Holwell Nursery School

Holwell Nursery School & Holwell Holiday Club Holwell Primary School, Crouch Lane, Holwell, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 5LP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/12/2013 21/02/2011

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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 requires improvement

 Children develop positive relationships with staff and enjoy their time at nursery.  Children benefit from regular and varied outdoor play involving a variety of exploratory experiences.  Staff identify children's developmental achievements and next steps to help them make progress in all areas of learning.  Partnership with parents is encouraged and parents feel well supported.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not plan a good range of activities to fully support and challenge children's learning during play to help them make good progress.  Staff lack a good understanding of the characteristics of effective learning to enable them to fully support the different ways that children learn.  Staff do not consistently support children's needs to a good level in each room to promote their care, learning and development.  The management do not make good use of performance management or use a rigorous system for self-evaluation to clearly identify strengths and weaknesses and drive improvement in the quality of the provision.

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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 children's activities in the baby room, toddler room, pre- school room and outdoor area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager, committee chair, and other members of staff.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, staff records, planning and a range of other documentation.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Holwell Nursery School and Holwell Holiday Club registered in 1993 and is committee run. The nursery operates from the old village school building situated in the village of Holwell, Sherborne, in Dorset. Children have use of two playrooms, a sleep room and toilet facilities within the main building. There is a portacabin in the grounds for toddlers. The outside area has paved, grassed and safety surfaced sections and is enclosed all round, providing different areas for physical play. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 52 children on roll in the early years age range. Older children aged up to 12 years may attend the holiday club. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. It is open each weekday from 8am to 5.30pm for 50 weeks of the year, closing for two weeks at Christmas. The

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Information about the setting

holiday club operates each weekday from 8am to 5.30pm during the school holidays. There are nine staff who work with the children, including the manager. The manager and deputy manager hold early years degrees. Five staff hold relevant qualifications at level 3 and two staff hold qualifications at level 2.

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must:

 increase all staff's understanding of how to implement the characteristics of effective learning to support and challenge children to think critically, play and explore through active learning

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must:

 plan activities targeting individual children's next steps, ensuring there are good levels of challenge so that effective learning can take place across all aspects of development.

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

 offer consistent and good levels of support to children across rooms that is tailored to their individual needs especially during times of transition

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

 foster a culture of continuous improvement by using a rigorous process of staff performance management and self-evaluation to effectively identify strengths and weaknesses in the provision.

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who attend

Children enjoy a spacious and welcoming environment. They are able to make choices about the resources they would like to play with. For instance, children in the pre-school room choose dressing up clothes, painting at an easel and exploring with dinosaurs and various wooden blocks on the floor. Children are free to follow their interests and staff satisfactorily join them in their play. This results in children feeling generally at ease and enjoying their environment. Chosen activities are generally interesting with mixed levels of individual challenge for the children. However, staff lack a good understanding of how to consistently extend activities with the children. This is because they do not use open- ended questions or introduce good ideas to further challenge the children's exploration, critical thinking and active learning.

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who attend

Staff support toddlers well with lots of affirming interactions and cuddles readily offered to help children feel secure. Staff invite children to choose a song to sing and they quickly select 'sleeping bunnies'. All children follow the guidance from staff to join in the actions to the song, learning to move their bodies with control. There are squeals of delight when children reach the point in the song where the bunnies hop. Staff extend the activity by allowing children to name another animal that can sleep and then wake. A monkey is chosen, resulting in children providing the actions of a monkey. Children use words and actions to express their delight while staff support them through reflecting their words and adding to them. This enables children to use the words they know and add new ones. Children are confident within the environment making their needs and choices known to staff. Staff respond sensitively to children's interests and develop them further. For

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who attend

instance when children want to look at a book by themselves they are given space to do this, while others wish their story to be read aloud by staff. Children also enjoy the freedom to look at their own books or listen to the story to develop their literacy skills.

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who attend

Children explore the outdoor environment with enthusiasm, choosing from sit-on cars, chalks, diggers, and a playhouse. There are a number of zones for children to explore and staff are active in their support of children's interests. This allows children to make active choices within the environment. Using a key person approach staff make regular observations of their key children's achievements and identify next steps of development to help children to make progress. However, while staff show knowledge of their key children and are able to identify their next steps, they do not use this information efficiently to inform planning. While children are able to make positive choices based on current interests staff do not actively identify and plan for gaps in areas of their key children's development. This has an impact on children's learning opportunities.

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who attend

Through the key person system parents are encouraged to share information about their child and learn of their child's progress. Parents are invited to meet with their key person at regular intervals and feel fully supported by staff in the information that is shared. This results in the key person having a deeper knowledge of their children. Staff work closely with families of children who have additional learning needs, in order to ensure appropriate support is in place to meet the child's specific needs. The nursery works in co- operation with other agencies to promote a unified approach to each child's care.

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

Staff provide warm interactions with children which means that children form secure attachments to staff. For instance babies and young children are free to explore toys nearby while their staff member is in sight. The children use their whole bodies to reach and explore a range of textures and pop up toys. This allows young children to expand their range of exploratory experiences while remaining secure. There are occasions when staff's interactions and support levels are not good, resulting in a temporary lessening of confidence for some children, especially as they move around the nursery. Staff are positive and warm when speaking to children. This means children feel able to approach staff to express their needs and preferences. Children's behaviour reflects the positive role modelling shown by staff.

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

Children eat a choice of snack. They are encouraged to make healthy choices and staff support them to think about foods that are healthy, and food that make them healthy. For instance, during snack children eat raisins and mention that cucumbers are healthy too. The staff member asks what makes a cucumber healthy and the children proudly say, 'because it can make me big and strong'. The staff member continues the conversation, drawing other children into the discussion. This enables children to share ideas and learn new information about healthy foods. Children respond enthusiastically during these times, taking turns to listen and speak to one another. As a result children are able to extend their knowledge and understanding of healthy choices. Through the routine of the nursery children are encouraged to gain greater levels of independence. For instance, during snack time children are encouraged to give out plates and cups. The staff also invite them to

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

pour drinks for their friends. This results in children gaining confidence in emerging skills of independence.

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

Staff offer gentle reminders to children of how to keep each other safe, such as making sure there is enough space for each to lie safely during the 'sleeping bunnies' song. Children have clear expectations about taking turns and sharing, and demonstrate this in their free flow play times. Staff show a consistent expectation of positive behaviour in sharing and caring which is demonstrated when a child's building project gets knocked. Staff offer a gentle reminder about the need to take care around other people's special things. Children say 'sorry' and an acceptance of this is seen as both children resume playing peacefully and confidently. This means children understand that they are valued and can feel safe and confident within the nursery.

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provision

Staff understand their responsibility to support children to make progress across all areas of learning and development as identified in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This is seen in the systems used by staff to capture the progress of their key children and identify next steps. However, staff lack a good understanding of how to plan challenging activities for children that support their individual ways of learning well so they make good progress.

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provision

The manager is committed to providing a creative environment for the children. This is demonstrated by the plans for the further improvement of the kitchen and replacement of the baby room. These improvements will further enhance the children's environment, enabling them to enjoy a creative and nurturing space to play and explore in. However, the management team does not display a good understanding of how to critically evaluate and use reflective practices to identify strengths and weaknesses in the provision and drive improvement in the outcomes for children.

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provision

Suitable recruitment and vetting procedures mean that all staff are appropriately qualified and suitable to work with children. Thorough induction processes are in place and staff are fully informed of policies and procedures that are in place to support them with their role and responsibilities in caring for the children. For instance staff show clear knowledge about how to keep children safe through the implementation of the collection of children policy. Policies and procedures are in place and regularly updated in line with national guidelines. Adequate arrangements are in place to safeguard children as staff understand the signs that may indicate concerns about children's well-being, and the reporting procedures to follow to help keep a child safe. Staff are deployed appropriately to the number and age range of children attending each session and in different rooms. There are systems in place for the ongoing supervision and appraisal of staff. However,

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provision

management rely on staff identifying their own areas of professional development, rather than working with them. They do not effectively use performance management systems to identify priorities to improve the staff's practice and knowledge, to support good outcomes for children.

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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 139383 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 841358 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 52 Name of provider Holwell Nursery School Committee Date of previous inspection 21/02/2011 Telephone number 01963 23368

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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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