Willow Tree Nursery

Willow Tree Nursery 2 Chapel Road, Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/12/2013 17/03/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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 are happy and enthusiastic about participating in nursery experiences. They confidently lead their own play with supportive adults who encourage them to follow their interests.  The environment is well resourced which enables children to use it independently. They do this with confidence, supporting development across all areas of learning.  Children have long periods of access to a safe, enclosed well resourced outside area in all weathers.  Children are learning to recognise and understand their feelings and those of others through planned learning experiences.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 At times, younger children do not have opportunities to be fully included in group activities.  During small group time experiences staff do not always make the most of potential learning opportunities to challenge all children.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the 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

 Viewed documentation.  Joint observations carried out.  Discussion with managers, staff and parents undertaken.

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Information about the setting

Willow Tree Nursery is one of eight nurseries run by Countryside Nurseries. It registered in 1995 and operates from three fully accessible rooms attached to Carrington Junior School, Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire.. It is open all year round from 7.45 am to 6.00 pm. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Registers. There are currently 40 children aged from two and a half to under five years on roll. Children come from the local area. The nursery supports children who learn English as an additional language and they can support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs nine childcare staff. One of which hold QTS qualification, one member of staff with EYP status, three with level 3 early years qualifications and four are working towards a early years qualification.

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

 further develop staff skills to support the youngest children at group times

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

 develop the use of language and open ended questioning further to support children to think critically.

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who attend

Children progress well because they are motivated to learn during their play in this well resourced, stimulating environment. Staff encourage children to use the environment independently with staff encouraging children to follow their interests, lead their own play and develop their own ideas. For Example, children create their own hospital and waiting area for expectant mums. Children are able to easily locate resources to support their learning through play including mats, doctor's kits, dressing up resources and pens and paper that also help to extend their imaginative play.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to explore and experiment in the outside area, rolling balls down different lengths of guttering, for example. This means children can predict and consider their actions in identifying which balls will fit and where they will end up. This supports their problem solving abilities. During child initiated play, staff are deployed around the three rooms to encourage children to engage in their chosen areas, alongside supportive staff. For example, children are engaged for long lengths of time with a member of staff playing board games. This helps children to develop skills around maths, turn taking and following instructions.

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who attend

Children benefit from using a well equipped writing area, often independently, during child initiated play. This enables children to have daily opportunities to write for a variety of purposes and with spontaneity. However, there is scope to build on these activities further to consider how all children, in particular boys and younger children, could be encouraged to develop early writing skills more often in their play. Staff support children's language and communication skills through reading stories, singing and by their interactions during play. Some staff use open ended questions and this encourages children to use more language and share their views and experiences. However, while staff facilitate some whole group experiences, on occasions these experiences are not age appropriate for younger children meaning they lose interest. For example, at story time younger children become disengaged when a complex story is shared with the whole group.

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who attend

Staff gather information from parents and their feeder setting to inform children's starting points and their initial assessments of children. They use regular observations, children's interests and areas identified, in their ongoing assessments to plan for the individual children. This means staff can identify when children may be struggling in any areas of learning and address it accordingly. For example, planning targeted experiences to support skills, discussing with parents and involving additional professionals if appropriate.

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who attend

Staff use ongoing assessments and their knowledge of their key children to plan adult led focussed experiences for children, on occasions these experiences lack enough planning and focus resulting in children not being encouraged to build on existing or gain additional skills. For example, staff don't always use language and questioning to further support children to think critically and to have their own ideas. Children normally start at age related levels, make good progress across all areas of learning and on some occasions above their age related age expected development. Generally children's key person's demonstrate they have a secure knowledge of their children and are able to plan appropriate experiences to build on their learning and identify any gaps.

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

The setting operates a well embedded buddy key person system that means each child always has their key person present when they are dropped off and collected from the setting. This results in children building secure attachments and that settling in to the setting is smooth and quick for children and parents. Staff are good role models and the children display high levels of self esteem. The children regularly engage confidently in interactions between other children and adults. Children behave well and staff understand their role in responding consistently to children. This results in children having a secure knowledge of their routine, boundaries and how to build relationships with others.

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

The outdoor environment is well used by the children who move between inside and outside as they wish. The experiences provided outdoors encourage children to explore their surroundings, experiment and investigate. This shows that staff understand the importance of children learning through being active; involved in outdoor play and the impact this has on supporting them to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Staff demonstrate that they know how to keep children safe and also help children to think about how to keep themselves safe. For example, children are involved in assessing the risks in the garden daily. Each day a child is given responsibility to wear a high visibility jacket and take the clip board to look for hazards.

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

Children have access to drinking water and fresh, well balanced meals that are prepared on site by the nursery cook. Children are involved in setting the table at meal times, serving their food, for example, and staff encourage children to have a go at cutting their own food.

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

Children also develop their independence and self help skills when putting on their own coats, blowing their own noses and using the bathroom. Staff are on hand to offer encouragement and support when needed meaning that children have the opportunities to learn skills for themselves. The setting has a strong focus on the development of personal, social and emotional skills of children. The use of empathy dolls with children has enabled children to think about their feelings and the feelings of others. For example, children introduce Emily and Eric the Doll and describe how they like to play with kind children.

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provision

Leaders at the setting demonstrate a clear knowledge and understanding of the learning and development and welfare requirements. Effective safeguarding arrangements are in place. All staff have attended safeguarding training and confidently know the action to take and whom to contact if they have any concerns about a child's welfare or well-being. All required policies and procedures, that support the effective operation and management of the setting, are in place and reviewed regularly.

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provision

The leader follows safe recruitment procedures and an induction and appraisal system supports the development and ongoing monitoring of staff performance. There is a strong focus around staff training to enhance their professional development. This has particular focus around training that is specific to the staff needs and based on the current cohort of children's needs. This helps staff to keep updated, in order to help children learn and make progress. For example, the manager describes the recent focus and training provided for staff on supporting children around personal, emotional and development and how this has impacted on the progress and outcomes for children.

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provision

The manager has processes in place to monitor the quality of observation, assessment and planning for children. This means that she is able to ensure that children are making progress and appropriate planning is in place, this also involves identifying areas where intervention my be required. For example, the manager describes how assessments and observations have highlighted a concern around a child's language development and the steps that have been taken to address this.

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provision

The manager regularly works alongside her staff, enabling her to assess their performance and monitor the educational provision for children. She plans to develop this monitoring further by introducing a staff observation programme and a more robust tracking and monitoring process to enable her to track children's progress more rigorously. The setting has built strong relationships with parents and questionnaires are used well to support their ongoing evaluation of the setting. Parents describe the leadership as strong and feel they are kept informed of their children's progress regularly. This is further established by the use of daily diary sheets, regular reviewing of their child's learning journals and a more formal meeting with their child's key person every six months.

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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 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 116736 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 825125 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 25 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Countryside Nurseries LLP Partnership Date of previous inspection 17/03/2010 Telephone number 01628 533445

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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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