Learningland Day Nursery

Learningland Day Nursery 51 Wimpson Lane, Southampton, Hampshire, SO16 4QF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 31/01/2014 27/01/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Children's literacy skills are supported well by staff.  Children use their imaginations well because their creative skills are supported appropriately.  Children learn the importance of healthy eating from an early age.  Staff effectively organise care routines to meet children's individual needs.

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It is not yet good because

 The outdoor area is not secure to ensure children are safe when playing outside.  The quality of teaching is not always consistent across the nursery, to enable children to make better progress.  Staff do not implement the behaviour management procedures consistently to ensure children begin to learn about right and wrong.  Staff, parents and children are not currently involved in the evaluation of the nursery to drive improvement.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in all base rooms and the outside play area.  The inspector spent time talking with the manager, parents, staff and children.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including children's records, safeguarding procedures, risk assessments, policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Learningland Day Nursery opened in 1996. The nursery is owned by Millbrook Christian Centre and operates from a house in Millbrook, Southampton. Children have access to three age base rooms and the occasional use of the adjoining church. All children have access to the enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It opens five days a week for 51 weeks a year. Sessions are from 7.30 am until 6.30 pm. There are currently 81 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery provides free early education to children aged two, three and four years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those children who have English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

There are 12 staff employed by the nursery. Of these, nine hold appropriate early years qualifications ranging from level 2 to Early Years Professional Status.

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must:

 improve the security of the outdoor play area to ensure children are safe at all times and cannot leave the premises unnoticed.

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

 monitor the quality of teaching across the nursery to ensure all children receive the same level of interaction from staff to further improve their learning progress

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

 improve staff knowledge and implementation of behaviour management policies to ensure all children receive clear and consistent messages to develop their understanding of right and wrong

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

 involve all staff, parents and children in the evaluation process to identify strengths and any areas for development to further improve the outcomes for children.

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who attend

All staff have a clear understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Overall, they implement it successfully to promote the children's learning and development. Staff work as key people and spend time observing their children. They use the information they gather to identify the children's next steps and plan a range of activities to promote children's individual learning. As a result, staff know the children well and they are making satisfactory progress in their learning in relation to their starting points on entry. Most staff are skilled at asking open questions to encourage children to think about what they are trying to achieve, encouraging them to become critical thinkers and active learners. They introduce new vocabulary and plan activities to meet children's individual learning needs. However, the quality of teaching across the nursery is inconsistent and some staff do not make the most of all learning opportunities.

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who attend

For example, some staff do not always extend the children's learning through conversation or by focusing on the children's progress during activities. This means children are not making progress as rapidly as possible. Staff promote the children's literacy skills effectively by providing a wide range of mark making materials for children to practise their early writing in different ways. Children use a range of media both inside and outside and older children are able to write their names clearly. Staff talk with children about the letters, building the children's confidence as they begin to link letters with sounds and spell their names phonetically. The book corners are comfortable, and are set up attractively, encouraging children to spend time looking at books, and listening to stories as their interest in text develops.

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who attend

Children use their imaginations well during role-play and staff know when to stand back and let the play develop naturally and when to step in and redirect the children's energy. Children have many opportunities to express themselves creatively through art, music and small world resources. They make up stories, enjoy dressing up and invent characters to bring their own ideas to life.

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who attend

Babies and young children explore their learning environment and participate in a range of activities and experiences. Staff support them well, allowing young children to examine and investigate resources, such as play dough and corn flour. Children learn about everyday technology because staff ensure electronic resources are available and the computer is set up ready for use. Older children choose computer programmes and control the computer mouse with ease. Staff support younger children and babies as they learn to push buttons, turn dials and move switches to make the toys work. Staff provide multicultural resources throughout the nursery to promote children's understanding of diversity. Children celebrate a range of international festivals as they begin to learn about the wider world.

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who attend

The nursery staff have developed sound links with local schools to ensure children's move to school goes smoothly. Children visit the schools and teachers visit the nursery so the children become familiar with them before making the move to school. Supportive systems are in place to help the children settle when they move on to the next age group room in the nursery. Parents and children are introduced to their key person prior to changing rooms. Children visit with their existing key person to ensure they feel safe and secure during the change over period. As a result, children are acquiring the skills they need to be ready for their next stage of learning.

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

All children are happy and settled during their time at the nursery. Staff spend time getting to know their key children and their families well and gather a wealth of information about their individual needs. Each key person makes the first contact with the parents prior to their children attending, then during settling in visits to complete the 'starting point and all about me' information forms. Children's individual care routines are recorded in detail and staff work hard to follow the children's home routines as closely as possible. This helps the children to feel safe and secure as they develop positive relationships with the staff team. Children are supervised well and staff ensure ratios are being met at all times. Staff ensure the play and learning environment is well equipped to encourage children's independence and decision making skills. As a result, children show sound levels of self-esteem and confidently make suggestions about their own learning.

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

All children learn about keeping safe through routines and activities. For example, children talk about remembering to sit down when they are using scissors and know they should not run inside in case they fall and hurt themselves. All children practise regular fire drills with staff and older children are able to describe the evacuation procedures in detail. Staff promote children's understanding of healthy eating and lifestyles through discussion, activities and the provision of healthy options during meal times. Children talk about the types of food that are good for them and enjoy a range of fruit and vegetables during their time at the nursery. Staff encourage children to be independent in their self-care skills. Tissues placed in each room enable children to wipe their own noses, and staff are on hand to support younger children to keep them comfortable. Rigorous systems are implemented well to ensure all children's dietary, cultural and medical needs are respected

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

at all times. Older children talk about exercise and fresh air being good for them and helping to 'make us grow bigger and stronger'. All children have access to the outside play area daily and enjoy a range of outdoor learning experiences. Children practise their physical skills as they ride wheeled toys, pour sand and water between vessels and enjoy ball games. Staff ensure children have access to outside activities covering the whole curriculum. However, the outside play area is not secure at this time because the gate lock is broken.

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

Overall, children behave well and most children understand the group rules and follow simple instructions. Some staff deal with unwanted behaviour well, kneeling down and making eye contact with children as they talk through a situation or incident. However, staff do not always implement the behaviour management policy consistently and not all staff explain to children why their behaviour or actions are unacceptable. Consequently, children do not always know what staff expect of them or begin to learn right from wrong.

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

Children benefit from the open communication between staff and their parents. As soon as parents register their children at the nursery, staff begin to gather information about the children's individual needs. Parents feel valued and share information about their children's learning at home. This means staff are able to plan a range of activities and experiences taking children's interests into account as soon as they begin to attend. Parents are able to talk to staff at any time, they know who their child's key person is and they have access to their children's learning journeys on request. They are able to make written or verbal contributions to their children's records. Staff ensure parents know what their children are working towards so they can further extend their children's learning at home.

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provision

The nursery procedures for safeguarding are comprehensive and effective. All staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and they all know how to implement the procedures to promote the welfare of the children in their care. The manager displays the Local Safeguarding Children's Board contact details and procedures all around the setting for staff, parents' and visitors' information. Staff discuss all safeguarding policies with parents to ensure they are aware of the nursery's child protection responsibilities. All parents have access to hard copy policies and there are copies of all policies on display for them to read at any time.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward following concerns raised about the key person system, child supervision, safety and general information and record matters. The inspection found that the key person system works well and children are supervised at all times. All required documentation is in place. However, management have failed to take action to ensure the garden is fully secure by mending the broken gate. This means that children could potentially leave the nursery unnoticed. This is a breach of the requirements.

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provision

Full written risk assessments are carried out covering all areas the children come into contact with, including outings. However, these are not always accurate. For example, the broken gate lock was not recorded. The manager implements robust and rigorous recruitment and vetting systems to ensure all adults in the nursery are suitable to work with children. Visitors are required to show their identification on arrival and sign in the visitors' log.

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provision

The nursery has made sound progress since the last inspection and staff have addressed most of the previous recommendations. For example, children's records have improved because staff now identify children's next learning steps and use the information well to plan a purposeful curriculum. In addition, the radiators are now inaccessible to children and all children and staff practise regular fire drills. The nursery has evaluation procedures in place and they are currently using rating scales to improve the learning environment for children. As a result, the rating scheme is improving some aspects of the nursery, book corners are now attractive and the children's interest in books and reading has increased. In addition, more resources are available during art and craft activities so children can create their own ideas and choose from the selection of media provided. This demonstrates the nursery's capacity to improve the outcomes for children. However, the

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provision

manager and deputy carry out the evaluation process. This means that staff, parents and children are not involved in the evaluation of the setting, limiting the information gathered to identify strengths and any areas for development. Sound performance management systems ensure all staff are confident in their roles within the nursery. The manager carries out continual monitoring of staff practice, identifying training needs and reviewing all paperwork to ensure it is maintained to an acceptable standard. The manager also monitors the quality of activities and experiences provided for the children. Tracking systems are used to monitor particular groups of children and all areas of learning to ensure children's learning covers the whole curriculum and any concerns are identified quickly.

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provision

The nursery has clear links with a variety of external agencies to ensure all children's individual needs are being met. Well-established systems are in place to identify and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, one to one workers are provided for those children who need additional support. The special needs coordinator is knowledgeable and works closely in partnership with the parents to address any concerns. She implements individual strategies, agreed with parents to ensure a consistent approach both at home and in the nursery for the children. In addition, nursery staff work closely with other agencies to support children who speak English as an additional language. This includes using sign language, labelling the rooms in different languages and valuing children's home languages.

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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 131599 Local authority Southampton Inspection number 952789 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 81 Name of provider Milbrook Christian Centre Committee Date of previous inspection 27/01/2011 Telephone number 023 8039 9895

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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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