Rising Stars Nursery

Rising Stars Brewery Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2EE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/03/2014 20/06/2013

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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

 Children are settled and feel secure due to the effective implementation of the key person system.  Children have good opportunities to explore natural materials both outdoors and inside, learning in an environment that best suits their learning needs.  Children's personal independence is promoted well through daily routine activities such as snack times and toileting.  Extremely effective partnerships with parents and outside agencies enables children's individual needs to be identified and addressed.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities to encourage children's communication skills through the use of books and puppets are not well promoted.  Monitoring systems have not fully identified a weakness in the process of planning for individual children, to ensure it reflects children's changing interests and individual needs.

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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 spent the majority of the inspection observing the interaction of the staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation and discussion with the manager and the qualified teacher.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation including children's learning journals, accident records and safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sought the views of eight parents verbally on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Rising Stars registered in 2011. The nursery is owned by a charity and is one of two in the area. The nursery operates from the ground floor of a purpose-built children's centre building in the Milton Regis area of Sittingbourne, Kent. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am until 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. All children have access to a secure outside play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 65 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs nine members of staff who work with the children. Of these, eight hold a recognised early years qualification to at least National Vocational Qualification level 3. One of these members of staff holds Early Years Professional Status and one is working towards a foundation degree. One apprentice is working towards a qualification at level 2.

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

 further develop the systems for monitoring to improve the planning process to reflect children's constantly changing individual interests and needs and link them to daily activities

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

 develop the book area, through the use of labels and puppets, to encourage children and adults to enjoy books together, and to encourage children to talk about the story and how the characters feel.

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who attend

Children are making good progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points. This is because staff use their professional knowledge to build a secure picture of each individual child in their key person group. This enables them to provide care and activities that address the child's individual needs, although this is not always reflected in the planning. Staff record regular observations along with photographs to provide evidence of children's learning. They provide parents with a summative assessment about four times a year and also share information about each child through the learning journal. Parents are fully encouraged to contribute to this process, through photographs and/or written comments. Consequently, children's needs are well supported.

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who attend

Children are settled and generally happy within the nursery. The staff offer them lots of praise and encouragement, which helps them to feel confident to move around the nursery. Children are beginning to form friendships with and play alongside others well. Children are able to choose to play indoors or outdoors because of the daily free-flow system. This enables children to select where they wish to play and enhances their learning. This also applies to the youngest children and even the non-mobile children. Staff ensure the children are given good opportunities outdoors to explore and experiment in their environment. The youngest children pull up to stand on the furniture or crawl into the container with the oats enjoying the tactile experience. They can play in the water and bubbles or explore the paint. Older children demonstrate real engagement as they explore and experiment in the mud kitchen outdoors. Older children enjoy using the scooters on

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who attend

the hard standing, showing developing skills of balance and spatial awareness. Fine physical skills are encouraged through building with construction bricks and threading pasta shapes onto dried spaghetti.

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who attend

The staff are fully aware of the importance of promoting children's communication and language skills through everyday activities. Staff sit with the children talking to them about what they are doing and endeavouring to ask open-ended questions. They support children's understanding through talking about what the child is actually doing. For example, 'you are blowing a very large bubble, well done'. This use of language enables children to gain an understanding and to enhance their own language skills. Children often use one word to show an adult a toy and the member of staff will reply with the word in a sentence to support children's language skills. However, the nursery does not always make good use of books to encourage children's literacy skills, for example to label pictures or to talk about the story, to reflect their understanding and encourage them to talk. In addition, staff do not consistently use puppets to help children talk about feelings

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who attend

to promote their emotional well-being and communication skills.

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who attend

Inclusion is given high emphasis by the staff in the nursery. All children are welcomed into the nursery and their individual needs identified through assessment and partnerships with parents. Those children with specific needs receive good additional support through individual educational programmes and on occasions, support from outside agencies. Children enjoy good opportunities to celebrate different festivals or special days such as Australia day and the Chinese New Year. Children are able to handle different objects such as a didgeridoo and to taste Chinese food. As a result, this enhances children's understanding about the world in which they live. Young children have good opportunities to mix with the older children, encouraging family groups and a caring approach to others. This also provides role models and supports children's developing skills for interaction.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to use mathematical language in their play. They provide different activities to promote counting and opportunities to sort different objects. Some children show strong mathematical skills as they label some three-dimensional shapes in the bricks such as the cylinders. They demonstrate an understanding of positional language when they follow instructions such as 'put the brick on top of the tower' and are able to make two towers of the same height. Children use their own mathematical language as they ask for 'more' paint when hand painting and talk about how many fingers they have. Very young children practise their mathematical skills through use of the treasure basket, learning about weight, texture and size of different objects through their senses.

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who attend

Children have daily opportunities to develop their creativity through messy arts and crafts or develop their imagination when playing in the role play area. Children involve the adult in their play and act out familiar roles from home, such as cooking. The very young children show a developing understanding about putting the spoon in the cup or giving the teddy a cuddle.

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

The staff implement the key person system effectively and consequently children are generally well settled. Young children build good relationships with their key person and show their attachment as they put their arms up for a cuddle. The older children choose to sit and play with their key person or seek cuddles if in need of reassurance. Staff know their key children well which enables them to identify if they are unwell or just need a cuddle. Children are encouraged to be independent, such as cutting their own fruit at snack time and pouring their own drinks. They learn to wash their own hands and become independent when toileting or changing their clothes after playing in the garden. As a result, the majority of children are competent in self-care skills. Children behave well. Staff provide a calm approach if children are struggling to share the toys, helping them understand how to take turns. Children receive lots of praise and encouragement and

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

consequently demonstrate a good understanding of expected behaviour.

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

Children are able to learn about a healthy lifestyle because staff ensure children have access to fresh air every day. Children are encouraged to be active, whilst developing their physical skills and benefiting from the physical exercise. Staff provide a fruit bowl for snack time with a good variety of fresh fruit. Alongside this children receive a carbohydrate snack, such as rice cake or cracker. Children select their own snacks, cut their fruit and choose from milk or water to drink. Good secure systems exist to monitor children's dietary needs and allergies ensuring staff support children's well-being appropriately. Thorough hygiene routines are in place, such as children washing hands before eating and after using the toilet. Staff provide good role models as they implement good hygiene routines for nappy changing and food preparation.

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

Staff ensure children keep safe and provide systems to help children learn about keeping themselves safe. For example, children are able to take risks such as playing on the milk crates and wooden palettes. However, staff are close by and help children find a safe way to use them. Staff remind children about not climbing on furniture indoors and not to run inside for their safety. Staff mop up water when it is spilt indoors and provide equipment suitable for the ages of the children. Consequently, children play in a safe environment. Staff and management carry out risk assessments regularly and photographic evidence is now being obtained to support the risk assessment process to help children stay safe. Resources are easily accessible in both rooms within the nursery. This enables all children to access a good variety of activities and resources to meet their interests. For example, young children can crawl to the treasure basket, role play or the messy play at the low

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

tables or tough spot. Older children access different areas in the room such as the construction area, role play or messy area. However, the book area is bland and not particularly inviting. Consequently, this area is not well used by the children to develop their literacy skills.

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provision

The leadership and management of the setting are competent and committed to making continuous improvements in the provision for children. They constantly reflect on the educational programmes, how the rooms are set up and the impact on the children. All the staff work well as a team and everyone is included in the self-evaluation of the nursery to drive improvement. Staff obtain children's views through talking to them and observing their play. They obtain parents' views through questionnaires, verbally and through a parents' forum. Consequently, changes can be made to meet the needs of the families attending. The management carry out regular monitoring of many aspects of the nursery. For example monitoring of the accidents in the nursery and care procedures in place. This information is then used to make improvements, such as disposing of equipment that poses a hazard or improving recording systems for aspects of care.

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provision

Consequently, children benefit from the regular monitoring and evaluating. However, one area the monitoring has not fully identified is the weakness in the planning system to more clearly reflect children's individual needs.

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provision

All staff have attended safeguarding training and have a good understanding about protecting children in their care. All staff are familiar with the procedures to follow if they have any concerns. This includes implementing the relevant policies such as safeguarding, mobile phone and camera policies and whistle blowing. All the relevant contact details for outside agencies are accessible in the office along with the flow chart for staff to follow. Additional documentation and information is all available to staff to provide a safe and efficient process. This is well supported by robust procedures for the recruitment of new staff. This involves all the relevant checks being undertaken, regular one-to-one meetings and supervision in addition to annual appraisals. Therefore, this helps to ensure the ongoing suitability of the staff. As a result, children play in a safe, secure environment. Staff are well deployed and supervise children effectively at all times, making sure they

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provision

maintain the required ratios throughout the day to safeguard children's welfare. Staff are encouraged to attend regular training courses, extend their qualifications and consequently, good practice can be shared amongst the staff team.

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provision

The nursery works extremely well with the parents and outside agencies. All parents spoken to were very happy with the care their children were receiving. Parents are fully involved with their children's care, from sharing verbal information with the key person on a daily basis to contributing to the learning journals. Staff take parents' needs into account when the nursery wants to share information, such as translating the newsletters into different languages and verbally explaining what the letter states. As a result, parents feel valued and included. This partnership is further enhanced by the well-established links with outside agencies. Outside professionals are welcomed into the nursery to help support children's individual needs and to devise specific tailored programmes of support. In addition, staff discuss children with other providers who are also involved in the care of the child, enabling good sharing of information. Consequently, the nursery meets

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provision

children's well-being and welfare needs well.

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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 EY432010 Local authority Kent Inspection number 952113 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Children and Families Limited Date of previous inspection 20/06/2013 Telephone number 01795 475 438

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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