Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich 1 Kingsmead Square, Regency Way, NORTHWICH, Cheshire, CW9 8UW

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/12/2013 19/08/2013

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

p.1

This provision is outstanding

 Staff provide a rich variety of challenging activities in an exciting and extremely stimulating learning environment. Consequently, children are highly motivated and actively involved in their learning, resulting in them making excellent progress.  Children's emotional well-being is given a high priority, from the outset. This results in them being happy, settled, secure and confident to learn and explore their environment, preparing them well for the next stages in their learning.  A wide range of policies and procedures in place ensure that children are safeguarded at all times. Well-being is further promoted through an excellently healthy menu and daily continuous access to the extremely well-planned outdoor areas.  Leadership is inspirational. Meticulous focus on self-evaluation and reflective practice ensures that staff, parents and children are fully involved in the setting's continual improvement, in pursuit of excellence. As a result, staff are highly motivated and have

p.1

This provision is outstanding

high expectations of the children and themselves.  Partnerships with parents are prioritised and highly valued by the setting. As a result, opportunities for parents to share information about their children and to become actively involved within the setting are promoted continuously.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed a range of activities in all playrooms and the outside learning environment.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted a joint observation of lunchtime with the setting's deputy manager.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the children, staff, and management team throughout the inspection.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a wide range of documentation including children's assessment records and planning documentation.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with the children, and the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents from written feedback gained through the setting's parent surveys.

p.2

Information about the setting

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northwich was registered in 2007 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It operates from purpose built premises in a single storey building, close to local schools and shops in Northwich, Cheshire. The provision is accessible to all children. The setting is one of over 200 nurseries that are part of Busy Bees Day Nurseries Limited and serves the local and wider community. There are enclosed areas available for outdoor play, and children can freely access these throughout the day.

p.3

Information about the setting

The setting employs 18 members of childcare staff. Of these, 14 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The setting opens Monday to Friday all year round, except for bank holidays. Sessions are from 7am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 79 children attending who are in the early years age group. The setting provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

p.3

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

 enhance the already exceptional creative areas in the toddler and pre-school rooms to enable children to freely select a wider range of resources. This will further support their excellent development in expressive arts and design.

p.3

who attend

Staff have an excellent understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This enables them to plan and provide a rich variety of challenging activities, in an exciting and extremely stimulating learning environment. Planning is based upon the individual next steps for each child, identified by their key person. Therefore, planning is highly focussed and purposeful, resulting in, children being highly motivated and actively involved in their learning. Consequently, children make excellent progress, as their individual learning needs are exceptionally well-met. Key persons carry out meticulous observations and sharply focussed assessments of each child's abilities. These are recorded in their individual 'learning journeys' where their ongoing progress in all areas of learning is regularly updated and tracked, to ensure excellent progress is continuous. This information is used

p.3

who attend

to ensure that activities and opportunities provided for each child are both focussed and purposeful. There is an excellent balance of adult-led and child-led opportunities, enabling children to repeat and test out what they have learnt from staff. Children experience a vibrant and richly resourced learning environment, which is organised to enable children to freely choose resources to support their play and learning. This means that children are continuously challenged, supporting them to become motivated learners and helping them to make rapid progress in their learning and development.

p.3

who attend

Staff are highly attentive towards the children and understand the importance of supporting their communication and language skills at all times, especially for those children learning English as an additional language. Parents are asked to provide key words from children's home language to reinforce their understanding, and support their child's needs. Labels in the environment are also in dual languages, promoting all children's understanding of different languages. Staff provide excellent commentary and open questions to children during their play, to engage children in practising their language skills. Children are encouraged to join in conversations and are clearly given time to think about what they want to say. Staff sing songs and read stories with enthusiasm, which captivates children's attention. For example, babies enjoy songs such as 'if you're happy and you know it', quickly learning when to clap their hands or nod their head, as

p.4

who attend

part of the song. Toddlers enjoy acting out 'we're going on a bear hunt' story outdoors, repeating key lines and responding enthusiastically to the animated and expressive way which the staff member tells the story. Older children have individual 'chatter boxes' which they have made at home with their parents. These contain personal items, toys and photographs which the children show to the group, sharing who is in their photographs and what the individual items are. These support the children to develop both their communication and language skills and also, their confidence as they speak to the whole group. The environment is rich in print and staff encourage children of all ages to draw and write, both inside and out in the garden. An excellent selection of books, both fiction and non-fiction are available in all rooms and children can independently select these at all times. All of these opportunities support children's developing literacy skills, in readiness

p.4

who attend

for the next stage in their learning, such as school. There is scope however, to enhance the excellent facilities further, through enhancing the creative areas with additional resources, to support children's development in expressive arts and design.

p.4

who attend

Children are exceptionally well-prepared as they get ready to move on to other settings and into school. They learn to recognise and begin to write their name, develop counting and other mathematical skills, learn how to concentrate for group activities and attend to their personal hygiene and dressing needs. Staff engage parents, carers and others in children's learning and development, providing regular opportunities to discuss children's needs. They share progress summaries regularly with parents and provide them with a progress check at age two, where appropriate. Parents are encouraged to take home their child's learning journey, which records their progress, to keep them regularly updated. These positive partnerships and relationships ensure that there is effective information sharing and consistency for the child, and that those in need of additional support receive this to ensure that their needs are fully met. Where children have identified special

p.4

who attend

educational needs, parents are fully involved in individual educational plans, put in place to support the child's individual needs. Excellent partnerships between staff and parents are in place and begin when parents share detailed information with their child's key person through the 'Getting to know your child' booklet. The information gained, relating to children's care and learning enables staff to ensure that children's needs are fully met from the outset. Children's starting points in their learning are established through the 'Early Assessment Record' which identifies their learning in the home, supporting staff to build upon the child's existing skills. Excellent systems are in place to share information with parents about their child's daily care and learning and a summary of progress is shared with parents every three months. Daily diaries are used to share information about younger children with parents and following discussions as part of the parent partnership

p.4

who attend

group, regular emails are sent to parents on how their child is progressing. Parents comment that 'children are happy and the high standard of care is evident, and that they are 'extremely happy with how their child has developed'. There are highly effective methods in place to involve parents in their child's learning further. These include, open days, and 'stay and play' sessions which enable parents to participate in activities with their children. The setting's website keeps parents up-to-date with a wide range of information including the activities children are involved in each week and regular parents' evenings are held to update parents on their child's progress. This ensures that parents are fully informed and involved at all times, resulting in, exceptional partnerships to support children's learning and development.

p.5

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

Children's emotional well-being is given a very high priority by the setting, from the outset, as staff are extremely caring and responsive to their needs. This is supported through an excellent key person system, in place to ensure that each child is able to develop a supportive attachment to a named staff member. Parents are provided with 'meet your key person' information, as a means of learning about their qualifications, skills and experience. In return, parents share detailed information about their child's care and learning needs with the key person at the start of the placement. This partnership with parents aids in the provision of activities which interest the child during their settling-in visits, and enables their care needs to be very well-met. A 'buddy' key person is also identified, to ensure that there is a named person in place, if the key person is absent. Management fully understand the importance of the role of the key person and once

p.5

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

identified, do their best to ensure that changes are only made if absolutely necessary, to ensure continuity for the child and parents. Transition visits into the setting or between rooms within the setting are clearly recorded, and the child's level of well-being shared with parents after each visit. This helps to establish the transition progress and informs subsequent settling-in visits. As a result, this sensitive process results in, children being happy, settled, secure and confident to learn and explore their environment, preparing them well for the next stages in their learning. Empathy dolls are used skilfully by staff to help children to deal with a range of different experiences in their lives, such as moving house. When children are ready to move on to school, smooth transitions are also supported to an extremely high standard. Teachers are invited to visit the children in the setting and detailed transition documents are shared, with parental consent. This ensures

p.5

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

that children will be effectively supported, and that their move to school will be a positive one.

p.5

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

Children have a wealth of opportunities to develop their independence in self-help skills. This is because staff know the children exceedingly well and recognise when they are ready to take responsibility, such as managing their own hygiene needs when using the bathroom or washing their hands. Children have their own coat pegs with their name and photograph, supporting even the youngest children to independently hang up or collect their coat for outdoor play. Babies are supported as soon as they are ready, to feed themselves using cutlery and older children to serve their own snacks and drinks. The setting has introduced a 'steps to independence' initiative which promotes children using child-sized brushes and mops to clean up sand or water spillages and tools outdoors, to help to maintain the garden. The learning environment enables children of all ages to independently select resources of their choice, supporting them to extend their play and

p.5

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

their developing imagination. Positive behaviour is highly evident and children happily play games together such as hide and seek and sit in friendship groups at mealtimes. They use exceptionally good manners, such as excuse me, please and thank-you, evidently due to the extremely positive role modelling of the staff, who demonstrate high levels of respect towards one another. This results in, children who are polite and respectful, and curious to find out by asking questions. These personal skills in managing their emotions and developing positive relationships support children extremely well towards the next stage of their learning, such as school.

p.6

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

Babies and children can enjoy fresh air and exercise throughout the day, as their group rooms open out directly onto individual outdoor areas. This gives children of all ages the choice of whether they prefer to play indoors or outdoors and each area provides different levels of challenge, supporting their developing physical skills and confidence as they play on a variety of equipment in the outdoor area. For example, balancing skills are supported through stepping stones, balancing beams and a climbing wall. Opportunities like these, support children in taking safe risks, learning how to protect themselves from harm. Children are supported in developing an understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a number of ways. For example, older children are involved in risk assessing the potential dangers outdoors following high winds. Staff reinforce why water or sand spilt on the floor may be a cause of danger and why serving dishes at mealtimes may be hot and therefore,

p.6

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

should not be touched. Children of all ages are supported to understand the importance of tidying away after themselves, to ensure that trip and fall hazards are kept to a minimum. Staff support children well in understanding the importance of a healthy diet through discussions and topics about foods that are healthy and those which are not. A healthy, balanced menu is provided by the nursery chef and children take part in growing vegetables outdoors, which are harvested and eaten. Water stations are evident in all rooms and outdoor areas, enabling children to drink whenever they need to. This supports children in understanding the importance of staying hydrated and making healthy choices.

p.6

provision

The management team provides strong, effective leadership, ensuring that all of the safeguarding and welfare requirements are met implicitly. Detailed policies and procedures are implemented and understood by all staff, underpinning the exceptional practice in the setting. Robust recruitment processes ensure that staff are appropriately qualified and meet stringent suitability requirements. New employees go through a thorough induction and support process to ensure that they understand and meet the extremely high standards set by management. Continual monitoring by the management team, twice yearly company audits and effective and frequent supervision ensures that all staff maintain high standards of professionalism and integrity. Whole room and individual staff observations are conducted by the manager or peers, praising effective practice and identifying and addressing any shortfalls in staff performance swiftly. In addition, a

p.6

provision

computerised monitoring tool is utilised to ensure that every child is making excellent progress in all areas of learning and development, enabling management to identify any gaps in planning or assessments and address these productively. This ensures that all aspects of the setting are reviewed and maintained to an exceptionally high standard at all times. All staff have a thorough understanding of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. Staff receive refresher training and policies are frequently updated, so staff members are fully familiar with the child protection procedures in the local area, and have confidence to follow these. The manager is highly pro-active in ensuring the safety and well-being of all who use the setting and frequently reviews policies and procedures to ensure robust practices are followed. All of the required documentation is in place and is meticulously reviewed and maintained. Staff are deployed

p.7

provision

well and regularly check the numbers of children both indoors and outdoors to ensure children are supervised at all times.

p.7

provision

Leadership is inspirational, underpinned by the philosophy that the children are the first priority. Meticulous focus on self-evaluation and reflective practice ensures that staff, parents and children are highly involved in the setting's continual improvement, in pursuit of excellence. Clear, targeted improvement plans are in place to address any areas identified for development, and reviewed regularly to ensure rapid progress. Parents and staff are able to contribute their views personally or through an online survey provided by an independent company. Management analyse these responses, sharing comments and how these are to be addressed on noticeboards within the setting. This demonstrates the setting's commitment to continuous improvement and the high value placed upon parental involvement. Children share their views on what they have enjoyed during their time in the setting, and ideas for additional activities or resources through exit questionnaires,

p.7

provision

when they leave the setting. In addition, the innovative introduction of a 'pre-school council', enables the older children in the setting to provide ongoing ideas for improvements. The setting has truly embraced the involvement of all stakeholders in self- evaluation and as a result, staff are highly motivated and have high expectations of the children and themselves.

p.7

provision

The setting employs an experienced, qualified and skilled workforce, the majority of the staff holding a childcare qualification at level 3. It is evident that this expert workforce are using their training and experience gained while working in the childcare field, to develop their practice and the setting's aspirations, through outstanding daily provision. The management team closely monitor that planning and assessments of children's learning are meticulously maintained, ensuring that all children are making rapid progress, and that any child identified as needing additional support, receives this swiftly. An ongoing training programme, which the company invests financially in, supports staff in their continual professional development. Partnerships with parents, other settings and professionals are excellent. This ensures that children's needs are quickly identified and that they receive targeted support appropriate to their individual needs. The information obtained from

p.7

provision

parents on their child's individual care and learning is outstanding and communication between the staff and parents is excellent. Parents highly value the positive relationships they have with the staff and their welcome involvement in the setting. There is a wealth of information available for parents through parent's noticeboards, monthly newsletters, parent's evenings and the setting's highly informative website. Parental involvement is highly valued through the information they share when their child first starts in the setting, observations from home, parent partnership groups and online questionnaires. The setting organises a wide range of opportunities for parents to participate in, for example parents evenings, art attack week, and come dine with me food tasting sessions. Parents are welcome to stay and play at any time and the staff value any skills or expertise they are able to share, such as gardening or den building.

p.8

provision

Staff also ensure that links with other professionals, involved with the children they support who have special educational needs or English as an additional language are strong in order to ensure a fully cohesive approach to each child's care and learning. Links with schools which children move on to are strong, and teachers are invited to visit the setting to meet the children and share information about their learning and development. Staff visit schools to take photographs of classrooms and other areas of the school that children will use, to share these with them to support their smooth transitions on to school. The setting is an integral community resource and has a 'community initiative' in place. This involves close partnerships with local health visitors, who identify children who would benefit from a free 10 week placement to support their learning and development. In addition, since gaining outstanding in their previous inspection, the setting has been

p.8

provision

approached to share their practice with other childcare providers in the area, acknowledgement of their exceptional setting.

p.8

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

Setting details

Unique reference number 305146 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 943108

p.10

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 107 Number of children on roll 79 Name of provider Busy Bees Day Nurseries (Trading) Limited Date of previous inspection 19/08/2013 Telephone number 01606 352614

p.10

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.

p.10

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.11

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,

p.11

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’.

p.12

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.12