Midget Gems

Midget Gems Units 6-7, Grandale, Hull, North Humberside, HU7 4BL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/08/2013 07/11/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The provider has failed to ensure that at least one member of staff who holds a current paediatric first aid certificate is on the premises at all times when children are present. This compromises children's safety and well-being.  The monitoring and performance management systems are not sufficiently robust to ensure the quality of teaching and planning are at a consistently high level.  The books that children use do not meet the needs of all of the children, particularly the older children.  Staff absences are not well organised to ensure that information held about key children is shared between staff to promote continuity of learning.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff are competent at questioning children. This encourages children's language and communication skills by helping them to think and talk about their ideas.  Children have the opportunity to play regularly outside which benefits their health and well-being. Outdoor space is used well to enable children to get involved in a varied range of challenging activities in the fresh air.  The manager has made links with a number of schools in the area. This builds close working partnerships so that information about children can be shared effectively.

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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 conducted a tour of the areas children use, in the nursery and outside, accompanied by the manager.  The inspector spoke to children, staff, a parent and the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children during a varied range of indoor and outdoor activities.

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Inspection activities

 A discussion and joint observation of activities taking place in one of the children's play rooms was carried out by the inspector and the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documents, including evidence of staff's suitability to work with children, a sample of children's files, policies, procedures and other records.

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Information about the setting

Midget Gems was registered in 2003. It is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery is a privately owned provision and is situated in the Sutton Park area of Hull. Care for children is provided in two separate rooms, with immediate access to toilet, hand- washing and nappy-changing facilities. There is an enclosed area at the rear of the premises for children's outdoor play. The nursery is open all year round, Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm, with the exception of bank holidays.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered with the local authority to provide funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. There are currently 46 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery welcomes and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are eight members of staff who work directly with the children. Of these, three have a childcare qualification at level 4 and five have a qualification at level 3. The proprietor and manager each hold a Foundation Degree in Early Years. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure at least one member of staff who has a current paediatric first aid certificate is on the premises at all times when children are present

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must:

 ensure the quality of teaching and planning are at a consistently high level so that children learn and develop well, and use equipment safely.

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

 improve the variety of books that children use, in particular those that will meet the wide literacy needs of the older children

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

 improve the way that information is exchanged about children's changing learning and development needs to better support their progress in the absence of their key persons.

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who attend

The planning of the programme for children's learning is not effective. This applies in particular, to the group planning session that involves the children. Staff are keen to support children to be actively involved in their learning, including at the planning stage. For example, they use an approach that involves asking children at the beginning of the session what they would like to play with. They follow this through later in the session by encouraging children to think about what they have done and talk about this as part of a group. However, the session does not meet the needs of the youngest members of the group as some two-year-old children are not fully engaged because the aims of the large group session are not adapted appropriately to meet their different needs. Children who attend later on in the day are also not well involved in this process, and resources that children ask for are not always readily available so they have to ask again. This prevents

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who attend

children following through what they set out to do and conflicts with staff's aims for planning and the quality of their teaching methods.

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who attend

Staff understand how to question children to encourage them to think through and share their ideas. This develops children's language, communication and concentration skills. For example, when children ask to use the police box, staff ask children what will they do with the equipment inside the box. Children talk about catching the 'bad people' and using handcuffs. Staff use this opportunity to extend children's thinking by initiating an informative discussion about the many positive aspects of police work. For instance, they inform children how they can help if you lose something, get lost or need directions. Staff observe children to make assessments of the progress they are making. Parents are involved in this process so they can share what they know about their child and continue their learning at home. They contribute information when their child starts at the setting to provide a clear picture of their child's starting points.

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who attend

Staff provide many natural materials and a variety of resources children see every day for them to experiment with and explore. For example, they provide crates, plastic pipes and a 'sound line' of kitchen utensils and musical instruments to inspire children's curiosity and natural inquisitiveness. This allows children to investigate and find out how they can use these resources in many different ways. Most resources are made accessible to children in low storage units or baskets, including many which are clearly labelled to help children identify the contents. This helps with their choice and decision-making. The eldest children tell the inspector about the different areas they use. For instance, they talk about and point to a corner of the room where they can be 'creative' or where they can find the puzzles. This shows they are comfortable and familiar in their environment. The book area is a space where children join together as a group and relax. However, the books they use

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who attend

do not meet all the needs of the children. This is because some story and reference books are stored away, particularly those which are more appropriate for the eldest children to use. This has an impact on their learning and reading skills and how they use books for recreation and finding out facts.

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

There is a key person system, but information about children's care and their learning and development needs is not effectively shared with all staff caring for them. As a result, when children move rooms, there is no one familiar to help and support them. This means that children become uninterested and their well-being is not well supported. Staff generally work with parents to ensure they understand how to meet children's individual needs. However, because the key person system is not well rooted, there is a lack of continuity in care and information is not always effectively shared with parents.

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

The eldest children are confident and behave well. It is clear they know and understand the nursery routines very well. They are very excited at the prospect that soon they will start at 'big school'. Staff exploit this enthusiasm by frequently talking to children about school and providing items of school uniform in the dressing-up box for them to try on. This helps children to work through their emotions regarding the imminent transfer to school and find out from staff what it will be like. Arrangements for children who join the nursery or who are transferring from one room into the other include flexible settling-in visits. This helps to reduce children's anxiety.

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

Children use a welcoming and well-resourced environment. Colourful, attractive mobiles hang from the ceiling, and the nursery walls are interesting to look at by staff's use of displays, posters and pictures. The furniture is high quality and can be easily moved around to meet the needs of the children. There are opportunities for children to regularly play outside, which benefits their health and well-being. Outdoor space is used well to enable children to get involved in physical activities in the fresh air. For example, they use large climbing and balancing equipment, make dens, grow plants and create patterns with pebbles. An interesting variety of materials such as ribbons, feathers, pegs and straws are provided for children to weave through canes, which are safely tied together.

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

The eldest children are very keen to talk about their knowledge and understanding of health and safety. They are very clear about what they must do if they have to leave the nursery in the event of a fire. This is because they practise the emergency evacuation procedure regularly. They explain that they wash their hands to 'get rid of germs' and that they wear plastic aprons when they have their lunch to 'keep our clothes clean'. This shows they are developing independence and confidence at protecting themselves and understand the reasoning behind routine events. There are occasions when staff do not respond quickly enough to support the youngest children to learn how to use the equipment; for example, when a child licks sand off a spade, staff do not intervene and explain why this is not appropriate.

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

Meals provided for children are cooked off-site. The menu contains some healthy options, and staff supplement it with snacks and drinks. There are some opportunities for children to get involved in activities linked to food and drink. For instance, they can pour their own water and take part in cooking and food tasting activities. An attractive, informative display for parents reminds them about providing children with a wide variety of nutritious foods that form a healthy diet and support a healthy lifestyle.

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provision

All staff attend safeguarding training. The lead member of staff with safeguarding responsibility attends advanced training and shares information with her colleagues. This helps the staff team keep up to date with safeguarding information. Staff understand the appropriate action to take if they have any concerns about a child's welfare or well-being and who to report their concerns to. Thorough checks take place if someone arrives to collect a child who is not expected. This ensures children do not leave the nursery with anyone who is not authorised to collect children in the absence of their parents or carers. Risk assessment procedures include daily checks of the premises to keep the environment a safe place for children to be. However, on the day of the inspection, for a period of one hour while children were present, no member of staff holding a current paediatric first aid certificate was present This is a breach of a welfare requirement and places children at

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provision

The manager supports her team by holding regular meetings, appraisals and providing access to training. There are secure recruitment procedures in place, which include the checking of staff's suitability to work with children. The manager works regularly alongside her team, which helps her to assess their performance and working practice. She has however, failed to successfully monitor the planning and delivery of the educational programme to make sure it is fully effective to meet all children's learning needs. She has also failed to meet all safeguarding and welfare requirements. The result is the quality of staff's teaching and children's learning is variable and firm attachments to a key person weakened by ineffective planning, poor staff deployment and inconsistent monitoring.

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provision

Since the last inspection, the manager has made sure to provide more opportunities for children to solve problems, work together and be more involved in decision-making, particularly in the outdoors. She is reflective and routinely welcomes the contributions of parents and children towards the evaluation of the provision for children. She works with parents to keep them informed, involved and updated. The manager understands the need to work with other providers and professionals to meet children's individual needs and provide consistency of care and learning. She has made links with a number of schools in the area to establish close working relationships, predominantly to share information about children. She has learnt from experience not to give up. For example, after realising that making contact with professional bodies by letter does not always work, she now arranges face-to-face meetings. This has enhanced the links and

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provision

relationships she has established with other professionals.

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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 EY264910 Local authority Kingston upon Hull Inspection number 860633

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 46 Name of provider Elaine Tweddell Date of previous inspection 07/11/2011 Telephone number 01482 828 189

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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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