Rascal's Day Nursery

Rascal's Day Nursery Stuart Close, Gorleston, GREAT YARMOUTH, Norfolk, NR31 7BU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/01/2014 29/04/2013

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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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children are happy and settled and develop strong emotional attachments to staff. They also have good friendships with each other.  Partnerships with parents are strong. They are encouraged to share what they know about their child and are kept fully informed about their child's day.  Children behave well. Staff act as good role models and consistent boundaries are in place, helping children to know what is expected of them.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not provide a consistently rich spoken language environment for children, to effectively promote their developing language and communication skills.  The quality of teaching requires improvement because staff do not always ensure children have suitable and sufficient resources to promote a challenging and enjoyable learning experience.  A regular programme of staff supervision and appraisal is not established to foster a culture of mutual support, identify training needs and ensure that staff are consistently meeting the interests of all children.

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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 throughout the nursery and in the garden.  The inspector spoke with staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at activity planning, records of children's learning and a selection of policies and records.  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery owner/manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and the improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and took into account of written testimonials from them.

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Information about the setting

Rascal's Day Nursery was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register. It operates from a converted health centre in Gorleston, Norfolk, and is privately owned and managed. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, seven staff hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 3. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 5.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 64 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds.

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must:

 implement a regular and robust programme of staff supervision and appraisal, to identify and secure continued professional development that raises the overall quality of practice and children's level of achievement

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must:

 provide a consistently rich spoken language environment for children, through improving how staff interact with children to promote their language and communication skills

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must:

 plan and guide children's activities, with regard to improving the consistency of the quality of teaching and providing children with resources to promote an enjoyable and challenging learning experience.

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who attend

Staff know the children well and talk confidently about their interests and where they are in their learning and development. The child's key person gathers useful information from parents when children first attend the nursery and they complete a 'Getting to know you key child' booklet together. This provides a useful starting point from which to plan activities to meet children's interests. Parents are encouraged to remain involved in their child's learning in the nursery and at home. They have regular opportunities to review written records of their children's learning. Since the last inspection staff have revised how they observe and assess children's learning to ensure that they accurately identify what children are able to do. This is fed into planning to ensure that children's next steps, interests and individual needs are planned for. Newly implemented systems for tracking children's progress ensure that any gaps in their learning and development can be quickly

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who attend

identified and managed. Staff carry out the progress check when children are two years of age. This ensures that any concerns are quickly identified and managed so that individual children's needs are appropriately met.

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who attend

Overall, children's progress ensures that they have the key skills needed for the next stage in their learning. Older children play well together and confidently seek out adults and other children to share their games. Staff engage with children in activities of their own choosing, but the quality of teaching is inconsistent. Staff do not always recognise when resources are not sufficient or suitable. As a result, learning experiences are not always challenging or enjoyable. For example, when children are playing outdoors with buckets in the sand, staff do not notice that there is not enough sand to fill the buckets. Children quickly lose interest and move away, meaning that opportunities to teach concepts, such as full and empty, are lost. However, at other times the quality of teaching is good. Staff engage with children in the role play area, playing 'hairdressers' with the children and encouraging them to make links to their own experiences. Children explore media and

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who attend

texture. They experiment with collage materials, such as pipe cleaners and glue, but the presentation of some art activities means that children are not always provided with good quality resources. For example, staff pour the different colours of ready-mixed paint into one large container, rather than using individual pots. Children are provided with large brushes and sponge rollers that mean the colours quickly become mixed. As a result, children are not able to experiment with colour, explore making fine lines and thick lines or compare the marks they make when using the sponge rollers.

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who attend

Staff recognise children's need to play independently but are on hand to support and intervene where needed. Younger children sometimes explore the environment independently while ensuring that a familiar adult is nearby. Staff respond well to this, picking children up and giving them a cuddle before encouraging them into activities, such as crawling through the fabric tunnel and playing 'peek-a-boo' with them as they crawl through. Children have opportunities to develop their physical skills both indoors and outside. Tyres and stepping stones outdoors promote children's balancing skills while indoors the newly acquired 'hobby horses' provide children with opportunities to play imaginatively, riding the horses around the room. They readily avoid obstacles and change direction confidently. Some staff interaction with children does not sufficiently encourage children in conversation or effectively promote their communication skills. This is because

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who attend

staff sometimes do not actively engage with children when supervising activities. They ask questions to challenge children's thinking but do not give them time to consider and respond before answering for them. At other times, interaction with children is of good quality. For example, when talking to younger children staff repeat words that children have said so that they can hear them pronounced correctly, and extend the sentence by adding another word. Through this, younger children develop their vocabulary. Staff respond well to the babbles and gestures of babies. Children show an awareness of print. They see print in labelling around the nursery and older children recognise their first name when it is written.

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

Children feel safe and secure in their relationships with staff because transitions into the nursery are managed well and they are supported by their key person as they move from one room to the next. A settling-in process is followed and each child is allocated a key person to support and develop relationships with children and their families. Parents appreciate staff, who are 'affectionate, welcoming and very interested' in their children.

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

Children behave well. Consistent boundaries are in place to help children know what is expected of them. They are helped to play harmoniously together and have respect for each other's needs and feelings. As a result, even very young children readily share and take turns. Staff act as good role models and use verbal praise to place a meaningful value on good behaviour and individual efforts. Children show a good level of independence for their age. Toys are stored to enable them to select what they want to play with, and staff support them to tidy away when they have finished. This helps to ensure children have a firm base from which to build their growing independence and confidence so they are emotionally prepared for their transition to school.

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

Consistent routines are in place, helping children to learn to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn about the emergency evacuation procedure and practise it regularly, to ensure that everyone knows what to do in an emergency to keep themselves safe. Children understand the need to tidy away toys to prevent trips and falls. Outdoor play is encouraged and older children are able to move freely between indoor and outdoor spaces. They learn about the need to dress appropriately to go out in cold weather and are supported by staff to develop their self-care skills, such as putting on their coat and attempting to fasten it themselves. Their good health is further promoted by a varied and nutritious diet that includes a range of fresh fruit and vegetables. Staff talk to parents about children's individual care routines for feeding and sleeping, and these established routines are continued to promote continuity of care.

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provision

Management and staff understand their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff are aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse and know how to report concerns, in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board guidelines. Suitable recruitment procedures are followed to ensure all staff are safe and suitable to work with children. A programme of staff supervision and appraisal has been identified. However, it has not yet been implemented to monitor the overall levels of staff performance, identify training needs and plan for their continuing professional development. Despite this, staff are generally enthusiastic about further training and one member of staff is working towards a relevant level 5 qualification.

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provision

The owner, who is also the manager, is committed to the continuous improvement of the nursery. She is aware of the nursery's strengths and areas for development and has a comprehensive action plan for development in place. This is challenging but achievable and is reviewed regularly to ensure progress is being made and to monitor the impact on children. Good progress has been made to address the action and recommendations set at the last inspection. For example, staff have changed their approach to how they observe, assess and plan for children's learning. Planning is now clearly linked to individual children's stage of development, helping to ensure that their next steps are identified and planned for. Although this new way of working is in an early stage of implementation, early indications are that it is having a positive impact on children's learning and development. This inspection was prioritised due to concerns raised about the quality of

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provision

the educational programme and the availability of suitable resources. The inspection found that staff take account of individual children's interests and stage of development, promoting equality of opportunity. However, sometimes the resources available are not sufficient enough to provide all children with good enough levels of enjoyment and challenge.

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provision

All documentation necessary for the safe and efficient running of the nursery is in place. Policies and procedures are shared with parents, helping them to make informed choices about their children's care. Parents praise the staff highly, reporting that they find them friendly, helpful and caring. They value that staff care about their children 'as individuals' and that they are kept fully informed about what their children have been doing during the day. Parents state that they would happily recommend this nursery to family and friends. There are currently no children on roll who also attend other childcare settings, but staff are aware of the importance of working in partnership with others to promote and fully support children's well-being and developmental progress.

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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 EY447168 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 946275

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 64 Name of provider Rascal's Norfolk Ltd Date of previous inspection 29/04/2013 Telephone number 07983506599

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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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