Busy Bears Day Nursery

Busy Bears Day Nursery A 2 Manor House Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 6HL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/10/2013 26/03/2012

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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 are making good progress in their learning and development through activities that are well planned to their interests.  Children have many opportunities to learn about the world they live in through first- hand experiences outdoors.  Children learn the importance of a healthy lifestyle because staff teach them where food comes from as they collect eggs from the chickens and harvest vegetables from the garden.  Children benefit from strong continuity of care between home and nursery due to the effective partnerships and communication with parents.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some staff miss opportunities to skilfully question children and do not always give them time to formulate a verbal response, in order to improve their very good learning even further.  Some parts of the very good outdoor areas require updating to replace equipment damaged by weather and to improve resources available to children aged two to three years.

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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 spent time observing children's play in the four group rooms of the nursery and the outdoor play areas.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of staff and children with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with staff about the setting's procedures and children's learning and development.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and with members of the staff team.

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Information about the setting

Busy Bears Day Nursery was registered under the current ownership in 2001 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a two-storey detached property in Preston, Lancashire. The nursery is one of three in a small privately owned group. It serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from four main rooms across the ground and first floor, and 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. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above, including one with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 61 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports 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:

 develop staff's very good practice in skilfully questioning children during play so that it is consistent across the nursery, and allow time for children to respond, in order to improve learning even further

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

 review the outdoor play area for children aged between two and three years to ensure all children receive consistent outdoor opportunities, by replacing damaged equipment and increasing resources according to children's interests.

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who attend

Children are happy and busily involved in purposeful activities. They are keen learners who are actively involved in exploring and investigating through play. Staff provide rich and varied experiences based on their knowledge of children, sparking their curiosity and extending their learning through quality teaching. Communication skills are developing well due to the very good quality interactions between children and most staff. However, some staff do not always fully use opportunities to skilfully question children or give them time to respond to questions. This means children's learning is sometimes not promoted as effectively as possible. Children are developing skills for the future as staff are adept at integrating numbers and colours into play. Children show a keen interest in books, which are freely available to them indoors and outdoors. They enjoy listening to stories in group times, which fosters a continued love of reading.

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who attend

Staff make outdoor play stimulating and enjoyable for older children, who access all areas of learning, including a comfortable hay shed for reading and blackboards for making marks. Children learn about the world they live in through first-hand experiences in all types of weather. For example, children learn about where food comes from as they grow their own vegetables and collect them. They learn to take care of living things, which teaches them about their own needs. For example, children are taught the importance of a clean environment as staff explain why the animal cage is cleaned out regularly. Also, staff teach children about caring for the chickens, learning their feeding routines and collecting their eggs. Children develop very well physically as they use the obstacle course to explore and hone their physical abilities. However, not all outdoor areas meet children's needs so well. Although younger children also access these stimulating areas at times, the

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who attend

area generally used by children aged between two and three years is less inviting. For example, some books and equipment require updating after being affected by weather.

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who attend

Children progress quickly as knowledgeable, motivated staff observe their ongoing interests and use this information to plan the next steps in their learning. Planned activities are closely linked to children's individual needs and interests. Staff know children very well and use this knowledge to complete children's records of achievement. Staff understand the different assessment processes, such as the progress check at age two. This ensures any need for additional support for children can be identified at this early age and acted upon in a timely way. As a result, the nursery is closing any gaps in children's learning, particularly those with low starting points.

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who attend

Parents use their daily chat with key persons to communicate children's special interests and achievements from home, which key persons incorporate into planning or use the knowledge to stimulate children's communication skills. This helps them better understand and reinforce their own life experiences. Parents are also consulted to ease transitions as children approach these important times. Therefore, children benefit from continuity of learning between home and nursery. This all means children are being well prepared for their next stage of learning within the nursery or at school.

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

Parents have discussions with their child's key person on a daily basis and gain confidence in staff's knowledge of their individual children. This helps staff to understand and meet all children's individual needs highly effectively. Staff are very caring and attentive towards children and get to know them very well as individuals. They use this close relationship to help children feel valued as they refer to important events in children's home life, such as a new baby in the family starting nursery soon. Consequently, children's well-being is enhanced as they form strong, comforting bonds with their key person.

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

Children clearly feel safe and self-assured with staff, freely and confidently approaching them with their comments and requests to join in, and hugging them spontaneously. The nursery is well resourced and offers children a good range of play and learning experiences, indoors and outdoors. Resources are readily accessible. This teaches children to be very confident in their ability to make decisions by enabling them to make their own choices and selections, which heightens their sense of belonging and independence.

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

Staff are good role models of behaviour and treat children with kindness and respect. They support children to learn how to manage their own behaviour and emotions. This is helped by a calm approach and clear explanations and reminders from staff to enforce reasonable boundaries. Children are consistently well behaved as staff use positive strategies to help them learn right from wrong and manage minor behavioural issues.

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

A healthy lifestyle is given utmost priority. Children can take eggs from the chickens home, along with vegetables harvested from the garden, to share with their families, making a contribution to their welfare. Meals are varied, healthy and nutritious, encouraging children to make positive food choices. Children also help prepare their own afternoon tea as they prepare pizza using vegetables grown in the garden. They are learning to care for themselves and develop their independence even further as older children serve their own food and control their own portion sizes. Children learn good hygiene habits through regular routines and reminders, for example, washing their hands after playing with the rabbit and before handling food. Children understand how to keep themselves safe as they learn to take risks in a supported environment, for example, with staff providing a steadying hand on the obstacle course.

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

Children have daily opportunities for fresh air, daylight and exercise in the generally inviting and stimulating outdoor area. Communication skills grow as staff interact well and follow children's lead, extending vocabulary and introducing new words, such as 'balance' and 'squish', as they describe the things they see. This, combined with children's growing confidence and social skills, actively contributes to them being well prepared socially, emotionally and physically for their future transitions to school. Transitions are well supported as teachers receive records of children's progress so they can continue their care and learning.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children are effective and staff have a secure knowledge of what to do should they have any concerns about a child or the conduct of a colleague. Staff also have very easy access to all safeguarding information, clearly displayed on a noticeboard for reference. This contributes well to maintaining children's safety and protects their well-being. Staff ratios are met, which further contributes to children's safety.

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provision

Induction and vetting procedures ensure that everyone working with children is suitable to do so. The management team monitor the ongoing suitability of all staff effectively through regular meetings and appraisals, and have sought to strengthen the recruitment process further through training to achieve ever safer recruitment. These procedures promote children's safety and the quality of the provision. Staff work well as a team. They are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, demonstrating a high level of commitment to further training.

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provision

Parents and carers have high levels of regard for the service provided. They are kept well informed of their children's progress through daily discussions and parents' evenings, where staff can discuss children's progress more fully. Parents are asked to contribute to children's learning by sharing information with their key person, and this is of particular benefit to children who speak English as an additional language. Staff are aware of the importance of working with others who share care of the children.

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provision

The staff team are committed to the continuous evaluation and improvement of their practice. All of the staff team actively contribute their views and opinions, and they monitor and evaluate the provision well. The manager has a very strong understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and her responsibilities to ensure the learning and welfare requirements are met. This is then implemented in practice by knowledgeable, enthusiastic staff. Information on children's progress is evaluated to ensure that they have a full range of opportunities across all the areas of learning and make very good progress.

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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 309377 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 934068

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 61 Name of provider Netstar 9 Ltd Date of previous inspection 26/03/2012 Telephone number 01772 795286

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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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