Rockbourne Day Nursery Ltd

Rockbourne Day Nursery Ltd Rockbourne Avenue, LIVERPOOL, L25 4TN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/12/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Most children are working within the typical range of development expected for their age. As a result, children have the basic skills required for their next stage in learning and school.  Practitioners support children to play and learn together. As a result, behaviour is generally good.

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It is not yet good because

 Ongoing assessments are not yet effective, which means that next steps in learning are not always planned for effectively to support the children to make progress.  The key person system does not fully ensure that every child's learning experiences are tailored to meet their individual needs and parents are not encouraged to further support children's development at home.  Assessments of children's age and stage of development are not yet established, as a result, individual and groups of children who require intervention are not identified quickly enough.  Self-evaluation does not currently take account of the views of practitioners, parents and children. As a result, improvements are not adequately tailored to improve weaknesses in practice.  The setting have not informed Ofsted of a change to the manager of the setting, which is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements.

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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 the three indoor rooms.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held meetings with the manager.  The inspector looked at observation records of the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children.  The inspector took account of the views of the parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Rockbourne Day Nursery Ltd registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is situated in the Woolton area of Liverpool and is managed by a limited company. The setting serves the local area. It operates from a converted church and has an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The setting employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of whom, eight staff have an early years qualification at level 3, with one member of staff with a level 2 qualification. Additionally, one staff member holds a qualification at level 4 and a further member of staff has a level 6 early years qualification. The setting opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, 51 weeks a year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The setting provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. There are currently 52 children attending who are in the early years age group.

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must:

 ensure systems for ongoing assessments are effective in identifying children's next steps in learning to inform the planning of activities which challenge children and support them to make progress

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must:

 improve the key person system to ensure that learning experiences are tailored to meet the individual needs of all children and engage and support parents in guiding their children's development at home.

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

 develop the systems for monitoring assessments of all children's age and stage of development to ensure that children who require intervention are identified in a timely way

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

 improve self-evaluation to ensure that the views of practitioners, parents and children are gathered and incorporated in the settings action plan to make certain it is rigorous and focuses on the weakest areas.

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who attend

Children enter this welcoming setting confidently and independently and are able to select from an adequate range of resources, which are clearly labelled and accessible for all. Practitioners in this setting have a sufficient knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, educational programmes planned do not consistently reflect the next steps identified for children's development, for example, there is little opportunity for older children to make marks and write with meaning and for a purpose. As a result, children are not always adequately challenged. Practitioners are recording regular observations of the children to identify their interests. However, systems for gathering the children's starting points on entry do not happen quickly enough. As a result, children's progress is not being effectively monitored, therefore, gaps in learning are only closing slowly. Most children in this setting are working within the expected age and stage of development and

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who attend

are motivated and keen learners. For example, a group of children enjoy experimenting with funnels in the water tray and are learning about filling and pouring as well as how they can prevent the flow of water. However, the quality of teaching across the setting is inconsistent and this means that not all children benefit from high quality interactions and support. Each child is assigned a key person who is responsible for supporting their learning and development, establishing routine care practices and building relationships with parents to enable them to have a suitable knowledge of each child in their care. However, the key person system is not yet effective in ensuring that children's learning experiences are tailored to meet their individual needs. Although practitioners play with and alongside children they do not always use skilful questions during activities and play, as a result, children are not sufficiently being encouraged to problem solve or think

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who attend

Practitioners complete assessments as part of the progress check at age two and each key person carries out an assessment of the children's learning and development twice a year. However, ongoing assessments carried out by the key person are not fully established or effective in planning appropriate next steps in the learning. As a result, some learning outcomes and experiences are not matching the children's needs. Children have the basic skills required for their next stage in learning and are appropriately supported by practitioners with a balance of child-initiated and adult-led activities. However, some of the adult-led activities are to directive and do not encourage children to explore or experiment with their own ideas. Practitioners, however, do prepare younger children to become ready for the move up to the next room by supporting their independence skills. For example, babies are encouraged to feed themselves and are given the opportunity to

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who attend

explore and develop this skill during mealtimes.

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who attend

Parents are welcomed into this setting and encouraged to share information about their child, such as, their likes and dislikes and family environment. However, parents do not currently contribute to establishing children's starting points for learning on entry. Parents are involved in their child's learning and development through a variety of methods, such as, their daily chats with the key person to communicate children's special interests and achievements at home. Parents have access to their children's learning journey record and are able to read observations recorded, as a result, they are aware of the learning opportunities their children are experiencing in the setting. The setting holds parents' evenings every year, where the parents are invited in to discuss their child's stage of learning and development with the key person. Parents are also invited to 'stay and play' sessions where they can come along to the setting and join in and enjoy activities with

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who attend

their children. However, strategies to engage parents and promote learning at home are not always successful to further support children's learning.

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

The children are given chance to settle in to this setting and are assigned a key person based on who they naturally develop a bond with. Parents are aware of who their child's key person is and spend time talking to them daily to exchange informal information regarding their child's care. As a result, the children develop emotional attachments to chosen adults early in their care. Children are confident to ask practitioners to help them and invite them to join in with their play. Practitioners organise time to spend with their key group throughout the day. For example, younger children spend time with their key person after sleep time. However, these activities planned do not always take account of the children's individual interests and learning needs. As a result, some children become bored and disengaged.

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

Children in this setting demonstrate they are happy and settled. Parents express that they feel confident sending their children to this setting. The children visit the setting and attend settling-in sessions prior to starting, which provides a smooth transition for the children. As children move between rooms in this setting, they take part in transition sessions with their current key person to become familiar with the new surroundings. The key persons meet to discuss children's needs to support the children and ensure there is a smooth transition. This setting has good links with local schools and shares information regarding the child's learning and development and care needs. As a result, children are prepared for their transition to school. Practitioner to child ratios are met and children are supervised in each room, which ensures that the practitioners can provide the children with positive interactions and experiences. Children seek out adults for support and

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

cuddles, which reinforces the attachments formed. Practitioners generally keep children safe by ensuring there are clear boundaries. For example, encouraging the children to walk inside the setting. Younger children are comforted when they become unsettled and practitioners talk to them about their emotions, as a result, children are beginning to understand their feelings and how to cope with these.

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

Practitioners use mealtimes as an opportunity to sit with their key group and talk to the children about what they are eating, as a result, children are developing an understanding of different foods. Younger children are given the opportunity to practise feeding themselves and older children are encouraged to help set the tables and tidy up after mealtimes. Children have access to drinking water throughout the day and they have individual cups, which they can access independently. Older children are encouraged to brush their teeth during the session, as a result, children are developing an understanding about personal hygiene. Due to current renovations taking place children only have very limited access to the outdoor area. As a result, children do not have many opportunities for physical and energetic play.

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provision

The nursery manager left the setting with immediate effect in November 2013. The setting failed to inform Ofsted of the change in manager within the required time scale, this is a breach of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. However, this has had limited impact on the children in the setting as their contingency arrangements to utilise a manager from a sister nursery have ensured continuity of care for the children. In addition, the provider understands the need to inform Ofsted of such events in the future. Practitioners have a sound knowledge of safeguarding procedures and several have attended safeguarding training, as a result, they are able to identify possible signs of abuse and know the agencies to contact if required. Practitioners ensure that appropriate records are maintained, such as, a visitors signing in and out book and children's registers. Practitioners are aware of the settings whistleblowing policy and are confident about who

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provision

to report any concerns to. There are appropriate procedures in place for recruiting, vetting and checking practitioners, which ensure that they are suitable and safe to work with children. There is a clear induction procedure in place, which provides new practitioners with relevant information required to care for the children in this setting. This ensures that they are clear about their role and responsibilities. Several practitioners have had training in paediatric first aid. The setting has recently held a 'first aid party' which involved practitioners and children, to refresh practitioners existing knowledge and ensure that children were aware of basic first aid. Practitioners maintain appropriate records for accidents and medication. These are reviewed by the room supervisors to identify any patterns and put in place systems to prevent reoccurrence.

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provision

Practitioners benefit from staff meetings, where new information and any changes are discussed to ensure that all practitioners have an understanding of the effect on their role and responsibilities. They share new knowledge gained from attending training courses to support each other's continuing professional development. Quality of practice is monitored through annual appraisals, which highlights areas for improvement in practice and training requirements. A clear induction procedure provides new practitioners and students with the relevant information required to support children in this setting. However, monitoring arrangements for existing practitioners are not thorough enough to ensure that they are all sufficiently supported in how to plan and provide children with educational programmes that meet their individual needs. The manager demonstrates a commitment to driving improvements and raising standards of the settings provision. Some progress has been

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provision

made following a notice to improve being issued by Ofsted, with regard to the settings key person system. However, this requires further improvement to be fully effective. In addition, plans to implement a whole nursery assessment to ensure that gaps in learning for individual and groups of children are identified promptly is not in place. As a result, current systems are not working effectively to accurately identify all areas of weakness in practice and are not fully effective in targeting areas for improvement. For example, they have not identified that there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching practice and learning across the setting. Additionally, self-evaluation does not currently take account of the views of practitioners, parents and children to ensure that all areas for improvement are identified.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are established and parents express that they are happy with the care which their child receives. Parents speak well of the induction and settling-in visits and comment that this made the transition for their child and them much easier. The systems for sharing information with parents regarding their child's learning require further development to support parents in aiding children's learning at home. Partnership with external agencies, such as, the area special educational needs coordinator and advisory teacher are good and the manager is well supported. Partnerships with local schools are established, as a result, the setting is able to adequately exchange information regarding children's learning and development to ensure there is a smooth transition for children.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure Ofsted are informed regarding the change to manager (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY463247 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 947121 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 73 Number of children on roll 52 Name of provider Rockbourne Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 0151 4880768

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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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