is by internal release only. Risk assessments are comprehensive and show that they have maintained an effective level. Managers have made significant improvements, and maintained the organisation of staffing deployment, in order to meet the required ratios. In addition, they move extra staff in areas to support the welfare of children and ensure they are well supervised. They have a clear overview of what is taking place in all areas, at all times, through constant monitoring throughout the day. Hence, children's welfare

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provision

and well-being is shown to be the priority.

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provision

Performance management has improved significantly, and been maintained, because managers implement, and engage staff in, regular supervision. The managers spend a considerable amount of time observing staff; they make a record of all such observations, and subsequent discussions, to illustrate the ongoing level of staff monitoring and development. This provides very clear guidance to staff to help their understanding of good practice. The supervision and appraisals carried out supplement the ongoing training. Training is now directly linked to the role of staff and the needs of the children cared for. For example, those working with under two-year-olds attend specific training for that age group. Staff are asked to carry out their own room reviews to suggest improvements, thereby broadening their awareness of quality care. Staff meetings mean that the whole nursery develops a clear joint aim and objectives for development.

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provision

Reflective practice includes input from all members of the staff, parents and carers, and children. Each room has its own action plan, which feeds into the overall self-evaluation plan and actions for development. Staff strive towards continuous improvement for their rooms and this is recognised by the award of the 'room of the month'. The nursery has made considerable improvements which include the re-equipping of the garden areas, the re-developed and organised playrooms, the enhanced training for staff, and the regular implementation of the performance management methods that drive quality. Regular questionnaires are issued to parents. These are evaluated and actions set in place to address any suggestions made by parents. The nursery also has parents representatives who play a key part in monitoring the continued good practice achieved. Thus, parent feedback helps to drive the continuous methods that maintain the good levels of

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provision

There are no children attending with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the nursery has, in the past, worked closely with many other professionals involved with children to identify and fully support individual needs. The nursery currently works extremely closely with parents and many other agencies to support children and families. They facilitate meetings and provide care which adapts to, and closely meets, the individual need of children to support and foster wellbeing, learning and development. There are children attending other settings which provide the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and the nursery provides comprehensive packs for them to promote continuity in learning. The dedication seen in reflecting on practice and continuing to improve all aspects of the nursery, shows that there is a strong drive to maintain the good levels of achievement seen and evidenced in all documents inspected. Children are secure

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provision

and confident, and clearly enjoy their play and learning. Consequently, children embark on their learning career ready to seek out new experiences and learn.

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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 EY278278 Local authority Central Bedfordshire Inspection number 933990

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 79 Number of children on roll 97 Name of provider Cleverkidz Limited Date of previous inspection 16/01/2013 Telephone number 01582 868000

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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