Wise Owl Nursery

Wise Owl Nursery 143 Ash Bank Road, STOKE-ON-TRENT, ST2 9DX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/12/2013 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

 All children enjoy access to a well-resourced outdoor area where they learn to be physical and active learners.  Children in the pre-school room benefit from a broad range of resources, experiences and good quality teaching and they show sustained levels of interest and enjoyment.  There is clear focus on supporting the children's personal, social and emotional development and keeping children safe. Consequently, children are happy, confident and safely use the environment.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff caring for children aged under three do not consistently recognise children's progress and use the information gathered to plan experiences and activities to further extend children's learning, in particular, in their communication and language.  Staff do not consistently make best use of available resources and for some areas of learning there is not a broad enough range of resources available to provide all children with a rich and varied environment.  The monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning and use of observation and assessment is not effective enough to ensure good practice is sustained throughout the nursery.  The timing of meals, such as breakfast and lunch does not always meet the needs of all individual children attending or their parents' requests.

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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 playrooms and the outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager, deputy and registered person and conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the nursery, the provider's self- evaluation form and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took account of feedback from parent feedback surveys.

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Information about the setting

Wise Owl Nursery re-registered in December 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from a two-storey building in Werrington, Stoke on Trent. A separate building provides one large room where the out of school club is located. There is a garden available for outdoor play. The nursery is open each weekday from 7am to 6pm all year round, except bank holidays, and the out of school club is open each weekday before and after school. A mini-bus is provided to take children to, and collect them from local schools.

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Information about the setting

The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early years education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. There are currently 30 children on roll in the early years age group. There are 15 children on roll in the out of school club, of whom seven are from five to under eight years and four are over eight years. There are 11 members of staff working directly with the children, of whom 10 have an appropriate early years qualification. Two staff have Early Years Professional Status, seven staff have a qualification at level 3 and one has a qualification at level 2. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 improve the use of observation and assessment, for children under three years, to help staff plan more effectively a clear learning intention for activities and by placing a better focus on increasing children's communication and language by introducing new vocabulary, words and concepts.

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

 build on the programme for children's understanding of the world by providing increased opportunities for children to use a range of programmable toys and natural materials and make more freely available resources, such as the arts and crafts to further extend the programme for expressive arts and design

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

 monitor more closely the quality of teaching and learning, and the effectiveness of the assessment and tracking processes in order to fully support and challenge individual children's learning and development

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

 review the timing of meals, such as breakfast and lunch to ensure meals are given to children according to their individual needs and parents' requests.

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who attend

Overall, the programme of activities and experiences cover the seven areas of learning with a clear focus on supporting the children's personal, social, emotional and physical development well. However, staff caring for children under three years do not make best use of the information gained from observation and assessment to help plan activities that are tailored to meet their individual needs. This inconsistency in the quality of teaching means that children aged under three are not making best possible progress and as a result, not all children are well prepared for their next stage of learning. The staff working with the under threes do not always make best use of their time when interacting with children by placing a strong enough focus on increasing their vocabulary, reinforcing words and introducing new ideas and concepts. In contrast, staff caring for children over three years in the pre-school are well skilled and provide an interesting and challenging

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who attend

range of experiences. They carefully observe and skilfully question children to make them think, problem solve, recall past events and help make sense of what they are thinking. Consequently, these children are keen to participate, share their ideas and enjoy group discussions. Children's physical development is supported well. The baby room provides plenty of space for babies who are not mobile the opportunity to move, roll, sit and stretch in a safe area. More mobile babies are supported well to crawl and walk as they use appropriate aids and equipment and are encouraged well by the staff as they hold their hands and help them take a walk. All children benefit from the outdoor area, which is well resourced for children to become active and creative learners. For example, children aged one to two years are encouraged to investigate the fallen leaves on the ground and are excited when the wind blows and are supported well to use the physical play equipment. Indoors,

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who attend

children benefit from dance and movement sessions and use equipment, such as the ball pool, tunnels and tents.

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who attend

Children over three years confidently count, sort, match and consider shape and size through using a varied range of construction toys, puzzles, games and the computer. In addition, practical first-hand experiences, such as using the height chart to compare their height increases their interest in mathematical concepts. Staff successfully incorporate a mathematical component, such as weight, measures and capacity in the role-play area, and sand and water, to further extend children's mathematical learning. The pre-school is better resourced than the other rooms with resources, such as torches and magnifying glasses available to encourage children to explore and investigate. However, overall there are few objects, such as natural items and programmable toys throughout the nursery, to help build on the children's understanding of the world. Children learn about the natural environment as they learn about the changing seasons and sowing and caring for

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who attend

strawberries, tomatoes, cress and grass. A topic on camping, caravans and holidays has been well received by the pre-school children and they show a keen interest in the wider world and insects in the natural environment.

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who attend

All children begin to enjoy books and group time. For example, children enjoy daily story sessions and recognising familiar objects and animals on flash cards used by the staff. Staff caring for children over three years, place a strong focus on increasing their literacy skills. For example, these children begin to recognise and some begin to write their own names. Staff provide a variety of writing materials, such as crayons and chalk to encourage children to make marks. Children begin to link sounds and letters as staff place an emphasis on the initial sounds of words during children's play and activities and through games. Staff provide a varied range of opportunities for children to explore a variety of painting techniques, arts and crafts and use their senses to explore resources, such as cooked pasta, dough and jelly. However, these resources are not freely or easily accessible and a broad enough range is not offer to capture the children's curiosity and to

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who attend

further extend the programme for expressive arts and design. Staff provide a varied range of opportunities for children to play imaginatively with small world resources, such as cars, garages, the farm and play people. Role-play areas are made available in the rooms. However, staff caring for children under three years do not consistently make best use of the area by making activities more open ended and encouraging children to use, move and combine resources in a variety of ways to extend their play and capture their interest.

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who attend

Positive relationships are established with parents and carers and staff use the initial induction well to collate useful information about the children's care and educational needs. At this point parents contribute well to their children's initial developmental assessment and strategies continue to develop to keep them involved. Parents and carers receive daily verbal and written feedback about their child's day. Strategies, such as taking home the nursery soft toy 'Murrey' and 'Bluebell', which are often returned with photographs and a written account, help involve parents and carers in their children's learning. Children attending the before and after school club have use of a separate annexe and benefit from a broad range of experiences which they access freely at their own leisure, which complements their school day well.

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

Clear routines in the baby room and the positive relationships with staff help children gain a real sense of belonging. Babies form close attachments with familiar staff and they feel safe and have a sense of trust. There is a strong key person system in place throughout the nursery which means staff know the children's likes and dislikes and on the whole their care needs are met well. However, on occasion, children's care is not fully tailored to their individual needs. For example, children have regular meals and snacks throughout the day which are healthy, balanced and nutritious. However, the nursery routine of the set late breakfast from 9am to 9.30am coupled with the early lunch at 11.15am results in some children not fully eating their lunch and only benefiting from a light snack and tea in the afternoon. This system is currently not flexible enough to meet the needs of all individual children and parents' personal requests in relation to their children's individual

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

Children are well behaved and respond well to gentle reminders and direction from staff to keep themselves safe. Older children learn about the importance of staying healthy and safe. For example, they learn how to make an emergency call and thoroughly enjoy learning about the importance of good hand washing, healthy eating and exercise. Supporting the children's personal, social and emotional development is a clear priority for the staff. For example, staff are attentive, warm and caring and responsive to their needs. Children are cared for in rooms according to their age and ability and confidently explore their environment and when new experiences are offered they are encouraged well to join in and explore. The pre-school room is well resourced and this clearly benefits the children. Available resources throughout the rest of the nursery are not always used to best effect by the staff. For example, the role-play areas lack challenge and or do not

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

engage the children's interest fully enough. Therefore, the quality of teaching and learning is variable across the nursery.

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

There are effective hygiene practices in place to prevent the spread of infection when changing nappies and first aid requirements are met. All children benefit from being outdoors in the fresh air at regular opportunities throughout the day. Children are emotionally prepared when they transfer to another room within the nursery due to the sharing of information and the individually tailored settling-in process.

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provision

All staff are well qualified in child protection issues and clearly understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to this. There are robust systems in place to ensure staff are suitably vetted and inducted in relation to health and safety issues, safeguarding and child protection. Effective written risk assessments and daily checks of the environment help secure children's safety.

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provision

This is the first inspection under the new ownership of the nursery. The management team consists of the registered person, manager and deputy. Both the manager and deputy are well qualified and experienced and they lead a well-established staff team. The registered person who is currently on maternity leave is still actively involved in supporting and directing the work of the management team. Together they have a realistic overview of the nursery at this time and are clearly motivated and keen to improve practice and extend staff skills and raise children's achievement across the nursery. For example, they have correctly identified, through the self-evaluation process, the strong practice in the pre-school room and the gaps in some of the educational programmes, use of resources and staff interaction with children. Secure systems have been developed to provide regular supervision, appraisals, training and support to staff and recently more robust

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provision

systems developed to manage under-performance. However, currently the manager does not spend enough time in the rooms observing and monitoring the quality of teaching and learning and auditing how effectively staff use observation and assessment to extend children's learning, to further improve practice across the nursery.

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provision

In November 2013, Ofsted received a concern about the quantity of food and timing of meals and meeting children's individual needs and parents' requests in relation to this. The concern prompted a full inspection. The inspection found that although the nursery is meeting the welfare requirement of meals, snacks and drinks being healthy, balanced and nutritious, they have not thoroughly investigated the concern about the timing of meal times and considered fully the implication of this on individual children, and given enough consideration to parents' individual requests. Complaints and their outcome are recorded and therefore the welfare requirement in relation to complaints is also met.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and carers are satisfactory and continue to strengthen. Parents and carers are kept appropriately informed about the nursery policies and the educational programme. For example, notice boards, newsletters and daily diaries are used well to keep them up to date daily. In addition parents' satisfaction surveys are beginning to be used well to influence the service offered. There are appropriate systems in place to share information with other nurseries and the schools the children attend and to support transition to school and these links continue to strengthen.

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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 EY460575 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 942561 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 74 Number of children on roll 45 Name of provider Wiseowl Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01782 303960

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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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