Cherubs Day Nursery

Cherubs Day Nursery & Pre- School Executive House, St. Albans Road, Bulwell, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG6 9FT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/01/2014 22/08/2013

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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

 Information shared with parents about their children's learning means they are kept very well-informed and thus, can give them high levels of support at home.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress in their learning because there is a strong network of professionals in place to help them.  The nursery works closely with parents to offer children support during transitions. As a result, they cope well with change and are well-prepared when the time comes for them to move on to school.  Managers have a thorough understanding of the families who use their service. This means they develop clear action plans that target areas of need and adapt the service to the changing community.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Practitioners sometimes miss spontaneous opportunities to support children's learning. This means their natural curiosity and exploratory impulse is not always fully supported.  On occasions, practitioners overlook children's attempts to share their knowledge so they do not, always, skilfully use questioning to explore their ideas and help them make connections in their learning.

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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 four playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and the early years professional.  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 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 and from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Cherubs Day Nursery & Pre-School was registered in 1993 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in the Bulwell area of Nottingham and is one of ten managed by Gloss Calm Properties Ltd. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from four rooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 members of childcare staff. Of these, 12 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above, including the manager who has attained Early Years Professional Status. 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 122 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance children's learning by recognising and using spontaneous opportunities during play that are sparked by children's natural curiosity, to capture and build on their learning experiences and to help them make connections between different areas of learning

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

 be more receptive to children's attempts to share their knowledge and build on the use of skilful questioning to fully explore their ideas and help them make connections in their learning.

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who attend

Cherubs Day Nursery and Pre-school is a friendly and welcoming environment for young children. Practitioners have a comprehensive knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and overall, a good understanding of how children learn. Individual learning plans for children mean they are provided with a wide range of interesting activities that focus on their next steps and capture their interest. For example, babies use their hands, shapes and brushes to explore paint. Practitioners help them to develop their control over small tools and equipment while they enjoy the sensations of squeezing it through their fingers. Babies have lots of space to explore both inside and in the outdoor area. This helps them to develop physical skills, such as walking and climbing. On occasions, practitioners miss spontaneous opportunities to enhance children's learning because they are not, always, perceptive to instances where they can promote their natural curiosity. This means their

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who attend

lines of enquiry are not fully explored. For example, when babies discover a sunbeam that shines across the floor and begin to experiment with how their movements make shadows, practitioners do not recognise it as a learning opportunity. Nevertheless, the quality of teaching in the nursery is generally good and all children are making strong progress across all areas of learning.

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who attend

The nursery works closely with other nurseries in the Childcare East Midlands group to provide educational programmes that prepare children for moving on to school. Practitioners plan a wide range of adult-led activities for children in the pre-school rooms that focus on the specific areas of learning. For example, they use computers to develop their critical thinking skills and begin to understand early mathematics by solving puzzles. During baking activities they follow instructions in a recipe book and this helps them to develop their knowledge that information can be found in a wide range of media. In some instances, practitioners are not receptive to children's efforts to share their knowledge and this means they sometimes miss the opportunity to extend their learning and help them make connections. For example, practitioners overlook the link children make between the letter 'q' and the number '9' during play with an alphabet puzzle. Children's communication

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who attend

skills are promoted by practitioners through lively story times, everyday discussions and song and rhyme sessions. They skilfully use props, physical gestures and sign language to support children's developing understanding of spoken language. Displays around the setting help children who speak more than one language to make associations between words and this supports their understanding of English, while promoting their home language. The nursery works together with speech and language therapists to promote language development with children who have difficulty communicating verbally. As a result, children who enter the nursery below the expected targets for their age are making very good progress and the gaps for those children are narrowing.

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who attend

The nursery works hard to promote partnerships with parents. To encourage a two-way flow of communication parents receive regular newsletters and emails and updates are posted on social networking sites. A range of resources keep them up to date with their children's progress, including learning journeys that provide them with detailed information about their children's achievements. Practitioners work closely with parents to find out about children's interests, next steps and their starting points. Through regular discussions and parent evenings information about children's learning is continually updated. Parents are also encouraged to use 'weekend books' to complete observations from home to share their children's learning experiences. They comment that practitioners are very knowledgeable about their children's individual learning needs and by sharing information in this way practitioners can plan educational programmes that are tailored to

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who attend

target the needs of each child. Activities, such as song books, are shared with parents to help them promote their children's learning at home. Practitioners encourage all parents to use them and by doing so they are helping parents to support their children's learning in a fun way. This promotes the connections children make between their learning in the nursery and their learning at home. The nursery has robust partnerships in place with other professionals. Comprehensive tracking and assessments of children's progress ensure information shared about children's learning is correct and precise. The required 'progress checks at age two' have been completed and shared with all relevant partners, thus ensuring children who need early intervention are quickly identified. This means systems put in place to support them are timely and effective.

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

Children's safety is given high priority without limiting their independent investigations. They are encouraged to identify hazards and risk assess for themselves. This helps children to develop their understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. For example, they learn how to use large play equipment safely and they are taught to use small tools, such as scissors carefully. Children who have difficulty identifying danger are well-supervised because practitioners are attentive. This means they can learn to develop spatial awareness and they begin to consider the needs of others during games in the outdoor area. Outside agencies, such as the local fire service, visit the nursery to support children's understanding of their community and how to keep themselves safe. The nursery works closely with parents to reinforce boundaries for children who exhibit unwanted behaviour and this means children receive clear and consistent messages.

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

Children are given age-appropriate explanations that help them to manage their own behaviour and this means they are developing a thorough understanding of right and wrong. As a result, behaviour in the nursery is good.

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

Parents comment that the nursery is friendly and welcoming and their children benefit from the strong peer relationships they are building. When children enter the nursery, the short settling-in sessions they enjoy with their parents help the smooth transition, providing some continuity in their care. Children who have difficulty coping with changes in their lives are exceptionally well-supported because the nursery works in partnerships with parents to ensure their need for additional emotional support is met. A strong key person system is implemented by practitioners who are caring and affectionate and they understand how strong relationships promote children's well-being. This ensures children develop robust, secure attachments early in their care and receive high levels of support. Children who are settled in the nursery are confident and self-assured and they are keen to share their learning experiences. The support they receive to get them ready for

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

moving into school is good. Everyday routines, such as, setting tables, serving themselves at mealtimes and finding their own coat pegs, familiarise them with the routines they will experience when they move on to the next stage in their learning. Support for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent. Key persons accompany them during visits to school and this ensures they are supported very well in coping with changes to daily routines and their social environment.

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

Children have access to outdoor play and learning in all weathers. This means they can make choices about their play and they develop physical skills, while learning how exercise supports their overall health and well-being. They explore growth and change by monitoring the progress of the nursery's giant land snails and by looking at how the weather changes the world around them. For example, they explore why some animals hibernate through the winter. Children attend the nursery from a diverse cultural community and they develop their understanding of equality and diversity through a wide range of activities, including role play and activities they enjoy in the community, such as charity events. Through effective teaching children begin to understand the needs of others and this is helping to prepare them for the larger social environment of school. Children are learning to embrace each other's language and culture and this is

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

demonstrated through the very strong peer relationships they have both with adults and each other. Children enjoy a variety of healthy meals and snacks prepared by the nursery cook. Dietary needs are taken into account and alternative options, such as vegetarian meals, are offered. This helps children to make choices about the food they eat. Children enjoy cafe style dining and they are supported in developing their self-help skills, for example, they learn to use a knife and fork properly. Discussions at mealtimes help children to understand how making healthy choices promotes their overall health and well- being. Children learn about personal hygiene through everyday routines and as a result, they are independent in attending to their own personal care needs when they move onto school.

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provision

Rigorous recruitment and induction procedures are in place to ensure practitioners are suitable to work with children. They demonstrate a clear understanding of their responsibilities for ensuring children are kept safe at all times and have a good understanding of child protection issues. The majority of practitioners have attended safeguarding training to develop their knowledge of how to keep children safe. Detailed risk assessments are in place to ensure children are kept safe both on the premises and during trips. Security is robust. Parents enter the reception using a buzzer, entry into the nursery is through a door with a key code system and detailed records of visitors are maintained. Safety is highlighted by parents as one of the strong features of the nursery. A register of children's attendance is in place and times when practitioners arrive and leave is recorded. This ensures staff ratios across the nursery are maintained at all times.

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provision

Staff deployment is efficient and practitioners work well as a team to ensure children are well-supervised at all times. There are ten members of staff who hold a current first aid certificate, which means they can give suitable treatment if there is an accident to a child. Accidents and incidents are recorded in line with legal requirements and are communicated to parents.

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provision

The nursery manager and the senior management team of the nursery group are motivated to drive improvement and continually raise the standards of the nursery provision. They are very knowledgeable about the changing demographics of the community they serve and this means they constantly adapt their service to meet its changing needs. For example, they have extended their opening hours to offer parents more flexibility. A robust monitoring process facilitates an accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses. This ensures swift and effective action is taken to address any areas identified for improvement. For example, the nursery has worked hard to improve planning to ensure educational programmes target the individual learning needs of all children. To ensure high standards are maintained, all users of the nursery and practitioners are actively involved in evaluating the provision. Parents' views are taken into

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provision

account when making improvements to the provision, such as including a range of food from different countries in the menu. The manager supports parent's understanding of the nursery's practice by providing copies of the policies and procedures and they demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the service provided.

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provision

The management team has a detailed understanding of the learning and development requirements. Ongoing mentoring of staff ensures weaknesses in teaching are identified. As a result, a comprehensive programme of training is targeted to tackle any underperformance and improve the abilities of practitioners who are already skilled. The majority of practitioners have achieved early years qualifications at level 2 and above and this means they have the knowledge to deliver a high standard of teaching. The management team offers good levels of support in helping them to develop their skills and all practitioners are working towards higher level qualifications. Performance management systems ensure planned educational programmes are closely monitored to make certain they offer children challenge and promote their continuing progress. Assessment and tracking of children's progress is evaluated to ensure it is consistent and accurate. This

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provision

helps the nursery to identify where there are gaps in children's learning or where there might be weaknesses in teaching practice. Strong partnerships with other professionals mean there are very good support systems in place for sharing information that promotes the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable children and as a result, they make good progress in their learning and are very well-protected.

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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 254602 Local authority Nottingham City Inspection number 948006

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 122 Name of provider Gloss Calm Properties Ltd Date of previous inspection 22/08/2013 Telephone number 0115 9795975

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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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