Mary Poppins Day Nursery

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins, 26 The Green, Hasland, CHESTERFIELD, Derbyshire, S41 0LJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/10/2013 06/10/2009

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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 is satisfactory

 Children are happy and enjoy attending this welcoming child centred learning environment in which they are confident to express themselves.  Children feel safe and secure in their relationships with staff. The key person system supports engagement with parents, who are kept informed about their children's progress to enable them to further support their child's learning at home.  The recently upgraded outdoor play areas provide a wide range of activities to support children's learning and development.

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It is not yet good because

 Written permission is not always obtained from parents for the administration of medication, relating to nappy creams. As a result, the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are not fully met.  The monitoring of staff practice and care routines is not sufficiently robust to identify weaknesses to ensure quality is at a consistently high level.  The development of children's thinking skills is not consistently maximised because staff do not always ask open ended questions.

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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 three main playrooms and the outside play area, and completed a joint observation with the nursery's deputy manager and the nursery owner.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents as discussed with them during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a selection of documentation including the nursery's self- evaluation document, children's 'Special Books', planning documentation, risk assessments and written policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the owner, deputy manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The Mary Poppins Day Nursery and Nursery School was first registered in 1995 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from a partly purpose built and partly converted premises, in the Hasland area of Chesterfield. It is a privately owned nursery, which serves the local and wider communities. It is accessible to all children and access to the premises is via small steps and ramp to the front of the building. There are three enclosed areas available for outdoor play including a sensory garden and vegetable patch.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 17 members of child care staff. Of these, 14 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and three further members of staff currently hold a level 2 qualification and are working towards a level 3. The manager holds a Foundation Degree in Early Years and the owner is a qualified teacher. They also employ three ancillary staff. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round except for Bank Holidays. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 132 children attending who are in the early years age group. The children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four- year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special needs and/or disabilities. They have established links with other providers of early years care and education, and provide childcare for the local

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Information about the setting

children's centre. The nursery has a five star food hygiene rating from the local authority.

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must:

 implement effective measures to ensure parents always give written consent for the administration of medication including nappy creams.

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

 improve the monitoring of staff practice in relation to both teaching and daily care routines to ensure any weakness in staffs performance is tackled and there is consistent good quality practise across the nursery

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

 enhance opportunities for children to develop their thinking skills by extending the use of use of open-ended questions by all practitioners.

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who attend

Children are happy, confident and enjoy their time in this welcoming and friendly nursery. Staff are skilful practitioners who have a sound knowledge of the seven areas of learning and how young children learn. Children willingly leave their parents and choose what activity they wish to play with. Staff are attentive to their needs and know the children well. They gather information from parents about their children's preferences and capabilities before they start at the nursery. This enables them to form the children's starting points and plan for children's interests from when they start at nursery. Key persons continue to observe and assess the children while they play and use the information to plan for each child. This enables staff to clearly identify each child's level of ability, on which they continue to build. Ongoing observations are effectively used to monitor the progress children make.

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who attend

A summative assessment of progress is carried out every term to ensure children continue to make good progress. Staff use information they gain from these observations and assessments to identify next steps for each child to work towards. Each child has a personalised eight week plan, which is shared with parents. At the same time, parents are also given a target slip with details of their child's next steps and activities they can do at home. Parents receive a summary of learning and development every three months and this is followed by a parents evening. This ensures that parents are involved and knowledgeable about their children learning and development.

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who attend

The progress check at age two includes parents and informs them about their child's development in the three prime areas of learning. It is used well to identify any gaps in learning at an early stage, so that swift action can be taken. All children have a 'Special Book' which is the 'story of my learning' this contains all the observations and assessments as well as photographs and drawings and contribution from home. It develops into a lovely memento of children's time at the nursery and is appreciated by parents.

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who attend

All children make generally good progress towards the early learning goals. They enjoy attending the nursery because the staff provide a calm and stimulating learning environment, which values the input of parents. Staff set out resources in interesting ways that promote children's curiosity and their desire to explore and investigate. For example, young children throw balls up the slide to see who can throw it the highest and watch how fast it comes down or throw balls into a tray of rain water to watch the splash. Children enjoy all forms of creative work, such as, painting, model making and playing with play dough. An older child wanted to paint a winter picture and white paint was provided by staff, the child was encouraged to mix the paint independently and then carefully painted a snowman. Toddlers enjoy paining with their feet as they are gently encouraged to feel the paint between their toes and are then supported to make foot prints on the paper.

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who attend

Some children who did not wish to make foot prints were encouraged to use there hands or walk in the paint in rain boots. Staff adapted the activity to take into account each child's individual needs. Children use their mathematical knowledge well during daily play activities when they talk about colours, shapes and sizes. Staff support children's counting skills during everyday activities. For example, children count the number of bricks in the tower and discuss shapes as they play on the computer. All children develop their understating of technology to aid them in their future learning and development. This starts in the baby room with, for example, push-button toys which make musical sounds and older children utilise drawing and educational programmes on the computers.

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who attend

Staff balance child-initiated and adult-led activities well to support children's ongoing progress and development. The staff engage the children in conversations, to introduce new words through their play and activities. Most staff use open-ended questions, mainly giving the children time to respond and describe their experiences. Staff use the letters and sounds programme to support and extend children's language and communication skills, relevant to their individual needs. Baby's language skills are effectively promoted as staff repeat single key words back to them. However, on occasions opportunities to extend children's language skills are missed, as some staff use closed questions with or do not engage children fully in conversation. This means that some opportunities to further develop children's language and communication skills are missed. Children's physical development is effectively fostered as they enjoy a favourite game of 'drive my car' in the

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who attend

playground, ride and sit and ride indoors or post shapes into the shape sorter.

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who attend

The nursery is a print-rich environment where children see many different letters, numerals and words. This is extended into the outdoor environment. Children have helped write many of the labels and signs showing good early writing skills. Children who learn English as an additional language and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are further supported by the use of photographs, visual timetables and printed signs. As a result, all children are supported to communicate and make their needs known, and are gaining the skills and confidence they need to be ready for the next stage in their learning or as they start school.

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

Children soon feel comfortable and develop a positive sense of belonging at nursery. The staff are approachable and reassuring and build good relationships with parents and children. They are receptive and respond well to children's differing characteristics and emotional needs. They prepare children well for transitions between rooms. Parents receive a transition book to share with their child and visit the new room before the transition process starts and are shown round and introduced to the staff. The children have visits over a four week period before moving into the new room. This ensures that they are happy and settled when they move. Group times build children's confidence, social skills and enhance their communication and language skills. As a result, they ensure children are emotionally and socially prepared for different situations, including moving on to school. Teachers come to visit the children in the nursery and staff accompany children

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

to visit their new school to support the transition process. Staff ensure independence skills are fostered and encourage children to talk in a group situation to further prepare for moves to school.

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

Children are supported in forming positive relationships, they enjoy the company of each other and adults. They like to share and celebrate their work and achievements with each other. Practitioners celebrate children's new achievements, and praise and encouragement builds their self-esteem. For example, staff encourage a young child to walk unaided across the room. The children have access to good quality resources through the continuous play provision. However not all children have sufficient access to low-level resources to enable them to make good independent choices in their play as resources in one room are stored on high shelves out of reach.

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

The key person system is effective and the friendly staff team work well together. Staff have friendly and caring dispositions, which help children to form secure attachments. Deployment of staff is sound, which means that children settle quickly and feel safe and secure. Staff set good examples to children and encourage them to be helpful, kind and polite. Therefore, children generally behave well and become increasingly confident in communicating their needs. Children are gently encouraged to share with their friends. Their self-care skills are developing appropriately, for example, as they independently access the toilets and wash their hands mostly without being reminded. Children's behaviour is good and realistic rules and boundaries are in place, supported by staff, to enable children to know and learn what is expected of them. The older children are reminded of the nursery's rules at the beginning of the session. For example, they know

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

not to run inside and to have kind hands. Their confidence and self-esteem is promoted well as staff highlight and celebrate children's growing self-help skills, such as, managing to put on their own coat for outdoor play. They learn what foods are good for them through the provision of healthy snacks and nutritious cooked meals which are prepared by the nursery's cook. Children's independence is fostered at snack time and meal times according to their age. For example, older babies feed themselves from a spoon whilst pre-school children serve themselves from a self-service style cafe. This gives them control over portion size and choice of foods. Children's knowledge of healthy food is further developed by the growing of fruit and vegetables in the raised garden. Children enjoy picking the produce which they then help prepare for snacks or lunch time. They talk about how the carrots and tomatoes grow and proudly show visitors the garden area.

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

Outdoor play areas are generally used well and playing outside is incorporated into children's daily activities. This helps children enhance their large muscle skills and enjoy time outside in the fresh air while exercising.

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

Children's welfare is promoted as staff have a suitable understanding of relevant policies and procedures, such as the action to be taken regarding a sick child and what to do if a child is not collected from nursery. Good hygiene procedures are followed. This helps to reduce the risk of cross-infection and safeguards children's health appropriately. For example, practitioners wear protective aprons and gloves when changing nappies. However, not all areas of the nursery maintain good quality care practices in terms of recording changes in parents' wishes about the care needs of their children and occasionally some teaching is less effective. From a young age, children learn about keeping safe as they regularly participate in emergency evacuation drills. This helps them understand what to do should they need to leave the nursery quickly. Children learn about taking risks as they engage in different experiences. For example, young children jump off

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

the low step when going outside and older children use scissors to cut paper for their pictures. Children's work is displayed throughout the nursery making them feel valued and acknowledged. All parents spoken to on the day spoke about the friendly, dedicated staff.

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provision

Children are cared for by a well-qualified staff team who work well together. Staffs' suitability has been assessed through the settings clear recruitment, vetting and induction procedures. All staff have disclosure and baring checks to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. Performance management systems are in place, like monthly supervisions and annual staff appraisals and staff are deployed to ensure their key skills complement each other. This results in staff being committed to their ongoing personal development through training and a happy warm atmosphere throughout the nursery. The nursery is supporting two apprentices and further member of staff to obtain their level three qualifications. The setting is securely maintained, with risk assessments used to identify and minimise potential hazards in all areas. Daily checks of the nursery and outside play areas further enhance children's safety. Staff are also knowledgeable about

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provision

child protection procedures, which helps to safeguard children from potential harm. Staff hold current first aid and food hygiene qualifications. Accidents are effectively recorded and parents know that they have to report accidents that occur at home. Accidents within the nursery are monitored to ensure children safety.

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provision

The inspection took place following concern being raised to Ofsted regarding nappy changing procedures at the nursery. Specifically, that an eczema cream had been used without the parents' knowledge or written permission. While the setting gains parental consent for prescribed medication there was evidence that consent is not always obtained for non-prescribed medication, such as nappy barrier creams. Nursery management have taken steps to improve this practice by reminding staff to ensure that written parental permission is always sought, before administering all medications, including non- prescription items. However, the inspection also found that that there are variable practices, particularly in one room within the nursery. This was the result of insecure monitoring by those in charge. As a result, children do not always fully benefit from consistently good levels of teaching and care practices.

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provision

Good security systems are in place to ensure that no unauthorised person enters the nursery. For instance, the doors are always locked and entrance is gained by ringing the bell. Visitors are signed in and out and identity is checked. All of which contribute to ensuring children's safety. The nursery maintains clear and concise policies and procedures, which are made available to parents and staff are encouraged to read and discuss at staff meetings. These have recently been updated. Staff ensure that children are provided with a safe and secure environment, both indoors and outside. They identify all hazards and take appropriate steps to minimise them. For example, on the day of the inspection it was very wet and the slide was very slippery, children were not allowed on the big slide but instead threw small balls up the slide to see who could throw it the highest and how quickly they came down. This enjoyable activity enhanced their throwing

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provision

skills and enabled them to utilise the slide in a safe way.

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provision

The nursery has action plans for change and has a detailed self-evaluation plan in place to support the on-going development. The manager seeks the views of parents, staff and children as part of the self-evaluation process, and this is achieved through parent comments and questionnaires, staff meetings and children's evaluations of their learning. Staff work closely together to identify the strengths of the setting and areas for future improvement. All issues raised as recommendations at the last inspection have been addressed. For example, children's independence in the 'forget-me-not' room at snack and meal times has been enhanced with development of 'cafe style' self-service system. In addition, the nursery has developed very well resourced outdoor play areas which include soft surfaces, a raised garden for the planting for fruit and vegetables and offers a wide range of activities to cover all areas of learning. The inclusion of written signs and notices

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provision

enhances this even further. Plans for the future are realistic and include improving the layout in the Daisy and Butterfly areas to include more continuous provision and more low-level display boards. The nursery is also developing a 'pen pal' system with a local school to help in the transition process.

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provision

The management team demonstrate a secure knowledge of the learning and development requirements. They are making significant ongoing improvements to analyse the progress children are making across the nursery. As a result, the nursery is able to identify children or groups of children who may be in need of support. Those in charge ensure key persons make accurate judgements on children's progress, which has led to all children being well prepared for school. The nursery has established good partnerships with the local children's centre and has also established firm links with other agencies and work closely with them and families to support children with individual needs. Parent's comments are acted on, for example, parents are involved in suggesting changes to the menu. Information is effectively exchanged and shared between the staff and parents. A diary system ensures that staff who are not at work when information about a child is shared

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provision

are made aware. This enables staff to respect the backgrounds and beliefs of all children and ensures that have up to date knowledge of the children. Daily verbal discussions keep parents informed of how their children have been each day. The display of 'makaton' signs up the stairs into the baby room is utilised by parents and is encouraging them to use signs at home with the babies to enable them to develop early communication skills. Good use of photographs in the cloak room areas helps children and their families to have a sense of belonging. Parents spoken to on the day commented extremely positively about the setting. They confirm their children are settled and engage in lots of interesting play experiences. They also state their children have made good progress since attending the provision.

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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 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. 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 the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

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 206278 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 940459

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 132 Name of provider Mary Poppins Chesterfield Ltd Date of previous inspection 06/10/2009 Telephone number 01246 555022

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Type of provision

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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