Little Acorns Hindley Green

Kate's Kindergarten 74 Smiths Lane, Hindley Green, WIGAN, Lancashire, WN2 4XR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/12/2013 11/01/2010

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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

 Effective planning provides children with a broad range of exciting and stimulating activities that engage them and builds on their individual interests and learning needs. As a result, they consistently make good progress in relation to their starting points.  The key person system is well-embedded, which helps children form strong emotional attachments as staff skilfully support them in their play. Consequently, children are well- prepared for their transitions, both across the nursery and into school.  Arrangements for safeguarding children are well-established and clear policies and procedures are implemented consistently to ensure children are kept safe at all times.  Systems for self-evaluation are rigorous and areas for development are consistently targeted, so that the nursery continues to improve learning outcomes for all children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The stimulating outdoor area is not yet fully resourced with more natural and open- ended materials, to further enhance children's already good exploratory and investigative skills.  The effective systems for working in partnership with parents does not yet fully include extensive information about how they can help support their child's learning at home, in order to build on the already very good links between home and the nursery.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's activities in all playrooms and the outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager and talked to children, staff and key persons throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at various documents, including a sample of policies and procedures, children's records, evidence of the suitability of staff and recruitment procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Kate's Kindergarten opened in 2003 and was subsequently re-registered as a limited company in 2006. The nursery is privately owned and operates from a converted detached building, within its own grounds in the Bickershaw area of Wigan, close to shops, parks, schools and public transport links. Children have access to three playrooms on two floors. There is a very large enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday, from 7.30am to 6pm, all year round, with the exception of bank holidays and one week at Christmas.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 62 children on roll, all of whom are within the early years age group. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

A total of 11 childcare staff are employed to work with children. Of these, two hold an early years qualification at level 5, seven hold an early years qualification at level 3 and one holds an early years qualification at level 2. The manager holds an early years qualification at level 6.

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

 extend opportunities for children to enhance their good exploratory skills and further develop their strong sense of curiosity outdoors, for example, by providing an extensive range of natural materials and open-ended resources for them to investigate

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

 enhance the existing very good partnerships with parents by providing them with extensive information about how they can support their children's learning at home, for example, by sharing resources and suggesting simple activities they can do at home.

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who attend

Babies and children are happy and motivated to learn through the provision of interesting and challenging activities and experiences that meet their individual needs. In addition, teaching is strong across the nursery and in some instances outstanding. As a result, all children make good progress in relation to their starting points, including children whose starting points are below expected levels for their age. Children's enthusiasm for learning and the levels to which they succeed is enhanced by staff, who have a good knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and a secure understanding of how children learn. The indoor learning environment is well-organised into areas of continuous provision to ensure all children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. It is stimulating and exciting and well-equipped with a wide range of interesting resources to promote children's natural curiosity and develop their exploratory

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who attend

skills. For example, babies investigate a wide variety of textures and sounds that encourage them to learn through their senses. They have opportunities to explore materials, such as, bottles filled with glitter, scarves, ribbons, metal tins and wooden spoons. Older children squeal with delight as they find out what happens when they combine different colours of paint together and mix flour, salt and water to make dough. However, as yet the outdoor environment is not yet extremely well-resourced with more natural and open-ended materials, to further enhance children's good exploratory and investigation skills.

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who attend

There is a sharp focus on helping children to acquire communication and language skills and supporting physical, personal, social and emotional development. As a result, children gain the skills, abilities and attitudes that prepare them well for the next stage in their learning and eventually school. For example, children demonstrate good social skills as they interact well with staff and each other and play together harmoniously. Communication and language development is given extremely high priority and facial expressions, actions and gestures are used to maximum effect to illustrate and support language development for very young children. The nursery is part of the 'Every Child a Talker' programme and staff are also taking part in the 'Communication Friendly Spaces' initiative. The knowledge and skills gained from this training is successfully translated into practice and has a huge impact on the development of children's communication and

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who attend

language skills. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who need additional help in this area of learning are effectively supported. For example, staff skilfully use pictures, props, puppets, symbols and sign language to reinforce children's understanding and listening and attention skills. Staff support babies' communication and language development effectively because they intuitively tune in to the individual sounds, words and gestures that they use to communicate. They repeat the sounds they use to further develop their understanding of two-way conversation. Babies thoroughly enjoy this one-to-one attention as they shout out sounds and babble and excitedly wait in anticipation for a response from the member of staff. Staff effectively use a systematic phonic programme to teach pre-school children pre-reading skills to develop their literacy skills and prepare them well for future learning and school. Children demonstrate their

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who attend

knowledge and understanding as they successfully find rhyming pairs of objects, such as, 'hen' and 'pen', 'spoon' and 'moon' and 'frog' and 'dog', in order to make 'silly soup'. Staff provide children with a wide range of opportunities, activities and experiences to promote their physical skills. For example, babies enjoy the freedom and space indoors to move, stretch, crawl and cruise along furniture. Older children develop their large muscle control and coordination as they ride wheeled toys, climb up steps to the slide and balance on and jump in and out of tyres.

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who attend

Children's needs are significantly enhanced through strong, close and effective partnerships with parents. Staff value parents' input and obtain information on entry about children's learning and development, which they then use as a starting point to plan for their future learning needs. Therefore, they can plan activities and experiences that are individual to each child to help them make the best possible progress. Learning journey records are maintained to a good standard and contain a wide range of information, including photographs, detailed observations and examples of children's work. Parents are encouraged to complete and share home observations, so that staff can plan activities that build on children's prior knowledge and skills and support their interests. However, as yet information shared with parents does not consistently include extensive information about how they can help support their child's learning at home. Parents are given daily verbal

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who attend

feedback and diary sheets about what their children have been doing during the day. In addition, staff organise meetings where parents can share their children's learning, development and progress with their key person. Accurate and precise observation, planning and assessment procedures are in place to ensure children's individual needs are met well. This means that any gaps in children's learning are quickly identified and appropriate external support is provided to ensure they continue to make good progress.

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

The effective and well-established key person system means that children form secure attachments and their emotional well-being is consistently supported. Babies are looked after by loving, caring staff, who intuitively understand and respond to their physical and emotional needs. Children are cuddled and comforted if upset and spend quality one-to- one times with their key person engaging in activities, such as sharing stories and rhymes. This enables babies and children to feel safe and secure within the nursery which, consequently, has a significant impact on their learning and development. Staff greet and welcome children and their parents into the nursery, which ensures that children feel valued and cared for and that relationships with parents are strong. The arrangements for supporting children as they move from home to the nursery are carefully planned with parents from the point of entry. Staff gather information about children's likes, dislikes,

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

routines and favourite activities. As a result, children very quickly adapt to the environment and daily routines and confidently form new friendships. Effective systems are in place to support children as they move rooms, such as, discussions with new key persons, sharing children's developmental progress reports and settling-in visits. Therefore, children experience continuity and consistency of care and learning and are well supported with the transition process.

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

Babies and children demonstrate high levels of independence as they competently manage their own care needs. Their good health and self-care is securely embedded as they attend to their personal needs. For example, babies learn to feed themselves, toddlers learn to use cutlery and pre-school children serve their own meals. This means that they gain the skills, abilities and attitudes they need in readiness for school. Staff role model good hygiene practices and teach children the importance of washing their hands before eating and after using the bathroom. Children learn about the importance of a healthy diet as they are provided with a broad range of nutritious and healthy snacks and home-made meals. In addition, the nursery takes part in the 'Active Living' programme to reinforce children's knowledge and understanding of the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. This involves children making healthy dishes, such as soup and wraps and learning about

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

the effect that physical activity has on their bodies. Daily access to outdoors and visits to the local parks ensures that children benefit from fresh air and exercise. Cosy, quiet, cushioned areas within the indoor environment give babies and children opportunities to rest and relax and play quietly. As a result, children's health and hygiene is successfully promoted, which in turn has a positive impact on their physical and emotional well-being.

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

Staff help children manage their behaviour as they explain about sharing, distract children with other resources and talk about feelings and emotions. They effectively use pictures and stories to help children to understand how their behaviour has an effect on others. Staff provide clear and consistent boundaries and use positive praise and encouragement to teach children about appropriate behaviour. Children show a secure level of understanding of the behavioural expectations, demonstrating good self-control, as they listen to staff explanations, share resources and play collaboratively together. They learn about keeping themselves safe as staff teach them the safety rules of the nursery, such as, how to use tools appropriately, walk indoors and tidy up resources, so that they do not fall. Consequently, children's understanding of keeping safe is fully promoted and ensures that they can play and learn in a safe environment.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children within the nursery are good. The inspection took place following the notification of a significant event. Following the notification the manager carried out a full review of the settings procedures for moving children from room to room and put in place additional measures to ensure children are accounted for at all times. The inspector found that the manager was fully aware of her responsibilities and took the necessary steps to immediately inform parents and report the incident to Ofsted and the local authority. The inspector's observations and discussions with staff about safeguarding children showed that staff are vigilant in their supervision of children and that the new recording system in place is effective. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of how to protect and safeguard all children and policies and procedures are known by all staff and implemented consistently. They have attended safeguarding

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provision

training and this continues to be updated to ensure they strengthen their knowledge, understanding and skills in this area. Staff are fully aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and know what to do and who to contact in the event of a cause for concern. An effective and detailed set of risk assessments and daily checks of the indoor and outdoor environment ensure that children can learn and play in safety. The consistent supervision of children and security systems, such as locks on doors and gates ensure that children are well-protected from harm. Staff are well-deployed to ensure that children are effectively supervised and that ratios are consistently met. Robust recruitment and selection procedures, for example, induction processes, probationary periods and completion of checks pertaining to suitability, ensure that staff are suitable, safe and appropriately skilled to work with children. This means that children remain safe and

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provision

protected. Staff's ongoing suitability and quality of teaching is monitored through supervision, appraisal and a targeted programme of professional development training to address underperformance and increase staff skills.

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provision

The manager takes overall responsibility for overseeing the educational programme and ensuring its effective implementation. Furthermore, she oversees and regularly checks children's learning journey records to ensure that they are up to date and that observations and tracking accurately reflect children's learning and progress. Arrangements for tracking the progress of all children in the nursery help staff to identify those who are at risk of developmental delay and subsequently use this information to plan specific activities to help them progress. This demonstrates how the nursery effectively works to close the achievement gap and ensure that children receive appropriate external interventions to successfully support their learning and development. The manager uses her knowledge, experience and skills to lead the staff team and continually enhance the already good practice. Through robust support systems, such as,

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provision

role modelling, mentoring and coaching, staff are expertly guided to achieve the high aspirations of the manager and senior management team. The manager and staff team have worked incredibly hard since the last inspection to improve practice and the service they provide and all recommendations have been successfully addressed. Self-evaluation is well-documented identifying clear targets for improvement and the views of children and parents and guidance from the local authority are listened to and acted upon. Staff constantly evaluate their practice and the environment, through regular room and staff observations to ensure they continue to improve, as they strive to provide the best possible care and education for all children.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are strong and make a significant contribution to meeting children's individual needs. Parents have access to a wide variety of organisational policies and procedures and information about what to do and who to contact if they have any concerns. The use of daily diary sheets, along with opportunities for parents to share verbal information with friendly, approachable staff ensures that there are strong relationships between the home and the setting. Parents are highly complementary about the nursery and the care and education their children receive. For example, they say that children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery and are often reluctant to leave. They comment that they appreciate the information they receive regarding children's learning and development and are happy with the progress they make. The nursery liaises exceptionally well with outside agencies and external professionals, such as speech and

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provision

language therapists. This means that all children receive appropriate intervention and as a result, are well supported to achieve their full potential. Systems for effective working with local schools are well-established and provide continuity and consistency for children's care and learning. Staff complete a transfer document to share with reception class teachers about children's learning and developmental needs, which successfully supports them with the transition to school.

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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 EY343063 Local authority Wigan Inspection number 941632

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 49 Number of children on roll 62 Name of provider Kate's Kindergarten Limited Date of previous inspection 11/01/2010 Telephone number 01942 259 870

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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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