Ashford Play Nursery

Ashford Play Nursery 43 Albert Road, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8NU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/12/2013 11/03/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Children flourish in this welcoming and happy nursery. Children have good relationships with staff, which help to them to settle quickly. Children show high levels of confidence, behave well and are motivated to learn because they feel secure.  The management and staff team are committed to continually developing and improving the nursery provision. They monitor their practice closely and take effective steps to ensure positive outcomes for children.  Staff plan a wide range of activities and experiences, which stimulate children's play. Children make good progress in their learning and development because of good teaching.  All staff know children's levels of development and are able to support every child regardless of whether they are the child's key person or not.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not use the outdoor environment fully to encourage children to investigate or to have resources available to encourage spontaneous learning.  Staff do not promote all opportunities for children to recognise print around the nursery environment to further encourage early reading skills in readiness for school.

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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 and the manager jointly observed garden play.  The inspector spoke to parents to seek their views on the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documentation including children's development journals and some policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the provider, manager and staff, and talked with children.

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Information about the setting

Ashford Play Nursery opened in 1971 and registered with Ofsted in 2001. It is one of a chain of three privately owned nurseries. It is registered to provide care for 44 children from two years of age to the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage and is registered on the Early Years Register, the compulsory part of the Childcare Register and the voluntary part of the Childcare Register

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Information about the setting

The nursery operates from the ground floor of a house in central Ashford in Kent. Downstairs, there are four main play rooms, cloakrooms, a kitchen and office/staff room. There is a garden available for outside play. Access is by two steps into the property and a set of steps to access the garden. There are currently 56 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery opens five days a week for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 8am, by arrangement, or from 8.30am to 5.30pm. Eight staff are employed to work directly with the children, excluding the owner. The manager holds a relevant National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 4, the supervisor and one other staff also hold relevant NVQs at level 4. and all but one of the remaining staff hold a relevant level 3 NVQ. A volunteer with qualified teacher status volunteers at the setting and a cook, who holds a food hygiene qualification at level 2 is employed to plan and provide the meals

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Information about the setting

and snacks. All staff are first aid trained and hold a current paediatric first aid qualification.

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

 develop garden resources to allow more spontaneous learning and better use of the garden

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

 increase print around the nursery to encourage early reading skills.

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who attend

Staff welcome all children into the nursery. Staff build strong relationships with families from a good settling in process which ensures individual children receive a key person who understands their needs. They plan and provide interesting varied educational programmes that help all children make good progress in their learning and development. This variety includes working with a parent to arrange a fire engine visit and entering a painting competition with a local business. Staff have developed an observation system to record children's achievements and use this to identify the next steps for their learning, so they make progress. Children's personal, social and emotional development is good. Children learn a wide range of skills and positive attitudes to ensure they are well prepared for the next stage of learning and their eventual move to school. All children listen attentively to staff during

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who attend

group times; they speak confidently and enjoy the company of all staff. The staff are good role models for the children's behaviour. They encourage children to put their coats away when coming in from the garden and to tidy toys away before dinner time. The staff also model good social skills to children because they work in a harmonious way with each other. Children of all ages happily choose from the good variety of activities offered. They confidently move between rooms as they keep themselves busy and are well occupied whilst being supported by well-deployed staff.

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who attend

Staff skilfully support children's language and communication development. For example, when the children recall the visit from the fire brigade, one child recalls 'We do 999 if we need a fire engine'. The children remember the sound the fire engine made. They mimic the sound and pretend to be a fire engine 'rushing to a fire'. As a result, children extend their vocabularies.

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who attend

Children learn to recognise their names as they 'sign in' to nursery. They find their name tags and place these on the wall to let everyone know they are present. Older children know the first letter of their name. However, staff do not take all opportunities to promote children's understanding that print carries meaning, such as through enriching the environment with text. Staff are aware of children's development stages regardless whether they are the child's key person or not. For example, children who prefer to play in quieter areas are supported by any staff member who know how to sensitively join alongside their play, skilfully encouraging their thinking by asking simple questions.

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who attend

Children enjoy a 'circle time' in the garden, They listen to staff when engaging in an adult- led activity. The children are happy to follow an adult's direction; however, such activity restricts spontaneous play and the discovery of the natural resources in the outdoor environment. The outdoor environment is not as stimulating as the indoor play space. Its use is restricted because staff are reluctant to use it in colder weather. This in turn affects learning of those children who prefer to learn outdoors. Some resources, such as crates and tyres, do not need to be protected in cold weather and can be readily available for children to explore and play with. In summer months the area is better used and children experience growing vegetables, which develops knowledge of the outdoor environment and an understanding of how food can be produced.

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who attend

Staff help children to count and understand the meaning of number. For example, a child was using his finger to point and count six small plastic bears. He counted to five. The staff member suggested that they count the bears together. The child started at the beginning and the staff member pointed with the child to each bear, who counted accurately to six.. Both clapped with joy. This shows how staff support the individual learning needs of children.

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who attend

Children enjoy singing rhymes and practising Christmas carols. They have confidence to sing aloud, knowing the words and actions to many songs. Good story telling by staff means that children listen to stories carefully due to the varying tones of voice staff use to make the stories exciting and interesting. This skilled story telling means children learn to enjoy books in readiness for going to school.

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

Staff have very good relationships with children and each other. Children come in happily and greet each other as they arrive. Staff are very sensitive to children's individual needs. They support new children very effectively, allowing them to settle and gain confidence at their own pace and build good bonds with key persons who meet their needs. This means that they support children's emotional and physical well-being. Staff are calm and patient in their approach. They provide clear guidance for all children and make sure they are familiar with expectations. This shows in the children's behaviour which is good.

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

The staff make the nursery welcoming with a very homely feel which helps children feel secure and settled so they are ready to explore and play. For example, three rooms are set up with nursery equipment and the fourth room replicates a home with sofas, a guarded fireplace, carpeting and a large Christmas tree. Children enjoy relaxing and resting, which t contributes to meeting children's needs.

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

Staff promote children's understanding of healthy practices. Children are gently reminded to wash their hands before meal times with little fuss, which demonstrates good hygiene routines. Children take themselves to the toilet and staff discreetly provide support and ensuring help is on hand should they need it. Staff give opportunities to children to have responsible jobs such as relaying messages to other staff. This helps children's confidence..

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

Children benefit from a varied, nutritious meals and snacks that are prepared on the premises by the cook. Any dietary needs are taken into account, so children's individual requirements are met. Children choose from a variety of fruits at snack time and enjoy healthy meals, such as pasta carbonara, peas and sweetcorn.

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provision

The provider makes sure that there are clear and effective arrangements to safeguard children's welfare. There is a comprehensive safeguarding policy and procedures which staff implement. The staff team is regularly reminded by management of their duty to protect children which helps to promote children's welfare effectively. Staff have regular opportunities for meetings with the manager. Together they identify training needs to enable all staff to update and expand their knowledge, so improving outcomes for children. A comprehensive process for induction ensures staff who care for children are suitable to do so. The nursery benefits from a well-established, well-qualified and experienced staff team who work in harmony to create a welcoming, homely environment.

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provision

The manager and supervisor work alongside staff, acting as good role models and observers of practice. Staff have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements. They have a broad, well-balanced educational programme for children that encourages children to explore the environment indoors; however, the outdoor space is less well used to promote exploratory play. Staff observe and record children's achievements, which these are then used to ensure children are making good progress overall in their learning.

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provision

Staff have very good relationships with parents, who are warmly welcomed into the nursery. Parents receive information about the nursery and the Early Years Foundation Stage as part of the settling in process. This approach helps parents to engage with their children's learning. Parents express their appreciation of the friendly, experienced and consistent staff team. Parents feel very confident that their children are safe, well cared for, happy and well prepared for the eventual move to school. Effective processes are in place to ensure schools receive details about the children as they make the move from nursery to school. Parents spoken to at the inspection were very forth coming with praise for the staff team, stating that all the staff 'work very hard and nothing is too much trouble'.

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provision

The manager has been keen to improve the service provided since the last inspection. The team has worked with their local authority professionals to improve the monitoring system, for example, to ensure information collected on children's development is recorded in children's learning journals. This improvement means that should a staff member leave the nursery, information on all children's development is not lost and progress in children's learning can continue.

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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 126981 Local authority Kent Inspection number 836193 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 44 Number of children on roll 66 Name of provider Valerie Webb Date of previous inspection 11/03/2010 Telephone number 01233 625301

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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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