Nannas Day Nurseries

Nannas Day Nursery Villa 1, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Village, Turner Road, COLCHESTER, Essex, CO4 5JR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/02/2014 10/05/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 nursery provides an exceptional environment for children who learn through exciting and vibrant activities both indoors and outside. The children are provided with a secure base to explore and become active learners who show a strong understanding of the world.  Children's development is assessed precisely and thoroughly through highly effective partnerships between staff and parents. This enables staff to provide imaginative experiences for children's individual learning ensuring that children make excellent progress.  Leadership is truly inspirational and staff are led by a team that continually motivates and encourages them to provide exemplary teaching and learning to the children. A rigorous and focused plan of professional development ensures all staff are highly skilled in their roles.  Children's safety and well-being is given the highest priority and staff demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to keep children safe. The leadership team provides

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This provision is outstanding

astute and regular safeguarding training to all members of staff in order that all staff are fully aware of safeguarding procedures.  Children's emotional well-being is given a high priority and changes in children's lives are sensitively supported with caring and thoughtful interactions and planning.

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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 voluntary and compulsory parts 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 spent time in each of the different rooms observing children of different ages and the interactions between the staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the managing director, area manager, and manager, and spoke with the staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a selection of records including safeguarding training and staff qualifications.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of an activity with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents through discussion and through reading the parent surveys that are carried out by the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Nannas Day Nursery was registered in 2005 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a converted villa in the grounds of Colchester General Hospital in Colchester, Essex. Nannas Day Nursery is one of two nurseries that are privately owned and managed. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from five playrooms and there are two large enclosed outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 25 members of childcare staff. Of these, 16 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including one with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 6.30am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 168 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports 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:

 enhance further the already excellent partnerships with parents so any new learning strategies are fully understood and shared with parents.

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who attend

Children access an exciting and enjoyable curriculum that supports all children to make excellent progress. This is because the key person for each child has an expert understanding of how to observe, assess and plan for children's next steps. Comprehensive observations are regularly collected and a full picture is developed as these are annotated with children's work and illustrated with photographs. The observations are precisely assessed and the next steps in children's learning are then identified. This highly effective process allows staff to quickly identify any gaps in children's learning so that appropriate support can be provided. It also provides staff with the knowledge to share learning with parents who receive a report on their child's progress each term. Parents are invited into the nursery and, alongside the reports a learning journey of each child is on the wall, to further share children's individual learning.

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who attend

This is also an excellent way for all staff to be aware of individual children's learning. The planning supports every child's all-round development as well as providing learning for individual children's next stages of development. For example, the key person explains an activity has been provided for a child to develop their mark making skills. Very young children become absorbed in painting as they sit at a table together and use their hands to mix paint and spread it onto paper. The child watches her peers spread the paint with their hands and this encourages the child to take part. The excellent teaching effectively supports the individual child's learning as well as open-ended questions being used to develop the thinking and vocabulary skills of all of the children. Consequently, the teaching is highly effective at supporting individual children's learning, as well as extending all children's learning ensuring that they make excellent progress.

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who attend

The activity planning supports rich and imaginative experiences and the nursery has a 'something to share' project that runs alongside the activities that are provided every day. This supports children to develop a strong awareness of their community as they make shields and armour developing awareness of Colchester Castle. The nursery also supports learning through regular topics and children have a very good knowledge of recycling and composting food. For example, when they have finished their lunch they scrape the unwanted food into a compost bin which they take outside to their own compost bin. The children confidently explain that their food will be composted and used on the garden 'to make the flowers grow'. These rich and enjoyable learning experiences support children's communication and language development as they are eager to share their learning. Children that have additional needs are supported extremely well and close partnerships

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who attend

with parents and outside agencies ensure that gaps are closing and children are making excellent progress. The staff are very sensitive to the needs of babies and close relationships ensure that their development is promoted. The babies play and explore in a natural environment and they develop good early communication skills as staff are competent at supporting their development. The staff sing songs, read stories in the cosy book area, and are attentive to their needs. Consequently, babies are happy and settled and explore from the security of close relationships.

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who attend

Children play outside regularly and the vibrant environment support children's all-round development. Imaginative experiences capture children's interests and they develop their thinking as they place bird seed in water that is then frozen overnight. Children can comment and remark that when the ice melts the bird seed will fall on the ground to feed the birds. The activities provide a breathtaking array of experiences that fully absorb children and capture their imagination. For example, in the outside area there is a construction area complete with hard hats and building plans, a mud kitchen, a bug hotel, a den, and planting area, as well as space for them to run around. The children delight in playing 'What's the time Mr Wolf?' in the garden while it is raining and laugh as they run around and through the trees so they do not get caught. The bark throughout the outdoor play space ensures they do not hurt themselves if they fall over and their physical and

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who attend

social development is superbly promoted. The varied learning, provided through a mixture of adult-led and child-initiated play, supports all children to make excellent progress and supports their readiness for school. Parents are fully involved in children's learning and they contribute to children's assessments when they first begin at the nursery. Excellent communication exists between parents and key person and parents explain that they have daily updates on their child's progress. Regular reports also support parent's awareness of their child's progress as well as open evenings. Further strategies to involve parents are successful and they are encouraged to add their child's achievements to a 'sharing tree'. This information is incorporated into the children's learning journey to build a strong knowledge of children's development. Parents are informed about the nursery's activities through regular newsletters but any new learning strategies implemented in the nursery

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who attend

are not always shared with parents at the outset in order for parents to keep fully informed about how children learn.

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

The nursery is extremely welcoming to all families, evident as soon as the premises are entered. In the entrance way, music from different parts of the world is played and colourful menus, written in different languages are shared. This is a very inclusive environment where diversity is promoted and shared, subsequently, children's well-being is promoted as soon as they enter the nursery. Children settle in very well because their transition into the nursery is supported sensitively, according to individual needs. There is an area within the baby room to support parents that wish to return during the day to feed their baby. The nursery provides home visits and children are provided with a key person as soon as they begin. This ensures that close bonds are made which encourage children to explore from the security of knowing a supportive adult is close by. When children move into a new room they are extremely well supported and their key person

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

ensures this is a smooth process. Transitions to school are managed very well and innovative practices by the nursery ensure that children's emotional well-being is expertly supported. For example, a picture of the nursery's 'Travelling Ted' is laminated and sent to the schools in the local area asking them to take photographs of 'Travelling Ted' in the school. The nursery then use these photographs to make individual books about school for the children and this actively contributes to children's well-being and supports their transition to school. In addition, teachers meet the children at the nursery and school uniform is provided in the home corner to develop children's understanding of moving to school.

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

The children have formed secure bonds with the staff and their key person. The key person is exceptionally knowledgeable about their individual children and this is because they spend time with them each day. During 'key person time' the children are eager to explore a box which is filled with objects that the key person has found, as well as objects children bring in from home. This encourages children to explore and talk about the objects they find interesting and teaches children to respect others as they handle the items carefully. The children are asked for their views which are attached to the 'wishing tree' and then incorporated into the nursery's planning. Children develop confidence as they talk about what interests them, such as, their visit to the zoo and are praised for their efforts developing self-esteem and self-confidence. The staff are deployed extremely well and the good ratios and well-qualified staff support children's good behaviour. When

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

children find it difficult to behave appropriately the staff use different strategies to successfully manage their behaviour.

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

The safety and well-being of babies is given the highest priority and sensitive interactions with the staff ensure their welfare is promoted. Attentive and competent staff ensure that the safety of babies is assured as bottles and cups are easily identified with their names. A large majority of staff are first aid trained ensuring that they are competent to deal with any accidents. Children are gaining an excellent understanding of how to manage risks. When an older child accidentally spills some water on the floor he independently gets the 'wet floor' sign, made by the children, and places this over the spillage. Children are developing a very good understanding of healthy eating and meals freshly prepared and cooked by the nursery chef are thoroughly enjoyed by the children. The meals are nutritionally balanced as the nursery has worked with the adjoining hospital to ensure that they are healthy. To further support children's well-being the nursery has asked parents to

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

provide menus they use at home. They plan to incorporate these into the daily menus ensuring that children have food from different cultures to contribute to their understanding of differences. When children have finished their meals they wash their plates and cutlery and position them in the drying rack promoting skills to be independent. Children manage this challenging task competently and take pride in their abilities as they are praised by the staff. At the end of lunch-time the children brush their teeth as the staff support their development by singing a song about brushing teeth. Large colourful pictures are then shown as they are encouraged to make sure their teeth have been properly brushed. Consequently, children are developing an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

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provision

The leadership team are inspirational and are extremely passionate about creating a vibrant, creative and safe environment for the children. They have robust vetting and recruitment procedures that ensure staff are safe to work with children, and highly motivated. Regular and rigorous safeguarding training is provided and all staff show exceptional knowledge of how to safeguard children with full awareness of the nursery's whistle-blowing policy. Safeguarding training is included within the induction process for new members of staff, along with a number of modules to complete in order to support their work with children. All staff demonstrate they feel valued in the nursery and are all enthusiastic to develop the best outcomes for children. The leadership demonstrate an excellent understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All policies are reviewed regularly and shared with all of the staff. Risk

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provision

assessments are in place and the majority of staff have completed first aid training, contributing to children's safety. Very good ratios are in evidence, supplemented in some areas with students studying childcare qualifications, and every room is led by a well- qualified staff member.

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provision

The monitoring of children's development is meticulously conducted and this quickly identifies any children that may be falling behind. The nursery is quick to put more activities and resources into place to support any areas of practice that need to be strengthened. Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings with the manager, progression meetings with the senior leaders, as well as appraisals. This supports strong teaching practices and identifies further training. As a result, the impact on children's development is excellent and they are highly motivated children who display the characteristics of effective learning. The nursery has a very strong and effective self- evaluation process that is developed through communication with the children, parents and staff. Children contribute as their ideas and thoughts are gathered by asking them for their views and parents and staff complete questionnaires. The leadership team are

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provision

extremely reflective about their practice and visit other settings to take on new ideas to enhance their own practice. The nursery is committed to improving their practice and they have recently received two awards. One award, the Colchester Business Award was received for 'Excellent Customer Service', and another awarded by Nursery Management Today for 'Nursery Team of the Year'.

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provision

The nursery has superb links with parents, outside professionals and other settings which promote all aspects of children's development. A 'Friends of the Nursery' meeting is regularly held with parents to discuss and enhance practice. Parents are fully supported to share their child's learning as they are regularly supplied with information, as well as being invited to parent meetings. Parents contribute to children's learning by taking an active part in commenting on their learning at home and sharing this with the nursery. Parents explain in questionnaires that 'communication is fab' and the nursery provides 'the healthiest food ever'. In discussions parents explain a real strength of the nursery is their communication and they are extremely pleased with all aspects of the care and learning provided by the nursery. The nursery provides an outstanding environment for children that fully support their enjoyment and achievement in learning.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary 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 EY314142 Local authority Essex Inspection number 949641

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 168 Name of provider Nannas Ltd Date of previous inspection 10/05/2013 Telephone number 01206843851

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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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