ABC Children's Day Nursery @ Hoo

ABC at Hoo Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom, Hoo Farm, Telford, TF6 6DJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/01/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

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This provision is outstanding

 Children enjoy a wealth of high quality experiences built directly on their evolving interests. This encourages them to learn and develop rapidly.  The nursery is exceptionally well led and managed. Expectations are high and there is a strong commitment to provide the highest quality of teaching and learning for the benefit of the children.  Children are extremely well safeguarded with staff supervising them carefully. Comprehensive risk assessments take place and staff ensure that entry to the nursery is carefully controlled with visitors signing in.  The key person system is well embedded. Children settle very easily into the nursery forming a secure attachment with their 'key person' who know each of their key children and families extremely well. As a result, children's care and learning is tailored to meet their individual needs and excellent relationships are developed with parents.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the three main playrooms and the outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held various meetings with the owner, the area manager, the operations manager, the lead practitioner, the teacher support and spoke to key persons, staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of practitioners working within the setting, the provider's self- evaluation form and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a tour of the premises and conducted a joint observation with the lead practitioner.

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Information about the setting

ABC at Hoo was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery was an existing setting that was registered in 1993 and relocated to new premises. It is situated within the grounds of Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom, Telford. It operates from a demountable building site within the grounds. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from three main base rooms and there is an enclosed area for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two at level 2, with one holding an early years degree and one with foundation degree. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round, from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 79 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 provide further opportunities for child-accessible resources that promote learning and challenge children in the outdoor play area.

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who attend

All staff have a very secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how children learn through play. Each child's key person observes their activities carefully and uses the information to plan challenging learning experiences that build on what they know and can do. Children's interests are taken into account when planning, so that specific resources or activities related to their needs are used to encourage them to participate in a wider variety of learning experiences. This means that all children make excellent progress at their own pace and level of development and that they enjoy all the activities they take part in. Staff have excellent systems to assess children's development, including the required progress check for two-year-old children. These systems fully involve parents, which help to develop a comprehensive picture of the children's individual progress. This means that parents and staff can work together to promote the children's

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who attend

learning and address any issues or concerns that arise at an early stage. Children are motivated and eager to learn; they join in activities with enthusiasm and enjoy their time in the nursery. Staff provide an extensive range of interesting and challenging experiences that meet the needs of children. The comprehensive educational programmes address the prime and specific areas of learning. Staff have very high expectations of the children and an excellent knowledge and understanding of how to promote the learning and development of young children. The nursery is very well organised and staff ensure that children are generally able to access an extensive range of toys and equipment to allow them to be active and independent learners.

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who attend

Children's communication and language is excellently supported across all ages. Staff tune into babies responses when pointing to the different foods they bring to them from the play kitchen and value babies attempts by repeating the correct words back to them. Children are well motivated and eager to join in. For example, toddlers listen intently to staff during a yoga session, listening to their commands and mimicking their actions. Staff constantly praise children, therefore, their self-esteem and self-assurance is fully promoted and children develop a positive sense of themselves and respect for others. Children learn to be strong and independent through the positive relationships established with staff members and other children as they form friendships with one another. Older children are exceptionally well prepared for school. This is due to the high standard of teaching and learning delivered by highly competent staff within the setting. Staff provide children with

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who attend

a broad range of knowledge and skills that establish the right foundation for good future progress through school and life. For example, they particularly enjoyed their cooking activity where they prepared and tasted the potato salad they made. Children keenly investigate and explore the variety of water and sand play activities with staff close at hand to encourage, support and supervise. Children move around the rooms with ease, independently helping themselves to a wide range of interesting and stimulating resources that support their development. For example, babies enjoyed exploring in their black and white area.

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who attend

Children have many opportunities to explore the local area particularly on trips to the adjacent farm. They have opportunities to meet a wide variety of animals, find out about how they are cared for and the homes in which they live. Children learn about a wide range of cultures and festivals. For example, they taste different foods, create artwork and share stories to enhance their understanding of such festivals as Diwali and Chinese New Year. Children's own cultures are celebrated within the nursery and families share events with nursery. For example, children performed in a nativity play in one of the farm barns that parents were invited to come along to. All children are developing their technological skills very well through a huge range of exciting push-button toys and computers. For example, pre-school children enjoy using their mobile telephones when visiting the travel agents. Parents are welcomed into the nursery and invited to share their children's

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who attend

learning experiences through 'stay and play' sessions when they join in the activities and share in their child's learning experiences. They share information when their child starts at the nursery, in order to provide a starting point for staff to build on. Parents may see their child's 'learning journey' at anytime and contribute to this with photographs and comments. They extend or continue some activities at home to extend their children's learning and interests. This means that they are fully involved in their children's learning. Parents also contribute their knowledge and views to their child's progress records, including the progress check at age two years and regularly share information with their child's key person, so they are well informed about their progress.

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

Arrangements to help children settle into the nursery and build secure emotional attachments with their carers are highly effective. Children and parents make a number of visits to the nursery prior to starting. Successful implementation of the key person system ensures that children feel safe and secure in the setting. Parents have regular contact with their child's key person and this helps to build positive relationships between home and the nursery, which then contributes to children's sense of security and well-being. Children play very well together and behaviour is excellent, demonstrating an understanding of the clear boundaries and expectations within the setting. Children are taught good manners and staff set very good examples of how to be polite and respect everyone. They are learning to be independent and to manage their self-care as even very young children handle their cutlery with good control at mealtimes and access their own drinks. They

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

choose their own resources as these are easily accessible to all children in each room. Babies have exciting, comfortable rooms where they can choose the toys they want at floor level or pull themselves up to reach others. Staff steady them as they try to stand and walk and encourage them to stretch and reach for what they want. However, there is scope to further extend the accessibility of resources for children in the outdoor play area to fully maximise opportunities to extend their learning in this area. The nursery places a priority on teaching the children to keep themselves safe. For example, toddlers learn how to use scissors safely within a cutting activity and pre-school children learn how to use knives safely within a cooking activity. Consequently, children are helped to learn about risk and safe practices to follow.

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

Staff teach children how to develop a healthy lifestyle very well. They plan regular time outdoors where children spend time in the fresh air being physically active. Staff effectively help children to experiment with risk and independence. As children experiment and request to build a tepee with staff support using sticks they have found. A healthy diet is encouraged for children who attend who receive meals catered for by a local school. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure any additional or medical needs are met. Comprehensive records are kept of any accidents or medication administered and records are effectively shared with parents. Concise recording of children's allergies or food preferences ensure needs are met and respected. Children in pre-school enjoy healthy cooking activities discussing where the various foods come from and how they grow. They then eat these for snack or take them home to share with their

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

families. Staff teach children to wash their hands before they eat and after using the toilet. Staff talk about washing the germs away, effectively helping children to understand why they need to wash their hands to help eliminate the transfer of germs. Older children manage their personal needs extremely well. For example, they toilet themselves and attempt to put their own coats and wellington boots on prior to going outside to play. Staff recognise younger children's signs of tiredness or need for a drink and quickly respond. As a result, all children are happy, energetic, well nourished and ready to play.

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

Transition between rooms is managed effectively with children being gradually introduced through short settling-in sessions to ease transition between rooms. The nursery links effectively with local schools, in partnership with parents. Teachers are invited to visit the nursery to meet the children and the key person shares information about the children's interests and needs. This promotes excellent continuity to support children's ongoing learning and care needs as they move on to school. Staff provide further activities to help children feel confident and self-assured about their future.

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provision

The owner and management team are truly inspirational, exceptionally caring, committed and knowledgeable of their role and responsibility in providing high-quality childcare and education. They act as excellent role models to staff. Together, they work with a truly dedicated staff team to implement the Early Years Foundation Stage framework highly successfully. Staff demonstrate high levels of expertise in supporting children's all round development and learning. The staff team are exceptionally well focused to seek improvements to continue to successfully maintain the outstanding provision they provide. There is excellent teamwork and communication between all staff in the nursery and there are regular meetings with the nursery as a whole and meeting with nurseries within the group. Training is accessed through the local authority, as well as in-house training and information is cascaded to other staff. Annual appraisals, supervision meetings and regular

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provision

discussions with management identify areas in which staff wish to improve their practice and knowledge and an ongoing professional development plan is kept for each member of staff. Management carries out monitoring of performance and all staff reflect on and evaluate their teaching and planning, so that improvements are ongoing. The group also has the support of a qualified teacher who also assists the nursery in their monitoring of provision through regular visits and monitoring reports.

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provision

Children's safety and welfare are a priority in the nursery. The provision has appropriate policies and procedures in place to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff implement highly effective systems that help assure children's safety and well-being at all times. Children are very well supervised, all entrances to the premises are well secured and most staff hold a current paediatric first aid certificate. Staff are highly knowledgeable about child protection issues and all attend training on safeguarding children. They are fully aware of how to follow the nursery procedures of what to do if they have concerns about any of the staff or children in their care. Thorough recruitment and induction processes help to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. Robust risk assessment of all areas of the nursery identifies potential hazards to minimise risks to children. The management and

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provision

staff review this regularly, adding activities, such as outings as necessary to ensure children's safety. The nursery also has strong links with other professionals and local early years providers, in order to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities if the need arises. The close partnership working with other professionals ensures that children's needs are identified and that they are supported to make good progress.

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provision

Staff build excellent partnerships with parents. Parents receive a wealth of information through daily discussions, parents' evenings, newsletters and the nursery website. There is a highly effective system to involve parents further as they are encouraged to come into the nursery to participate in 'stay and play' sessions. As a result, parents come into the nursery to do activities, such as, art and craft activities based around current festivals children are celebrating. Self-evaluation takes into account the views of staff, parents and carers, which are actively sought, valued and acted upon. For example, feedback is sought during parents' evening and regular parent questionnaires are sent out. As a result, the monitoring processes for focussed improvements are rigorous and the document itself is excellently laid out and informative. The nursery critically evaluates its provision and has a number of plans for future initiatives. The drive for improvement and forward planning is a

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provision

key strength of the leadership and management of the nursery.

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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 EY469036 Local authority Telford & Wrekin Inspection number 930670 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 79 Name of provider ABC Childrens Day Nurseries Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01952245257

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Setting details

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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