College House Day Nursery

College House Day Nursery Howard Street, Barrow In Furness, Cumbria, LA14 1NB

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/04/2014 23/09/2010

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

p.1

This provision is good

 Teaching is good because all staff fully understand how to promote children's learning. Their high expectations contribute to children making very good progress in relation to their starting points and capabilities.  Staff are well trained and knowledgeable about safeguarding children. Consequently, children are kept safe in the environment and effectively protected from harm or abuse.  The highly effective partnerships between the nursery, parents, carers, other providers and agencies means that children's needs are well met.  The strong leadership and management results in a staff team who are reflective and strive for continuous improvement. As a result, children thrive in a good quality, warm and welcoming environment.

p.1

It is not yet outstanding because

 There is scope to further reflect and review the organisation and layout of the pre- school room to extend the support given in helping to meet the wide ranging needs of all children.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed aspects of policy and practice with managers, key persons, the special educational needs coordinator and safeguarding officer.  The inspector observed activities and talked with children in all the playrooms.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager and the deputy.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with parents and carers, viewed responses from questionnaires and took all comments into account.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a wide range of documentation, including children's files and assessments, planning and relevant policies and procedures.

p.2

Information about the setting

College House Day Nursery was registered in 2010 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a building in the centre of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and is managed by a Limited Company. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a baby room with adjoining sleep and sensory rooms, a toddler room, a pre-school room with adjoining quiet room, associated facilities and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications, including the manager who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Studies and Early Years Professional Status. Two staff hold Foundation Degrees at level 5 and 10 staff hold qualifications at level 3. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of

p.3

Information about the setting

sessions. There are currently 85 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

p.3

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

 review the layout of the pre-school room to further accommodate the individual needs of children by adapting a more flexible environment.

p.3

who attend

Staff in the nursery demonstrate good skills in supporting children to make good progress, relative to their needs and abilities. This is because staff are well-qualified and experienced and fully understand how children learn. They work closely with parents and carers to gather essential information to establish the needs of all children. As a result, activities provided match their needs and interests and initial assessments are clear. Staff's high expectations mean that they are able to plan a challenging programme of activities based on individual children's next steps. Subsequent observations from nursery and home form a delightful story about children's experiences and closely link to the areas of learning and development bands. As a result, the learning journals show how well children are developing as they progress through the nursery. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported extremely well by staff, who work closely with a

p.3

who attend

multi-agency team of professionals. They accurately assess, set targets and monitor their progress methodically to help ensure their needs are effectively met. Assessments on all children are ongoing and shared with parents and carers regularly. Consequently, any gaps in learning are identified early to enable early intervention if necessary. Staff are highly successful in supporting children with their communication and language skills. They listen and respond to children's questions, chat with them at eye level and help to develop children's thinking skills. For example, they encourage children to share their thoughts and experiences as they look through their own photograph files. They include children's voices on interactive displays, encouraging them further to make comments. Staff are trained and have the skills to support children in developing specific speech sounds and pronunciation. They teach children to improve their mouth movements by

p.3

who attend

using additional resources, such as mirrors and bubbles. As a result, children make good progress in fun and inspiring ways. Staff in the baby room promote learning through sensory exploration. Children enjoy splashing in the water, generating bubbles and experiencing the sensation as they pop. Staff encourage children to repeat the word 'pop' as they feel the bubbles in their hand. Babies and younger children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills through discovery play, such as the cornflour and water mixture, called 'gloop'. Furthermore, they have fun as they climb, jump and crawl under and over the soft play equipment in the sensory room. Staff promote language and communication further as they play 'peek-a-boo' with children, talk about the spider mobiles and sing 'incy wincey spider' with children. The pre-school room is a hive of activity. Staff in the pre-school room engage children to make up and act out

p.4

who attend

stories as they play with the hand puppets and theatre. As a result, children develop their imagination, develop their thinking skills and learn how to cooperate and work together. Staff follow children's interests and help them act out real experiences by creating a doctor's surgery as a role play area. Consequently, children gain an understanding of expectations and are helped to manage feelings of concern or apprehension. Children's creativity is fostered because opportunities are available for them to paint, do craft and draw independently. In addition, they are able to express themselves freely by dressing- up and developing their own ideas in areas of their choice. However, the layout of the room does not always lend itself to accommodating the needs of some children's spontaneous play ideas, resulting in occasional disruption. Children in the pre-school gain the necessary skills in preparation for moving on to school. This is because staff teach all

p.4

who attend

children to be independent and self-confident. In addition, they learn how to successfully communicate with other adults and their peers and develop early mathematical and numeracy skills. Staff in the toddler room provide a stimulating an effectively resourced environment for children to play and learn. Staff promote early mathematical skills as they teach children to count the height of the bricks and compare sizes of the towers they have built. In addition, they display pictures and talk to children about different patterns in the environment. Staff teach children to recognise their name by helping them link a picture object to their written label. As a result, children develop early literacy skills and a strong sense of belonging.

p.4

who attend

Staff are highly proficient in working with and developing good relationships with parents and carers. As a result, parents feel valued and respected and children benefit through shared learning experiences and continuity. Parents are kept fully informed of their children's progress and the next steps in supporting development. They are invited to make contributions to files and communication books, enabling staff to become more familiar with their key children. Regular parents' evenings help them keep up to date with how their children are progressing and discuss any further support. Staff support learning at home through a wide range of methods. For example, displays and posters provide help and advice on activities and experiences to do at home. Staff work together with parents and carers to provide activities that help extend children's learning at home. This support is highly valued. For example, parents comment 'We welcomed the support on behaviour,

p.4

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

Children's emotional well-being is fostered extremely well. Staff are skilled in understanding the needs of children and their families. The settling-in process is geared appropriately to the individual requirements of children and their families. In addition, high staffing ratios help to meet the individual health and care needs for all children. Consequently, children are given sufficient time and attention to make secure bonds and emotional attachments with their key persons. As a result, children benefit wholly from their nursery experience. Personal, social and emotional development is fostered well throughout the nursery by all staff. Children are happy and show their self-confidence as they explore areas within the rooms. Staff promote positive behaviour and help children to manage their feelings through discussion and explanation. Children are taught to think about how others feel and to be supportive of one another. As a result, children begin to

p.5

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

develop a sense of right and wrong and be aware of others. In addition, children gain a sense of responsibility as they are given small tasks to do, such as helping to hand out cutlery at lunchtime. Furthermore, they feel valued and respected as they gain sense of worth and belonging.

p.5

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

Staff help children gain an understanding of healthy lifestyles. Wholesome, nutritious meals and snacks are prepared and cooked on the premises, which children thoroughly enjoy. Staff talk with children and do activities about making healthy choices. Displays in the nursery reinforce the message to children and their families about portion sizes and food choices. Staff are vigilant in ensuring that babies dietary needs meet their requirements. For example, the stages of weaning are clearly recorded for individual babies, ensuring safe feeding processes are in place. Staff demonstrate their understanding of the need for daily fresh air and exercise. Children enjoy taking part in physical activity sessions, such as playing on the soft play equipment, taking part in singing and dance sessions and walks into the community. Older children show their developing independence and understanding of good hygiene practices as they take

p.5

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

themselves to the toilet. They show their capabilities as they wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. Staff ensure children are safe and secure in the setting at all times. They are vigilant as they observe children at play but allow them to freely explore because they know their capabilities well. Consequently, children learn to manage risk through constantly challenging experiences that help them to develop and practice new skills.

p.5

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

Children are emotionally prepared for any change to their routine or environment. For example, as they prepare to move rooms, the key persons liaise effectively with room leaders to pass over important information and relevant documents. This ensures that care and education needs are fully accounted for during the settling-in process. Staff complete settling-in forms efficiently and share them with parents and carers. This ensures that children's ever changing needs are successfully monitored by all concerned adults, contributing in effective support. Likewise, children moving onto school are successfully prepared, educationally and emotionally. Staff work with parents to gather information about children's forthcoming school placements. Subsequently, they liaise with the schools to establish mutual sharing of information, such as the well-documented summative assessment records. Consequently, care and education needs remain

p.5

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

consistent so that children continue to make good progress. In addition, visits are planned, resulting in children becoming familiar with teachers and staff and their new environment.

p.6

provision

The leadership and management of the nursery are strong. Managers and the dedicated staff team have a high level of understanding in meeting their responsibilities for safeguarding children. All staff have a good level of training in safeguarding and child protection procedures, in relation to their individual roles. For example, managers ensure that specific responsibilities are allocated to different staff, such as safeguarding and health and safety. This results in staff, who are skilled and efficient in managing their roles successfully. Staff recruitment is robust, with managers ensuring that newly appointed staff are suitably vetted and appropriately qualified to a minimum of level 3. As a result, children are appropriately safeguarded and benefit from good quality staff. The health and safety officer ensures that risk assessments are robustly adhered to. This helps to keep children and adults safe in the environment. They are reviewed regularly and adapted as

p.6

provision

necessary, ensuring hazards are minimised at all times. Room checks completed each morning and evening ensure that children have a safe and secure environment, in order to play and explore. In addition, babies and children are kept safe in the summer months because staff vigilantly monitor the exposure times that keep children safe from the sun's rays.

p.6

provision

Managers and leaders ensure that staff continually improve the quality of their practice and performance. Any training that is attended is cascaded back to others, so that knowledge and understanding of new initiatives is effectively shared. Performance is monitored through annual appraisals, supervision sessions and observational assessment of practice. This results in staff maintaining and increasing their skills, so that the quality of teaching continually improves. Staff are given opportunities to research new initiatives and are given guidance documents to read, which contributes to advancing their learning and practice. Policies and procedures are comprehensive. These are shared with parents and carers to ensure there is a collective approach to maintaining safe and efficient management in the setting. The managers and staff effectively monitor the educational programme and work alongside staff to ensure activities and experiences are stimulating,

p.6

provision

offer challenge and meet all children's needs. Children's progress is monitored through a range of methods. For example, initiatives, such as 'Every Child a Talker' assessments, are used to complement other summative assessment arrangements. As a result, children's speech, language and communication is effectively analysed. This means that interventions are put in place as necessary and help to narrow any gaps in children's development. Partnership working with parents is excellent. There is a wealth of information available on display and effective communication ensures they are always well-informed. Parents are complimentary and make comments, such as 'the staff to child ratio is excellent' and 'my child has developed excellent social and interpersonal skills'. Parents and carers are valued as partners and their views, along with those of staff and children are included as part of the nursery's self-evaluation process. The managers and leaders strive for continuous

p.6

provision

improvement to benefit children. The nursery is committed to working in partnership with a range of other professionals. Good secure links have been established with the speech and language team and the local children's centre. This contributes to the needs of all children being securely met because of effective multi-agency working. Furthermore, links with other settings and schools to enable the continuity of children's progress and learning.

p.7

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

p.7

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

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

Setting details

Unique reference number EY403900 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 850539

p.9

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 61 Number of children on roll 85 Name of provider College Day Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 23/09/2010 Telephone number 07874900388

p.9

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.

p.9

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

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,

p.10

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’.

p.11

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.11