Little Sandhurst Nursery Group

Little Sandhurst Nursery Group Pastoral Centre, Lower Church Road, SANDHURST, Berkshire, GU47 8HN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/03/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff work effectively as a team to provide children with an interesting and stimulating variety of activities that enable them to make good progress with their learning.  Children's behaviour is very good. They are patient, well-mannered and amicably share resources as they play.  Partnership with parents is good. Children benefit from the positive communication between their main carers, which enables a consistent approach to meeting their individual needs.  Children are developing a good understanding of safety as they take part in active exploration of the outdoor environment.  The leadership and management of the nursery are strong. The manager is proactive in driving improvements to benefit all children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not maximise opportunities for children to develop their awareness and understanding of words and numbers.  Staff pour drinks for children at snack time which limits their opportunities for independence.

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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 children engaged in a variety of activities both indoors and outside.  The inspector discussed nursery practice with the manager and staff.  The inspector sampled nursery documentation.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to at inspection.

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Information about the setting

Little Sandhurst Nursery Group originally registered in 1989 and re-registered under new ownership in 2013. It operates from two rooms within St. Michael's Pastoral Centre, in Sandhurst, Berkshire. The premises are accessed via a ramp to the ground floor hall and stairs to the first floor room. The nursery serves the needs of families in the area and the intake reflects the local community. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and with English as an additional language. The nursery operates Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8.30am to 3.15pm, and Thursday 12.30pm to 3.30pm, term-time only. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery employs nine members of staff of whom five are qualified to level 3 and 1 holds qualified teacher status. The setting receives support through the local authority. The nursery gets funding for the provision of

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Information about the setting

free early education to children aged two, three and four. There are currently 65 children on roll.

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

 maximise children's opportunities to learn about words and numbers, for example through visual displays indoors and outside

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

 allow children to consistently pour their own drinks at snack time to strengthen their independence.

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who attend

Children have fun and enjoy themselves at the nursery. They show a good motivation to learn as they actively take part in a range of free-play and planned activities. Each child is assigned a key member of staff who takes responsibility for assessing children's learning and planning for their ongoing development. Staff liaise with parents and find out about children's starting points through information recorded on a starting profile. They maintain learning records for all children with written and photographic observations of children's achievements. Staff have embraced a new system for tracking children's development and each term they complete an overview of children's progress. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and English as an additional language, make good progress with their learning. This is because staff know children well and plan activities to progress learning in all areas, according to each child's individual learning

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who attend

needs. Staff have a good understanding of how to promote learning and work very well as a team to provide children with a wide variety of interesting and stimulating learning experiences. Children have time for independent exploration of toys and activities and staff sensitively step in to challenge and extend play to further children's thinking and knowledge. For example, children enthusiastically make 'cakes' by mixing foam with different colour powder paint and a sparkly mixture. They confidently spoon yellow powder onto foam and stir carefully with a wooden spoon before excitedly recognising they have made the foam turn yellow. Staff then suggest children add blue powder to their mixture and stir to discover what happens when they mix colours. The nursery has joined the Every Child a Talker programme and staff skilfully develop children's conversation and communication skills. They use both verbal and non-verbal

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who attend

communication, such as Makaton, depending on children's specific needs. During 'chat- time' children talk about objects they have brought in from home and staff ask questions to extend conversations and to develop children's learning in all areas. Children show an understanding of the natural world as they know a baby sheep is called a lamb. They confidently count four plastic frogs they have brought in to show, before expertly demonstrating how to make the frogs jump. Staff reinforce children's understanding of size and texture as they place a large cloth car next to a small metal one. They encourage children to observe the differences between the cars and to feel the different textures. Children show an interest in books as they independently sit and look at books in the cosy reading area. They handle books with care, carefully turn the pages and talk about how they are reading the book in their head. Staff foster children's interest in literature and

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who attend

understanding of words and numbers as they sit and share stories with them. For example, a story about a sea-horse leads to discussion about an octopus and how many tentacles it has. However, staff do not maximise children's opportunities to develop their understanding of words and numbers during daily play. For example there are no key word labels in the role play area and no visual displays outside to reinforce children's learning. Children's personal, social and emotional development is good. They are confident and initiate their own games with their friends. Children play cooperatively as a group and decide to push their toy cars around the floor mats. A child takes on the role of starter and counts swiftly to seven before they all speedily race against each other, taking care not to knock into others around them. Staff involve parents in children's learning. They share information about children's development and the written progress check on

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who attend

children who are two years old. Staff also inform patents of activities so they can support children in bringing in resources from home, for example to talk about during 'chat-time'. Parents confirm they feel 'absolutely involved' with their child's learning and comment that they are 'very impressed' with the different play stations in the nursery environment.

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

Children have very good relationships with both staff and other children. They behave well as they occupy themselves with play that interests and engages them. Settling-in procedures are effective in enabling children to familiarise themselves with staff, for example on home visits by staff, before they attend the nursery on their own. A buddy system for key people means children can always turn to someone with whom they have an emotional attachment should their main key person be absent. Children arrive and settle immediately and seeing their name cards on arrival helps promote their sense of belonging in the nursery. Staff organise the environment well so children have independent access to a good variety of resources that promote learning in all areas. This helps to prepare children well for the next stages in their education. Children are enthusiastic and move from one activity to another, developing their skills constantly as

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

they play. They amicably share toys. For example, two children start to model with dough and one child remarks that he needs a 'big bit'. The other child, without hesitation, cuts his dough in half and passes it across, together with a rolling pin, so they can both carry on happily with their modelling. Children show patience as they wait their turn to speak in group activities and follow the positive example set by staff as they demonstrate good manners when talking to others. Staff are quick to praise children's efforts, which boosts children's self-esteem. Children are developing a good understanding of safety and a healthy lifestyle. Children understand and follow routine hygiene practice as they clean their hands, when inside and outside, before sitting sociably together for a snack. The nursery provides children with a healthy variety of vegetables and fruit and children show healthy appetites as they eat food, such as carrot, strawberry, cucumber, melon and

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

blueberry. Children take responsibility for their things and show independence as they put their cup and plate on the side when they have finished their snack. Staff, however, do not consistently encourage children to be independent by allowing them to always pour their own drink at snack time. Staff make excellent use of the local environment as a learning resource. Children hold hands as they sensibly walk to a local wood, with staff and extra helpers to oversee children's safety. Children show an awareness of road safety as they wait patiently until staff tell them it is safe to cross. Once in the woods they know to stand still if they see a dog and wait with staff until the dog has passed. Children thoroughly enjoy the freedom to run in the woods and develop healthy bodies through active play. They stop when they have run out of breath, rest for a few seconds and then carry on running recognising their limits and need for recovery. Children learn to keep

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

themselves safe as they hold on to fallen tree stumps to help them climb up, before showing good balance skills as they walk along a fallen tree. Staff challenge children to develop their skills and move in different ways, for example by rolling down slopes. Children practise climbing as they climb over a five bar gate and staff sensitively support children so they all have an opportunity to achieve and be proud of themselves.

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provision

The leadership and management of the nursery are strong. The manager has a good understanding of her responsibilities in meeting the learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Recruitment procedures are robust and all staff are vetted, with systems in place to monitor staff's ongoing suitability. The manager fully supports continuing professional development for staff with recent training covering areas such as the outdoor environment and language. The training is effective in developing staff knowledge of how they can improve practice within the nursery. For example, staff have improved the book area for children to make it cosier and more inviting so children can relax and develop their language through sharing and discussing books with others. Staff are kind, caring and enthusiastic and provide a happy, welcoming environment for children. Daily safety checks of the nursery

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provision

environment, together with risk assessments for outings, are effective in allowing children to play safely. Staff have a secure understanding of the procedures to follow with any safeguarding concerns and detailed policies are in place to underpin nursery practice in this area. Partnerships with parents and others involved in children's care and education are good. Children benefit significantly from these positive partnerships as they promote a joined-up approach to meeting children's individual needs. The nursery continually share information in a number of different ways, for example, through discussion, formal meetings, regular newsletters and information on display within the nursery. Parents speak very highly of the nursery. They comment that it is, 'very stimulating', 'amazing' and 'brilliant'. The manager has a clear vision of how she would like the nursery to develop and has been proactive in evaluating practice and driving forward improvements. She

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provision

monitors children's learning records and, with support from her local early years advisor, has introduced improved record keeping systems. The manager collates data which clearly identifies any gaps in learning so that measures can be taken quickly to address them. Improvement plans for the nursery are in place with, for example, future areas for development being the outdoor area and resources for two year old children.

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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 EY469054 Local authority Bracknell Forest Inspection number 940518 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 31 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Karen Elizabeth Allen Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07730 340734

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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

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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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