Kidstuff Day Nursery and Bottoms Up Baby Unit

Kidstuff Day Nursery 299 Shenley Road, BOREHAMWOOD, Herts, WD6 1TH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/01/2014 15/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children from diverse communities and who speak English as an additional language are well supported by good use of visual timetables and home-made dual language books. This helps children to communicate and eases the settling-in process.  Babies build secure attachments to their key persons and as they get older children play happily together. Key persons build good relationships with parents in order to share information and provide continuity in care.  The manager is an effective leader with a strong drive for continuous improvement. She continues to develop the qualifications and knowledge of her staff so that they effectively safeguard children and promote their learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Pre-school children do not always have regular opportunities to practise writing in different areas of their play because literacy activities are sometimes overly directed by adults.  There is scope to improve the good questioning techniques used by staff to further challenge children's thinking.  There is capacity to provide a wider range of natural resources within the nursery garden for children to explore and investigate plants and wildlife.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in all the rooms and the garden.  The inspector made a joint observation with the deputy manager.  The inspector looked at a selection of policies, procedures and records.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined planning records and evidence of children's progress in learning.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents by speaking to them during the inspection and reading their comments in children's profile records.

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Information about the setting

Kidstuff Day Nursery was registered in 2003 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is privately owned and situated close to the centre of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a two-storey purpose built building and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery also offers breakfast, after school and holiday clubs for school children up to the age of eight.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 93 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 20 members of childcare staff. Of these, 16 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one at level 2. The manager has an early years degree and Early Years Professional Status. The nursery is due to complete the Hertfordshire Quality Standards award in 2014.

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

 review the organisation and delivery of some of the adult-led literacy activities in pre-school to consistently promote good teaching, including giving greater freedom for children to experiment with 'writing for a purpose' in different areas of their play

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

 build further the use of effective questioning techniques to support children's capacity for thinking and developing their own ideas

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

 enhance the nursery garden to stimulate children's curiosity to explore and investigate nature and wildlife by providing a selection of plants, natural materials, and habitats for insects and birds.

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who attend

Staff know the children well and plan a varied programme of activities and experiences to promote children's learning across all areas of the educational programme. The quality of teaching is good overall because staff effectively model language, engage children in conversation and ask some probing questions to get them to recall events that have happened. They reinforce children's awareness of numbers and counting through everyday play situations. For example, when children build towers with blocks they encourage counting and problem solving by asking questions, such as 'what comes next?'. Children's communication and language is developed through effective interactions from staff and good use of appropriate activities. They frequently use songs and rhymes to encourage children to join in with familiar words and actions. For example, staff sing to the babies while they wait for their lunch to be served to encourage their listening and

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who attend

attention. Babies respond with interest by attempting to copy the actions and mouth movements demonstrated by the staff. During an activity to make a sticky gloop from cornflour and water, the staff demonstrate how to squeeze and make marks in the mixture. This encourages children to use their sense of touch to feel different textures and observe its changing properties. The staff introduce new words to describe the mixture, asking if it is cold, hot, runny or sticky. However, there is scope to sharpen questioning techniques so that children are consistently given enough time to think of their response to questions and are challenged to think more deeply.

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who attend

Pre-school children are set high expectations for learning. The staff enthusiastically use knowledge gained from attending a training session on letters and sounds by planning literacy sessions which prepare children for reading and writing when they move on to school. Many of the children show well-developed knowledge of the sounds that letters make and are beginning to recognise letter shapes. However, some literacy activities are a little too formal for all the children in the group and are sometimes overly directed by adults. For example, children are expected to practise forming letters and simple words sitting around the table in groups and have less opportunity to experiment with writing for a purpose during their free play activities. Pre-school children choose whether to play inside or out at certain times of the day. This is beneficial to those children who prefer to learn more actively outdoors. The staff vary the type of activities and resources available

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who attend

outdoors according to children's current interests. These include exploring water play, using climbing apparatus and wheeled toys, building with construction blocks, and reading books. This supports children's physical development, their desire to be imaginative and their literacy. Children experience the natural world and the local community when using the neighbouring playing fields and visiting the shops or library. However, there is scope to extend the range of natural resources within the nursery garden to encourage greater opportunity to explore and investigate the natural world and wildlife.

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who attend

Parents contribute to their children's learning and development by providing useful information about what children have achieved at home and their particular interests. Staff use this as a starting point for making observations, assessments and plans. Parents are given summary reports about the progress that children make, they attend consultation meetings to share relevant information and are encouraged to view the learning journals at any time. This means that parents are involved in supporting their children's progress. The nursery works well with parents and other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who speak English as an additional language. Children are closely monitored and guidance from professionals is sought in a timely way to minimise any delay to children's developmental progress. The nursery successfully enables the participation of all children from a wide range of backgrounds and

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who attend

languages. Staff make very good use of visual timetables and photographic books with words in children's home languages to aid communication and understanding. The staff use their own diverse linguistic backgrounds to translate for parents and children, which is particularly helpful when children first start at the nursery. This means that all children have the same opportunities to hear and use their first language in the setting, as well as developing confidence in speaking English.

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

Children settle well in the nursery because they have opportunities to attend for short periods of time with their parents beforehand, while gradually increasing the time they attend alone. This helps them to make secure attachments to their key person and other familiar adults. The manager is considering ways to further strengthen this process by introducing home visits before children start. Key persons regularly share information with parents so that there is continuity between the nursery setting and home. Parents report that they are very pleased with the way in which baby room staff help babies to settle and work together to overcome any personal care or developmental issues. Children are well supported to make the move to the next room within the nursery, and eventually on to school. Staff assess when children are emotionally ready to cope with the change and then gradually introduce the children to the new room and their new key person. As

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

children prepare to move on to school, the nursery invites teaching staff from the school to visit and share information in order to build trusting relationships.

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

Rooms are suitably equipped and arranged to encourage independence. The baby room provides comfortable surroundings and interesting resources that babies are keen to investigate. They crawl and clamber over cushions to observe their reflection in the mirror or to investigate baskets of toys. Staff sit alongside the babies to sustain their interest and motivation. This helps the babies feel secure while developing their independence in finding out for themselves. Older children enjoy playing and exploring because there is a good selection of activities from which to choose. Children feel safe within the nursery because staff set clear expectations for their behaviour. They are consistently reminded how to safely manage the stairs to the garden and to have regard for the safety of themselves and others as they play. Staff nurture positive behaviour by offering children plenty of encouragement and praise. As a result, children show willingness to comply with

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

expectations, such as when tidying up, and clearly enjoy being helpful.

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

Children have daily opportunities to take exercise, either using the small outdoor area or the neighbouring playing field where they have more space to be physically active. Babies are often taken on walks in the local community so they benefit from regular fresh air. Children rest or sleep according to their personal routines, which supports their health and emotional well-being. Children understand good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before eating and after visiting the bathroom. In addition, staff follow safe guidelines when preparing and serving meals so that cross-infection is minimised. Children eat freshly prepared meals and healthy snacks. Staff help babies with feeding but encourage them to hold a spoon and use a drinking beaker independently. As children get older, they help to lay and clear the table and to pour their drinks. This prepares them well for managing the lunchtime routine when they move on to school. Staff talk to

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

children about the soup they eat, and use picture displays of healthy foods to illustrate the different vegetables that are contained in it. This gives children a sense of why it is important to eat certain foods for strong muscles and bones.

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provision

The nursery complies with all safeguarding and welfare requirements. It has reviewed its recruitment procedures since the last inspection to ensure that only those adults with a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service check obtained by the nursery are able to work with children. There is a thorough induction programme and probationary period to help new staff gain the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles effectively. For example, all staff are trained in first aid and safeguarding procedures and they confidently demonstrate how to manage accidents or respond to concerns about children's safety or well-being. They complete risk assessments within the premises and when planning outings in order to minimise the risk of accidents to children.

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provision

The manager is a strong leader who continues to drive improvement over time. All previous recommendations have been addressed well. She sets out a clear vision for the future and has high expectations of her staff team. The number of qualified staff continues to grow and there is a sustained programme of training and professional development available to all staff. The manager welcomes advice from other professionals and works closely with local authority advisors, the children's centre and nearby schools to continually seek out new ideas and better ways of working. She constantly evaluates the quality of practice by using a local authority quality assurance programme. These factors combined have led to raised standards in the quality of the provision and have made a positive impact on children's learning and well-being. The manager reviews and oversees the learning and development systems. She uses supervision meetings with staff and

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provision

regular observations within the rooms to gain a good overview of the progress that children make. To build on this she has recently introduced a new system to track children's progress with the aim of making monitoring more reliable and rigorous.

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provision

The nursery strives to build positive relationships with parents and carers. It provides parents with a useful information pack and the curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage and regularly seeks parents' views to assess how satisfied they are with the service. Those parents spoken to at the inspection speak well of the nursery. The management respond promptly to any concerns raised by parents and/or carers by carrying out a full and thorough investigation of events in order to review practice and make improvements. The nursery works closely with other professionals and external agencies to share information about children that need additional support. For example, they work with speech and language therapists and child protection agencies to ensure that children's individual needs are fully understood and continuity is provided.

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The Childcare Register

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

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY254839 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 877527

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 96 Number of children on roll 93 Name of provider The Borehamwood Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 15/01/2009 Telephone number 0208 953 0077

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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

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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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