Cherry Cherubs Childcare

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/11/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Children make good progress as they happily engage in purposeful learning experiences delivered through inside and outside play. Planned activities take into account children's steps for learning, building on their prior skills and knowledge.  Children are safeguarded through the setting's clear policies and procedures, which staff know and implement well.  The provider effectively manages the provision, closely monitoring and evaluating the service provided to identify targets for continuous improvement. This results in high standards being consistently maintained.  Partnership working with parents is good. The recent introduction of home visits before children start at the setting has positively improved children's ability to settle quickly as the develop close emotional attachments to staff.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Newer staff's teaching skills, with regard to questioning children, are not always as effective as more experienced staff to continually maximise and extend children's learning.  Sometimes, younger children's concentration and contribution during circle time activities is not made the most of because the age range and abilities of children in the group is too wide.

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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 in the main playroom and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the provider of the provision and she spoke to the staff and children when appropriate during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted a joint observation with the provider who is also the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation and improvement plans. She also looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of inspection and from information included in the setting's own self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

Cherry Cherubs Childcare was registered at this premises in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a large house in Cherry Willingham, Lincolnshire. The setting previously operated from different premises within the same village for a number of years. The provider's husband and two children, aged 10 and 11 years also live at the premises. The house has a self- contained playroom where children are cared for and a secure garden area for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The setting employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two at level 2. One member of staff is working towards gaining a qualification at level 2. Children are collected from local schools and pre-schools. The setting is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am until 4.30pm for 48 weeks of the year. The provision closes for two weeks within the summer school holidays, bank holidays, Christmas week and for additional days over Easter. There are currently a total of 25 children attending, all of whom are in the early years age group. The setting provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. The provision supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 strengthen the teaching skills of newer staff to further develop the range of questioning techniques they use to consistently optimise children's learning experiences

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

 consider grouping of children during circle time activities to fully ensure the activity remains highly effective throughout, with specific regard to maximising younger children's learning.

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who attend

Children have great fun in the well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments. The majority of staff consistently use effective teaching strategies to support children's good learning which prepares them well for starting school. For example, staff plan interesting, hands-on learning experiences, which not only follow children's interests but also build on their prior skills and knowledge. This is because each key person maintains an accurate record of children's achievements and they use their observational assessments to identify and plan for individual children's next steps for learning. Parents are also involved in this process, enabling them to be part of their child's ongoing learning and development. However, newer staff do not always as effectively question children as the more experienced staff, to ensure children's learning is continually maximised. The manager and her more experienced staff are effective role models and they continually intervene during

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who attend

activities led by newer staff to introduce new concepts and questions, which the new staff immediately seize and begin promoting. While this results in children benefitting from good learning experiences overall, newer staff are not yet at the level where they consistently and independently demonstrate this in their practice.

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who attend

Babies are overall well supported in their play. They have a designated area where they enjoy playing with a developmentally appropriate range of toys and resources. Staff engage and talk to children as they play, encouraging their early language skills. Staff use visually stimulating toys with the babies to gain their interest. For example, a member of staff shows a baby three colourful balls which they then hide and encourage the child to find to see if they know that things can exist when out of sight. However, during some circle time activities, the age range of the group of children participating in the activity is too wide, resulting in the activity not continually maximising younger children's learning. For example, during one circle time activity all children sit and engage in the initial activity of welcoming all children to the group and they all actively join in with the singing. When the structure of the activity increases to looking at the letter sound associated with

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who attend

children's names, this clearly provides good levels of challenge to the older children. However, for younger children the activity because too structured and set at too high of a level for their developmental needs, resulting in these children's attention and concentration diminishes at this point in the activity. Children are more effectively grouped for key person adult-led activities, resulting in these experiences being more effectively structured to support each child's learning. For example, children aged four years design and make their own patterns when colouring. For a child showing slightly less knowledge of patterns, the member of staff differentiates the activity into a visually stimulating experience as she use a game with coloured counters to help the child to recognise and then make their own patterns. Children aged two and three years, play outside and engage in a structured activity where they use large bricks to make different structures

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who attend

discussing positional language like over and under. Some children make balancing beams which they carefully walk across and others made a hutch for the rabbits. The member of staff engages children and extends their learning by encouraging them to find their own solutions to any problems which arise. This effectively promotes children's creating and critical thinking.

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who attend

The indoor and outdoor environments provide children with a wide range of activities and experiences, which promote all areas of learning. During outside play, children wear waterproof suits, enabling them to be outside at all times of the year and to safety engage in lots of messy play experiences. Children have fun in the mud kitchen and they dig and explore in the sand. They also use their imagination well when re-enacting the popular children's story about the three little pigs, using a large cardboard box which they had previously decorated and made into a house. Inside, children also develop their exploration and investigation skills when touching and feeling the texture of rice pudding and paint. Younger children enjoy feeling the paint on their hands as they move this around the table. Whereas older children are more focused on mixing the colours of paint together to make new colours and with making marks in the paint using their fingers.

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who attend

Children request to have some paper as they proceed to develop and extend their own play as they begin to make marks and prints on to their paper. Children continually remain actively engaged and focused in their play, which effectively supports their good learning.

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

Children are happy, settled and show secure emotional attachments to their key person and the small staff team. The provider has recently introduced home visits which are working exceptionally well in supporting children's transition into the setting. Children feel more confident as they immediately recognise the provider as someone how has visited them at home. This enables children to quickly settle as they develop a close bond with the provider. Comprehensive information is obtained on children's needs and requirements when they first start, ensuring each child's key person provides individualised care to promote the inclusion of every child. Children are encouraged to use good manners and the majority of children behave well as staff act as positive role models. For children who display challenging behaviour, staff work with parents to adopt consistent strategies so that children receive clear messages about what is expected of them. Staff provide

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

children with thinking time, where children are taken away from the situation and encouraged to consider what they have done and why this was not appropriate. Staff then get down to the child's level and discuss their behaviour with them, supporting them to learn the difference between right from wrong. Children's social skills are developing well as they begin to play more cooperatively with their peers. Babies enjoy the company of the other children, often watching them as they play. As children get slightly older they begin to play alongside their peers, until they finally begin to interact and form secure friendships with their peers.

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

Children's well-being is effectively maintained and their awareness of health and safety promoted well. Children engage in daily outdoor play opportunities, developing their physical skills. They learn about the benefits of eating healthily and the importance of exercise through discussions, positive reinforcement and planned activities. Younger children's good manners are promoted at snack and meal times as one child is chosen to be the helper who serves the food and drinks to their peers. Older children sit and prepare their own snack, learning how to use specialist safely knifes to chop their own fruit. This helps children to take responsibility for keeping themselves and others safe in a controlled environment under the close supervision of staff. Children are encouraged to become independent with their health and self-care needs as they progress and develop. An accessible sink within the main playroom, enables even the youngest of children to begin

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

to develop good hand washing practices as part of the daily routine. All of this provides children with the necessary skills they need for starting school. Staff further support children to be emotionally ready for starting school through discussions and through visits to their new setting. Information relating to children's progress is passed onto the child's new setting, including school, to enable them to continue to support children's good learning. This all contributes to children making a seamless transition to school.

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provision

Children are safeguarded through the implementation of effective practices and procedures. The provider has clear recruitment vetting and induction procedures to ensure the suitability of all staff working with children. Ongoing performance management of staff, including the use of supervisions and appraisals helps the provider to maintain good standards, through identifying each member of staffs ongoing training needs. Most staff are currently working to improve their level of qualification and the provider is an effective role model who demonstrates some highly effective teaching practice. This results in staff continuing to build their own skills and knowledge as they become more effective practitioners, which maintains good standards of care and learning for all children. The provider works in the setting as the day-to-day manager and she spends a high proportion of time working in the setting. She also operates a childminding provision from the same

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provision

address but at separate times. Each provision, therefore, has different requirements which the provider is responsible for meeting. The provider mainly operates her childcare business during pre-school hours and her childminding business at the beginning and end of the day. The provider employs a suitably qualified deputy to oversee the running of the childcare provision in her absence and her husband who is also a suitably qualified practitioner, works in the setting as and when required to ensure ratios are maintained. When she is providing a childminding service, the provider has the agreement of parents that an assistant can be left in sole charge of the children for up to two hours in a day. Information relating to when the provider is providing childcare or childminding is clearly shared with parents. This ensures the provider meets the associated requirements for both of her provisions. Children's health and safety is maintained as they play in a clean,

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provision

well-maintained secure setting. Staff implement clear health and hygiene routines to minimise the risk of cross-infection. Deployment of staff is good, resulting in children being constantly supervised. Risk assessments are conducted on all areas children use and for outings, to ensure potential hazards are identified and minimised. The setting has a clear safeguarding children policy and procedure which staff fully understand and would action if they suspected a child was being abused or neglected. This helps to protect children from potential harm.

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provision

The provider manages her setting well, overseeing the staff team to ensure requirements are met in all areas. She continually works hard to develop the service she provides, using a clear process of self-evaluation to monitor the effectiveness of the settings practices and procedures. Everyone contributes to this process and this provides a good overview of the whole provision and leads to the identification of clear targets requiring further improvement. The providers action plans detail the improvements she has made since moving to her new setting, which have enhanced children's care and learning in different areas. The action plan is something which is continually added to, providing everyone with clear focus as they work together to drive and secure continuous improvements. The provider also monitors the educational programmes to ensure every child is moving forward in their development.

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provision

Partnership working with parents, carers, other providers and agencies is good. This supports the inclusion of all children. The setting actively work with parents and outside agencies, sharing and exchanging information to ensure children's specific health care needs are met and to ensure support is provided for any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This ensures children do not fall behind in their development. Parents receive clear information on the setting and their children's daily care routines and progress. Information is constantly exchanged verbally, through noticeboard displays, newsletters and emails. The provider continually listens and responds to parents requests. For example, a few parents advised the provider that they were finding it difficult to get their children's haircut, so the provider arranged for a local hairdresser to come into the setting and to cut any of the children's hair if parents had given permission. Children's

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provision

progress books are regularly sent home and provide detailed information on each child's progress and development. Parents are encouraged to contribute to this process by sharing information relating to their child's interest and achievements from home. The setting encourage the regular exchange of information between settings when the care of children is shared, to ensure children benefit from continuity of care and learning. Parents confirm they are happy with the setting and the information they receive.

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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 EY463857 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 921192 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childcare - Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 25

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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Telephone number

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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