The Old Station Nursery - Moseley

Catherine House Day Nursery 106 Wake Green Road, MOSELEY, Birmingham, West Midlands, B13 9PZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/12/2013 01/10/2013

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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

 Babies and children form strong emotional attachments with the kind, approachable staff. They create a very welcoming, reassuring atmosphere and effectively promote all children's well-being so they soon settle, are kept safe, are well cared for and thrive.  Staff plan and organise a rewarding, relevant and often challenging educational programme. They interact well with babies and children, enthusing and encouraging them so they are keen to join in and relish learning, particularly in the exciting outside areas and the pre-school's learning areas.  Positive partnerships with parents and carers make an important contribution to the manager's and staff's effectiveness in fully understanding and successfully meeting babies' and children's needs.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The roles and responsibilities of new members of the senior management team are being embedded to enable them to further develop the already good quality teaching across the nursery.  While all parents are well informed about children's activities and achievements, some are unsure about their child's learning priorities and ways to promote their child's learning at home.  There is scope to enhance the indoor learning areas where toddlers are based to offer them more space to explore, make choices and learn independently.

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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 five playrooms and the outside play area.  The inspector held meetings with the nursery's director, area manager and manager.  The inspector spoke to children and staff throughout the inspection.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at and discussed the self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of records and policies relating to children's welfare, health and safety and the management of complaints.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Catherine House Day Nursery was registered in 1987 and is on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a converted house in the Moseley area of Birmingham and is one of six nurseries managed by a limited company. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm all year round, with the exception of bank holidays. There is a large enclosed garden available for outdoor play and babies and children go on local walks and outings.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs nine members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 2. One member of staff holds a level 6 qualification. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 57 children attending who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery is a member the National Day Nurseries Association and the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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

 embed the professional development of the senior staff team and their roles in supporting the continuing development of high quality teaching in the nursery

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

 extend ways to engage with parents of babies and younger children about their children's learning priorities and learning at home

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

 enhance the indoor learning environment used by toddlers to enrich their exploratory play and to offer them greater scope for making choices and to learn independently.

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who attend

Babies and children are ably encouraged and taught by attentive and enthusiastic staff. They plan and organise rewarding activities and experiences which reflect children's interests and developmental needs. The staff's good information sharing with parents and consistent observations and assessments mean they have a sound knowledge of children's starting points and which aspects of their development to focus on next. Parents' views about their children's learning and development are valued. The information they provide helps staff to get to know their child and to plan effectively for them. Staff and parents regularly discuss and review children's progress, including progress checks for children aged two-years-old and transition records for children moving within the nursery or on to school. In particular, staff working with pre-school age children are highly effective in the way they inform parents about their children's learning at nursery and suggest ideas for

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who attend

them to follow up at home. This includes providing activity and song sheets to use at home, and encouraging parents and children to find items for activities at nursery, such as 'show and tell' sessions. Three- and four-year-olds take home library books and also a special bear, whose adventures they then tell their friends about at nursery. Staff throughout the nursery ensure all parents have regular feedback about their babies' and children's daily activities and achievements. Staff also readily respond to parents' suggestions for their children's learning so, for instance a key person and a parent work together to extend a baby's confidence and balance when walking. However, not all parents of younger children know about their child's current next steps. Therefore, there is scope to extend and adapt the pre-school's best practice in promoting parents' understanding of all aspects of their children's learning, to the rest of the nursery.

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who attend

Babies and children make good progress and are well prepared for the next stage in their learning, including going to school. The quality of teaching is good and in some cases excellent. For example, new senior staff and an experienced key person working with babies are highly skilled at capturing children's interest and encouraging their purposeful involvement. They also ably mentor their less experienced or less confident colleagues and students resulting, in the main, in very positive interactions between staff, babies and children. Throughout the nursery babies and children relish the rewarding activities and experiences. In particular, they love being outdoors. As children go in to the outside areas they express real delight about what they are going to do and discover. For example, older children and staff eagerly go out in the dark to use torches to discover what they can see and find. Children love to investigate and explore in the digging area or sensory

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who attend

garden and they have all enjoyed growing, harvesting and eating vegetables.

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who attend

Staff ably build on children's experiences and understanding, often using resources outdoors. For example, three- and four-year-olds are enjoying learning about a famous artist. They download examples of his paintings which they to refer to while finding sticks in the garden to use in their artwork. Later they return outside to complete some chalk pictures. During these and subsequent creative activities they eagerly talk about the artist, his paintings and about their paintings and collages. In the baby room the key person, ably supported by a student, quietly develops younger children's concentration. During a painting activity and then water play, she chats easily to the children, skilfully encouraging their exploration and discovery. The key person makes learning fun, while adeptly keeping babies focussed. She acknowledges their efforts and gently encourages them to try something new, such as a different painting technique. The key person talks to each child

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who attend

about how they are painting or using the bubbly water. As a result, young children are engrossed and persevere. In the toddler rooms, staff provide many opportunities for children to be active, to explore and experiment. However, there is scope to enhance the layout and organisation of the ground floor rooms they are based in, to create more space for them to be active, to explore and to more readily help themselves to toys and resources to enrich their independent learning.

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who attend

Staff effectively promote children's communication skills. Accurate assessment means they promptly identify those children who need more focussed attention to develop their understanding or emergent speech, including supporting children who speak English as an additional language. Most staff skilfully promote and develop babies' and children's responses and speaking about what they are doing, feeling or observing. They ably extend children's ideas and vocabulary and also to help them to understand what is happening next. For example, a key person working with toddlers, chats easily to a child when changing his nappy. Her words reassure him, while also promoting his understanding and responses about good hygiene and getting dressed. She includes naming and counting buttons, shoes and clothes as she involves the child in getting dressed. Babies and children are consistently encouraged to sit, listen attentively and take turns in speaking at

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who attend

appropriate times, such as story and circle times. The adults' effective story telling enthuses children of all ages and often encourages older children's lively discussions. Throughout the nursery, staff also provide many opportunities to develop children's coordination and skills in readiness for making marks. Many pre-school children readily recognise letters and sounds, including their names, and confidently label their work. Staff also value what children say about their art and craft work and experiences and ensure they annotate displays of their work and photographs accordingly. Children relish using information technology, for instance to support their mark making and creative drawing.

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

Babies and children are nurtured and thrive. Regular discussions with parents and clear care plans help all staff to understand and fully promote each child's health, dietary and care needs and individual routines. Staff are alert to and quickly respond to changes in children's health and well-being. They do their best to work with parents to promote children's comfort, for instance, in in order to tackle conditions such as nappy rash. They adapt nursery routines to cater for individual children's sleep or meal time routines. When children become unwell, staff provide prompt appropriate treatment and confidently advise parents about seeking further medical attention. Accidents are well managed by first aid qualified staff and the causes of these monitored in order to minimise the risks of future incidents.

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

Babies and children develop a real sense of belonging. Staff successfully focus on promoting their confidence and emotional well-being. For example, parents and carers are encouraged to tell staff about their children's backgrounds, characteristics and interests so they can reflect these in activities and routines. Babies and children feel increasingly secure because key persons are approachable, kind and attentive. They gently reassure babies and children and effectively support them in getting to know the other children, their surroundings and routines when they start and when they move to another part of the nursery. There is a real family atmosphere at the nursery, with everyone working together to maintain continuity for children. For example, nursery colleagues effectively work together and liaise with parents to ensure children's moves within the nursery occur at the right time. They review and update information about children's care, learning and

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

development needs to pass on to the child's new key person. Staff successfully promote children's confidence, social skills and good relationships in readiness for the next stage in their learning, including going to school. In fun, age- appropriate ways, adults ensure children know what is happening next and what is expected of them. For example, singing various popular rhymes encourages children's good hand washing, safe walking down stairs and assisting with tidying up. From an early age children are encouraged to make choices and to develop independence in seeing to their self-care so that by the time children leave for school they are very confident and resourceful. Well-managed snack and meal times also promote babies' and children's social skills, independence in eating and making healthy choices. They sit together, enjoying the company of each other and of their key persons. Older children help with

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

setting the table and serving themselves. Frequent outdoor activities, including physical exercise and growing their own food, further support children's increasing awareness of how to keep themselves healthy.

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provision

There is a consistent, effective drive for improvement to ensure children and families access a high quality nursery provision which meets their needs. Senior leaders have made a positive start to addressing previous inspection recommendations and at the same time effectively managed changes to staff. As a result, they have ensured continuity for children and families and provided well-targeted support and mentoring for staff. New staff have settled quickly to their roles within the nursery and soon formed close bonds with the children. There are also effective procedures for monitoring and evaluating the educational programme and the quality of teaching. For instance the staff's regular, accurate observations and assessments ensure any gaps in children's learning, development or in the educational programme are promptly identified and addressed. In addition, the area manager and nursery manager regularly spend time in the rooms,

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provision

observing how effectively staff interact with babies and children and use different resources. For instance, they have supported the staff in developing their discussions and questioning techniques to help children get the most out of activities and to challenge their thinking. Current priorities include enhancing the indoor learning areas and presentation of resources for toddlers aged over one to two years. Managers are also focussing on extending the roles of new senior staff in order to use their expertise to further develop the already good quality teaching in the nursery.

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provision

Babies and children are effectively safeguarded. They are looked after by staff who are suitable and well qualified, and who understand their responsibilities to protect children from harm. Staff attend regular safeguarding training and have opportunities to discuss safeguarding matters. They are confident about what action to take if they have any concerns about a child's welfare. In their work with children, managers and staff consistently strive to work effectively with parents, carers and other agencies in order to promote every child's welfare, health and safety. As part of this, staff obtain all required information and agreements relating to children and their families. They ensure parents and carers are well informed about any accidents, incidents or changes in their child's well-being. High priority is given to ensuring babies' and children's safety. Staff work together to carefully check that all areas are safe, secure, clean and comfortable and that

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provision

children use toys and resources which are suitable and well maintained.

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provision

Positive relationships with parents, carers and others enable staff to effectively meet children's care, learning and development needs. Parents' views about their children help staff to get to know each child well and to plan effectively for their needs. There are increasingly effective arrangements for parents and staff to exchange information about children's activities, progress and achievements, although a few parents are not sure about their child's current next steps. Parents are also encouraged to give their feedback about the nursery's provision. This includes opportunities for parent representatives to meet with the manager to discuss different aspects of nursery life or its organisation. There are also clear complaints procedures and any concerns are appropriately followed up and investigated. Children attending more than one setting or who are moving on to school have consistency and continuity and make smooth transitions. The manager is

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provision

further developing links with other daycare providers through the local early years network. There are already established links with local schools so that children's transition documents are passed on to their new school and in some cases, reception class staff visit the nursery to meet the children and their key persons.

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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 227205 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 942218

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 57 Name of provider Buds Limited Date of previous inspection 01/10/2013 Telephone number 0121 449 3673

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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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