New Beginnings Childcare Ltd

New Beginnings Childcare Limited 15 Wigan Road, Westhoughton, BOLTON, BL5 3RD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/04/2014 31/10/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 4 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff have had training in safeguarding in order for them to correctly manage any concerns they may have about a child's welfare. Children are happy and confident in the nursery as staff support their emotional well-being.  Children enjoy activities, make their own play choices and receive generally effective support overall so that they make suitable progress in their learning.  Partnership working with parents and external agencies is used generally well to support individual children's learning and bring about improvements in the quality of children's progress and welfare.

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It is not yet good because

 A small number of staff do not have a sufficient understanding of the need to keep the record of attendance accurately, which puts children at potential risk in the event of an emergency evacuation of the premises.  The quality of teaching and staff interaction is sometimes variable and the planning of activities and use of some resources is not always effective or precise enough for learning opportunities to be good at all times for all children.  Evaluation and monitoring of the nursery is in its early stages and the processes by which these are achieved are not sufficiently embedded to ensure that children's care and learning is delivered to a consistently good standard.

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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

 Evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff and others associated with the nursery was checked.

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Inspection activities

 Observations of childcare staff and their interactions with children were carried out throughout the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the directors and the manager and spoke with staff, children and parents at appropriate times during the inspection.  A joint observation was completed by the inspector and the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a selection of documentation related to children's learning and welfare, along with the nursery's plans for self-evaluation and improvement.

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Information about the setting

New Beginnings Childcare Limited was registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is privately managed and operates from two floors of a converted police station in the Westhoughton area of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from the ground and first floor of the building and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Care is also provided for school-age children from 7.30am to 9am and from 3.15pm to 6pm during term-times. Children are taken to and collected from three local primary schools. The nursery employs 17 members of childcare staff, including the directors of the owning company and the manager. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 4, eight hold appropriate qualifications at level 3, three

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Information about the setting

hold appropriate qualifications at level 2 and five members of staff are unqualified. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 79 children on roll, of whom 65 are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children and receives support and advice from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure that all staff consistently complete the daily record of attendance as soon as a child arrives, including details of the child's name and their time of arrival, in order to fully safeguarding children's welfare

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must:

 improve the effectiveness and consistency of planning by ensuring that this covers all areas of learning and identifies the effective use of all resources, in order to better support children's individual learning and maximise their progress.

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

 improve ways to ensure that children in pre-school gain maximum learning in terms of turn-taking and listening skills during group times, such as when listening to stories or taking part in discussions

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

 develop robust methods for monitoring staff practice and evaluating its impact, including exploring ways for all staff to reflect on and develop their quality of interaction with children, in order to improve the overall quality of teaching.

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who attend

Planning is in place to support individual children so that generally their individual learning needs are met. However, some staff do not yet understand the importance of ensuring that plans cover all areas of learning or how best to use resources in order to maximise children's progress. For example, planning is not always precisely matched to all areas of learning and some resources, such as books within the pre-school library room, are not used effectively to fully support children's pre-reading skills. As a result, support for children's learning requires improvement to be good. The learning environment is now evaluated as part of an ongoing process to improve the nursery's provision for children's learning. Consequently, activities and resources are accessible to children and in the main support their development. Observations are made frequently on children's learning and are used to assess their progress compared with expected developmental milestones. The

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who attend

frequency and quality of these is monitored weekly as part of the staff performance management process. Overall, assessments of learning are made regularly and the partnership with parents is supported by providing written reports every month about children's progress. For example, the nursery has implemented the progress check at age two as part of its assessment arrangements to support children's learning. Parents are encouraged to become involved in their children's learning because staff promote the use of freely accessible forms on which they can write about what their children do away from the nursery as well as their own observations of their child's learning. This information is therefore available to support the planning and assessment process.

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who attend

Staff provide suitable play experiences to support the physical, social and communication needs of young children. For example, they ensure that the learning environment has resources, such as sand and water, which children can select from as they choose what they want to do. Staff also offer activities, such as play with foam or porridge, in which children can make marks with their fingers or use simple tools. These activities pave the way for later skills in drawing and writing and also provide opportunities for staff to develop children's knowledge of words, such as those used for describing the feel of the mixture. However, not all staff demonstrate consistently good practice in their interactions with children, in order to maximise learning. As a result, some opportunities for learning are lost and children make satisfactory rather than good levels of progress. For example, the use of some whole group activities in pre-school, such as story and news time after

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who attend

lunch, is not always supported well by some staff in order to promote children's turn- taking and listening skills. Consequently, some children lose interest, as other children dominate the conversations, because listening and waiting for a turn to talk are not taught effectively enough. Nevertheless, some other staff show skill in helping children to learn. For example, staff in the baby room hide small world toys in 'messy' activities to help babies understand that even if something is covered from their view, it can still be there. This means that very early mathematical learning is supported in a fun way that helps the youngest children to make sense of the world around them. Staff also sing to babies and encourage them to join in with actions to songs, in order to reinforce the learning of language and to support their physical co-ordination development. Staff also make some use of small toys as props to support children's learning of words and their meaning

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who attend

during these times and teach children number names prior to learning to count.

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who attend

Staff make effective use of resources that can be used flexibly, such as very large cardboard boxes, to support children's imaginative play. For example, they cut a door way in the box, so that children can pretend it is a house and provide books and cushions for inside. This means that children can also learn to enjoy books in a quiet space, as staff sit with them and read children's own choice of books. A strength in practice in pre-school is the use of role play for developing children's communication and co-operative skills. For example, children sustain and then later return to their imaginative play about being veterinary surgeons, as staff provide a range of soft toy animals and a doctor's kit. They involve adults and other children in their play and talk at length about how their pretend pets have had accidents and what they can do to make them better. This means that children are practising how to sustain a spoken description or story, which prepares them

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who attend

for later learning at school. Children have access to age-appropriate information communication technology, such as desk top computers. For example, in pre-school they use a word processing package to reinforce learning about letters, including learning to type their name. As a result, of some staff teaching being effective in helping children to learn letters and sounds, some children are competent at breaking down simple words into their constituent sounds. Overall, children receive experiences and teaching that contributes to them gaining the basic skills needed to be ready for their next steps in learning and the eventual move on to school.

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

The nursery uses a key person system in order to support children's emotional welfare, and most staff show a sufficient or better knowledge of children, their routines and their preferences. Key persons, therefore, provide support for children's emotional well-being. Children's behaviour is observed to be good and staff act as positive role models, praising children for their behaviour. Staff deployment supports children's safety and well-being in all rooms, whilst allowing children to take reasonable risk in their play indoors and outside. When children join the nursery, detailed information is obtained from parents in order to help children settle as rapidly as possible. However, some staff do not ensure that they have basic information, such as the full name of children, in order to correctly complete the record of attendance and sometimes they do not record the time the child arrives quickly enough to ensure that records are always precise and accurately maintained. This

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

has a potential impact on children's safety and well-being, particularly should an emergency evacuation of the building be required before records have been fully completed. As a result, not all staff consistently keep timely, accurate records in order to fully safeguard the children in their care. Parents receive comprehensive information about their children's care and activities each day. Moves within the nursery are smoothly managed, with discussions with parents and information and assessments passed to the next key person in order to support children prior to changing rooms. A flexible approach to settling-in is taken, based on individual needs of each child and this ensures that children's emotional needs are suitably supported as they join the nursery or move rooms.

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

Resources and toys are accessible and, consequently, children develop independence because they are able to select what they want to play with. Children have further opportunities to enhance their independence by serving themselves to meals and snacks. Their welfare is protected by a suitable range of policies and parental permissions, such as authorisation for photographs of children to be taken or to seek emergency medical treatment when necessary. The nursery also has policies to cover situations, such as if children suffer bereavements, in order to implement measures to support them effectively. Twelve staff are qualified in paediatric first aid so that any medical emergencies can be rapidly dealt with by qualified adults. Staff deployment is sound and meets statutory requirements, in order to support children's care and development. The nursery provides a secure outdoor environment, which gives children opportunities to take reasonable risk in

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

their play, combined with careful supervision and help. For example, children can climb on a large smooth tree trunk that has been fixed into a soft surface. There are opportunities for children to play on wheeled toys so that they learn to enjoy exercise and develop their whole-body co-ordination. Resources to support imaginative play, such as dens, are also provided outdoors, in order for staff to extend children's communication and social skills when they choose to use these.

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

Children show an appropriate level of self-care and are able to manage their personal hygiene for their ages and stages of development. Staff talk to children about the importance of maintaining effective hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before eating. Meals provided are healthy and children have independent access to drinking water over the day. This means that children receive a balanced diet and learn to manage their own needs for drinks. Staff take children on visits to local supermarkets, to help children learn about good nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle. All areas of the nursery are clean and there are effective procedures for staff to help prevent the spread of infection, such as during nappy changes. Practical measures, such as multiple locks on safety gates and radiator covers, are used to help prevent accidents. An intercom is used on the main gate to the nursery premises, with a second one to the main door, to protect

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

children's security by preventing unauthorised access to the building. In addition, parents are reminded through notices not to allow others in behind them and not to use their mobile phones on the premises. This helps to raise parents' awareness of how to safeguard their children.

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provision

Staff have a thorough understanding and knowledge of how to manage any concerns about children's welfare as a result of training in safeguarding. Checks are carried out on all staff in order to ensure that children are cared for by suitable adults. Risk assessments are made and regularly reviewed for the premises and local outings to enable children to play and learn safely in permitted areas. Most documentation is maintained to support children's welfare. However, staff in the baby room do not always demonstrate a secure understanding of the importance of consistently maintaining an accurate record of children's attendance as soon as the child arrives at the nursery and sometimes fail to record this until children have been present for some time. This means a safeguarding and welfare requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage is not fully met and puts children at potential risk should this record be required during an emergency evacuation

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provision

procedure. It is also a breach of the requirements of the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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provision

The nursery has made rapid progress in improving the quality of care and teaching since its previous inspection. Effective recruitment and induction procedures have meant that the nursery has employed enthusiastic and motivated staff for supervisory roles. This has led to improvement in the provision for both children's care and learning. Although, some gaps in staff skills and knowledge, as well as the need to thoroughly embed recently changed systems, such as for monitoring staff performance, means that the provision is not yet consistently good. For example, planning for individual children's learning is not sufficiently well monitored to ensure that staff are consistently planning across all areas of learning and that resources are always used to best effect. This means that children are not consistently receiving optimal support for their progress in learning and development. The use of weekly supervision meetings for all staff has been instrumental in raising

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provision

standards of practice, as part of managing staff performance. Staff have also begun to participate in the evaluation of the nursery, through both their individual meetings and also during whole staff or room meetings. This supports improvement by drawing on a range of views in order to take action for better standards of care and teaching. Partnership with parents is improving in terms of involvement with their children's learning and their views are also sought to bring about changes in the nursery. For example, parents have suggested that a greater variety of fruit be offered at snack times and that children's learning may benefit from having small pets, such as fish in the nursery. The nursery displays its responses to parent feedback so that parents can see that their views are valued and parents praise the nursery enthusiastically for the care and learning it provides for their children. Partnership with external agencies is maintained whenever

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provision

children's needs are considered to require specialist support, including taking advice from the local authority.

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provision

The nursery has worked effectively in partnership with the local authority to raise the standard of provision and developed a greater understanding of evaluation through this. For example, directors and managers now carry out checks of what learning is happening by walking around care rooms with a focus on observing the overall quality of teaching and learning. They also have begun to take on designated areas of responsibility for evaluating different aspects of the nursery. This means that they have a clearer idea of where the nursery has strengths and areas for improvement, in order to better support children's learning and welfare. As a result, there are plans for development and methods to review how successful these have been in place, although these need embedding. Staff have been provided with training in areas where practice was identified as requiring improvement, such as in safeguarding and also ways to maintain high quality interactions

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provision

with children to better support their learning. The nursery now shows a suitable capacity for continuous improvement through self-evaluation and resulting appropriate actions.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that a daily record of the names of children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance is accurately made and maintained (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that a daily record of the names of children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance is accurately made and maintained (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY452080 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 965700

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 61 Number of children on roll 79 Name of provider New Beginnings Childcare Limited Date of previous inspection 31/10/2013 Telephone number 01942813812

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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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