Little Treasures Nursery

Little Treasures Nursery Blue House Lane, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear, NE37 2TE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/10/2013 10/09/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff plan and deliver outstanding activities covering all areas of learning, which keep children engaged and highly motivated to learn.  All staff are passionate and knowledgeable about the work they do, which contributes to the extremely good levels of learning children demonstrate in the nursery.  Outstanding transition strategies are deployed by all staff thereby ensuring that children settle quickly and soon begin to form secure attachments.  All children make rapid progress in all areas of learning supported by staff who are extremely well trained and continuously supported in their development.  Teaching is inspirational, which promotes children's willingness to engage and superbly helps prepare them for their next steps in learning and their readiness for school.  Staff, parents and children are highly respected and given opportunities to shape the ongoing development of the service.

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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 toured the premises and the outside area and observed a number of children and groups involved in play activities indoors and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed policies and procedures, risk assessments and the monitoring and assessment procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the manager and management team and spoke with staff and children at appropriate times during the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day and evidenced on children's and staff records.  The inspector reviewed children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed and reviewed the performance management system and process.

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Information about the setting

Little Treasures Day Nursery opened in 1999 and is privately owned and managed. It operates from a self-contained, single storey building which has four children's areas, a large pre-school room, a baby room, a nurture room and a sensory room. The premises are accessed by a ramp. It is located in the Concord area of Washington.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 5.30pm for 50 weeks of the year. It is registered on the Early Years Register, and compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 65 children in the early years age group who attend. The setting employs eight staff, all of whom hold a recognised early years qualification. The setting receives nursery education funding for two- three- and four-year- old children. The nursery offers an after school club service for up to six children aged five years to eight years. They are a member of the National Day Nurseries Association and receive support from the local authority.

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

 consider ways to ensure that activities involving materials, such as playdough, are as highly resourced as all others, to accommodate all children who want to join in activities.

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who attend

Children make outstanding progress in all areas of learning because the quality of teaching is exceptional for all children. Practice is inspirational, and children are continuously challenged. As a consequence, they remain engaged in exciting and innovative activities for long periods of time. The staff promote children's thinking through very effective questioning and the use of an excellent range of well-maintained resources which extend and develop their learning. For example, during an outdoor play session for the under twos the children are actively involved in a range of opportunities to develop social, language, mathematical and physical skills. The children choose to make music using sticks on objects made from wood, stone and metal found in the garden. To maintain the children's engagement the staff bring indoor musical instruments outdoors. They then form an impromptu band in which the children take turns to play their chosen instruments

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who attend

following the cue from the member of staff who acts as the band leader. The children delight in the noises they make, actively following the actions of staff when asked if they can move their bodies to the rhythm and beat of the music. A degree of difficulty is added as staff model moving their bodies to the rhythm, whilst playing to the beat on their instruments. All children make a very good attempt at doing this and are enthusiastically praised for their success. For other age groups the staff provide a wide range of interesting and innovative activities which simulate and engage significant numbers of children who want to play together. As a consequence, an activity creating shapes for the theme of Halloween runs out of playdough due to its high levels of popularity. There is scope, therefore, to ensure that activities such as these, are as highly resourced as all others.

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who attend

There is a 'can do' culture in the nursery. Staff have very high expectations for children's learning which is reflected in the way they encourage all children to make choices and communicate them to adults and each other in an appropriate way. As a consequence, behaviour is exemplary and children emulate the caring, sharing attitude of staff. The staff manage the diverse needs of children exceptionally well, ensuring that all children have access to high quality learning experiences that are adapted to meet their individual needs. The staff use outstanding strategies to ensure that learning is accessible to all children in everyday activities. They do this through innovative teaching methods, following children's interests, encouraging children to communicate their wants and needs and establishing appropriate daily routines. For example, to enable the under twos to develop their independence, to recognise pictures and begin the association of letters,

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who attend

sounds and words, each child chooses a symbol of an animal which staff attach to their possessions. As a consequence, very young children are able to recognise and access their own nappy box and bring their own nappy and wipes when being changed. The children are able to initiate when they want a drink by identifying and bringing their own cup to their member of staff.

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who attend

Children's attainment is outstanding. All children achieve the expected level of learning with many children exceeding, particularly in the three prime areas of communication and language and physical, social and emotional development. Older children have made significant progress in all areas of learning, particularly in mathematics, reading and writing. As a consequence, children are extremely well prepared for their next steps in learning and their readiness for school. All staff introduce as many areas of learning as possible during activities. For example, during a construction activity with three-year-olds staff teach the physical skills required to build a tower. They count from one to 19 with the children, which is the number of bricks high and talk about where they might see a tower like this. The children are encouraged to cooperate and expected to share, take turns and negotiate during the activity. The staff gave children time to formulate their

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who attend

next thought or question to progress their understanding. This helps to build the confidence and emotional resilience children need to enable them to become life-long learners. Children are very confident and often initiate conversations with adults. They delight in sharing what they know and can do, and ask challenging questions for clarification of things they don't understand. For example, during preparations for Halloween one child is making his pumpkin lantern. Having dug out the pulp himself and removed the seeds he asks why the pulp is made into soup. The member of staff explains that this was part of the nursery's 'green' approach to the environment and recycling to look after the planet. The child had remembered that lunch the previous day was soup made from the pulp from all the children's pumpkins. The key person role is exceptionally strong in the nursery. All staff are well trained, enthusiastic professionals committed to progressing children to an extremely good level of

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who attend

learning. They know their children well and have excellent supportive relationships with parents and carers. This partnership is used extremely effectively to help children to feel confident and to make good progress in their learning. All staff use the observation and assessment process exceptionally well to communicate progress to parents and to ensure that the children's next steps are an accurate reflection of their learning needs. Parents feel very well informed and confirm that staff have suggested effective strategies which have helped them to better manage their children's care and development at home.

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

Staff are very knowledgeable practitioners who know and understand how individual children learn most effectively. They enable all children to develop strong secure attachments in the way they implement transition arrangements between home and nursery. Parents and children are highly valued which is reflected in how new children are very quickly settled into the nursery and in the planning, observation and assessment process where the voice of the parent and child is evident. This is because staff value parents contributions and as a consequence they very quickly form strong bonds with parents and carers. Staff take note of the information parents share about what their children can do at home and use this information to form the basis of the children's next steps for learning in the nursery. All staff build the trust and confidence of parents and children through the provision of a confidential, safe and secure learning environment in

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

Transition arrangements and managing the diverse needs of all children are outstanding. For example, some children were removed by parents from other settings where they could not settle. Due to the flexibility, communication and information sharing between home and nursery these children not only settled quickly but parents report their children now ask to come to nursery in the mornings. The staff follow nursery policies to ensure that children's information is appropriately shared and protected. The nursery's work with families and other professionals is outstanding. Parents confirm that the strategies staff have applied in nursery and those they have been given to prepare their children at home have worked extremely well. This has meant that both parent and child have found the transition process less stressful and helped to ensure that all children receive continuity of care and learning.

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

The children's behaviour is exemplary and it is evident that high expectations, excellent strategies and good role modelling by staff play a significant part in this. For example, when two children squabble over the same toy the member of staff talks quietly with them about time boundaries and caring and sharing with each other. She provides an interim toy and makes sure that the children exchange toys when the time is up. Throughout this she keeps both children informed of how much longer they must wait using a clock so they can check their own waiting time.

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

Health and safety and effectively managing risk is a significant strength of the nursery. The staff ensure that health and hygiene is prioritised during daily routines and activities. For example, in preparation for snack and lunchtime the children wash their own hands, and after lunch they brush their teeth. The degree of support staff provide is determined by the age of the child and the level of need. For older children, staff use verbal prompts and for younger children they sit with them modelling brushing actions and rinsing the mouth. The nursery are finalists in the '2013 Nursery Management Today' awards for their work in making the nursery 'greener' and developing healthy eating strategies for children. The staff effectively manage all risks before and during the nursery day. The activities they provide present challenge, which has an element of risk. In order to avoid serious injury the staff remind children to be careful. They remove unsafe equipment and objects

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

and rigorously observe children during activities. Access to the nursery is through a locked door which is protected by an intercom system and sight of the person wishing to enter. As a consequence, staff control who is admitted into the nursery, which helps to reduce any threat to children's safety and well-being.

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provision

Leadership and management of the nursery is inspirational. The manager has an excellent understanding of her role and responsibilities, in relation to the delivery of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundations Stage. The management team work together to provide an outstanding nursery provision which is highly successful in meeting the needs of all children and their families. The performance management system is excellent and enables managers to identify the development needs of staff quickly and accurately. There is a robust appraisal and high quality supervision process in place which supports ongoing discussion and identification of training and development needs. Training is appropriately targeted and supports the individual choices of staff. As a consequence, relationships between staff and management are excellent enabling everyone involved to have open and frank discussions about their learning and

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provision

development needs in relation to promoting good outcomes for children.

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provision

The management team continually strives for excellence in the delivery of care and education for all children. For example, the deputy manager has created an outstanding resource area for staff to research developments in early years. This enables them to keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date on a daily basis. The staff currently undertaking higher level qualifications have found this resource to be exceptionally helpful in their studies. Other staff have found it invaluable for safeguarding, child development and researching the ongoing health needs of individual children.

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provision

Children are effectively protected and safeguarded because the nursery recruitment and vetting procedures for new staff and the continuous confirmation of existing staff's ongoing suitability to work with children, are extremely rigorous. All records are documented in comprehensive staff files. The management team regularly monitor adherence to policies through discussions with staff at regular supervision meetings and observation of their safeguarding and health and safety practices during routines and activities. All mandatory policies are in place and implemented effectively. This helps to ensure that children are kept safe at all times. Outstanding professional relationships exist between parents and nursery management because all staff respect parents and work together with them providing professional support when needed. Parents confirm their confidence in the management team to keep their children safe and ensure that their

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provision

children receive the best possible care and development whilst in the nursery.

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provision

Self-evaluation is exceptional because the strategies ensure that changes to nursery policies, systems, routines and practice are based on evidence provided by all partners. Self-evaluation is an integral part of the ongoing practice of all staff in the nursery, and all staff can give examples of their reflective practice. The management team actively encourages all staff to reflect on their own strengths and development needs and those of the service provided for children and parents. They employ a range of strategies to evidence the voice of the child including responding to their likes and dislikes as children demonstrate them during routines and activities. Parents' contributions are sought in a wide a range of ways including consultations, questionnaires, the comments box and feedback on assessment records. Access for parents is wide because they can contact nursery outside nursery hours using the website, email and phone calls. Other agencies

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provision

and professionals make contributions to self-evaluation through information sharing, feedback reports and reviews of practice.

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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 318614 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 868517

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Deborah Troup Date of previous inspection 10/09/2008 Telephone number 0191 4151849

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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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