Busy Bees Day Nursery at Sunderland Fulwell

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Sunderland Fulwell 178 Newcastle Road, SUNDERLAND, Tyne and Wear, SR5 1NW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/04/2014 17/12/2009

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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

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This provision is good

 Staff provide a rich range of opportunities and allow time and space for children to explore early writing. This provides a very good foundation for their future literacy development in readiness for school.  The manager maintains a good overview of the nursery. She observes and monitors the quality of teaching and learning well so that any gaps in achievement are highlighted and individual needs are well met through appropriate interventions.  The manager has an excellent understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This means that children are exceptionally well protected from harm and kept safe at all times.  The manager and her staff team have an excellent understanding of working in partnership with parents. They take an active role in all aspects of the nursery and are fully involved in supporting their children's learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities for more able children to fully develop their already very good mathematical skills are not always maximised.  Background music played in rooms for younger children is occasionally too loud for them to fully develop their listening and attention skills.

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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 carried out a tour of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and the nursery self-evaluation form.  The inspector observed teaching and learning activities in all nursery rooms.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of inspection.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a meeting with the manager, deputy and area manager of the nursery. A number of policies and procedures were looked at and discussed.

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Information about the setting

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Sunderland Fulwell was registered in 2003 and is one of a national chain of nurseries. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It operates from a converted church premises, consisting of three playrooms and associated facilities, in the Fulwell area of Sunderland. The nursery serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas. The nursery opens five days a week from 7.30am until 6pm all year round except on bank holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 123 children in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery supports children for whom English is an additional language. There are currently 25 staff working directly with the children, all of whom have appropriate early years qualifications. 19 of the staff have

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Information about the setting

qualifications at level 3, five staff hold higher qualifications including one with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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

 extend opportunities for more able children to fully enhance their mathematical skills by ensuring all group time and play-based activities enable them to further develop their already very good counting skills

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

 maximise opportunities for children to fully develop their listening and attention skills by keeping background noise to a minimum, for example, by using music only for particular purposes.

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend at this bright, spacious and vibrant nursery. A wide range of interesting, challenging experiences are available and children show curiosity and deeply engage in their learning throughout each day. Staff know children very well. They have a very good understanding of their individual learning and development needs and use this information well to plan for children's next steps in learning. As a result, children make very good progress during the time they spend at nursery and gain the required skills and knowledge needed in readiness for school. Staff fully understand how young children learn. They ensure children have uninterrupted time to play and explore and provide resources that are relevant to children's interests. For example, staff provide equipment, such as balls when they recognise children enjoy playing with them. The physical environment in all rooms has been carefully considered

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who attend

and thought through to reflect the ages and stages of development of all children. Staff have created areas using high contrast colours, such as black and white, for very young children. They incorporate cushions, rugs and balls for children to investigate and explore. This captivates their attention, encouraging their visual development as well as their physical activity. Older children have access to equipment, such as light boxes. They enjoy looking at a range of pictures, including x-rays, to extend their understanding of the human body. Music is played throughout the day in rooms occupied by the younger children. This helps to create an atmosphere of calm. However, occasionally music is too loud and is not always used at appropriate times. For example, music is not turned off when children engage in singing nursery rhymes and songs. This inhibits some children to fully enhance their already good listening and attention skills.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is consistently good. Staff support children's expressive language skills very well. They repeat sounds made by very young children and babies and try to 'tune in' to the different messages they are attempting to convey. Staff sit alongside older children as they fit pieces of train track together. They talk to them about what they are doing and use words, such as 'bumpy' to describe the finished result. The manager and her staff team recognise and equally value all languages spoken by children and their parents. They obtain key words from home and display them on the walls of the nursery. This supports children to use their home language and helps them to make good progress, based on their individual starting points. Staff provide, generally, good opportunities for children to develop their mathematical skills. They make good use of resources, such as lollypop sticks for children to count and numerals are displayed in purposeful contexts

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who attend

throughout the nursery. However, occasionally, more able children are not always provided with opportunities to extend their very good counting skills even further during small group time and some play-based activities. For example, when children are able to count objects using numbers beyond 20, they are not always able to practise this skill. Children are provided with purposeful and highly stimulating activities to develop their early writing skills. Tables are covered with paper to encourage children to make marks with crayons and felt tip pens and large letter stencils are used for older children who show an interest in writing their own name. Staff have recently introduced a new initiative to support children to develop the physical skills required for early writing. For example, children take part in regular 'Shake and write' sessions. This provides a very good foundation for future literacy development and supports children's readiness for school,

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who attend

The manager and her staff team give utmost priority to working with parents and engage them in their children's learning and development in the nursery and at home. Parents are actively encouraged to share what they know about their children. For example, parents place comments on a tree in the reception area to share their children's achievements. Written comments include 'I am so proud of my child and their polite manners, when they say 'excuse me and thank you'. Parents spoken to on the day of inspection describe how they value the opportunity to be involved in their child's learning and feel they are very well informed about their child's achievements and progress. As a result, parents and staff use shared knowledge and understand in order to plan together and think through ideas of how to move children forward. Parents have regular access to their child's learning journal file, containing observations, photographs and examples of their work.

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who attend

Documentation also includes tracking information which is highly comprehensive and demonstrates how progress is made is over time.

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

Children are very well cared for in this warm and welcoming nursery. Their emotional and physical needs are very well met, their feelings are accepted and they enjoy relationships that are close and supportive. As a result, children very quickly develop a sense of belonging to the nursery and develop strong attachments with their key person and other adults working alongside them. Children show how happy and settled they are when they crawl onto the knee of their key person when they are sitting close to them on the floor. Highly effective settling-in procedures are in place and children make a number of visits, based on their individual needs, before staying for the whole session. Parents are encouraged to stay with the child and share a wealth of good quality information with staff. For example, details of children's family set-up, comforters, sleep routines, allergies and other key information is gathered. This ensures children are very well supported when

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

they move from the home environment into the nursery and continuity is provided in their emotional and physical well-being. Children are well supported when they move rooms within the nursery. Staff share key information about individual children and complete detailed documentation which is shared between staff and parents. Staff prepare children equally well when they leave the nursery to go to local schools. They go for walks with their key person and take photographs of the building and surrounding area. This helps them to become familiar with their new environment before they make visits with their parents to meet their new teachers and classrooms.

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

Children demonstrate very good independence skills for their age when they collect their own cutlery and plates in preparation for mealtimes. They serve their own cold food and scrape their plates following each meal. Independence is promoted further when children find and return what they need in the indoor and outdoor areas. This is because all environments are organised effectively and resources are easily accessible to children. Staff give consistently clear messages to children to ensure they are developing a good understanding of why it is important to have a healthy diet. A range of fresh, healthy foods are offered to children at mealtimes and children describe which foods make them 'big and strong'. Children's health and well-being is well promoted in the outdoor area where daily opportunities are provided for children to explore, use their senses, and be physically active and exuberant. Children show great excitement about being outdoors.

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

For example, they giggle and laugh as they roll down the grassy slope.

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

Children's health and safety is given high priority in the nursery. Staff ensure children are aware of potential risks, such as carrying scissors incorrectly, and talk to them and discuss the importance of keeping themselves safe. A number of initiatives take place throughout the year to maintain a strong focus on positive safety practices. For example, a display book is available to view showing evidence of child safety week and visits to the nursery by local services, such as doctors, the fire and police services. As a result, children demonstrate very good safety practices for their age. Children behaviour is very good. This is because staff provide consistent role models for children by giving gentle reminders of expectations within the nursery. They skilfully deal with minor conflicts by effectively diverting children's attention. For example, staff successfully distract very young children's

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

attention away from touching others by giving them a ball to play with instead.

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provision

The manager has an excellent understanding of her responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities and have received up to date training. Staff know what to do if they had a concern about a child and a current list of contact details is displayed on the walls of the staff room and other prominent areas of the nursery. Policies and procedures are all very well written and organised. They are reviewed as a staff team and are known and understood by all staff and parents. There is rigorous security in place for entry to the nursery and all doors are locked securely. This ensures that only authorised visitors are able to enter the premises and only senior members of staff open the external door. Children and visitors are also signed in and out of the nursery. In addition, daily risk assessments ensure all that areas

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provision

of the nursery are checked and hazards identified. There are rigorous recruitment and induction procedures in place, which ensures that all staff have appropriate suitability checks carried out.

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provision

The manager has a very good overview of the nursery. She observes and monitors the quality of teaching and learning and analyses assessments so that she can highlight any gaps in achievement and plan appropriate interventions. This enables her to accurately identify aspects of their provision where improvement is needed. For example, boys writing was recently identified as an area for improvement. Revisions were made to the physical environment to encourage boys to engage in regular playful activities and enhance the physical skills required for early writing. This was further supported by the 'Shake and write' initiative and children enjoy this on a daily basis. Staff clearly enjoy working in the nursery. They are well supported and have regular supervision meetings where they discuss their strengths and highlight training needs, which are linked to the improvement plan of the nursery. The manager encourages a reflective culture. Self-

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provision

evaluation is effective she identifies what staff do well and how they help children learn. They have detailed self-evaluation documentation, which takes into account the views of parents, staff and children. They also seek the views of parents regularly throughout the year on issues which arise. For example, following recent feedback from parents, there are plans to incorporate a barbecue into the parents consultation session during the summer months. Staff welcome the support from the local authority and from the area manager of the company and act on the advice given. This means that the nursery has a very good capacity to improve further. The quality of information for parents is excellent, with plenty of opportunities for them to enjoy informal as well as more formal feedback on their children's progress. Parental participation is valued highly by the manager and all staff. Changes have been made to

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provision

the reception area to maximise opportunities for engagement. For example, a desk has been placed beside the main entrance where the manager and her deputy are able to work from and welcome parents as they come through the door. Parents are involved in decision-making on key matters in the nursery. Regular partnership meetings take place to enable parents to take an active role with the day-to-day running of the nursery. Partnerships with external agencies and support services are good, especially when children have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Information is regularly shared between staff and action plans are established. This ensures all those working with the child maintain a joint approach and a clear picture of a child's development is achieved.

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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 EY262595 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 860562

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 123 Name of provider Just Learning Ltd Date of previous inspection 17/12/2009 Telephone number 0191 5485888

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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

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’.

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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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