Fawn & Fern Woodland Nursery

Bracken Place Day Nursery 3 Bracken Place, Chilworth, Southampton, Hampshire, SO16 3NG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/10/2013 03/12/2008

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children come into nursery well; they are happy, settled and are developing friendships as they play together.  Children are developing an understanding of mathematics as staff make effective use of planned and spontaneous opportunities to introduce number and counting.  Staff provide consistent messages to help children learn about what is acceptable behaviour. As a result, children show a developing understanding of the boundaries and routines.

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It is not yet good because

 The management do not make sure that nursery safeguarding practices are effectively followed by staff with regard to storage of mobile phones.  Staff follow quite a structured routine, at times, which does not always enable children to follow their interests and choose whether to play inside or outside.  The use of writing tools is not maximised to encourage children to develop their emergent writing skills, such as writing their names on their artwork.

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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 compulsory part 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 children's play and staff interaction, indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's records, planning and records to check staff suitability.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the deputy manager.  The inspector spoke to staff, parents and the owner.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the systems used by the staff to evaluate the provision.

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Information about the setting

Bracken Place Day Nursery opened in 2000. It is located in Chilworth on the outskirts of Southampton, with convenient access from the motorway. The nursery is privately owned and managed. It operates from four units in a converted house and a purpose built extension. The pre-school, and its facilities, in the single floor extension, is completely accessible. There is ramped access to the ground floor of the house and stairs to the first floor. It is open Monday to Friday from 8.00 until 6pm for 51 weeks a year. All children have access to secure outdoor play areas and woodlands in the grounds. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 122 children on roll. The setting is registered to accept nursery funding for children aged three and four year. There are 19 staff who work with children. Of these, 18 hold appropriate qualifications and the other staff member is working

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Information about the setting

towards a suitable qualification. The manager and deputy hold a Foundation degree. A further five members of staff are employed in the nursery to work in the kitchen and in maintenance.

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must:

 make sure that all staff understand and follow the nursery's safeguarding policies and practices in relation to the storage of their mobile phones.

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

 review the organisation of routines with particular regard to children being able to move freely between the indoor and outdoor play areas, so all children have opportunities to follow their interests and make choices about their play

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

 provide more opportunities for children to experiment with mark making tools to further promote children's literacy skills.

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who attend

Children enjoy coming to the nursery and happily engage in the play activities. The staff's warm and friendly interaction helps children to settle quickly. Children take part in a variety of interesting play activities and experiences both indoor and outdoor which support their learning. Staff complete ongoing observations of children in their play to help them monitor children's progress. They use the information appropriately to plan for children's future learning, taking account of children's individual interests. All staff have access to the weekly planning enabling them to see where children need support in their learning. This contributes towards children making steady progress in their learning and development, in relation to their starting points. Parents receive regular updates about their child's care and learning. Familiar staff are available at the beginning and end of the day to share information about the children's experiences at nursery. Parents are aware of

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who attend

the records the nursery staff keep to monitor children's learning, and know these are kept on the premises in their child's drawer, so they can view them at any time. Staff have implemented systems to complete the progress check for two-year-old children, which is shared with parents.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to become independent learners. The pre-school children show confidence as they use the step to wash their hands before meal times and use the self- serve snack table. Babies and young children move around exploring their surroundings and are reassured that a familiar adult is close by. For example, they show control as they bounce up and down on the soft play equipment and smile happily as they move up and down. Staff introduce words, such as 'bounce, bounce, bounce' and children vocalise and babble in response. This helps to support the children's early communication skills. An inviting book area is provided for each age group which encourages the children to develop a love of books. Children have some access to tools to help develop their early writing skills. However, staff do not encourage children to experiment with writing for a purpose, such as writing their names on their artwork.

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who attend

Staff regularly incorporate number and counting throughout the play activities. For example, when a group of older children want to play at the playdough table the staff ask the children to count how many children are present. Children count confidently up to six and work out that they need the playdough cut into six pieces. A staff member cuts only four pieces and encourages the children to work out how many more pieces they need. This raises children's understanding of mathematics and helps develop their problem- solving skills. The children have fun moulding and manipulating the playdough, telling others with excitement 'I've made a wiggly worm'. Younger children are provided with a suitable range of sensory play experiences. For example, children are fascinated as they use their hands to explore the different textures of the sand and gloop mixed together.

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who attend

Children have daily access to outdoor play experiences which means they get regular fresh air and exercise. A range of larger play equipment provides children with challenge to help develop their climbing and balancing skills. In general, the older children benefit from access to both the indoor and outdoor areas for set times during the day. However, staff are quite rigid in how many children they allow to go outside, explaining to children that they cannot go into the outdoor area until someone else has come inside to play. This limits the opportunities for children to follow their interests, play and learn in a way they choose.

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

Children are building trusting relationships with staff and other children. Staff are deployed within particular rooms to provide consistency for the children. Key staff liaise with parents to gain information to help them support children's emotional well-being. This means that staff understand children's individual needs, preferences and routines and they generally follow these. As a result, children are settled, secure and benefit from the staff's warm and friendly interaction. Children move up to another room as they reach the next stage in their development. Their key person completes a 'moving room' form to detail their care needs and individual abilities to help children's settling in. Staff provide a calm and relaxing sleep area for babies and young children, making sure that each child has their special comforter, which helps them to settle. Staff monitor the children in the sleep room through use of a camera and separate baby listening device.

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

Effective security measures are in place to make sure no person can enter the premises unauthorised. Outdoor play areas are enclosed with fencing and bolted gates, and staff are clear of their responsibilities to make sure that they keep children safe outside. When staff recognise the wooden play equipment outside is hazardous due to the wet weather, they restrict the area children use to prevent them from slipping. Monthly risk assessments are carried out in all areas of the premises accessed by children to help identify and minimise risks to children. Staff report any issues about the equipment, such as problems with the safety gates and senior staff take appropriate steps to address the issue. Staff also monitor the accident records to help them highlight any areas of concerns. Following an accident on the outdoor climbing frame, the management took immediate action to add additional safety measures to try and prevent it happening again. Staff make sure that

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

children are supervised closely when using the climbing frame and know to limit numbers of children on the equipment at any on one time. This contributes towards keeping children safe.

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

Staff manage children and their behaviour positively. They provide clear, consistent messages to help children learn to play together well. For example, staff get down to the children's level calmly explaining the importance to 'be kind to their friends'. Children show an understanding as they listen, and cooperate by taking turns to play with popular toys. The clean, age-appropriate resources are generally positioned at child height enabling children to make some choices about their play activities.

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

Children benefit from the provision of healthy, nutritious meals which are freshly cooked on the premises. Staff gain information from parents about any children's food allergies and meals are adapted to cater for children's individual dietary needs. There are clear systems in place to support children's individual medical needs. Staff liaise closely with parents to make sure they are aware of any specific procedures to be followed. They maintain detailed records, and this, alongside the staff's knowledge means that children's medical needs are supported appropriately.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward due to a number of concerns received by Ofsted about the nursery, in particular, concerns about safeguarding procedures. The inspection found that the management and staff have a satisfactory understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Clear policies and procedures, which include safeguarding and complaints, are in place to support the staff in the running of the nursery. Senior staff discuss safeguarding issues on specific training events and at staff meetings. This means that, overall, staff generally have a sound knowledge of child protection issues. However, the management team do not make sure that all staff consistently follow the nursery's safeguarding policy, as some staff leave their personal belongings in the baby nappy changing area. This practice does not follow the nursery's safeguarding arrangements and means that some staff have access to their

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provision

mobile phones when carrying out younger children's personal care. This action compromises children's safety and the management know that this must be remedied urgently.

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provision

Clear recruitment and vetting procedures are followed to determine the staff's suitability to work with children. The employment of staff who work as floaters between the rooms, alongside the use of specific staff for kitchen tasks, helps to make sure that the required adult-child ratios are maintained. Appropriate induction procedures, staff supervision and regular staff meetings means that staff are familiar with their roles and responsibilities. The qualified staff team work together well, regularly sharing information to help support children's developing needs. Arrangements for performance management are in place. All staff are encouraged to attend regular training to help develop their knowledge and skills. Senior staff take necessary steps to monitor staff performance and support staff's continual professional development. For example, they make sure that staff review the layout of activities and play experiences and develop action plans to identify areas for

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provision

development. There are appropriate systems to monitor the delivery of the educational programmes. This includes linking with other early years professionals to help the staff look at ways to improve the learning outcomes for children, such as implementing new planning systems. Recommendations from the last inspection have been addressed. A new outdoor play space adjacent to the baby playroom makes it easier for the younger children to access outside play activities. The planning has been re-vamped to clearly show the learning intentions of activities, which is shared with all staff and parents.

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provision

Parents receive appropriate information about the nursery provision through the parents' information pack, regular newsletters and the daily notes displayed on the nursery white boards. Parents' feedback is welcomed and staff take action to help parents understand more about the running of the nursery. For example, they organised an evening for parents to explain about the food provided and gave copies of recipes. Staff liaise with external agencies, knowing how to gain additional support for any child who may need help it. They have established links with other early years providers caring for children, and share the children's progress records with parents' permission. This helps provide some continuity for children's care and development. The required records and documentation are sufficiently maintained to help support children's welfare.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 511326 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 939576 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 94 Number of children on roll 122 Name of provider Bracken Place Day Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 03/12/2008 Telephone number 023 80760700

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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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