Squirrel's Den Daycare

Squirrel's Den Daycare Barnham Community Hall, Yapton Road, Barnham, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO22 0AX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/09/2013 05/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 4 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Staff provide a wide range of opportunities for children to make choices and decisions during their play and during some daily routines. This clearly increases children's practical skills and helps them to gain independence.  The provision has high ratios of staff to children and this provides opportunities for staff to suitably follow children's individual needs and provide one-to-one attention.  The provider and staff competently promote partnerships with parents; they inclusively encourage parents and families to support children's learning through sharing information.

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It is not yet good because

 There is an imbalance of adult-led and child-initiated activities to enable staff to fully promote children's individual next planned steps in learning.  There are limited daily routines for sharing information at group times and this results in less opportunity for younger children to learn about boundaries and expectations.  The lack of group activities provides less opportunity for children to learn each other's names and build relationships, to sing together and develop language skills or improve levels of confidence.  Children are not fully learning about safe routines because they are not regularly practising fire drills to increase their understanding and awareness.

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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 arrived and showed identification documents.  The inspector viewed the premises and met staff, children and parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector gained evidence from observing activities and daily routines, from discussion and by viewing a range of documentation.  The inspector provided feedback and gave the inspection judgements.

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Information about the setting

Squirrel's Den Daycare registered in 2013. It is privately owned. The provision is situated in Barnham Community Centre in Barnham, West Sussex. The provision is registered on the Early Years Register and accepts children from the age of six-months-old. The daycare provision operates each weekday from 9.30am to 12.30pm during term time only. Children are cared for in the main hall with toilet facilities. There is a secure outside play area and immediate access to the rear playing fields. The provision receives funding for the provision of free early years education for children aged three- and four-years-old. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There is also support for children learning English as an additional language. There are currently 31 children on roll in the early years age range. There are five staff working with the children including the owner/manager. Four staff hold relevant early years qualifications.

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must:

 ensure each area of learning and development is implemented through planned purposeful play by creating a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, linked with children's next steps in development.

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

 increase opportunities for children to learn about boundaries and rules, for example at regular group times and in this way expectations can be reinforced during shared conversation

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

 develop children's involvement with each other during group activities to encourage and build relationships, to increase levels of confidence and extend language skills through singing and talking

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

 enhance children's understanding of how to keep themselves safe by talking about safety routines and include opportunities for regular fire drill practice.

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who attend

The staff provide a wide range of activities and continually follow child-led play throughout most of the session. This encourages children to make independent choices and move freely, naturally developing and extending their practical skills. For example, children keenly use brushes with the glue and learn how to mix colours; they build with construction equipment and eagerly count the wheels. Children start to play imaginary games in the role-play area, handling items and capably naming these. Some older children begin to share imaginary play ideas with each other, showing they are starting to develop relationships and skills of communication. Staff spontaneously read stories at times and suitably ask open-ended questions, which clearly encourages and extends children's developing language skills. However the child-led play is often brief and does not fully develop into purposeful play. There are few planned adult-led activities to provide

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who attend

sufficient balance for children's play or to show how staff promote children's next steps in development. Children come together at the end of the session to learn and sing the 'goodbye' song. However, there are limited other daily routines or group times to enable children to increase skills of listening and understanding, to learn what happens next or to follow instructions.

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who attend

Staff clearly record their observations of children's abilities and they use these in each individual learning record to plan children's next steps in development. This builds a picture of children's progress across the areas of learning. Key person staff monitor children's individual development jointly with parents to ensure that they can respond to any gaps in achievement levels. Staff also provide written assessments of children's development once they have reached the age of two years. These assessments show that staff are clearly aware and recognise children's progress in the prime areas of learning. Staff are keen to support all children to make progress and they show a sound awareness of children's individual needs and level of capability. They clearly work with parents to encourage children to settle. For example, learning words in children's home language to use at arrival and departure times.

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who attend

The provider and staff competently promote partnerships with parents through regularly sharing information. There are information notices displayed and daily discussion takes place. Staff inclusively encourage parents and families to support children's individual learning needs and this sometimes involves parents attending with children. Parents see their children's records of development regularly at meetings with key person staff. They effectively contribute through providing written updates of children's progress during the holidays.

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who attend

Children are learning to increase their independence through making decisions and at times they follow instructions. For example, when staff ask them to help to tidy toys and resources at the end of the session. They are learning to follow some daily routines, especially at snack time, showing developing responsibility. These growing skills of independence encourage children to prepare suitably for moving on in their learning.

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

All children are suitably settling and increasing their level of belonging at the provision. They have allocated key person staff who show a clear understanding of their individual needs and this supports children in developing positive relationships. Staff often remind children about the rules for safety and the behaviour boundaries during their play. For example, most children respond when staff explain why they must not run indoors. Children also understand how to respond to each other after squabbling. Staff encourage them to show care and concern. However, children's continual free play does not always enable staff to reinforce boundaries at group time, or enable children to fully understand positive behaviour expectations.

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

Children mostly learn about safety through capable staff supervision and regular reminders. They are encouraged to take turns on the slide and not climb too close to each other to develop an awareness of risks and hazards. However children's understanding of fire safety has not been encouraged because the provision has not practised a fire drill with children since opening last term.

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

Children's health is effectively encouraged through daily opportunities for physical exercise and fresh air. Children choose to ride wheeled toys and learn to steer around the cardboard boxes. They practise making tracks in the foam by pushing cars. They manoeuvre the gutters to make slopes to roll items down. They also have indoor play apparatus, which enables them to climb, clamber and crawl. Staff promote regular healthy routines at snack time and children show that they understand and respond. For example, children are learning to wash their hands before touching food. They are encouraged to make choices and they have healthy options. Children use utensils well and spread butter on their crackers. Staff engage with children spontaneously to develop language and counting skills, using snack time to increase children's concentration. Children learn to follow instructions and take responsibility for clearing away their plates and cups.

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

Staff provide a wide range of resources and children freely access these throughout the session. The planned provision and spontaneous activities provided suitably support children's all round development and encourage their ongoing learning.

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provision

The provider and staff have an appropriate understanding of their responsibilities for meeting the learning and development requirements. Staff are well deployed and they soundly supervise children throughout the session and regularly observe and record children's achievements. They use this information to promote children's individual records of progress. Staff clearly work with parents to prepare for children's next steps in development and these learning needs are used to plan future activities. In this way staff are monitoring children's overall learning to close any gaps in their achievements. There are detailed systems in place to safeguard children and the provider and most staff have attended training. Following the last inspection, the provider has organised training sessions for new staff. There are clear policies and procedures in place and all staff are fully aware of following these to raise any concerns about children's welfare. Staff clearly

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provision

explain how to recognise signs and symptoms of concern and they know the provider is the lead person for child protection. The provider has established thorough systems to check the suitability of all staff and induction procedures, supervision sessions and annual appraisal systems are fully in place. The provision has a full range of written policies and procedures which all staff read and these are also available for parents. These include a clear complaints procedure and opportunities for parents to record any concerns. The provider has recorded details of all accidents and incidents that have taken place since registration and she is fully aware of referring any significant events to Ofsted.

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provision

The provider and staff use staff meetings and parent questionnaires to evaluate the provision. They have also established a record of all the improvements they have made since the last inspection to show how they are improving the quality of the provision. This shows a month-by-month process and confirms the changes to the layout of the provision and the increased security for children playing outside. There are detailed records of risk assessment for each area of the building and for all outside areas used by children. Staff complete a daily record of children's attendance and of all checks they carry out to maintain children's safety and welfare. The provider promotes staff training and has details of all training attended. She has developed clear links with other agencies to support any children and family needs. The provider owns another setting in the locality and organises staff support across the settings. She is fully aware of working with other

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provision

providers if needed to encourage and support individual children's progress.

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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 EY461445 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 927826 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 46 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Kim Elizabeth Edwards Date of previous inspection 05/06/2013 Telephone number 07592728922

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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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