Castle Nurseries at Dunstanburgh Road

Dunstanburgh Day Nursery Dunstanburgh Day Nursery, 1 Bywell Street, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, Tyne and Wear, NE6 2QN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/10/2013 10/11/2009

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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 in the three- to four-year-old room, take part in a good range of stimulating activities that are tailored to meet their individual learning needs because staff have a satisfactory knowledge of children's interests.  The arrangements for keeping children safe are effective because the staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and the premises are secure.  Children's behaviour is good and they play happily together. They settle well and follow a familiar routine. This helps children to form secure attachments with staff and develop a sense of belonging.

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It is not yet good because

 The monitoring and performance of staff is not rigorous enough to ensure the quality of observation, assessment and teaching are at a consistently high level. Areas where staff require additional support or training are not identified and addressed.  Staff do not consistently use children's next steps to plan for their individual learning and development, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Consequently, children make satisfactory progress in relation to their starting points.  Opportunities for writing and information and communication technology are not maximised in all areas of the nursery.  Self-evaluation of practice is not used sufficiently well to develop precise plans to bring about improvements in the provision 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 observed activities throughout the nursery in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including children's records, learning and development information, staff records and a selection of policies and procedures.  The inspector took into account the views of parents through discussion.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Dunstanburgh Day Nursery was registered in 1991 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is managed by the local authority and operates from purpose built premises situated in a residential area in Walker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The nursery uses two main rooms, a separate classroom, a dining area and a multi-function room. There is access to three enclosed outdoor play areas. They are open five days a week, 51 weeks of the year from 8am until 6pm. Most children attending live in the local area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery currently has 92 children on roll. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 20 permanent staff who work with the children. Of these, two members of staff hold an early years qualification at level 6; three at level 5; three at level 4; 11 at level 3 and one at level 2. The nursery receives support from a teacher consultant from the local authority, health professionals and Special Educational Needs and Support Services.

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must:

 use information obtained from observing and assessing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations to help children make the best possible progress in their learning and development.

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

 develop further opportunities for information and communication technology in all areas of the nursery by, for example, providing access to computers or cause and effect toys so that children can develop their in technology skills

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

 improve the educational programme for literacy to further support pre-school children in developing their writing skills by, for example, providing a range of opportunities to write for different purposes about things that interest them and developing the environment so that it is rich in environmental print so children can learn about words

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

 develop an effective process for monitoring of the educational programme and staff performance, so practice is consistent in helping children make good progress towards the early learning goals

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

 improve self-evaluation of the nursery by reviewing practice more frequently and taking into account the views of parents, in order to improve the quality of care and learning for children.

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who attend

Children make satisfactory progress in their learning and development. Staffs' knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage is generally satisfactory and some staff are beginning to consider children's individual needs and interests when planning and providing activities for children. However, teaching is variable as some staff focus on planning general activities rather than planning for individual children's interests or stage of development. This means some staff take too little account of what children already know and can do and some children do not make rapid progress towards the early learning goals. The nursery is generally well-resourced. Children have opportunities to choose from a selection of resources and equipment. For example, in the nursery there are three large outdoor areas that provide good opportunities for all ages to develop physical skills, as they climb and balance on the

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who attend

climbing frames and slides. Younger children have opportunities to roll balls down drainpipes and crawl through tunnels. Indoors, children have access to jigsaws, books and playdough, however, in the under three's rooms there is little scope for emerging writing in all areas. For example, mark-making opportunities in the role play area or in the outdoor environment are basic and do not encourage children to develop early writing skills.

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who attend

Teaching and learning is satisfactory. Staff understand that children learn as they play and explore, within the three-year-old room. Focused activities challenge and stimulate the children extending their learning and development. For example, children are able to describe new fruit and vegetables as they investigated their 'witches soup'. This strategy supports and extends children's language development. However, staff do not always skilfully question children as they play, which means that opportunities to extend children's learning are missed. As a result, the impact of teaching on children's progress is satisfactory rather than good. The learning environment indoors is suitably organised with designated areas of learning, such as role play, creative play and construction. A range of resources are accessible to children so they can self-select and make choices in their learning. Resources and activities appropriately cover the seven areas of learning,

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who attend

however, not in sufficient depth in information and communication technology. This means that opportunities to maximise children's information and communication technology skills are missed. Overall, children are satisfactorily gaining the skills need for their future learning.

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who attend

Parents are well-informed about what their children are doing at nursery and have some opportunities to support their child's learning. Each child has a file that shows photographs and observations of what the child has been doing at nursery. These files are shared with parents at reviews and keep parents informed of their child's progress. The files also include assessment of children's learning and development and the progress check at age two. However, information gained from assessing and tracking children does not consistently identify their next steps in learning. Therefore, planned activities do not always reflect or shape challenging learning experiences for children. This results in, learning experiences not being fully in place to precisely match individual learning needs or to always provide developmentally appropriate activities. For example, children with special education needs and/or disabilities are identified, but no specific plans are

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who attend

developed or implemented. As a result, children learning experiences are not fully in place to precisely match individual learning needs or to always provide developmentally appropriate activities.

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

There is an effective key person system in place and staff care for children well and children develop secure relationships with their key person. Staff are committed to meeting the needs of children and their families in order to help them settle when they first start. For example, staff speak to parents to find out about their child's interests, needs and care routines so that they can reflect the same in the nursery. Parents and the key person have regular contact and parents spoken to during the inspection are very pleased with the care that their child receives. One parent commented that she 'feels very welcome by all staff'. Some procedures are in place to support transition within the nursery. For example, staff share information verbally and children access visits to their new room.

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

Staff are positive role models. They model resources, interact with children and play with children at their level. Children enjoy staffs' company and invite them into their play. Secure attachments are evident and children are happy and settled. Behaviour is managed in a positive way and as a result, children are well-behaved and learn good social skills. For example, children learn good manners by saying 'please' and 'thank you' at snack and mealtimes. Staff promote children's independence by enabling them to pour their own drinks and serving themselves food. The nursery has a designated cook who prepares freshly made food on the premises each day. Children's dietary requirements are identified and catered for. Menus are varied and include fresh meat and vegetables on a daily basis.

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

Children develop their self-care skills through accessing drinking water, visiting the bathroom independently and getting dressed. Staff praise children effectively and this develops high levels of self-esteem and confidence, consequently children are becoming confident independent learners. Children learn about healthy lifestyles through daily access to the outdoor area. All children have access to developmentally appropriate outdoor spaces. This means that children can develop their physical skills and get fresh air and exercise. Children are building a knowledge and understanding of risk through taking part in regular emergency evacuations and everyday discussion. For example, a member of staff and children use phrases, such as 'danger danger' if children are doing something that could cause an accident. Relevant professionals carry out the local authority health and safety, fire safety and environmental health checks regularly. Staff also monitor the

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

temperature, check on babies when they sleep and record nappy changes, which all promotes children's safety, health and well-being effectively.

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provision

All staff consistently give high priority to the safety of children. They have a sound knowledge of safeguarding and know what to do should they have a concern about a child in their care. All visitors are required to sign the visitor book and unauthorised persons are asked to show a form of identification. All documentation to meet the welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage is in place. Risk assessments are carried out to ensure the environment is safe and secure for children. Written risk assessments are in place and daily safety sweeps are undertaken to minimise risk to children. For example, staff check outside before children go out to play. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures are in place, which ensures children are cared for by suitable adults. All staff hold a recognised early years qualification and induction for staff includes safeguarding and first aid training. Staff are deployed effectively to ensure

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provision

that the children are well-supervised and that ratios are consistently met. Overall, the nursery is suitably led by the manager, who is keen to promote continual development. The deputy manager audits planning and assessment and quality of teaching, to ensure children are benefitting from effective teaching practices. However, systems are not fully robust with regard to planning some activities to ensure they are appropriate and provide appropriate challenge and support for individual children. Areas have been identified for further development for staff, but this is in the early stages. Routine staff supervisions take place; however, these meetings do not provide sufficient opportunities for staff to reflect upon practice or professional development. Strategies for monitoring staff performance and sharing good practice among the team are not fully secure because the good practice in the three-year-old room is not shared with the rest of

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provision

The nursery has begun to use the Ofsted self-evaluation form, however, identifying areas for improvement and developing action plans to combat areas of weakness is currently limited. The process of self-evaluation does not fully identify all areas which require further development to promote continuous improvement. Staff work well with parents and key staff liaise with them as they drop off and collect their children. There are informative displays around the nursery, showing what the children have been doing. For example, a display illustrates how the nursery links with other organizations to promote healthy eating during a picnic. The nursery works closely with other agencies, for example, speech and language therapists and the nursery has a special educational needs coordinator, who works alongside partners and the child's key person to ensure their needs are met.

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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 EY104355 Local authority Newcastle Inspection number 855680

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 55 Number of children on roll 92 Name of provider Newcastle City Council Date of previous inspection 10/11/2009 Telephone number 0191 2654546

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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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