Kaleidoscope Day Nursery

Kaleidoscope Day Nursery Sherborne Business Centre, East Mill Lane, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3DR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/11/2013 20/01/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 A passionate team of staff create a fully inclusive environment where children are respected and valued as individuals. All staff are highly skilled and sensitive in helping children form secure emotional attachments, and provide a strong base for their developing independence and exploration.  Excellent focus is given to learning both in the indoor and outdoor environments and the effective organisation of resources ensure children's success and enjoyment.  Inspiring learning experiences motivate and capture children's interest and enable them to make excellent progress in relation to their starting points.  Staff and management establish highly successful partnerships with parents and others in order to actively meet children's individual needs. Staff and parents share information daily through discussion and contact books and parents contribute to learning records, which they share frequently.

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This provision is outstanding

 Children flourish in a setting where they are at ease, settled and secure in a child friendly environment. They form significant relationships with the staff and peers.

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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 staff and children in all areas of the nursery and in the various outdoor areas.  The inspector spoke with parents and children about their experiences.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled key documents, including risk assessments, accident and incident books, children's development records and key policies such as the safeguarding and complaints policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of the staff, including first aid qualifications and the key person systems.  The inspector held discussions with the manager, the deputy and staff.

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Information about the setting

Kaleidoscope Day Nursery was first registered in 2005 and moved to new premises in 2010. It is a privately owned nursery, situated in a business park in the town of Sherborne, Dorset. The nursery is open weekdays from 8am to 5.30pm, all year round, except for two weeks at Christmas and Bank Holidays. All children share access to the secure enclosed outdoor play areas. There are currently 108 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery is in receipt of funding for children aged two, three and four years.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery welcomes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 23 staff members to work directly with the children, all of whom hold early years qualifications at level 2, 3, and 4 and above. There is also an employed cook.

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

 extend the range of materials and objects of various textures and weights to enhance role play activities for example, shells, pebbles, pasta, and vegetables to inspire exploration and encourage sensory experiences.

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who attend

Children are thriving at this exceptional nursery. There is a wonderful calm atmosphere throughout the nursery, peppered with the sound of children's laughter and singing as they splash in the water and play imaginary animal games with the staff. Extremely close and caring relationships between staff and children develop their self-esteem and promote a very strong sense of self. Through daily care routines such as nappy changing, sleep time, mealtimes and play times, each key worker builds a special relationship with the children. All children are cared for tenderly and with great affection. Consequently, they feel secure, extremely happy and confident. Staff sensitively interact with children and respond intuitively to their needs, such as, when they are tired or upset.

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who attend

Both babies and children are able to select their own toys and resources. This means that all are flourishing and making very good progress in their learning and development. Children use resources such as the computer, camera and a calculator to develop their information and communication technology skills. The quality of toddlers' learning experiences is enriched as staff develop activities based upon the needs of the individual child. For example, the organisation of the room allows the children to have open space and provides many opportunities for them to continually test their developing skills. Many of the pre-school children are able to write recognisable letters and recognise colours and numbers. All the children of varying ages relish 'messy' play activities and indulge in a super range of 'squishy' activities with flour, sawdust, custard, mud painting and mushy peas. The home corners in each room are frequently set up in an imaginative variety of

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who attend

ways such as a witch's grotto, a caf and a food shop. However, in the pre-school room there are fewer opportunities to extend children's exploration and encouragement of sensory experiences in role play activities. This is because there are fewer materials and objects of various textures and weights, in order to further promote children's imaginative play. Early communication skills are extremely well supported in both English and French through high quality adult-child interactions.

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who attend

The free-flow outdoor play has children from different age groups engaging in a wide variety of stimulating and interesting activities. Children develop, explore and test their physical control through the excellent range of outdoor activities. For example, the garden incorporates communication friendly spaces in which children can engage in many exciting activities. This provides opportunities for children to explore den making or the camouflage tree house, which provides them with a super area to create their own imaginary worlds. Children enjoy climbing up the grass mounds to slide down the slides that are embedded in the grass. Children run in and out of the willow walk and hide in the teepee land. They have lots of opportunities to draw and write using paints, chalks, water and mud in the garden. 'Feeling World' gives children the opportunity to experience a range of interesting items in the 'feely' box and they giggle as they put their hands in the

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who attend

'unknown' to feel what is in the box. Children have great fun building the bug mansion, adding different materials to the levels to entice the bugs to house themselves in there. Once the bugs inhabit the mansion, children plan to watch the bugs with magnifying glasses and learn about the different species and discuss differing size, colours and shapes. All ages of children love digging in the mud and sand areas using a range of tools to make mud pies and sand castles.

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who attend

Staff have totally embraced and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the learning and development requirements. They have a true understanding of the key worker system and this translates extremely well into their practice. Staff demonstrate this through their detailed knowledge of each child, which ensures the children's needs are met exceedingly well. Staff's approach to planning is innovative and based on careful and sensitive listening, observations and reflection, thus enabling them to give the utmost priority to child-initiated, spontaneous play. The reflective planning is meticulously evaluated by staff who ensure that children are offered a range of rich experiences in all areas of learning.

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

Children are extremely settled in the provision, supported by the calm and consistent interaction of the staff. All staff are highly skilled and sensitive in helping children form secure emotional attachments, and provide a strong base for their developing independence and exploration. As a result, children form very positive relationships with adults and each other in this warm and exceptionally welcoming nursery. Adults and key persons take time to get to know the children and their families very well, so that children feel safe and are happy to attend. The key person system in place successfully promotes children's independence and their personal, social and emotional development. This effectively develops children's confidence, enabling them to settle quickly and develop friendships. The strong skills of all key persons ensure all children are well prepared for the next stages in their learning. Practitioners skilfully support children's transitions both

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

within the nursery and to other settings and school.

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

Staff are very effectively deployed in the nursery and roles and responsibilities are clearly defined; as a result high priority is given to children's safety through rigorous supervision. All staff consistently give the highest priority to the safety of children and effectively support children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For example, regular practise of evacuations of the premises gives children an understanding of how to leave the premises in an emergency. In addition, children develop a clear sense of what they can and cannot do, following sensible safety rules, such as when playing in the outside areas. This enables them to be active and robust in their play, and develop an excellent understanding of how to manage risks and challenges relative to their age whilst establishing boundaries to keep themselves and others safe. Staff use consistently applied strategies and provide clear guidance for children about what is acceptable behaviour.

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

Staff speak very kindly to the children and actively encourage their respectful behaviour towards others. Relationships are strong at all levels and children learn to respect and tolerate each other's differences. Children's behaviour shows that they feel safe and secure in the nursery. Staff offer plenty of praise and very positive comments to effectively encourage and support children and they respond with smiles, laughter and obvious pleasure.

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

Children enjoy the excellent healthy snacks of fruit and delicious cooked lunches provided with the older and more able children, handing out the dishes and cutlery. This supports their independence and small physical skills. Throughout the nursery and especially in the lunch room, posters and pictures of healthy food and nourishment are displayed to further enhance children's learning and development. Staff display excellent hygiene procedures as they use appropriate disposable clothing and gloves when nappy changing and at meal times. Hand washing facilities are easily accessible to children, and the encouragement of all children and babies to brush their teeth after lunch promotes their independent participation in good hygiene routines. Children access the drinking water, which is freely available in all rooms. They show good manners when sitting at the snack and lunch table, learning skills for the future.

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

The nursery provides a highly stimulating environment with child-accessible resources that promote learning and challenge children both indoors and outdoors. There is an excellent range of high quality resources, which are stored to allow free and independent access for the children and encourages inclusion and children's awareness of diversity. Bright displays include examples of children's art work, giving them high levels of pride and belonging. The opportunities for all children irrespective of age, to have fresh air and exercise are available throughout the day as the nursery operates a free-flow system from indoors to outside. The excellent outdoor areas are exceptionally well equipped with excellent climbing and balancing resources, and natural materials. This develops children's physical skills extremely well.

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provision

Staff are guided by a skilled management team who inspire, encourage and value their contributions. Safeguarding is given the utmost priority, with exemplary procedures in place to ensure the safety and protection of children. Rigorous and robust systems are in place to recruit and vet staff. All staff are confident in their understanding of child protection policies and procedures and are adept at identifying any concerns about a child in their care. Security arrangements are robust. Highly detailed risk assessment and daily checks are conducted by staff to minimise hazards and help reduce accidents.An extensive and detailed range of policies and procedures, understood and consistently implemented by staff, are used to inform practice and promote the welfare of the children who attend. This combined with effective recording systems for medication administration, accidents and allergies, which are all meticulously kept, monitored and efficiently stored, further

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provision

ensures children are extremely well protected.

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provision

Partnership with parents is excellent. Communication with parents is extended through letters, newsletters, and communication books, on the telephone or in person. Parents are fully involved in the review of their children's progress in their personal learning journals. Staff have developed 'information booklets' to help parents learn, for example, sign language, which is used throughout the nursery. Management and staff have made outstanding efforts to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those for whom English is an additional language. Valuing diversity, the community and wider world is embedded into everyday practice. This is enhanced by exciting toys, resources accessible to children in their natural play and images around the environment. Parents are encouraged to offer or learn key words in different languages in order to play an integral part in nursery life. Parents' views are valued enormously and they are

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provision

encouraged to communicate their opinions through the parents' forum and questionnaires. There is an open door policy within the nursery, which parents actively take advantage of. Parents are extremely complimentary about the nursery, describing the friendly caring staff, and the fantastic work they do. Relationships with other providers are very well established. Information about children's learning is shared very effectively with others involved in their development, such as childminders, pre-schools and professional agencies. Staff work closely with local schools that children will attend, to make sure they feel ready and confident to make the move. This ensures that there is an integrated approach to children's learning and consequently that children's needs are exceptionally well met.

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provision

Self-evaluation is embedded and demonstrates abundantly, the commitment to further developing practice to promote increasingly improving outcomes for all children. Staff talk to children, to find out what they enjoy and what toys they might like. Staff effectively evaluate activities to ensure they help children make the best possible progress. This information is used to inform and monitor the educational programmes. Staff and management work together to continually improve outcomes for children. Regular team meetings are a forum for discussion on all aspects of the nursery and the resulting action plans are realistic, focused and sustained.

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY411243 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 939817

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 66 Number of children on roll 108 Name of provider Kaleidoscope Day Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 20/01/2011 Telephone number 01935812424

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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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