Carlton Day Nursery

Carlton PDN (2) Maxwell Avenue, Allestree, Derby, Derbyshire, DE22 1GQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/12/2013 20/12/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Staff establish supportive, reassuring relationships with children, enabling them to settle and develop in confidence.  Staff provide effective support to each child in their learning and development, so children make good progress.  Staff have a good understanding of how to effectively promote positive behaviour. Children follow the good examples set by adults and their behaviour demonstrates that they feel safe and secure.  Management and staff have a clear vision for the nursery and endeavor to improve practice and outcomes for children through new initiatives gained from training.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Older children do not always have opportunities to move freely between indoors and outdoors. In addition, children's learning outside is often interrupted, meaning they cannot complete tasks to their own satisfaction.  There are some occasions when arrangements for washing and drying children's hands do not promote the prevention of cross-contamination.

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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 children engaged in activities, both inside and outdoors.  The inspector spoke to children and staff and held a discussion with the manager.  The inspector invited the manager to complete a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documentation and records, including children's learning journals and staff files.  The inspector viewed a sample of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Carlton PDN (2) opened in 1994 and is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is privately owned and is one of two nurseries owned by the same provider. It operates from a purpose-built building in Allestree, Derby. The approach to the nursery main door is on a slight upward gradient. All children have access to an outdoor play area. The nursery serves the local and surrounding area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm all year round, except for Bank Holidays. Children are cared for in various rooms according to their age and stage of development. There are currently 86 children on roll in the early years age range. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery receives funding for two-, three- and four- year-olds and supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

There are 12 members of staff employed at the nursery, over half of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 2 or 3. Three staff, including the nursery manager, have obtained a foundation degree.

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

 enhance outdoor learning opportunities, for example, by encouraging older children to move freely between indoors and outdoors, to fully support them in their choice of play, and reviewing practice to ensure children's play outside is not regularly interrupted, to enable them to fulfil their own goals to their satisfaction

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

 review all arrangements for children to wash and dry their hands throughout the nursery to prevent cross-contamination at all times.

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who attend

Children are happy to attend this nursery and they participate in a good range of activities which excite their interest and challenge their ability. An effective system of observation and assessment means that staff can plan specifically for the needs and interests of each individual child. Parents contribute information regarding their child's current developmental stages, likes, dislikes and interests through 'All about me' forms. Staff use this information effectively, alongside their own initial observations, to plan for each child's next steps in their learning. This enables staff to plan effectively during children's first days at the nursery, helping them to feel settled and secure. Staff have a secure knowledge of how children learn through play. They understand well the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The assessment and tracking processes of the children are robust enough to enable key persons to successfully

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who attend

complete the progress check at age two and identify any gaps in children's learning. This enables them to be able to identify when early intervention is needed so that children receive the appropriate support to meet their learning needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are wholly included in this process and make good progress given their starting points. This is because staff adapt activities to meet their needs. Staff successfully promote the development of children's key skills for future learning. For example, children learn to communicate very effectively through ongoing discussion, signing, body language and facial expression. This helps them to develop friendships and initiate ideas for play.

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who attend

Adults are skilful in their interactions with children. Babies have access to a range of resources to aid and develop the enhancement of their physical skills, for example, soft cushions to support early sitting. Their senses are aroused as they explore a range of natural objects within treasure baskets, alerting their curiosity as they explore the different textures. They enjoy exploring a range of sounds, for example, as they listen to the rainmaker, they turn them upside down to watch the beads fall. This supports children's early investigative skills in exploring how things work. Babies benefit from the good interactions with staff, who provide a commentary to what babies are doing and introduce new sounds and words, helping them to develop their early skills of communication. Children aged two to three years enjoy their time in the fun and welcoming toddler room. They enjoy expressing themselves through a range of creative activities, for example, as

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who attend

they paint and make prints. Staff support children's thinking and developing awareness of colour recognition as they introduce the names of the colours being used. Staff interact well with children to enable them to gain the most from their learning experiences. They play alongside the children and extend their thinking as they ask open-ended questions. For example, as children dress the dolls they ask them if the clothes are too big or too small for the doll, helping children to develop their understanding of comparing size.

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who attend

Older pre-school children thoroughly enjoy listening to stories as a group and independently select storybooks from the well-resourced and inviting book area. This enables children to develop their early interest in the use of books. Staff working with the pre-school children provide a variety of interesting activities to support children's learning effectively. Children delight as they explore hunting for different creatures in the garden. They find a worm and discuss with staff about why it has no eyes and that it is a very big worm that looks like a 'snake'. Children are engaged well in their play outside. However, this play is interrupted and the children are asked to go inside. This stops the progression of their own learning to their satisfaction. Children show great skill as they run, climb, jump and balance on the wide range of equipment. They are able to take risks in safe surroundings as the staff are on hand to support and offer guidance. However, older

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who attend

children do not always have opportunities to move freely between indoors and outdoors, to encourage their choice of learning experiences. Children's developing understanding of number use is supported well through their everyday routines. For example, they count while building towers and construction. This is well supported by staff, as they talk about the amount they have selected, how many more they need and how many they have to take away. Children delight in expressing their feelings as they paint pictures of their experiences, such as trips to the park and 'gym' with their parents.

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who attend

The nursery is successful in providing a welcoming, homely, family atmosphere where children and adults are relaxed, friendly and approachable. As a result, children have a strong sense of belonging. Staff deliver good quality teaching to support children's learning and development. They use interesting resources to promote a high level of curiosity and inquisitiveness. This includes heuristic play with textured shiny material, natural objects and reflective surfaces to stimulate the senses and encourage exploratory and investigative play. Adults enthusiastically interact to encourage children to extend opportunities for learning. Adults make suggestions, ask questions and provide plenty of praise and encouragement. This increases children's self-confidence and promotes their sense of achievement. As a result, children are confident learners who display high levels of independence. They initiate play with their friends, involve adults when required, and

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who attend

are keen to make suggestions for future activities. Assessment records contain clear and concise evidence to show that children make good progress in relation to their starting points. The key person uses ongoing observations to plan appropriate opportunities to promote children's learning. Parents are actively involved, as they contribute to the assessment record and work closely with staff to share and agree ideas for home learning. For example, children participate in making pumpkins for Halloween and take pride in entering the pumpkin competition. This enables children to share experiences with the staff at the nursery during group discussion time, which in turn helps them to develop an awareness and understanding of the past, present and future.

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

All children, including babies, are happy, settled and secure in their surroundings. As a result, their emotional well-being is catered for. They relate well to the staff and are developing their social skills as they interact and play with their peers. Each child is assigned a key person, who works closely with the child and their parents. The key person develops effective channels of communication with parents to ensure children's changing needs are continually met. Babies' individual routines are adhered to, with staff holding babies securely when they are bottle fed. This enables the youngest children to develop secure bonds and attachments with staff. Children's good behaviour is promoted through the reinforcement of clear rules and boundaries and through staff offering regular praise and encouragement. This promotes children's confidence and self-esteem. Children's independence is promoted as they freely access their own play materials and learn

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

important skills, such as hand washing. However, on occasions, for example, after playing with messy materials, staff do not always utilise the bathroom area effectively to promote hand washing. They use a bowl and communal towel and, as a result, children are not always protected from cross-contamination all of the time. Pre-school children are encouraged to independently access their own aprons during messy play and to put their own coats on for outdoor play, with younger children being supported well.

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

Children's awareness of safety is developing as staff encourage them to take calculated risks during their play. This is clearly noticed as children use the soft play area and learn to take risks and negotiate tunnels and slides effectively. They are encouraged to develop a healthy lifestyle through the provision of meals and snacks. Fresh, home-cooked meals are prepared on the premises each day, with staff ensuring these meet children's individual dietary requirements. Children also enjoy eating foods from different countries and cultures, which enables them to learn about the wider society. Staff sit with the children at mealtimes, encouraging the use of good manners and promoting their social skills. They also discuss the benefits of healthy eating with the children. For example, at snack time, staff advise children that the fruits they are eating are very good for them as they contain lots of vitamins. Children enjoy plenty of fresh air and physical exercise. Their

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

safety is a high priority for staff. Children develop an appropriate understanding of safety through daily routines. For example, they know the nursery rules and are encouraged to tidy up after themselves to prevent trip hazards. The participate in regular fire drills and staff use these occasions to discuss why certain routines are followed in order to fully support children's understanding of how to keep safe.

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

The nursery is set up to enable the children to explore and investigate their surroundings. Low-level units and clearly labelled resources enable children to select activities and resources, promoting their independence and decision-making skills from an early age. Staff provide a very stimulating, enabling environment for the children, both indoors and outside. Toys are high quality and well maintained. Resources are eminently suitable for the ages of children using them. Staff have created displays to encourage children to think when they look at them. Two examples of these are in the pre-school. Here children look at the 'counting butterflies', which is a display of butterflies with numbers from one to ten which asks children questions, such as 'How many butterflies are there?'. In the baby room, 'black and white' displays help young children to focus on objects and enhances their learning. These displays also give the children a strong sense of belonging and help

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

build their self-esteem. Staff foster children's emotional development well, as they are supported with moves to help them with life changes, such as school. This is because the staff liaise with local groups and schools to promote smooth moves.

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provision

The leadership and management have a good understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, including arrangements for safeguarding and suitability of staff. All staff are well aware of how to respond to any concern about a child. They have clear procedures in place for managing and reporting concerns about the well-being of children. They implement these consistently to create an environment that is welcoming, safe and stimulating. Robust recruitment procedures ensure that all staff have suitability checks before working with the children. Comprehensive risk assessments cover all aspects of the premises and any outings. They monitor risks and implement a range of safety procedures, such as regularly checking all areas and resources are clean and safe. Access to the nursery is closely monitored and secure. Staff are vigilant about arrival and collection procedures, and good

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provision

security precautions contribute towards children's safety. The behaviour management is very good. Staff promote positive reinforcement of good behaviour. All staff and management have attended behaviour management courses and this has helped them to deal positively with behaviour issues, such as children biting. The provider is committed to meeting the learning and development requirements. She and her deputy oversee assessments and planning to ensure that staff plan for each individual child according to their needs and stage of development. They supervise staff well and plan a good range of training courses to support staff in their professional development. This good support means that staff are confident in their roles and develop further skills, which benefits children. Management and staff effectively drive and secure improvement by using quality improvement plans. Staff successfully identify strengths and

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provision

weaknesses across the nursery, and improvements have taken place. These include devising regular audits of the nursery to ensure high quality is delivered throughout, which in turn benefits all children. Staff have regular supervision which is used to identify strengths, areas for development and training needs. They continue to develop as they are encouraged to gain further qualifications and extend their knowledge, improving outcomes for children. They work well together as a team to evaluate provision and make improvements where necessary. In-house training is also used to enhance practice. Good levels of self-evaluation value and take into account the views of staff, children and their parents. The information is used to improve and develop policies, practice and procedures. Since the previous inspection, the staff have worked hard to address weaknesses and have successfully implemented the recommendations made.

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provision

Relationships between parents and staff are relaxed and very well established. Parents have regular discussions with key persons, which enable them to share learning priorities and enhance continuity in children's care. Staff exchange information with parents very well, for example, on the 'wow' slips, which enables both parents and staff to celebrate children's achievements at home. This effective partnerships with parents mean that there is a united approach to meeting individual children's needs. They are fully involved with all aspects of their child's learning and care as their views are sought through discussions and involvement. All parents spoken to on the day of inspection stated that they were very pleased with the nursery. They like the level of communication they have with staff. Parents also mentioned how supportive staff are. Successful links are established with other providers, such as the local schools and external agencies, to ensure support and

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provision

continuity of care and learning for each child.

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The Childcare Register

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

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Grade Judgement Description

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

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Grade Judgement Description

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

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Inspection

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

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Setting details

Unique reference number 206091 Local authority Derby, City of Inspection number 948454

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 90 Number of children on roll 64 Name of provider Arthur Blackwood Date of previous inspection 20/12/2010 Telephone number 01332 366223

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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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