Corner House Nursery Audley Road

Townhouse Private Day Nursery Audley Road, Alsager, STOKE-ON-TRENT, Staffordshire, ST7 2UQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/02/2014 09/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff are highly experienced and enthusiastic, thoroughly enjoying their play and interactions with the children. They expertly support and extend children's learning and development at every opportunity, encouraging them to develop critical thinking skills and become active learners.  Emotional security of the children is given an exceptionally high priority by all staff, who take time to get to know each child and their unique needs. Consequently, children settle quickly into the setting, are happy, secure and become confident learners who are very well prepared for the next stages in their learning.  Staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding and how to protect children from harm. This is underpinned by ongoing training and the robust policies and procedures in place, which are regularly updated.  Leadership is inspirational. Meticulous self-evaluation and reflective practice ensures

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This provision is outstanding

that staff, parents and children are highly involved in the setting's continual improvement, in pursuit of excellence. Consequently, staff are highly motivated and have high aspirations for the children and all areas of the setting's practice.  Partnerships with parents are exceptional. As a result, opportunities for parents to share information about their children and to become actively involved within the setting are promoted continuously.

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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 all playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the early years teacher.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the provision and spoke with staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation and a range of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

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

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Information about the setting

Townhouse Private Day Nursery opened in 1991 and was re-registered under the current owners in 2005. It is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from six rooms, across two floors in a listed detached property on the outskirts of Alsager town centre. It serves the local community and beyond, being close to major road links and the M6 motorway. Due to the age of the building, there are some restrictions in respect of access to the first floor. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 21 members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and 3. One staff member holds Qualified Teacher Status and Early Years Professional Status. Two staff members hold Early Years Professional Status and a further two hold Foundation Degrees in Early Years. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 87 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early years education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association and has been awarded the e-Quality Counts certificate.

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

 provide a wide range of books outdoors at all times, to further enhance children's excellent literacy skills.

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who attend

Staff are highly experienced and enthusiastic, thoroughly enjoying their play and interactions with the children. They expertly support and extend children's learning and development at every opportunity, encouraging them to develop critical thinking skills and become active learners. An exceptionally varied range of activities and experiences are planned and provided for the children, both indoors and outdoors. These experiences are based upon the children's current interests and next steps in learning, identified through the ongoing observations, which staff make of the children during their play. For example, babies enjoy a favourite story, which staff develop further, creating a cave and individual characters from the book with the babies, extending their enjoyment and imagination. Toddlers show an interest in vehicles, from which staff develop activities relating to all kinds of transport, encouraging them to paint pictures of different vehicles. In the pre-

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who attend

school room, a child's interest in baking develops into an opportunity for all of the children in each room, to explore cake making ingredients before taking part in a whole nursery 'bake off'. These wonderful responses by staff, to the things that are important to each child, promotes a love and enjoyment of learning and helps them to make rapid progress in their learning and development. Each member of staff is very confident and knowledgeable about child development and they competently assess children's progress to ensure that all areas of their learning and development are being provided for. Teaching is exceptional, as staff are constantly attuned to what the children are doing and when it is appropriate to intervene to support and extend their learning opportunities further. As a result, children are confident, motivated learners who are developing excellent skills for the future.

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who attend

All staff understand the importance of supporting children's communication and language skills at all times. Staff provide excellent commentary and open questions to children during their play, to engage children in practising their language skills. Children are not hurried to give a response and are clearly given time to think about what they want to say. Staff are trained to sign and use many visual cues to help children communicate and understand. During song sessions, staff sing and sign to promote both means of communication. Books and reading materials from many cultures are readily available and children enjoy the one-to-one experience of sharing them with staff or participating in group story time. Staff skilfully use tone and intonation as they tell stories and share picture books with children. Stories are clearly important to the children, who thoroughly enjoy acting out favourite ones, such as 'Jack and the beanstalk', pretending that they can

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who attend

hear his footsteps, and building his beanstalk outdoors. There is scope however, to support this love of literacy further, through ensuring that a range of books are also available at all times outdoors, to continue children's interests. The whole environment is rich in print and staff encourage children to draw and write, both inside and out in the garden, supporting children's developing literacy skills, in readiness for the next stage in their learning, such as school. Children use their creative skills and explore media during art and craft activities where they have free access to paper, glue, scissors and pencils. They enjoy making and listening to music, supported by the rhyme time teacher who comes into the setting for weekly music sessions with all of the children. Staff provide an extensive range of opportunities for children to seek out patterns, count, sort and match through a range of games, construction toys and everyday routines. Opportunities to learn

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who attend

about technology are supported through a range of programmable toys and computers. Additional opportunities to develop understanding of technology and the wider world are provided by staff, who involve the children in a conversation using a webcam with a child from the setting, who is on holiday in America. Before the conversation takes place across the miles, the children are encouraged to think about the questions they are going to ask her. Involvement of parents from other countries and cultures in the setting, enhances children's experiences further, for example, celebrating Chinese New Year and Christmas in Germany.

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who attend

Systems to assess children's starting points and ongoing progress are well established, robust and include all those involved in their learning. Staff engage parents, carers and others in children's learning and development, providing regular opportunities to discuss children's needs and progress. They are fully aware of the requirement to provide parents with a progress check when their child is aged two years and complete these where necessary. Parents receive regular, highly comprehensive feedback helping them to feel included in their child's learning. For example, they are provided with both daily feedback and more detailed learning and development summaries periodically, showing them what their children have achieved. They are invited to attend parents' meetings with their child's key person on a regular basis and can view their child's learning journey at any time in the setting, or at home. Observations which parents have made at home of their children or

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who attend

photographs showing them engaged in new skills or experiences are enthusiastically received, contributing to both assessments and planning within the setting. In addition, parents have easy access to a wide range of information about activities and learning objectives within the setting. This extends to a range of activity bags, which they are able to share with their children at home. Consequently, parents are fully included and are helped to understand how to further support their children's learning at home.

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

Emotional security of the children is given an exceptionally high priority by all staff, who take time to get to know each child and their unique needs. There is an excellent and flexible settling-in procedure in place, which supports children and their parents in a smooth transition into the setting. This is enhanced through optional home visits and the opportunity for parents and their children to attend stay and play sessions, prior to their child attending. Parents speak highly of the time and effort invested by staff in ensuring that their children are settled and secure, which provides them with high levels of confidence that their child is happy in their care. This, alongside the outstanding key person system in place, ensures that children quickly and happily settle into the setting, forming strong attachments and superb relationships with the staff and other children. Staff acknowledge that the emotional security of the children is vital to enabling them to

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

flourish in their learning and development. Parents comment that they have excellent relationships with all staff, who they describe as their 'second family'. They share information with staff about their child's care needs, interests and achievements. This enables staff to appropriately support the child's needs and provide for their interests from the outset. Parents feel reassured that the staff know each child remarkably well, enhancing their sense of trust and security in the quality of their child's care. As a result, children have strong and secure emotional attachments with the staff. This enables them to enjoy their time and make excellent progress in all areas of their development and learning, in a safe and secure environment. Similarly, transitions between rooms within the setting and on to school are equally well supported, in partnership with parents and the new key person or teacher. This ensures that children's needs are consistently

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

Children quickly develop their independence in self-help skills. This is because staff know the children exceedingly well and recognise when they are ready to take responsibility, such as managing their own toileting and hygiene needs or putting on their own coats for outdoor play. Babies are supported as soon as they are ready to feed themselves and older children are encouraged to serve their own meals and pour their own drinks. Staff create a very inspiring and enabling learning environment for all ages. High-quality toys and equipment are in good order and easy to find. All areas of the premises are impeccably clean, safe and secure with staff attentive in promoting a safe environment. The learning environment enables children of all ages to independently select resources of their choice, supporting them to extend their play and their developing imagination. Displays celebrate children's creativity and the many photographs of children engaged in

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

activities, celebrate the skills they have used and the learning gained from these experiences. This, alongside the personal 'learning stories' of individual children in each room, supports their developing self-esteem and sense of belonging in the setting. Positive behaviour is highly evident and children happily play together in this calm and caring environment. This is because the staff understand the importance of ensuring that children are stimulated and actively engaged in play, to prevent them from becoming bored, and support the children in working together. Children are reminded about respecting others through using their listening ears, kind hands, sharing and taking turns, and these are reinforced throughout the sessions. Staff provide exceptional role models in being kind and respectful to one another and actively encourage children to openly share their thoughts and feelings. This results in children being polite and respectful, and

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

confident to communicate their ideas with others. These personal skills in managing their emotions and developing positive relationships support children extremely well towards the next stage of their learning, such as school.

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

Children of all ages enjoy daily fresh air and exercise, developing physical skills and confidence as they enthusiastically play in the well-equipped outdoor area in all weathers. Staff supervise children in using a wide range of resources, which they are able to move around, using these to construct imaginative structures and obstacle courses. A mud kitchen, with a range of resources, provides children with opportunities to develop their physical skills and their imaginations, making their own creations, such as 'vanilla soup' which they enhance with additional materials, such as leaves and twigs. Drainpipes and the ample provision of water, enable the children to create wonderful water structures, developing their understanding of how to angle these to enable the best water flow. Children are reminded about how to hold and carry these resources safely so that they do not hurt themselves or others. Weekly swimming lessons are provided for pre-school

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

children, using the pool at a local facility. These lessons are fully supervised by two qualified instructors from the nursery. Children are involved by the staff to risk assess both the journey to and from the nursery and within the pool itself. They identify that they need to hold hands while walking and cross the road and the car park safely, looking out for traffic at all times. They acknowledge that when at the pool, they should never run because they could slip on the wet floor and should always wear their armbands to help them to float, listening to the instructors at all times, to ensure that they are safe. These opportunities enable children to take risks under adult supervision and support them in understanding how to keep themselves safe. These are all valuable skills for the future. Staff support children well in understanding the importance of a healthy diet through discussions about foods that are healthy and those which are not. Snacks and meals

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

provided are nutritionally balanced and prepared daily, using locally sourced fresh produce. The skilled and enthusiastic cook extends the children's learning opportunities regarding healthy foods through growing fruit and vegetables with the children in the nursery garden. This supports children in understanding where food comes from and how to enable it to grow. The subsequent harvest of what they have grown, enables them to prepare and eat these, further encouraging them in making healthy choices.

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provision

All staff members have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the policies and procedures that underpin the exceptional practice in the setting. Staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding and how to protect children from harm. This is underpinned by ongoing training and the robust policies and procedures in place, which are regularly updated. Designated safeguarding officers ensure that all staff, whatever their role, are trained regarding their responsibility for safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. This extends to staff being provided with a keyring, which contains key safeguarding facts and procedures, as a constant source of guidance. The manager has completed safer recruitment training, which ensures that all new staff go through robust employment procedures and that ongoing suitability processes are in place to continually appraise staff suitability. A welcome pack is in place for new employees and a thorough

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provision

induction process when they begin their new role, ensures that they are fully aware of the setting's policies and expectations from the outset. There is a very low turnover of staff, many staff members having worked at the setting for a number of years. This reflects the happiness and satisfaction of the workforce, the high value placed upon them by management, and their commitment to their professional roles and teamwork. Management and staff work incredibly well together and pay high regard to each other's strengths and areas of expertise. For example, the manager identified that the expertise of the cook was under-utilised. This resulted in her becoming more involved in developing the understanding of children and their parents in where produce is sourced from locally. This extended to growing fruit and vegetables together, in the garden, learning about how things grow, before harvesting these to eat in the setting. Continual monitoring by the

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provision

manager, peer observations, and effective and frequent supervision ensures that all staff maintain high standards of professionalism and integrity. The manager is highly proactive in ensuring the safety and well-being of all who use the setting and frequently reviews policies and procedures to ensure that robust practices are in place and are meticulously maintained.

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provision

The management team are truly inspirational, continually focussing on the pursuit for excellence in everything that takes place in the setting. This strong, effective leadership, enables all of the staff to feel empowered and inspired, resulting in staff being highly professional and dedicated to their role in meeting the children's learning and development needs. Regular staff meetings within the setting, and staff forums with other nurseries in the group, provide opportunities to reflect together on practice and to share their views and ideas. In each room, staff complete 'how we have improved' documents, identifying through reflection, areas requiring development and how these will be achieved, to further improve the outcomes for the children. Monitoring of every child's progress, three times a year, enables management to identify individual children or areas of learning which may require additional support. Staff are fully involved in this process

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provision

and strive continually to ensure that all children achieve the best possible outcomes, prior to the next monitoring review. Staff continue their professional development by attending training and sharing what they have learnt with others in the setting. Training is also identified for further developing practice in the whole setting, based upon the potential impact on the children's learning and development. For example, communication and language is identified from progress monitoring as an area which could be enhanced further. Training is put in place and the impact of this training is then measured, through the additional progress, which children have made at their next progress review. These excellent systems in place to monitor all areas of practice and the children's achievements, ensure that all children make rapid progress, and that those who are not, receive high quality support to meet their identified needs. The meticulous focus on self-evaluation and

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provision

reflective practice ensures that staff, parents and children are highly involved in the setting's continual improvement, in pursuit of excellence. As a result, staff feel valued that their contributions are acknowledged and are extremely motivated and enthusiastic, having high expectations of themselves and the children in their care.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are exceptional. As a result, opportunities for parents to share information about their children and to become actively involved within the setting are promoted continuously. Parents state that they highly value the positive relationships that they have with all staff, who they consider are friendly, knowledgeable and professional. They feel fully informed and included in their children's care and learning at all times, and benefit from regular verbal and written feedback from staff. Parents are invited to attend meetings about their children's progress on a regular basis and to participate in sessions, such as stay and play, or to share their skills and knowledge about their occupations with the children. Their views are keenly sought through questionnaires when children initially settle into the setting, annually, and when exiting the setting to move onto school. Feedback is thoroughly analysed by management, who respond to each of the points

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provision

made, identifying improvements and sharing the information with all parents. The owner of the setting holds regular coffee mornings, greeting parents and children on arrival with a warm welcome. The aim of this is to give parents further opportunities to share valued opinions or suggestions for improvements. However, parents enjoy these opportunities to share their high levels of satisfaction in all aspects of their nursery experiences and their excellent relationships with the staff. The views of parents are highly valued and management and staff consider that parental involvement is pivotal to everything that they do with the children. An extensive range of information is made readily available to parents through frequent newsletters, which include information from each of the nursery rooms regarding current and forthcoming activities. A detailed website shares a wealth of news and information, including newsfeeds written by staff and a regular blog from the

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provision

owner to update parents on new initiatives. In addition, a social networking page, which is accessed by invitation only, enables daily updates of activities and photographs to be shared by the staff. Parents confirm they find this a valuable asset, as they are able to share news as it happens. Partnerships with other settings and professionals are also excellent, in order to provide consistently high levels of support for individual children. Visitors are asked to provide feedback on their experiences in the setting and praise the positive interactions they observe between the staff and children and the valuable support that staff provide for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These positive links with parents and other professionals ensure that they work exceptionally well together, enabling them to meet the children's needs through a fully cohesive approach to each child's care and learning.

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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 EY314264 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 873154

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 47 Number of children on roll 87 Name of provider Townhouse Childcare Ltd Date of previous inspection 09/01/2009 Telephone number 01270 884477

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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

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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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