Busy Bees at Blaby

The Lavender Bush Nursery 170 Lutterworth Road, BLABY, Leicester, LE8 4DP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/02/2014 28/07/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The quality and consistency of teaching is exceptional as practitioners have an excellent knowledge of how children learn. The management team effectively monitor the provision and support staff to ensure the very best outcomes for children's learning.  Partnerships with parents are highly effective. They are fully involved in the care and learning of the children, which ensures the children receive excellent support and continuity in their learning and development.  The key person system is firmly embedded and great care is taken to build strong attachments with all children, which ensures that they feel extremely confident and secure in the setting.  The inspirational manager and dedicated practitioners are committed to providing high quality care and learning for children. The rigorous monitoring of all aspects of the setting enables them to clearly target and strengthen practices.  Robust partnerships with other professionals are highly effective in providing for

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This provision is outstanding

children's needs. Children make excellent progress and transitions in and out of the setting are exceptionally well organised to promote continuity of care and learning.  Safeguarding of children is exceptionally secure throughout the setting. All practitioners have an extremely high level of knowledge and understanding of child protection issues.

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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 compulsory part 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 held meetings with the manager of the setting and the owner of the company.  The inspector spoke with a number of room leaders and key members of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out observations of activities in each room and also in the outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of practitioners working in the setting, the provider's self- evaluation systems, complaints log and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

The Lavender Bush Day Nursery was registered in 2009 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is one of seven privately-owned nurseries run by Bush Babies Children's Nurseries Limited. It operates from a two-storey building in the village of Blaby, Leicestershire and serves the local and surrounding area. Children are based in three ground floor areas and an upper area with associated cloakroom facilities. Children have access to an additional active play area on the ground floor, with an enclosed outdoor area for play and exploration for the younger children.

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Information about the setting

The nursery operates from Monday to Friday from 7.45am to 6pm for 51 weeks each year. It receives funding to provide nursery education to two-, three- and four-year-old children. There are currently 103 children on roll, all of whom are within the early years age range. Including the manager, there are 16 regular childcare practitioners. Of these, 12 hold relevant qualifications at level 3 or above and one holds a qualification at level 2. The nursery manager holds a level 6 qualification and Early Years Professional Status.

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

 enhance the children's obvious enjoyment of exploration in the natural environment and the excellent practice observed outdoors through the introduction of additional learning, found for example, in Forest Schools.

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who attend

Inspirational managers and practitioners have a very secure knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and an excellent understanding of how children learn through their play. Practitioners have high expectations of themselves and the children and provide a wealth of challenging and imaginative play and learning experiences. For example, they provide real building materials in the building corner for children to mix sand and water and construct walls from house bricks. The outstanding teaching inspires children to become highly motivated and independent learners. For example, children in the pre-school room industriously create a wonderful train large enough to hold several children by using boxes and crates. Practitioners further extend and develop play and learning opportunities as they help children to create a railway station, complete with ticket office and scenery. The practitioners' excellent understanding

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who attend

of children's learning enables them to provide stimulating and highly innovative activities and environments which promote the children's interests. They creatively use the outdoor areas to engage children in their learning. They encourage exploration, imagination and autonomous play and independence in an exciting and motivating environment. For example, the children create mud cakes for imaginary creatures in the mud kitchen area and collect worms to watch and observe. Practitioners support and extend children's learning as they encourage children to discuss the worm's shape and compare sizes. Children excitedly allocate family members to each worm they have collected. There is scope to further enhance children's already strong learning outdoors by encouraging them to extend their outdoor investigations, for example, through den building and Forest School teaching.

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who attend

Babies and young toddlers revel in the homely environment where they test out their confidence and build very strong relationships with the adults. The younger babies use large areas of paper and paint to make marks using their feet and hands. They delight in the songs and rhymes sung by practitioners, often spontaneously, and they join in with gestures and movements. Toddlers are encouraged to explore their environment and are beginning to problem solve. For example, when they cross the bridge in the outdoor area practitioners encourage them to think how they can avoid being stranded on the bridge by the wooden crocodiles circling beneath it. Practitioners ensure that parents are fully informed of the benefits of such activities in supporting young children's dexterity and coordination, particularly in preparation for their future literacy and mark-making skills. Children's communication and language skills are exceptional as many engage in complex

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who attend

and mature conversations with their peers and adults. Children are confident to express their opinions and are eager to share their ideas and inventions with the adults around them. Children discover and appreciate different cultures and communities, such as the different ways in which people live.

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who attend

Materials for making marks are widely available both indoors and out and are presented in imaginative ways to capture the interest of all children, such as making pictures of the stick man out of mud and using their outdoor fence rubbings as a backdrop for their ticket office. Children are encouraged through skilful teaching to begin to give meaning to marks. For example, they recognise their individual name cards and coat pegs and self- register on arrival. Books and reading materials from many cultures are readily available and children enjoy the one-to-one experience of sharing them with practitioners, especially in the magical 'enchanted wood room'. Practitioners skilfully enhance story sharing time through the use of tone and intonation as they share picture books with children. The quality of teaching is excellent. Practitioners encourage children to use everyday objects to build and construct during imaginative play and enthusiastically

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who attend

provide them with opportunities to extend their thinking through their creativity and passion for children's development. For example, they build on a child's interest of washing as they provide materials to create a laundry area in the home corner complete with iron, ironing board and wash baskets to encourage children to sort and order clothes. This dynamic approach to learning contributes extremely well towards children's skills for the future and in preparation for their move on to full-time school.

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who attend

Practitioners use meticulous systems to assess children's starting points and ongoing progress and these are well established, robust and include all those involved in their learning. Practitioners prepare very detailed plans that cover all of the areas of learning and reflect children's individual interests and next steps, including where a child may require additional support or benefit from a greater challenge. The needs of individual children are recognised and practitioners incorporate these into planned activities that inspire and motivate them. For example, quieter or newer children are sensitively drawn into playing with other children. As a consequence, all children enjoy a rich, varied and imaginative time and make excellent progress in their learning and development. Practitioners make thorough observations to identify the next steps in children's development. They set realistic targets for children which supports them exceptionally well

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who attend

with their progress towards the early learning goals.

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who attend

Parents receive regular highly comprehensive feedback which helps them to feel included in their child's learning. For example, they are provided with both daily feedback and more detailed periodic written reports to show them what their children have achieved. They are invited to attend parents' meetings with their child's key person on a regular basis. In addition, they have easy access to a broad range of information about activities and learning objectives within the setting. Consequently, they are fully included in their children's time at the setting and are helped to understand how to support their children's learning at home.

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

A calm and caring atmosphere creates a positive learning environment for all where children are highly valued as individuals. Careful consideration is given to the allocation of each child's key person. This supports extremely close bonds between children and practitioners and provides a strong base for children to develop their independence and explore. In addition, parents acknowledge and appreciate the warm welcome and ongoing support that they receive. All children show a strong sense of belonging within the setting and settle well because practitioners have an excellent knowledge of their individual likes, needs and routines. They work very closely with parents from the outset to gather all the relevant information and ensure that this is regularly updated to reflect any changes. Transitions from room to room and from one setting to another are exceedingly well managed as practitioners have established very positive partnerships with parents, other

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

providers and local schools. Key persons accompany children to new rooms until they feel confident to stay for short periods on their own. As a result, children feel confident to establish close relationships with new people.

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

Practitioners give the utmost regard to the safety of children and ensure that resources and equipment are appropriate to their individual needs. Extreme care and consideration is given to the presentation of activities both indoors and out to provide a consistently highly stimulating learning environment for children. Children are encouraged to develop healthy lifestyles and learn about the importance of exercise using the indoor play space and outdoor areas. Outdoor learning and activities are available every day regardless of the weather conditions so that children can enjoy play in all its guises. Children show a clear knowledge of how to keep themselves healthy as they are encouraged to make choices about the food they eat and are able to recognise that some food choices are healthier than others. The highly experienced cook works closely with parents and practitioners to ensure that dietary needs and preferences are catered for when planning

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

meals. Children enjoy the social experiences of meal times as practitioners ensure that these are opportunities to engage with children in social conversation and use good manners as part of the holistic experience.

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

Practitioners diligently reinforce safe practice with equipment and toys to teach children how to play safely while taking controlled risks in a safe environment. Rigorous risk assessments are recorded and are in place and daily checks to minimise risks to children are carried out across the setting. Children are cared for appropriately following any minor accidents and practitioners deal sensitively with any bumps they have received. Comprehensive records are kept of any accidents and records of medicines given and these are shared with parents. Children develop excellent self-help skills. For example, before playing outside they find their own coats and shoes, which they put on with minimal help from practitioners and at snack time pour their own drinks. A calm and harmonious atmosphere supports children's learning and any minor disputes are diffused very quickly. Children get on well together. They know what is expected of them, learn to

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

take turns and value one another. Practitioners skilfully support children to understand the potential impact of their actions on others. Positive behaviour is consistently acknowledged and children's achievements, no matter how big or small are enthusiastically celebrated. For example, practitioners thank children for their 'good counting and good listening' during a planned activity and reward charts and stickers are used to promote children's sense of self-esteem and confidence.

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provision

Safeguarding of children is exceptionally secure throughout the setting. All practitioners have an extremely high level of knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and are confident in the procedures to follow should they have a concern about a child in their care. Regular training of all practitioners, including the senior management team and the registered provider ensures this level of skill is continuously up to date. Arrangements for the recruitment and selection of new practitioners are thorough and robust. Well- established recruitment and vetting procedures mean that practitioners undergo robust suitability checks and have completed training or are willing to do so. All practitioners complete a thorough induction process to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. A broad range of monitoring and performance management tools help managers to effectively support practitioners. As a result, any practice or training issues

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provision

are quickly identified and addressed. Practitioners speak in glowing terms of the support and mentoring they receive in order to extend their skills and knowledge base of early years education, childcare and development. In addition, managers and practitioners work incredibly well together and pay high regard to each other's strengths and areas of expertise. Therefore, they create a very supportive and positive environment for children to play and learn.

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provision

Highly skilled practitioners have formed very strong partnerships with parents who value the service highly. Comments from parents are extremely positive. They state that they feel fully informed and included in their child's care and learning at all times and benefit from regular verbal and written feedback. Parents are invited to attend meetings about their children's progress on a regular basis and to participate in the future development of the setting. An extensive range of information is made readily available to parents and they routinely have access to policy updates to keep them informed about current practice. The setting has excellent strategies in place and has established effective partnerships with other agencies in order to give consistently high levels of support for individual children.

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provision

Managers and practitioners are passionate and committed to the service they provide. They work incredibly hard to keep up to date and maintain the outstanding practice within the setting. They share the same vision for continued development and systems for ongoing self-evaluation are effective in identifying a detailed plan for future developments. Managers have an excellent overview of the curriculum through the meticulous monitoring of the educational programmes. Planning and assessment are checked to make sure they are consistent and precise. The manager consistently takes account of children's and parents' views, thoughts and feelings, to guide and inform practice. They are encouraged to share their comments through regular questionnaires and ongoing discussion. As a result, they are fully involved in affecting change in this exemplary setting. The registered provider and inspirational management team pursue excellence in all areas and provide

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provision

dynamic leadership for the setting. They have consistently high expectations for the quality of care learning and development offered to all children. Procedures and documentation are robustly reviewed and updated to ensure that all requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage are exceptionally well met.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY388572 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 950978

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 103 Name of provider Bush Babies Childrens Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 28/07/2009 Telephone number 01162786040

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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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