Daydreams

Daydreams 236 Prescot Road, ST. HELENS, Merseyside, WA10 3HL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/02/2014 24/09/2008

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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

 The quality of teaching is exceptional because the staff have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of how children learn. They provide an excellent range of interesting and age appropriate activities for children in their care. As a result, children are highly motivated and eager to learn.  Highly effective strategies are in place to help children develop early language and communication skills and to support their physical, personal, social and emotional development. This provides children with key skills for their future learning and development.  The dynamic and innovative ethos of this nursery is evident both inside and outdoors. Children enjoy high quality experiences, are provided with nutritious meals and display very high levels of independence. As a result children's health and well-being needs are exceptionally well met.  The managers and staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the

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This provision is outstanding

safeguarding and welfare requirements of the early years foundation stage. Consequently children are kept exceedingly safe whilst in their care.  Leadership is inspirational. Highly effective well documented systems are in place for monitoring quality and improvement. Staff development always focuses on outcomes for children; as a result, all children make excellent progress given their starting points.  Excellent partnerships with parents and other professionals ensure that children's individual needs are exceptionally well met.

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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 viewed all areas of the premises and the equipment, and observed activities in all of the playrooms and the outside play areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked all relevant documentation and required policies and procedures including safeguarding, risk assessments and recruitment of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the management team, completed a joint observation with the manager and spoke with staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, learning journeys observation, assessment and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of staff's suitability to work with children, the setting's self-evaluation form and the development and action plans in place to secure continued improvement.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents, carers and children spoken to on the day and from written comments.

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Information about the setting

Daydreams Nursery was registered in 1998 and is on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a large Victorian house in the St Helens Area of Merseyside and is managed by Daydreams Nursery Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from the ground floor of the house and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 13 members of child care staff. All of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above.

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Information about the setting

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 69 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children and supports a number of 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:

 consider enhancing the already outstanding practice by adding more natural, open- ended resources to further extend children's imagination and sensory experiences.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is outstanding. Staff have excellent skills and a secure knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They have very high expectations of themselves and of the children in their care. Staff have a clear understanding of how to support young children to reach their full potential and achieve the best they can, given their age, and are dedicated and enthusiastic in their work. Children are offered a wide and interesting range of activities and experiences to support their interests and enhance their skills. Resources are stored within reach so that children can self-select activities and initiate play during the session. This promotes their independence and encourages self-confidence. However, there is scope to further enhance children's sensory experiences and extend their imagination, by providing additional collections of natural materials for children to explore.

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who attend

Staff provide an exciting, stimulating and extremely well organised environment both indoors and outside. This ensures that all children make rapid progress in all areas of learning and development. Children consistently demonstrate the characteristics of effective learning and deep levels of involvement in activities for instance older children engage in threading activities, they use smaller and smaller resources to thread on to string. They concentrate extremely well and use a variety of mathematical language to show understanding, such as, longer and shorter, thick and thin, wide and narrow. They count how many, consider more or less and problem solve by responding to questions such as 'What will happen if we add five more?' and 'Why does this pasta thread easily and this one does not? Consequently children are becoming critical thinkers. Staff plan effectively based on children's individual interests and stage of development. Children

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who attend

select activities and play well together, they enjoy sand and water play filling containers with sand and tipping it out, they repeat the process engaging others in the activity, adding water to make sand pies and watching the wet and dry sand change colour. When engaging in water play children fill a large container from a small one. They carefully balance the large jug on the side of the water trough and continue to add water until it is full, they laugh as they tip the water out being careful not to spill or splash it.

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who attend

Babies are supported to crawl, roll, and pull up to sitting and standing. Staff encourage first steps using furniture or early walking aids. Toddlers continue to learn early walking techniques as they tentatively move round the room, stand by sand trays or use walkers for support. Staff give effusive praise and expertly intervene as appropriate. This develops children's confidence and independence skills. Older children thoroughly enjoy weekly sessions with a truly amazing visiting teacher who engages them in music and movement, dance, drama, and storytelling. Children learn basic ball skills, running techniques and join in team games during weekly sports skills lessons. Outdoors children move confidently, they climb, slide, ride wheeled vehicles, dig, investigate their environment and engage in role play. They set up a 'police station' and 'jail' and enjoy putting 'criminals' in the cells 'until they are sorry and promise to be good' This gives children a sense of community and

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who attend

belonging, extends language and supports interests. The nursery allotment engages children in growing their own food, such as, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables, the orchard provides apples for puddings. Here children learn about healthy eating and nutrition as they discuss how plants grow and which ones are good to eat. Children have ample opportunity to mark make both indoors and outside. They use a variety of brushes and water to paint outside, chalk on paving slabs and put names on the police call boards. Indoors children use crayons of varying sizes to draw pictures, they scribble, draw their family members and create stunning art work. As their skills progress they add meaning to their marks forming numbers, letters and words. They are extremely well supported by understanding and knowledgeable staff that provide further opportunities to enhance learning. Younger children share books and listen to

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who attend

stories, while older ones begin to read and join in storytelling. Children develop their knowledge of technology by using the nursery laptop and computer. They use the mouse well and expertly play number games. Children competently use 'cause and effect' toys and are supported to press buttons and await outcomes.

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who attend

Staff give very high priority to supporting early language and development. They use Makaton signing, visual aids and ICAN techniques to support children's communication and are in turn supported by a peripatetic teacher on a weekly basis. Children demonstrate their skills when singing favourite songs and rhymes, greeting visitors and expressing needs, such as, using the toilet, asking for a drink, sleep or food and by signing please and thank you at appropriate times. In this way, all children are included in all activities throughout the nursery and children with speech and language delay make exceptional progress. Teaching is extremely effective as assessment procedures are rigorous, precise, sharply focussed and used to identify needs and secure timely interventions for children. Staff are very proactive in collecting abundant relevant information from parents during settling in sessions, at more formal meetings, and on a daily basis. Key persons get to

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who attend

know each family very well indeed, and have a wealth of knowledge about each child's prior development, needs and interests. They use this information to assess each child's starting point and effectively plan for their learning and development. Each child has an individual learning journal and personal profile which document their progress. Parents actively contribute to their children's learning in the nursery and at home. They add ideas to the planning wall, bring in observations and photographs and comment on assessments, such as the Progress check at age two. As a result, parents are an integral part of children's learning and progression.

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

The key person system is very well embedded in practice and is highly effective in supporting children and their families. As a result, children form very strong bonds and secure emotional attachments. They feel secure and enjoy their time at nursery. Children respond very well to appropriate boundaries and are well supported to understand the nursery ethos and room rules. Staff are excellent role models are sensitive and caring in their approach. They have very high expectations of themselves and others. They speak quietly and calmly to children, respond appropriately to questions and use positive behaviour management strategies at all times. Consequently children's behaviour is exemplary. They are confident and their self-esteem is very high. They play well together, share activities and resources, support one another and make strong friendships. Children fully engage in their activities and experience rich, varied and imaginative learning

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

opportunities throughout the day. Transition within the nursery is excellent. Staff prepare children well for change by arranging room visits and sharing information. They work closely together to support children's interests and extend opportunities for progress. Highly effective transition strategies and partnerships with local schools ensures that children have continuity of care and are very well prepared for the next stage in their learning.

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

Children are highly independent and have an excellent sense of responsibility because the staff expertly support learning through a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Children are given ample opportunities to follow their interests, select resources and extend their imagination when playing. The nursery have gained an award for Early Years Healthy Eating and positively promotes health and well-being. Children grow a variety of fruit and vegetables in the nursery allotment and help plan menus to reflect the seasonal crop. The cook is very proactive. She prepares highly nutritious menus and works with staff, children and families to ensure all children have their dietary needs well met. At mealtimes older children self-serve using a cafe style system. They wait in turn, show excellent understanding of portion control and try everything available. They thoroughly enjoy their food and use appropriate cutlery effectively. They clear away plates and

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

discuss their yummy lunch. Younger children sit in high or low chairs and are supported to use spoons and hold feeding cups. Children are able to manage their own hygiene needs and self-care appropriately according to their age. They readily wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet, they clean their teeth after meals and wash their brushes as required. Nappy changing and sleep routines are highly effective. All staff are trained to monitor children as they sleep and mark times on a chart. Babies sleep in cots or in the quiet areas led by their individual need and toddlers rest on mats with their own blankets. Children enjoy these quiet times and respect the need for rest periods within the day.

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

Children learn about cultures and diversity through sensitive programmes of study, well placed posters and links with schools in other countries. They benefit from visits to and from the local police, fire and school service and complete fundraising events and support the work of animal charities. In this way they contribute to their local community and to the world outside. Children learn about keeping safe by developing an understanding of risk taking within a highly organised, risk assessed and challenging environment. They remind each other to be careful when cutting with scissors, not to touch hot dishes and to use the rail when accessing the outdoor area. Outdoors they observe each other and carefully climb, run, jump and walk within the space available. Children are reminded to step carefully because mud is slippery and when digging to be careful not to lift spades too high. Children are supported to carry water containers, clean up sand and tidy away

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

after using resources. In this way children are kept very safe, they know how to take risks, are confident when using resources and make superb progress in personal, social and emotional development.

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provision

Leadership and management is inspirational and very highly effective. There are excellent robust and effective systems in place for all areas of management, learning and development. This setting excels at supporting children and understanding their needs, quality of teaching and learning, documenting evidence, self evaluation, safeguarding and partnerships. The managers have an excellent knowledge and understanding of their role in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff have an acute awareness of safeguarding issues and are secure in the procedures to follow should they have any concerns. Extremely comprehensive risk assessments are in place for all areas of the building, the outside areas, outings and visits. Resources are regularly checked for cleanliness and breakages. All required policies and procedures are in place, exceptionally well written, regularly

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provision

reviewed and shared with parents. Policies are very well implemented and underpin this excellent provision. Staff have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of how children learn and the need to challenge and support learning and development. They plan very well for individual children and regularly review and monitor progress. As a result, children are highly motivated and show positive attitudes to learning. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures ensure that all adults working with children are suitable to do so. Managers have a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system in place for all staff. They regularly observe staff performance within the rooms to ensure that staff are effectively deployed and teams are well balanced. There are clear procedures to follow in the event of any concern regarding staff practice. An excellent training schedule means that staff are well supported and have their own development needs very well met. A

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provision

wealth of training, such as, Health Promotion in the Early Years, Every Child a Talker, Outdoor Stepped Approach, Makaton and ICAN, enhance skills of these confident practitioners. They have an excellent knowledge of children's learning styles and characteristics. They effectively monitor children's learning, skills, abilities and progress. Consequently children's individual needs are quickly identified and advice sought. Early intervention and well embedded relationships with other professionals results in all children being well-supported and having their needs effectively met.

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provision

The highly motivated management team effectively evaluate their provision on a regular basis. Self-evaluation is documented well, being supported by the local authority quality improvement programme and has a very strong emphasis on improving and maintaining high achievements and excellent outcomes for children. Strengths and weaknesses are clearly defined and plans are in place to secure improvement. The self-evaluation process involves all staff, parents, and children and outside agencies, this ensures consistency and balance. Since the last inspection, there has been a marked and sustained improvement. A large extension has provided office space and improved areas for children. Confidential information is kept in secure cupboards in the office. All areas are comprehensively risk assessed including the cellar and observation, assessment and planning systems are extremely effective. The staff team share the nursery ethos and vision to provide an

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provision

excellent for children and their families and to make a positive difference. The team have very high expectations for all areas of their provision and effectively share this vision with families and visitors.

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provision

Highly effective partnerships with parents other professionals and settings are evident and well established. A variety of health and education professionals visit the nursery on a regular basis. They contribute well to meeting individual needs and support early intervention. Excellent relationships, information sharing and good communication systems ensure that parents are kept fully informed of their children's progress. Informative displays are in evidence throughout the nursery. Digital photographs inform parents of daily activities, planning and monitoring sheets are available daily for all areas. Parents are invited to share home achievements, add to planning walls, and bring photographs or artwork. All achievements are celebrated. Daily diaries give specific individual details of each child's day, staff chat to parents at handover times and arrange more formal meetings termly to discuss progress in depth. Parents say they have ample opportunity to

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provision

talk about their children, receive superb feedback and information, and are delighted with the progress they make during their time at nursery. They feel that children with specific needs are exceptionally well cared for and make amazing progress given their starting points. A highlight of the nursery is the ethos and family atmosphere. Parents would readily recommend this nursery to their friends. There is consistent, secure support for all children and as a result their needs are extremely well 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 EY372296 Local authority St. Helens Inspection number 873760

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 44 Number of children on roll 69 Name of provider Daydreams Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 24/09/2008 Telephone number 01744 23664

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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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