Little Acorns Day Nursery

Little Acorns Day Nursery Ashgate Manor Medical Centre, Ashgate Road, Chesterfield, S40 4AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/04/2014 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

 Teaching is outstanding and staff are highly knowledgeable of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This results in them planning and providing an extensive range of activities that focus on children's individual needs, interests and their next steps. This has a positive impact on children's high levels of development and the excellent progress they are making in their learning and development.  Children are highly confident in their environment and are actively engaged in routines of the day, enhancing their confidence and independence in all aspects of their development.  Transitions for children are excellent between the areas of the nursery and as staff prepare children for moving on to school. Staff and parents work together to ensure it is a very smooth and exciting process for the babies and children.  Staff have excellent understanding of the nursery's safeguarding procedures, which ensures children are very well safeguarded as any concerns are rapidly and effectively

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This provision is outstanding

dealt with.  Rigorous recruitment procedures and highly effective and monitoring of staff practice ensures children are cared for by suitable adults, who demonstrate exceptional enthusiasm and passion for their role.

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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 compulsory part 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 a range of activities in all areas of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff about the care and learning of children and carried out a joint observation of an activity with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of documentation, which included records of vetting checks and qualifications of staff, children's records, risk assessments, self- evaluation and safeguarding policies.  The inspector spoke to parents and carers and obtained their views of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Little Acorns Day Nursery was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is situated within the Ashgate Manor Medical Centre in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and is a privately owned limited company managed by a director/owner. The nursery serves the local and surrounding area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a designated, purpose built premise within the medical centre and there is a fully enclosed area for outdoor play. The nursery employs 20 members of childcare staff. Of these, 18 hold early years qualifications at level 3 and above. The owner has Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round, except for bank holidays and a week at Christmas. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 85 children on roll all of whom are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for

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Information about the setting

two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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

 extend the use of the 'travelling bear' to develop discussions with the younger children about what they have been doing and where they have been with him to enhance further language development, specifically within the toddler room.

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who attend

Teaching is excellent. Staff throughout the nursery take full account of the individual needs of children. They are highly knowledgeable of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how children learn. They know children extremely well and this enables them to plan and provide an extensive range of activities that babies and children engage in with interest and enthusiasm. Children's progress is monitored and tracked to a very high standard as staff use the information gained from the observations they make to plan the next steps in children's learning. All areas of learning are very well covered. Babies' communication is developing very well. They show great excitement with the interactive toys they play with and use facial expressions to communicate their delight. For example, they smile and giggle when engaging with others and staff in a parachute game of rolling the ball to each other, over and under the parachute. Toddlers explore and investigate a wide range of

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who attend

tactile activities. They particularly enjoy play dough that staff have flavoured with cocoa and within the activity; staff talk to them about the textures, smells and how to roll and cut the dough using tools, such as rolling pins and shaped cutters.

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who attend

Staff within the pre-school room show expert skills in how they enhance children's curiosity and interests. For example, when children show great interest in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, staff extend their interest by providing them with beans to grow. Through such activities children are developing their understanding of the world as they nurture and watch their beans grow. The quality of interaction staff provide and their engagement with the babies and children is highly effective in extending and further promoting their learning in all areas. Through the periods of their play, children show high levels of concentration and deep interest. For example, as a result of children showing interest in snails, staff set up an activity which enabled children to use magnifiers to look closer at the snails and paper and pencils for them to draw what they see. Staff are excellent at extending the activity and enhancing children's knowledge, as children start to

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who attend

talk about where the snails live and this leads them to talking about where other animals live.

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who attend

Parents and carers are extremely happy with the standards of care and education their children receive at the nursery. Key persons regularly share information on children's progress and the next steps they have identified in their learning. Parents throughout the nursery are encouraged to be highly involved in their children's learning and to extend this at home. In the baby room, a 'travelling bear' is available for parents to take home and make a record of where the bear has been with the babies, such as on holiday or a visit to grandma's house. Staff effectively use the information provided by parents through the 'bear's diary' to extend on the babies interests. For example, after a trip to the seaside, parents wrote about and provided photographs of their baby's adventures on the sands and stuck a shell from the beach into the diary. Staff then extended the baby's interest as they provided a tray of sand with a range of shells for the baby to further explore.

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who attend

However, the use of the travelling bear is not extended to the toddler area, where there is scope to use the bear to develop and extend children's language as they begin to talk about where the bear went with them and what they did together. Within the pre-school room, parents are encouraged to further support their children's learning at home. They are provided with various games and activities that the child's key person has identified as being beneficial to their next steps. For example, to encourage concentration and positional understanding, staff provide parents with a game to take home and play with their children. By using any notes made by parents or photographs they have taken, the key person is able to add the information to children's assessments. This further enhances the rate at which children are learning and making progress. Consequently, children are extremely well-prepared for the next stage in their learning and their eventual move to

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

A highly effective and robust key person system is in place. Babies and children throughout the nursery display high levels of confidence in the environment and staff caring for them. This shows they feel totally secure and have built secure emotional attachments with staff and strong friendships with their peers. When children start attending the nursery, the key person gathers all relevant information from parents. This enables them to make effective baseline assessments and for them to establish what children can do, their daily routines and their interests. Having this valuable information at the outset enables staff to settle children into the setting and to meet their individual needs. The environment is extremely well-equipped with an excellent range of age- appropriate resources and toys.

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

Transitions throughout the nursery are very well-organised by key persons in partnership with parents. Children make regular visits to the next room they are moving to and the key person shares all information with the child's 'new' key person with regard to children's needs and interests. This ensures children's transitions are smooth with no or very little interruption in their learning and development. For children moving on to school from the nursery, their transitions are also very well-organised. Teachers from the various schools where children are moving to are invited into the nursery to meet children and to observe them in the surrounding in which children feel secure.

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

Children are provided with nutritional foods for snacks and meals, which are prepared and cooked on site. Any special dietary needs and/or requirements are catered for and babies are fed according to their individual routines. Lunchtimes are sociable occasions and staff sit with children, talking to them about the healthy foods and about their morning in nursery. Toddlers and pre-school children know and follow the very good hygiene procedures with regard to hand washing before eating. Children benefit from free access to the outdoors and through regular exercise and growing and eating vegetables they are developing high levels of understanding of how to keep their bodies healthy. Children's health and well-being is further enhanced through staff being qualified in first aid. Regular risk assessments of any accidents and the environment means that staff are able to quickly deal with any issues that may pose hazards to children, keeping them safe. The

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

regular practice of an emergency evacuation elevates children's understanding of how to stay safe in an emergency.

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provision

Robust recruitment procedures ensure children are cared for by suitable adults, who are qualified and who undertake regular training to further update their knowledge and skills. All staff have in-depth knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and of their roles and responsibilities around child protection. A highly detailed and comprehensive safeguarding policy and procedure is in place and staff have a very clear knowledge and understanding of the procedures to follow if they have any concerns either with children or any inappropriate behaviour they may see of other staff or adults.

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provision

The manager and all staff have an excellent understanding of the learning and development requirements. Staff performance is regularly observed and monitored by room leaders and the manager to ensure the highly effective practice is consistent and that the planning of activities sufficiently challenge all children. Regular supervision and annual appraisal for all staff ensures any professional development can be discussed and put in place. Through detailed and regular evaluation of their practice, management and staff clearly identify and implement areas for further development that will have the highest impact on the care and education for all children. Excellent partnerships with parents and carers have been established. Information is exchanged on a daily basis and through regular meetings with key persons; parents are kept fully informed of their children's progress in their learning and development. Parents

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provision

and carers speak very highly of the nursery and say they are impressed with the knowledge of staff and the quality of care and education they provide for their children. Management and staff have developed strong partnerships with outside agencies, other providers and schools where children move on to.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY472879 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 941376 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 85 Name of provider Little Acorns Day Nursery (Chesterfield) Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07975 620215

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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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