Cuddles Day Nursery

Cuddles Day Nursery 404 Mansfield Road, Mapperley Park, NOTTINGHAM, Nottinghamshire, NG5 2EJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/10/2013 28/07/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children form secure attachments with their key person. This helps them to settle quickly and enjoy their time at the setting.  Staff build positive relationships with parents. On entry to the nursery, parents are involved in their children's starting points and are kept informed of their care and learning.  Staff understand how to promote the health and safety of the children in their care. Safeguarding procedures are secure. As a result, children are appropriately cared for and protected.  The nursery works closely with the local schools to ease the transition process for children. This results in children developing confidence when they move to their new setting.

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It is not yet good because

 The organisation of the indoor learning environment and resources does not provide children with sufficient opportunities to promote independence and engage in purposeful play.  Opportunities for children to further extend their developing explorative and investigative skills are not always freely available within the outdoor play area.  The starting points for planning are not always clearly linked to the children's next steps and interests. This potentially impacts on the enjoyment for children.

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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 completed a joint observation with a senior room manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to the manager, staff, parents and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the setting, and a range of other documentation.

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Information about the setting

Cuddles Day Nursery was registered in 2005. It is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a converted house in the Mapperley area of Nottingham, and is privately owned. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. The rooms on the ground floor for younger children are accessible to all, and the rooms for the older children are accessible via a staircase. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff. Of these, the manager holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 4 and six staff hold qualifications at level 3. 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 49 children attending who are in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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must:

 develop the educational programme by effectively planning the use of resources and the indoor learning environment to reflect and support children's individual learning needs, promote children's independence and engage children in purposeful play.

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

 develop the planning to ensure the starting points for challenging and exciting experiences are clearly linked to children's next steps and interests

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

 enhance children's understanding of the natural world by enabling them to use investigative resources, such as binoculars and magnifiers, within the outdoor play area more readily.

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who attend

Children enjoy their time at this friendly and welcoming nursery. They clearly enjoy learning through play, entering happily and eagerly choosing what they wish to do from the range of resources offered. The newly implemented procedures for planning are already having a positive impact in all the nursery rooms. Staff undertake regular observations and use these to assess children's development and identify next steps for learning which feed into planning. However, the starting points for some activities are not always consistently linked with children's next steps and interests. This has a potential impact on children's levels of challenge and enjoyment as they engage with adult focused activities. Staff show the progress children are making towards the early learning goals by monitoring and tracking their achievements. Time is spent talking to parents and finding out what children can do before they start at the nursery. Parents also complete an 'All

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who attend

About Me' form which enables staff to create realistic starting points to meet children's development needs. Staff complete the 'progress check at age two' and share and agree this with parents.

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who attend

The manager and staff interact effectively with children. They settle and encourage them and chat easily to them while they play and during routines. As a result, children grow in confidence, form positive relationships with others and are keen to join in. The manager and staff have a sound understanding of the learning and development requirements and how to promote learning and development in children. They recognise that children learn through play and provide them with a warm and welcoming environment where children feel confident and secure. However, the organisation of the indoor learning environment and resources does not provide children with sufficient opportunities to promote their independence and engage in purposeful play. For example, there are masses of toys and equipment which are strewn around the floor which are not used effectively by the staff to engage the children for any length of time. Consequently, this hinders children's

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who attend

Staff foster children's communication and language development suitably. They take time to listen to the children as they talk about the activities they are taking part in and make links to their home life. This promotes the children's self-confidence as well as challenges their thinking. For example, children talk about their recent house move. Babies' language development is supported because staff constantly talk to them. Staff keep them interested because they use varied tones of voice. Daily registration time helps older children to develop skills they need for school. This includes listening to others, taking turns and confidence in their communication with others. Children in all rooms sing popular songs and rhymes and have fun with action rhymes spontaneously throughout the sessions. For instance, baby room staff gently sing nursery rhymes and demonstrate the actions, while the pre-school children engage in a rousing rendition of 'Walking through

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who attend

the Jungle'. As a result, staff successfully promote children's positive attitudes to learning, such as developing their levels of concentration and attention, which prepares children well for their future learning and eventually school. Children learn movement skills effectively. Toddlers have a free flow access to the outdoor area, babies and pre-school children visit outdoors at least twice a day. Here, they run around together, climb and balance well on equipment and socialise as they play games. However, they have fewer opportunities to extend their investigative and exploratory skills. For example, by having more access to equipment, such as binoculars and magnifiers, to use in the outdoor area.

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who attend

Mathematical skills are taught suitably. Staff encourage children to count while they play and use mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'bigger' as children build towers. Children's literacy skills are developing as they have access to a range of writing resources both indoors and out. For instance, they enjoy making marks on a chalk board inside and chalking on the outdoor tiles. Children begin to use books as a means to role play, for instance, they re-enact a popular story, 'Quick the big bad wolf is in here', as they refer to the inspector joining in their game. Children learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others as they look at 'family trees' made with photographs of their families, a wealth of cultural and diversity resources and displays further support their understanding. Babies explore toys and show curiosity, for example, a child shakes a rattle and turns it over, investigating how it makes a noise. They develop an

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who attend

understanding of early technology as they investigate push button toys, such as a hoover. Children develop their imagination as they play in the role-play kitchen they enjoy pretending to make a cup of tea for staff. Children's creativity is supported through messy play and art and craft activities, such as box modelling.

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who attend

Children who have English as an additional language have confidence to learn English because they have their own languages valued in the setting. For example, staff use some words in their home language and learn how to pronounce them correctly. Staff share quality handovers with parents each day about their child's care and welfare. Babies receive a 'day book' with details of what they have been doing that session. Some families choose to keep these diary handovers as their children progress through the nursery. Parents can see their child's development record at any time and regular parents' evenings, twice a year, allow more specific time to discuss their child's all round progress in more detail. This helps promote continuity in children's learning and development over time.

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

Children soon feel comfortable and develop a positive sense of belonging at nursery. The owner/manager and staff are approachable and reassuring. Children are happy and settled because the key person system works effectively, ensuring all children's needs are quickly identified and met. The key person plans experiences specifically for individual children because they gather useful information about the child from their parents before they start at the setting. Staff have high aspirations for the children in their care. For instance, they talk excitedly about individual children's achievements. All rooms in the nursery have delightful displays of children's work. This supports a sense of self-esteem and belonging. Staff are positive role models to children and use suitable techniques for managing their behaviour. As a result, children display appropriate behaviour and are well mannered at all times. Staff remind children to walk to one side and hold the hand rail as they climb the

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

stairs. Consequently, children's awareness of managing their own safety is appropriately promoted. They are also supported to take risks in their play because staff let them explore the large equipment in different ways and offer support if needed. Safety within the nursery is good. Children cannot leave unattended and the secure fingerprint entry system prevents anyone entering without the knowledge of staff. All visitors are required to sign in and out.

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

Children's independence is good. They freely choose their activities, put on their own coats and independently use the bathroom. Healthy lifestyles are appropriately promoted as the nursery provides a balance of meals and snacks freshly prepared on the premises by the owner. Allergies and requests are respected, for instance, all the children clear their plates as they enjoy a vegan stew. Children gain an awareness of the importance of exercise and physical activity as they participate in daily outside play and enjoy running around in the fresh air. Children are learning about good hygiene routines as they are reminded to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. Staff are good role models as they consistently demonstrate good standards of cleanliness. For example, wiping tables when children sneeze and washing their hands immediately after wiping a nose.

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

Staff work sensitively with parents during all transitional times for their children, whether first starting at the nursery, moving between rooms or moving on to school. For example, parents are kept up-to-date as their child moves between rooms. Key persons share summary information about the child to support them in their transition as they spend various lengths of time in their new room. This helps children settle quickly but also at their own pace. Staff have arrangements with the local schools to discuss the children's achievements. Whenever possible, the Reception teacher visits the nursery. This helps children's continuity of care and learning as they move onto school.

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provision

Management has a sound understanding of their responsibility to comply with the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to keep children safe. Policies and procedures and other documentation successfully promotes children's welfare. The manager ensures staff continue to understand policies and procedures by conducting impromptu quizzes to establish their current knowledge. Staff have a clear understanding of the safeguarding procedures, which enables them to suitably protect children if they have a concern. Systems for monitoring planning for the educational programmes and individual children's progress are established. The nursery follow suitable vetting and recruitment procedures, which include receiving appropriate references, and check their suitability through the Disclosure and Barring Service and verifying qualifications before employing staff in the nursery. Clear

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provision

procedures ensure that only staff who have been vetted, can have unsupervised access with the children. Suitable induction procedures are in place to ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities when they begin work at the nursery. Staff are monitored and appraised by supervision chats and bi-annual appraisals provided by the manager. These help staff to improve some aspects of staff practice and to increase confidence, which in turn helps to provide a satisfactory quality of care for the children. There are suitable written risk assessments in place that keep children safe, on the premises and on outings. Each day, individual room staff follow a simple checklist to help maintain their room is suitable and safe for children. The nursery is very clean and hygiene procedures are followed very effectively throughout the nursery. Safety measures are in place to ensure that children do not come into contact with any hazardous

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provision

substances. Sufficient staff hold current paediatric first-aid certificates to protect children's health and safety in the event of an accident. Staff are fully aware of the requirement to maintain records of all accidents that occur and these are monitored effectively by the manager. Parents are notified of any accidents when they collect their children. The manager is consistently motivated and keen to develop the nursery.

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provision

The manager and her team reflect on the nursery's practice to identify priorities for improvement and have clear ideas to support this. For example, they have identified the need to improve the outside, to provide the children with more resources in the outside environment, to improve their all-round development. The manager has addressed the actions and recommendations from the last inspection. This shows reasonable capacity to sustain improvement.

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provision

The partnerships with parents are effectively established. Parents' comment that they have many opportunities to talk to staff at drop off and pick up times and are well informed about what is going on in the nursery. Information is shared with them daily. Parents are happy with the nursery and comments received are positive. They say that staff are supportive, caring and provide help and advice when necessary. The manager understands the importance of partnership working with external agencies, in order to secure appropriate interventions for children to receive the support they need. Regular exchanges take place with other settings that children attend to share relevant information about their progress and daily information to share with parents. This ensures consistent support for their learning and development.

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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 EY312028 Local authority Nottingham City Inspection number 934247

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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 49 Name of provider Victoria Jane Ball Date of previous inspection 28/07/2009 Telephone number 0115 9607217

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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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