The Chase Nursery

The Chase Nursery 15 The Chase, Holland-on-Sea, CLACTON-ON-SEA, Essex, CO15 5PU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/04/2014 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

 Children are motivated and eager to take part in the stimulating activities. Skilled staff support and extend their learning, providing challenge and enabling them to make exceptionally good progress in all areas of their learning.  Staff give high priority to getting to know the children and their families. Consequently, secure emotional attachments are formed and children settle exceptionally well.  Highly effective partnerships with parents and others ensure that children's needs are quickly identified and are exceptionally well met. Successful strategies engage all parents in their children's learning in the setting and at home.  Staff are inspired under the passionate leadership of the manager. As a team, they strive to deliver a high quality service to ensure that children have the best possible start in life.  High quality, professional supervision ensures that staff are motivated and take

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This provision is outstanding

responsibility for their chosen area of expertise, and share their knowledge and understanding with all staff and parents.  Children are provided with a wealth of creative and imaginative learning experiences in a bright, stimulating and well-designed environment.

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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 observed activities in all the playrooms and the outdoor learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision, spoke to staff and interacted with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the setting, the provider's self- evaluation and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector also took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of inspection.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

The Chase Nursery has been established for 40 years and was re-registered in 2013 under a new manager on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a detached house in Holland-on-Sea, Essex. The nursery is privately owned and serves the local and wider area. It operates from four playrooms and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds an early years degree, three hold early years qualifications at level 4, four hold level 3 and two hold level 2.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 45 weeks of the year, from 8.30am until 5.30pm. Children can attend for the whole day or for morning or afternoon sessions. There is also after school provision for school-aged children. There are currently 96 children on roll who are within the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. 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:

 review how rooms are used to fully maximise less confident children's ability to spontaneously make independent choices about where they play.

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who attend

Children thrive in the rich and creative learning environment. They are exceptionally keen to take part and show high levels of engagement in all the activities. The staff have high expectations of themselves and of the children, and provide appropriate challenge to extend their learning even further. They use skilled questioning to encourage children to think for themselves, predict what might happen and work out solutions. For example, how to climb up to be able to see into the tyre to look for the hidden Easter eggs, or to predict what will happen to the chocolate when it is put in the microwave. Staff give high priority to supporting children to acquire the skills and attitudes towards learning that they need to be ready for their next stage in learning and their eventual move into school. For example, staff encourage children to develop the skills to manage clothing when they dress up in role play costumes and to put their own coats on to go outside. They

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who attend

encourage the children to have a go at new experiences, such as holding newborn chicks. The children watch the eggs hatch and care for the chicks. Their learning is extended as they measure the chicks to record their growth. This experience inspires some children to share their own experiences from home of the lifecycle of caterpillars. The quality of teaching is excellent. Staff know all the children, especially their key children, exceptionally well. They make regular observations which are skilfully assessed and fed into the planning to ensure that activities provide high levels of challenge and engage children's interests. The staff encourage parents and people from the community to visit and to talk to the children about their work. The children are excited when the fire officers arrive with their fire engine, and this stimulates their play for several weeks. For example, the children make their own engine out of cardboard boxes and regularly dress

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who attend

up as fire officers. They use toy radio transmitters to call their friends. Because the staff know the children so well they are able to quickly identify and respond to any children who may need extra support and work closely with the parents.

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who attend

Staff are extremely successful in engaging all the parents to ensure that they are included fully in their child's learning and development in the setting. They meet with parents regularly to go through each child's development record. They use this time to discuss and plan the next steps in the child's learning and development. Parents regularly take home these records and share them with their children and other family members. Staff provide ideas for challenges that parents can take part in with their children at home. For example, they suggest parents encourage the children to develop independence in dressing and undressing, as this had been identified by a school as a task that children struggle with most when starting school. Parents also make Easter bonnets for a competition, carve pumpkins at Halloween and share reading books with their children.

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

Children are happy, extremely confident and have fun in the highly stimulating learning environment, both indoors and out. They access a wealth of high quality and imaginative resources from well-labelled storage. Children learn to be kind to their friends, to share and to take turns. The staff provide excellent role models for the children to follow as they treat them with respect and value their work and achievements. For example, care is taken to create beautiful books for their developmental records where their interests and achievements are displayed and framed. Children take ownership of these records and proudly share them with staff, parents and visitors. Artwork is also valued and displayed with care and children have opportunities to paint on canvases, which are hung with pride in the art room.

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

The highly successful key person system ensures that children settle exceptionally well. Staff take time to get to know the children and their families. They are sensitive and skilled in supporting children to form secure emotional attachments. The continual sharing of information between home and the setting ensures that children's needs are exceptionally well met and the move from home to the nursery is smooth. Staff also support the children with their move on to school. They spend time with the teachers to ensure they know how to prepare their key children for the move. They visit the schools with the children, and teachers visit the children in the nursery. Staff use role play and provide school uniforms and physical education kits for children to dress up in as they play at being at school. This thorough preparation ensures that children are emotionally prepared for the next stage in their learning and development.

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

Children learn to keep themselves healthy as they share a variety of fruits and vegetables at snack times and discuss foods that are good for them. Staff involve the parents and children in a healthy eating project. Everyone, including the staff, kept food diaries for a week and a range of information and literature was provided to support discussions, menus and lunchbox choices. Parents reported a positive impact from the project and children are making healthier choices at mealtimes. Dedicated, knowledgeable staff work closely with parents to make sure that individual diets and care routines are discussed in detail and are respected and followed to ensure children receive the best care possible. Hygiene routines in the nursery are robust, and children understand the reasons for hand washing and take time to wash in between their fingers. They play in the fresh air daily and have many opportunities to manage risks as they practise their climbing and

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

balancing skills. They are becoming skilled as they hold onto posts, walk along wooden beams and steps and climb into tyres. They learn to keep themselves safe as they take part in safety drills and watch fire extinguisher demonstrations led by fire safety officers.

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provision

A high priority is put on the safeguarding of children. Staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children from abuse and neglect. The majority of staff have received up-to-date training and they all know the course of action to be taken if they have concerns about a child's welfare or any concerns regarding the behaviour of staff. All staff are subject to rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, and Disclosure and Barring Checks are in place. Induction procedures are thorough and all staff are aware of, and follow the nursery's comprehensive policies and procedures. Adult-to-child ratios are high to enable children to be supervised at all times and receive excellent levels of care and attention. The premises are safe and secure, and risk assessments for the premises and all activities are thorough.

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provision

The drive and commitment of the manager and staff is inspirational as they strive to provide the very best for the children and families. They have an excellent understanding of their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, as well as the learning and development requirements. There is a strong culture of reflection and evaluation, and monitoring successfully identifies any groups of children who may need extra support. The manager knows her staff, their strengths and areas they need to develop very well. Professional development is supported and encouraged, and staff are keen to further develop their skills and knowledge. They come back from training excited about the ideas they have learned and immediately begin to put them into practice. For example, they have recently ordered a range of multicultural resources and have designed a new

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provision

entrance area to strengthen their already high quality inclusion practice. They continuously reflect on their learning environment and listen to the ideas and interests of the children. As a result, there are plans to build a stage for role play outdoors to extend the provision they already have indoors. The learning environment is organised into four playrooms, and each one concentrates on different areas of learning. Children move around the rooms and spend time in all of them during the sessions to ensure that they extend their learning in all areas of development. At present, staff group the children and they remain in the same group for the session. Children can choose to stay in one room or stay with their key person, and their choices are respected. However, there is scope to open up this choice further to those who may not have the confidence or skill to verbalise their preference.

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provision

Staff fully understand the benefits of working closely with parents and give high priority to partnership working. Parents are extremely supportive of the nursery and feel valued, respected and exceptionally well informed. They readily join in with nursery events and are highly involved in their children's learning, both at home and in the nursery. They find the staff friendly and approachable and they value their support. They report that their children have made exceptional progress, especially in their speech and language skills, and their confidence has grown since attending nursery. The staff and manager have worked exceptionally hard to build and sustain strong links with other settings, schools and their community. They work in close partnership with other professionals who work with the children to ensure that all children enjoy their time in nursery and have the relevant skills and confidence to make the best progress possible.

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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 EY464898 Local authority Essex Inspection number 940133 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 96 Name of provider Kerry Louise Boughey Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01255812438

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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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