St Cuthbert's Early Years Centre

St Cuthbert's Early Years Centre St. Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Thorburn Road, WIGAN, Lancashire, WN5 9LW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/03/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Staff demonstrate highly comprehensive knowledge of how to manage any concerns about children's welfare. They are pro-active in putting strategies into place to minimise any potential concerns.  Staff are highly skilled and qualified and value opportunities for professional development; the drive for improvement is uncompromising in their endeavour to improve learning outcomes for all children.  The nursery engages very well with parents and carers and clearly values the important role they play in their child's ongoing learning and development. They involve them in all aspects of nursery life.  Children have excellent relationships with their key person and they develop secure attachments. As a result, children's well-being is promoted.  Staff plan exceptional educational programmes that ignite the interest of children of all ages. The quality of teaching is exemplary, with particular reference to children's

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This provision is outstanding

communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development. As a result, all children make exceptional progress in their learning and development.

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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 in all rooms within the nursery. The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the management team.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector had a tour of the nursery with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documentation, including children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of staff suitability and qualifications and children's learning journals.

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Information about the setting

St Cuthbert's Early Years Centre was registered in 2009 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary school in the Norley Hall area of Wigan and is managed by the school governing body. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from three rooms. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play and children have access to the school hall. The nursery employs 14 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above, including two with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.45am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 123 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as

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Information about the setting

an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 consider extending the excellent opportunities for developing independence and a sense of responsibility for children in the pre-school room by ensuring consistency at every mealtime for this aspect of learning.

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who attend

Children enjoy engaging in story time where staff are skilled at engaging their interest. The reader is animated and enthusiastic and children join in with familiar phrases. They use numbers and actively participate in the story by dressing-up in a crocodile outfit to explore the role of the main character. Staff have created areas outdoors where children read books and extend their ideas in role play. These activities effectively develop children's language and communication skills. This is extended further because staff provide parents with nursery rhyme bags to continue the learning and play at home. Staff have high regard for children's personal, social and emotional development and promote this extremely well. They provide babies with a 'Baby moves' programme where they undertake a range of activities, which promote bonding, attachment and exploration. As part of the programme staff tap and stroke babies so they feel secure with their key

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who attend

person. Staff then move children on to explore a range of different items, which supports young children's investigation skills. Pre-school staff use puppets to explore emotions and feelings with older children. They consider how the puppets actions make others feel and make connections to their own behaviour. Therefore, children are starting to build excellent relationships with each other and consider the consequences of their actions. This gives children the key skills required for the next stage in their learning. Staff have an excellent knowledge of the revised Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are highly competent in assessing where children are within their developmental age bands and have developed their own progress records, which provide accurate information and insightful ideas to further children's progress. Staff are expert at exploiting all available opportunities to ensure that activities provide challenge for all

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who attend

children. The excellent planning systems ensure that children's unique needs are extremely well met. The nursery consistently achieves high standards of care and teaching, resulting in very good progress for all children in relation to their starting point. Parents complete detailed information upon entry, which staff use as a baseline assessment on which they plan their initial activities. Staff undertake an integrated review for the 'progress check at age two' with the community nursery nurse and parents. This enables them to quickly identify where extra support may be required and swiftly put in place an action plan.

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who attend

Staff expertly build upon children's interests and experiences to construct exciting and interesting activities, indoors and outdoors, to stimulate children's imagination and extend their learning. For example, when children show an interest in the marks they are making. Staff extend this idea by encouraging them to take rubbings from bark, bricks and tyres and offer them water to experiment with marks on the concrete. This gave children first- hand experiences to try out their own ideas. Children are developing an excellent understanding of the world around them as they have visits from the mobile farm where they can smell, touch and feel the different animals. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language are very well supported through individual targeted intervention groups, which allow them to reach their full potential. The detailed knowledge each key person holds about individual

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who attend

children ensures rapid progress is made.

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

Children form close and secure emotional attachments to their key person, who takes care to get to know them and their family very well. Children settle well because staff create a warm, friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the nursery. The settling-in visits allow children to become familiar with staff and excellent partnerships with parents help children to feel secure. Staff have an excellent understanding of children's individual likes, needs and care routines. Children develop superb self-care skills as they independently address their own care and personal hygiene needs. For example, they understand how to use the toilet independently and when to wash and dry their hands. Bathroom routines are hygienic and children are supported to clean their teeth. Babies thrive on the individual attention they receive and enjoy cuddles and comfort in familiar and attractive surroundings. Attentive staff observe babies interests and follow their lead in play, which gives them confidence to

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

try new things. The strong focus on children's well-being means they are emotionally 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 exhibit high levels of self-assurance and confidence. They learn to share and cooperate with each other and they learn independence. Staff encourage children to ask their friends for help if they require assistance, which promotes good social development. Children pour their own drinks throughout the day and select their own snack at a time which they choose. Most of the time children in the pre-school room set their own table, serve their lunch and clear away afterwards. However, occasionally due to time restraints staff undertake this role rather than consistently encouraging children to carry this out to enhance their already excellent independence skills. Staff have developed very clear strategies for managing children's behaviour. When children display negative behaviour staff monitor the situation very closely and develop effective strategies to meet children's individual needs. Staff focus on positive behaviour and offer lots of praise and

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

encouragement, in order to promote children's self-esteem. Staff build children's confidence when the time comes for them to move to the next room. The key person visits with them and shares their records to support a smooth transition.

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

The nursery provides inspiring continuous outdoor play experiences, which give children opportunities to take reasonable risk in their play with careful supervision. The outdoor play areas are exceptionally well-equipped to encourage children to be imaginative in their play, while getting plenty of exercise. Food is prepared on the premises and children can make choices from a healthy range of options, supporting their enjoyment of a balanced diet. This also helps them to learn about the basis for a nutritious diet, through discussion with staff. There are excellent opportunities for children to learn about healthy lifestyles. For example, an external organisation visits the nursery and undertakes activities with children where they discuss topics, such as how fast their heart is beating and which foods children need to eat within a healthy diet.

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provision

Staff have a very robust understanding of how to manage any concerns they may have about a child's welfare due to their excellent knowledge of safeguarding procedures. All adults who work on the premises are checked and vetted for their suitability for working with children. All documentation related to statutory requirements is completed to a very high standard to support the safe and effective running of the nursery. Procedures for recruitment and induction of new staff are highly robust. As a result, the nursery has an enthusiastic and highly-skilled staff team to maintain outstanding care and learning for children. The nursery has a learning mentor in place whose focus is supporting children and families who may be at risk. They provide each family with a booklet 'Babies don't come with a manual', which provides a series of questions and answers to support parents understanding of children's care and learning needs. The nursery has undertaken a

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provision

safeguarding audit to ensure they are operating as effectively as possible in this area. Robust and clear risk assessment procedures are followed to minimise the risk to children.

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provision

Staff demonstrate an exemplary understanding of how to carry out their roles and responsibilities. This is because these are clearly defined and frequently reviewed with them. Staff management is of a very high standard as all staff receive regular individual support and supervision. As a result, all staff share a strong drive for excellence. The management team closely observes staff performance and conducts peer observations to support staff and to maintain consistency across the nursery. The management team monitor the educational programme and carry out regular spot checks to ensure it is effective in meeting the needs of children. The manager monitors planning for children's development by regular observations of practice and tracking of children's progress. They check their assessment decisions are correct by undertaking moderation internally and externally, in order to meet children's needs effectively. They work alongside staff

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provision

modelling good practice and question staff on their knowledge and practice. There is a strong focus on professional development with several staff holding higher level qualifications. This is reflected in the excellent provision offered for children. There is a strong self-evaluation process to which parents, staff and children actively contribute. Clear and concise focused improvement plans ensure that self-reflection and the continued development of the nursery remains a priority. The nursery displays the improvements they are working on for parents so they can be fully involved. The nursery has recently developed a mud kitchen in the garden, which was based on the interests of children. This has had a positive impact on children's learning and development as they have explored and experimented with their ideas.

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provision

Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent as staff fully engage parents and other professionals, such as health visitors and speech and language therapists. This provides the best support for children's learning and development. They pass on children's progress records to schools and meet with teachers to further aid transition. This excellent nursery gives all children a very secure foundation for their future learning and development and ensures that they are ready for school. The nursery has established highly effective links with other early years providers, such as childminders to create a consistent approach towards children's care and learning needs. Partnerships with parents are exemplary. Staff complete daily diaries which gives parents a wealth of information about their child. Parents can access training and are fully involved in the life of the nursery.

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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 EY392355 Local authority Wigan Inspection number 811034

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 76 Number of children on roll 123 Name of provider St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School Governing Body Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01942 222 721

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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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