Lewsey Nursery

Lewsey Nursery Lewsey Christian Centre, Radnor Road, LUTON, LU4 0UG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/10/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 achieve well because staff use good teaching techniques. Staff provide experiences, such as an excellent story time and adult-led activities, that capture children's attention so that they enjoy their play and concentrate well.  Children benefit from the well-cooked, well-presented and nutritious meals and snacks during sociable and relaxed mealtimes. This helps children develop their independence and an interest in healthy lifestyles.  Relationships with parents and outside professionals are strong. High priority is given to ensuring relevant information is shared regularly, which consistently supports children's learning and welfare needs.  The management and staff have a clear drive for improvement, effectively evaluating and monitoring the nursery, which benefits children's well-being.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Sometimes children's play is interrupted through some changes to indoor and outdoor play within a small part of the morning routine.  Occasionally, during the handover of key person, there is some slight time delay in the transfer of children's individual information to fully ensure activities meet children's individual learning plans.

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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 activities in the playrooms and the outside learning environment, and talked with the staff and children.  The inspector held discussions with the manager of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of children's assessment records and a range of other documentation.  The inspector and manager undertook a joint observation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Lewsey Nursery registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in Lewsey Christian Centre in the Lewsey area of Luton, Bedfordshire, and is committee run. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a purpose-built building and some sessions for two-year-olds are held in an adjoining church hall. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The manager holds Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm for 50 weeks of the year. There are currently 69 children on roll who are in the early years age group. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 improve the current system of transitions between key persons to improve the transfer of children's individual information and fully ensure activities meet children's interests

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

 review the routines in the pre-school room, such as tidy-up time and lining up to go outside, so that children are fully engaged in their play and learning.

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who attend

Children's progress in their learning is good because staff have a thorough understanding of how to engage children's interests and support their development. They create a welcoming and stimulating environment where children thoroughly enjoy their play and learning. As a result, children are keen learners and settle quickly within this welcoming nursery. Babies are offered various types of interesting, home-made sensory toys. They contain normal household items and this gives parents ideas to continue their babies' learning at home. Older children are enthralled and take an active part in a thoroughly enjoyable story time. Staff enthusiastically tell a traditional tale about some pigs. Staff change the pitch and tone of their voice for the different characters and make good use of props to bring the story to life, while asking the children interesting questions to help their thinking. Children join in with the refrains and actions of their favourite story as they know

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who attend

what happens next. This helps them to listen, respond appropriately and think about how the characters feel.

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who attend

Staff use babies' interest in the shape sorter to show them how to turn the toy to fit the shapes. Children maintain their focus on this activity for a period of time, experimenting on how to turn the toy in various ways and fitting in the shapes. Staff undertake well- planned and stimulating activities that help the older children's learning. They recognise and discuss the various similarities and differences in the properties of shapes, such as which ones roll and which ones lie flat. Staff introduce the names of new shapes, and children are encouraged to count the sides and to match the shape to the one on the carpet. Staff reinforce children's learning through introducing a very enjoyable and active game of 'don't wake the crocodile'. This helps children learn new skills that prepare them for the next steps in their learning and eventually for school. However, occasionally during the morning session, children are asked to stop what they are doing and tidy up to be

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who attend

ready for the garden session; this does not fully help children bring their play to its natural conclusion.

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who attend

Staff can demonstrate that all children, including those learning English as an additional language, are progressing well. Staff use their own home languages to bring the children's home languages into their play and help parents become involved in the life of the nursery.

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who attend

Staff complete the required progress checks for children aged two, discussing children's progress with the parents to ensure that children quickly get any help or support they need. Key persons take responsibility for competently assessing children's progress from observations and identifying the next steps in their learning. Regular and varied observations and assessments are made to capture children's interests. This information is used well to plan and provide appropriate activities to help all children make good progress. However, occasionally when children's key person changes, some information is not passed between staff quickly enough to sharply focus on individual learning plans. Children have access to an educational programme that has depth and breadth across the seven areas of learning through the continuous provision of toys and equipment.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are strong and make a good contribution to meeting all children's needs. Staff value parents as active contributors to their child's learning and development. A good range of information is gathered at the start of the placement about the children's achievements and development. Staff subsequently use this information to aid the settling-in and initial assessment processes. Parents often share in their children's learning. They receive regular updates on children's progress, talk to their child's key person daily and are invited to consultation sessions. Staff invite parents to contribute with observations from home. A good range of additional information is available in the pre- school entrance area that links with the local children's centre.

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

Children are happy and eager to attend the nursery. They build good relationships with their key person. Babies are fed closely in the arms of staff, and individual sleep patterns are respected. Staff support children to develop a strong sense of belonging. The parents of the young children are encouraged to bring in photographs of their families to be displayed at a low level for children to see at a time that suits them. Older children take home the nursery teddy bear 'Barnaby' for the weekend. Parents complete the diary of events which children can share with their friends when they return at the start of the next week. This helps to ensure that home experiences are valued and children's confidence is supported.

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

Children are encouraged to listen, share and take turns, and staff teach them how they can play together harmoniously and to cooperate with each other. Praise and encouragement from staff ensure children develop high levels of self-esteem. Staff gently explain to children that their actions have an impact on others and they need to be kind and thoughtful. This helps children to find solutions to problems and conflicts.

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

Children are well prepared for the move to the next room. Young children who are due to go to the pre-school room are given drinking cups without lids so that they are prepared for mealtimes with the older children. Staff have made the role play area into a pretend school library, and school uniforms are in the dressing-up materials. This helps older children prepare for the move to school. Teachers from local schools meet the children in familiar surroundings, and there is a useful sharing of information between the staff and teachers.

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

Children receive good support to develop a healthy lifestyle in the nursery. They enjoy balanced and nutritious meals that are freshly prepared daily. Staff are fully aware of individual dietary requirements, and effective measures are taken to ensure that these are complied with. Children have very good opportunities to become independent and cooperate with their friends at the social mealtimes. At lunchtimes, children are offered meals attractively displayed in small containers so that they can serve themselves. Staff sit and eat their lunch with the children so they engage in many interesting conversations. They discuss the food, their health and activities they have enjoyed with their families. Children are gently reminded to say 'please' and 'thank you' and to wait their turn. Staff report that as children help themselves, this encourages them to try new tastes and have a little more if they wish. Children peel their own fruit at snack time, giving them valuable

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

chances to use all of their senses to investigate and make useful connections in their learning. Children move with control around the premises. Babies and young children enjoy using the soft play materials in their base room. Staff allow the older children to take risks without being fearful as they run around the playground changing direction confidently around the trees and jumping from the small wall onto the ground. This helps children to improve their coordination, practise staying safe and develop a positive sense of well-being.

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provision

Staff provide children with a secure and nurturing environment in which they are given sensitive care and attention. They are an experienced and well-established team and know the importance of safeguarding children. The robust recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that everyone working with the children is suitable to do so. Staff are confident to report their concerns, including about any colleagues. They know how to recognise signs that children may be at risk so that their welfare is safeguarded. The maintenance of the premises helps to keep children safe. Staff are vigilant and use a number entry system to minimise the risk of any unauthorised access to the nursery. All staff and children frequently practise emergency evacuation procedures. The manager calls these drills with no notice and at different times of the day, including early in the morning, to ensure children and staff know how to behave in an emergency.

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provision

The manager maintains a good overview of the curriculum, and staff are supported well by the manager, who observes their practice and meets each of them regularly to discuss their ongoing development. Future training needs are discussed and arranged to benefit the staff's practice and the quality of the team overall. This shows that well-focused improvement plans are implemented to improve children's well-being. The manager has high expectations for children to make good progress in their learning. She suitably monitors and tracks children's progress by regularly reviewing the learning journals to ensure there is no underachievement. Any concerns about children's progress are quickly identified, and staff have established contacts with other professional agencies to give additional support to those children who may need it. This in turn improves the provision for children's care and learning. Staff work closely with the local nursery class that children

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provision

attend to support and achieve continuity in their care and learning. Parents report they are very satisfied with the nursery and their children are happy to attend.

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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 EY462141 Local authority Luton Inspection number 912643 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 69 Name of provider Lewsey Christian Centre Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01582603785

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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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