The Old Station Nursery

The Old Station Nursery Imjin Barracks, Innsworth Lane, Innsworth, Gloucestershire, GL3 1ET

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/05/2013 14/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Babies receive strong support for personal and emotional development so that they settle quickly, feel safe and are happy in the well-resourced unit.  Well-established key person arrangements ensure all children feel secure in the nursery and are confident to seek support when needed.  Children take the lead in their activities and choose to play in or out of doors for much of the day to carry out their own ideas.  Staff engage effectively with individual children to extend their thinking and communication skills.  Strong links between the nursery and parents and carers enable staff to consistently support children's welfare.  The management is effective in evaluating the provision and committed to staff’s further professional development to continue to improve outcomes for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Pre-school children do not fully concentrate or participate in some routine activities.

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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 activities in the three play rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector had discussions with management, staff, children and parents.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the leader in the baby room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including the self-evaluation form and improvement plan, children's records, planning, safeguarding procedures, policies and information from parents' surveys.

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Information about the setting

The Old Station Nursery registered in 2010 and is one of eight settings owned by the provider. It operates from three play rooms in a purpose-built building adjacent to the Imjin Barracks at Innsworth near Gloucester and is an army base provision. Children have access to a secure garden area with hard, grass and safety surfaces. The nursery is open from 7.30am or 8am to 6pm, except for a week between Christmas and New Year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are 113 children aged from three months to under five years on roll in sessional or full-time places. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. A total of 19 staff work with the children. Of these,

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Information about the setting

sixteen hold appropriate childcare qualifications and two are working towards a qualification. A cook is employed and she also has a childcare qualification. A staff member has Qualified Teacher Status and the manager holds Early Years Professional Status. There is a head office team which provides support to the nursery.

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

 review the routine to maximise older children's involvement and learning, particularly at group times.

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who attend

Staff have positive impact on children's learning and development so that all children make good progress. Staff are well aware of children's starting points and capabilities, taking good account of when children joined and how often they attend. Staff make good use of ongoing, observational assessment. They effectively evaluate children's play to incorporate their next steps into the planning. Key persons regularly revise these goals to keep themselves aware of children's current learning needs. The educational programmes for each area of learning effectively help children to reach expected levels of development. Babies and toddlers achieve good personal, social and emotional development. They enjoy the challenges to develop physically and receive plenty of stimulation from attentive staff to extend their listening and speaking skills. Where children speak English as an additional language, staff focus well on their communication and language skills so that they, too,

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who attend

achieve close to expected levels of progress. Older children gain good levels of understanding in literacy and mathematics, for example in use of initial letters of their names and simple adding to calculate the date.

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who attend

Overall, children receive strong support to develop good attitudes and skills to learn effectively. Staff offer babies and children the space and time to explore what they are interested in. As a result, they enjoy and persevere in their chosen play activities. Key persons have good knowledge about children's interests and next steps. As a result, children receive good support to carry out their ideas in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor play. During these child-initiated activities, staff have good understanding of how to offer appropriate levels of challenge to take individual children forward in their learning. For example, older children work cooperatively to construct 'runs' for cars to see how far these will travel across the ground. However, some adult-led routines do not fully support older children to participate and learn. In pre-school circles, the group is too large for each child to contribute, while those waiting for lunch are not always fully supported in play

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who attend

well. Nonetheless, staff often provide interesting experiences and use open comments and questions to help children think in further depth. For example, children flock round to see if the butterflies they reared from eggs will fly off. They respond enthusiastically as staff say, 'Look at its wings going open and shut. It's practising and almost ready. What do you think?'

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who attend

Children have ample opportunities to gain understanding of their environment. For example, they dig in mud, plant grass seeds to create a miniature garden and take cress home to grow with their parents. Children show that they are keen to express their ideas through art, imaginative play and music. The youngest children explore a wealth of sensory toys and materials, including cooked pasta for painting and melon seeds to glue. Children aged two years enjoy painting with their feet and print T-shirts using their hands. Older ones eagerly suggest different versions of rhymes and volunteer to sing on their own. Children gain good confidence and staff prepare them well for their transitions within the nursery and into reception class.

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

The key person and buddy system is effective, especially for the very young ones and those in need of additional support. As a result, children form suitable bonds and secure emotional attachments with their carers. Babies’ and children’s physical well-being is well fostered, especially in relation to their emotional attachment. Care practices enable children to be happy and enjoy what they doing. Staff show skill in supporting children so that they develop strong relationships as they talk and play with the adults and each other. As a result, staff use positive behaviour management so that children learn to behave and play cooperatively. For example, children receive gentle warnings of five minutes to the end of play time and they learn to share sand and water equipment. They are careful of the younger children playing alongside.

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

Children develop good independence as they choose to play inside or outside for considerable periods of the day. The extensive outdoor area is alongside the tots and pre- school rooms. while staff create a safe corridor for babies to access this directly. The wide range of interesting resources and the learning environment effectively support children's all round development. In each room, children choose good-quality resources from clearly labelled, low-level storage to have control of their learning and build their confidence. Children develop significant self-motivation as they organise their own time and decide upon activities to develop according to their own ideas. For example, children select craft materials from storage to build models, such as a green caterpillar.

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

Staff support children well so they feel safe and begin to learn about taking suitable risks. Their key persons usually deal with young children's personal care to give them security. Babies and tots confidently go to their room staff for cuddles when they are tired or need comforting. Children feel free to move around the spacious rooms and garden. They learn about taking risks as they use a range of tools, including scissors. They negotiate physical challenges, such as running up and down the mound and climbing in and out of the 'boat'. Children gain a good understanding about the importance of healthy lifestyles. There is a good balance of physical play and quiet periods for children. Staff take young babies outside frequently and mobile children choose to play in the fresh air as they wish. They support children to develop a good understanding of the importance of physical exercise and a healthy diet, and to manage their own hygiene and personal needs independently.

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provision

The nursery is well organised so that staff meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements consistently to create an environment that is welcoming, safe and stimulating. All staff give priority to keeping children safe. Their training to recognise a child who may be at risk is up-to-date. They clearly know how to respond when a child needs protection and support. Employment procedures are robust and follow established company practice, including regular review of adults’ suitability to be with children. The professional support given to newer staff means they complete detailed, initial training. This helps them understand their roles and responsibilities, particularly in relation to child protection, whistle blowing and expected standards of behaviour management. The premises are safe and secure. Staff let parents in and out and remind them not to allow anyone else to use the door at the same time. They are vigilant and implement a

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provision

comprehensive programme of risk assessment. This covers the premises and outings, for example to the library or local shop, in order to minimise risks for children and keep them safe. All legal records and documentation are in place and well maintained to underpin safety arrangements for children. The manager uses appraisal well to support staff members to improve their knowledge and skills; as a result, they are well equipped for their delegated roles in working with children. Following an investigation visit, the provider was given an action to complete. There is now an effective induction programme and new staff receive professional support to ensure they complete a detailed training programme. This 5 ensures they understand their roles and responsibilities, especially in relation to child protection, whistle blowing and expected standards of behaviour.

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provision

The provider has a good understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. The manager and key persons monitor the planning and delivery of the educational programme effectively so that all groups of children continue to make good progress. The manager recently reemphasised the use of 'Every Child A Talker' records to check children's progress, including those aged two years. The nursery works well with external agencies supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These include health professionals and speech therapists, whose guidance staff follow closely to implement children's individual plans in consultation with their parents. Staff work hard to establish beneficial links with staff at other provisions attended by children. They set up communication books that parents take between the settings. The key persons share what activities children have done and follow

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provision

this information up to support children's individual needs, interests and progress. Parents and carers enthuse about the provision for their children. They appreciate the frequent, two-way communication about their children's activities and achievements so that they play a key role in assessing their children's progress. Families particularly appreciate the 'messy play' days which support for them to continue working with their children at home. Parents commend the nursery and the staff who are 'friendly, professional and approachable'. They feel closely involved in their children's care, learning and development.

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provision

The management and leaders have strong aspiration for continually improving the quality of the nursery’s provision. The professional support given reflects this, for example, as newer staff complete detailed, initial training. This helps them understand their roles and responsibilities effectively, particularly in relation to child protection, whistleblowing and expected standards of behaviour. There is well-focused emphasis on evaluating the provision to ensure ongoing improvement. Staff have implemented recommendations and an action from the previous inspection and monitoring visits effectively. As a result, they have improved aspects of safeguarding, partnership, equal opportunities, assessment and planning. The management values the views of staff, parents, children and the local authority advisor and these help to identify areas for development. Extensive development plans include reviewing systems to update children’s learning records, establishing forest

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provision

school activities and extending support for young children’s communication and language skills. This shows the nursery’s ongoing commitment to improvements.

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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 EY410811 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 893273 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 64 Number of children on roll 113 Name of provider The Old Station Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 14/02/2011 Telephone number 07725049744

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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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