Park Day Nursery

Park Day Nursery 8 College Road, READING, RG6 1QB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/02/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

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

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff develop warm caring relationships with the children making them feel confident and secure.  Parents feel welcome and like the homely atmosphere the nursery provides for their children.  Children enjoy a variety of freshly cooked nutritious food each day.  Parents are kept well informed about nursery activities and their child's experiences.  Staff are encouraged to develop their knowledge and skills through training opportunities.

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It is not yet good because

 Some staff do not use open-ended questions to extend young children's interest and curiosity to enhance learning opportunities.  The quality of the observations and tracking of children's development varies.  Sometimes staff are not proactive in risk assessing for a specific activity they are undertaking.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the premises and resources with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children and staff at play, and conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined records and documents provided by the manager and owners.  The inspector discussed the nursery with parents.  The inspector read the providers self-evaluation.

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Information about the setting

Park Day Nursery is privately owned. Park Day Nursery has been operating from six rooms within a converted private Victorian house since 1989 and the current owners took over in June 2013 with many of the staff remaining at the nursery. It is situated in Reading. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 56 children aged from eight months to under five years on roll. The nursery is in receipt of nursery education funding. Children come from the local area. The nursery currently supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs nine staff. The manager and seven staff hold appropriate early years qualifications with two staff currently undertaking training to level 3 and level 2. Two staff hold level 4 Early Years qualifications and are studying for an early

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must:

 improve the staff's understanding of the need to be aware of additional potential hazards in the garden and take steps to manage them effectively before children play outside

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must:

 improve the quality of teaching by monitoring the consistency of observations to ensure all staff understand children's starting points and their level of achievement to help them plan learning challenging experiences for each child based on those observations.

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

 cultivate an environment where curiosity is encouraged through interesting experiences and the use of careful and open-ended questioning.

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who attend

Children enjoy a broad variety of activities both indoors and in the garden which encourage their skills across all areas of learning. However, staff do not always recognise when to encourage children's curiosity and interest. For example by asking open-ended questions which start with 'why', 'what will happen if', or 'how?' Staff clearly understand what activities interest children and patiently assist them in their play and activity. Most staff encourage language well by providing a narrative to their actions and listening and responding to children's sounds and words. Staff encourage children to develop their early writing skills. Some children recognise the letters of their names and can independently write their names. Children have easy access to a variety of fact and fiction books and enjoy using these in all the rooms. They sit as a group or individually to enjoy a story increasing opportunities to develop their imaginations and language abilities. Children

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who attend

develop their physical skills as they run, climb and dig in the garden. They show increasing dexterity as they build with construction toys and pour their own drinks. Some staff use mathematical language as they play with the children increasing awareness of size, position and shape, but others miss the opportunities to do this. The children are learning about the natural world as they grow cress and a variety of vegetables from seeds. They show interest in the growing seeds and water them regularly.

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who attend

Appropriate care is taken to help children who have English as an additional language. This helps to ensure they have the opportunity to develop the English language but also retain their first language. Staff are observing children's interests and developing skills. However, the quality varies and the next steps identified do not always provide sufficient challenge to enable children to reach their full potential. Generally insufficient information is obtained about what children 'can already do' to enable their progress to be effectively monitored on an ongoing basis.

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

Children form positive confident relationships with their key person. It is a small nursery and so children also get to know other staff as they play outside and visit the dining room. This helps to build their social skills and confidence. Staff are positive role models, they speak kindly and calmly to each other and the children. Good manners are encouraged. Behaviour is good and older children are encouraged to think about their actions and how they make others feel.

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

Staff take care to encourage children to learn about safe behaviours. For example, as they walk slowly and hold the hand rail on the stairs. The children regularly practice the fire drill ensuring the premises can be swiftly evacuated in an emergency. Children demonstrate an increasing awareness of when they need to wash their hands relevant to their age and abilities. Staff talk to them about why they do this, encouraging their understanding. Children enjoy a well planned nutritious healthy diet of food which is prepared by a local company and delivered to the nursery each morning. Appropriate hygiene routines are followed in the distribution of the food throughout the nursery.

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

The premises appear clean and well maintained. Children have access to their own playrooms, a sleep room, dining room and art room. The well equipped kitchen is used for keeping food warm and serving food. Comprehensive risk assessments are in place for indoors and the garden. Staff are generally attentive and they ensure children begin to understand how to behave safely. However, staff do not always think beyond the obvious documented hazards and ensure that areas they use are suitable. For example, by making sure the digging area is free of animal waste before using it.

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

Staff help children to adapt to new experiences through the warm relationships they develop. Staff encourage parents to share information about changes at home to enable them to support the child in managing these. For example, when a new baby is born. Careful introductions are undertaken when children move between the nursery rooms enabling both the child and parents to adapt and get to know the new room and key people. Staff encourage children to develop their independence. This helps to encourage self confidence in preparation for school.

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provision

The current observation and monitoring of children's development and learning covers all areas of learning but is not a consistent quality. Staff talk to parents about children's progress and share information which helps to ensure continuity. The leadership and management team recognise this as an area for ongoing development. All staff are encouraged to develop their skills through in house training, local authority training opportunities and qualification courses. The senior staff hold level 4 childcare qualifications and are undertaking early year's degrees currently. The leadership team organise monthly staff meetings which provide a valuable opportunity to discuss all aspects of practice. Safeguarding is always an important aspect of these meetings. Staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and what action they would take if they were concerned about a child or the behaviour of a colleague or the management team.

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provision

Management understand their responsibility to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements, overall. Most aspects of risk assessment process ensure children play and learn in a safe environment. However, potential hazards in the garden are not removed quickly enough by staff. Staff are confident in the leadership and management team and who they can speak to if they have concerns. The manager and owner are supportive and assist in the nursery throughout the day. This enables them to get to know the children and the staff and have a good understanding of what is happening around the nursery. Records indicate they maintain the appropriate staffing ratios throughout the nursery. All staff are aware of the required ratio and notices remind them of this information.

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provision

A robust system is in place for the recruitment of staff ensuring they are suitable for the roles they undertake. An induction process is undertaken with new staff. This helps the new member of staff confidently settle into the nursery and understand the policies, requirements and routines of their role.

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provision

The leadership and management team are keen to constantly develop the provision they offer. They have sought the opinions of parents and staff to help in their self evaluation and have clearly identified areas for development. They seek parental opinion through a suggestion box and consider any feedback very seriously. They want the nursery to be an excellent provision. Partnerships with parents are strong in this nursery. Parents like the nursery because it is a small homely environment where the staff are friendly and helpful. They feel their children progress in their development and form positive relationships with the staff. Parents feel well informed about the nursery activities and their child's progress. Positive partnerships are in place with local schools and the local early years service. This helps the nursery to develop working relationships with schools children move on to. They understand the importance of working in partnership with other professionals who may be

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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 EY462198 Local authority Reading Inspection number 951284 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 56 Name of provider Park Day Nursery (Reading) Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 0118 926 8892

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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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