Rainbow Day Nursery

Rainbow Day Nursery Westgate Primary School, Summerhill Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2LP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/11/2013 26/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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

 The staff work well together as a team and this helps to ensure there is a warm and welcoming environment for the children. Consequently, children are happy and secure.  There is a variety of learning opportunities for the children, and consequently they are making sound progress in their learning overall.  The progress check for two year old children has been implemented well to identify children's individual needs and support these children's next steps in learning.

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It is not yet good because

 The nursery failed to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements in reporting information about significant changes at the nursery; they have also failed to follow their recruitment procedure to thoroughly vet a member of staff.  The quality of teaching is not consistent across the year groups. Consequently, at times children's language and communication skills are not well supported.

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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 held discussions with staff members.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of children with the manager.  The inspector talked with parents and considered their views.  The inspector had a discussion with the manager and senior managers.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a range of relevant documentation including children's records, assessment and planning documents, and some policies.  The inspector observed children's activities, resources and displays.

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Information about the setting

Rainbow Day Nursery opened in 1985. It is run by Rainbow Day Nursery Early Years Centre Ltd, and operates from a purpose built premises, which has wheelchair access, in Dartford, Kent. The nursery is open each weekday from 6.45am to 6pm, all year round. All children share access to secure, enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery employs 31 members of staff to work directly with children, of whom 22 hold appropriate early years qualifications. Currently there are 177 on roll in the nursery, most of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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must:

 ensure there are effective systems in place to make sure that all practitioners are suitable to care for children

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must:

 follow and implement the safeguarding policy and procedures to ensure children's welfare is safeguarded effectively at all times

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must:

 ensure that all staff have a suitable knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements for the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and that there is consistency in teaching across the age ranges so that all staff support children's learning well.

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

 develop monitoring of staff supervision, so that all staff are able to provide quality interactions with children to fully promote their learning.

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who attend

The staff offer children a generally welcoming and supportive environment in which they can play and learn. The children are happy and secure and this helps them settle well and separate from their parents. The staff know the children well and ensure that they treat them with kindness and respect. They support children generally well and help them develop knowledge and skills in preparation for their transfer to school. The majority of staff have a generally good understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, however the quality of teaching is not always consistent. In particular, the staff working with two and three year old children do not question them effectively and therefore this group of children do not achieve their full potential.

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who attend

The majority of children enjoy a wide range of interesting activities across all areas of learning. There is a strong emphasis on developing children's personal, social and emotional skills so that they become self-confident and learn to share and take turns. Babies and toddlers have good attachments to adults and enjoy the company of their peers. They develop good concentration skills when they listen to stories and explore the texture of a flour and baby oil mixture. The adults in the baby room are very attentive and respond sensitively, encouraging children to express themselves and learn new words. Similarly older children in the pre-school room are active learners and enjoy the challenge of planting and watering fruits and vegetables in the garden. They also investigate the lives and habitats of snails and beetles in their 'bug hunting area'. These activities are planned well to support children to learn about the environment and these older children

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who attend

gain good skills that prepare them for school. They also learn to count and sort objects and to write their own names. All children in the nursery enjoy the stimulation of books and songs and staff ensure that they respond quickly to read with them in the book corners organised in all the rooms. The staff make generally good use of resources to support learning and the children learn to respect them and tidy them away at the end of the session.

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who attend

Children are free to make choices and play creatively for most of the day, and they also engage in focused group activities. Staff manage daily routines to enable children to have social interaction and to teach them to behave well. There is a good range of equipment outdoors to encourage children to learn to climb, catch and throw, and to direct wheeled toys.

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who attend

The majority of children develop good concentration skills and they receive the praise and encouragement to complete activities, such as jigsaw puzzles or the pumpkin paintings that are displayed for everyone to enjoy. Staff provide well for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities by working closely with other professionals to support the children's care and learning. Children who learn English as an additional language make good progress because they are supported with dual language books, and adults learn simple words in children's home language to help them settle.

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who attend

The staff team have developed manageable systems for observing and assessing children's skills and this is helping them plan the programme of activities to support children's learning. Overall, they effectively use their knowledge to meet children's individual needs. Staff complete the progress check for two-year-old children well, and share it with parents so they are aware of how their children are developing. Parents also have good opportunities to comment on the educational programmes as they are informed about the progress of the children's learning each week. This helps them develop confidence in supporting their children's learning at home.

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

The staff are warm, welcoming and work well together as a team, and this has a positive impact on children's behaviour and their happiness in the nursery. There are good relationships with parents and they are supported well to encourage their children's learning at home. The older children are able to express their needs well, using simple words and short sentences. Staff are responsive to the facial expressions and behaviour of the babies so that they can provide for their needs and reduce anxiety. Staff spend time finding out about children's interests and skills, and this results in them being able to meet children's needs and promote their well-being. However, recruitment procedures are not robust enough as not all appropriate references were obtained for a member of staff to ensure they were thoroughly vetted. As a result, children's well-being was not fully assured.

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

The key person system works effectively to maximise children's ability to settle and enjoy their time at the setting. Children participate in the meaningful routines that involve them in group activities and they look forward to the social experiences of sitting together for snacks and lunch. Children know from the start of the day what they can do as their parents leave them. There is a calm beginning to the day when children make choices about what they want to do and adults move around the room to support them. Children develop generally good concentration skills as they are supported well to engage in activities.

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

Parents are offered home visits, as well as the settling-in sessions, to ensure that their children feel secure when they leave them. Parents say that their children enjoy attending the nursery and that they value being updated about their progress through weekly home books. They also say that their children show interest in carrying on activities at home that they have practised at nursery.

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

There are high expectations for children's behaviour and generally staff make good use of recognition and praise to acknowledge children behaving well. This helps children understand what is right and what is wrong, and their behaviour is consistently good. The older children use the toilets and wash their hands independently. They also learn to tidy up and prepare the tables for lunch, setting out the plates, knives and forks for themselves and their friends. The older children eat happily in small groups and they enjoy the social experience of snack time. They eat healthy, appetising snacks, such as fruit and milk, and staff cater appropriately for any special dietary needs. The snacks and lunches are nutritious and prepared on site by the cook. Children learn to use tools, including spoons, forks and knives safely.

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

The children develop healthy habits by taking fresh air and physical exercise on a range of challenging equipment each day. Staff follow hygienic nappy changing procedures, which helps babies feel comfortable and reduces the risks of cross infection. Overall, staff prepare children well for their move to primary school. The setting has good relationships with a number of local schools and teachers visit children before they move to their reception classes. This helps make the transfer to school seamless for the children. Staff encourage children to learn about the variety of cultures in their community. Parents support them in this by reading stories in different languages, and by joining in the celebrations of a variety of traditional festivals.

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provision

This inspection took place following information provided to Ofsted that raised concerns about the suitability of staff, and staff qualifications, training and skills. The provider has failed to follow a robust recruitment procedure to ensure staff suitability. This is a breach of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register. The provider did follow the appropriate disciplinary procedure, once information came to light to prevent unsuitable persons having further contact with children. However, they did not follow the nursery policy and procedures for safeguarding children and share these concerns with Ofsted as required. On this occasion, Ofsted do not intend to take further action with regard to the non-notification.

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provision

Children are well looked after by staff. The staff carry out thorough daily risk assessments covering all areas, resources and equipment, including outings, to help protect children. They have a good knowledge of safeguarding matters and are fully aware of procedures to follow if they have concerns about children's welfare. Management ensures that a range of satisfactory policies and procedures are in place to protect children from harm, including behaviour management, equal opportunities and safeguarding. Generally comprehensive checks on new staff ensure they are suitable for their roles to work with children, which helps keep children safe and happy.

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provision

Staff have opportunities to develop their skills by attending training courses and by using the support of the advisors from the local authority. Yearly appraisals identify the individual needs of the staff. Management supervise staff regularly and this helps them identify any areas of underperformance. However, supervision of the quality of teaching is not thorough and there is therefore inconsistent teaching across the nursery. For example, adults interaction with two and three year old children does not support them well to develop good communication skills.

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provision

Overall, management has made good efforts to review the consistency of planning and assessment. The progress check for children aged two has been developed well, and is used to identify the individual needs of children. The staff record children's progress against all the areas of learning using developmental guidance documents to help them identify the next steps for children's learning. They also collect examples of evidence to illustrate children's progress and annotate these to comment on what children have done. Most children are making good progress by the time they leave to go to primary school, as they are well supported in their last year at nursery.

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provision

The staff team meets formally once a month to review planning and to discuss the curriculum and training opportunities as they arise. There are also weekly meetings for each room to catch-up with what groups of staff have been doing, and to discuss children's progress. There is a strong commitment by senior management to improve expectations for children's learning, and parents are engaged positively to support their children at home. The organisation of the environment is generally good and the resources, particularly outside, are used well to promote learning opportunities for the children.

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provision

Partnerships with other organisations are generally good and these have a positive impact on children's learning. For instance, speech and language therapists support children's acquisition of language where required, and their participation in group work. Parents are well informed about their children's progress and their views have a positive impact on the nursery. They receive weekly home books about what their children have been doing and termly reports to let them what their children have achieved. Previous inspection actions have been successfully met, and the supervision of children ensures that they are safe and secure both indoors and outside.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure there are effective systems to make sure any person caring for children is suitable to work with children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure there are effective systems to make sure any person caring for children is suitable to work with children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 127485 Local authority Kent Inspection number 938389 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 12 Total number of places 148 Number of children on roll 177 Name of provider Rainbow Day Nursery (Early Years Centre Ltd) Date of previous inspection 26/06/2013 Telephone number 01322 270909 / 290680

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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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