The Wendy House Day Nursery

The Wendy House Day Nursery Chapel Lane, WYTHALL, Birmingham, B47 6JX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/03/2014 23/01/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Exceptional safeguarding arrangements are in place, which ensure that children are immensely safe in their play environment and during outings. Staff have a very secure understanding of how to protect children, which is underpinned by excellent policies and procedures.  Children become confident communicators and learn to think critically as a result of the excellent teaching and support provided by staff. This provides for excellent preparation for the next stage in their learning and development.  Children thrive in this exceptionally well-resourced nursery and make rapid progress in all areas of learning and development due to the wonderful activities and enthusiasm provided by staff.  Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported due to staffs' expert knowledge and understanding of how children learn.  Parents' involvement in their children's learning is excellent. They have rich and

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This provision is outstanding

valuable opportunities to be fully included in the life of the nursery.  Leadership and management is inspirational. The provider is dedicated to offering the highest quality care and learning and seek to continually improve the educational programmes.

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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 activities in all of the playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held meetings with the owner and the manager of the nursery.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

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

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Information about the setting

The Wendy House Day Nursery was registered in 2007 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a purpose-built, single-storey building in Wythall, near the Birmingham and Worcestershire border. The nursery is one of two nurseries under the same private ownership. The nursery serves the local and wider areas and is accessible to all children. It operates from six base rooms and there are three enclosed areas available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 30 members of childcare staff. Of these, four hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 6, two staff have qualifications at level 5, 23 staff have qualifications at level 3 and one member of staff has a qualification at level 2. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 174 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-

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Information about the setting

year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 consider extending opportunities for children to learn more about nature to enhance their understanding of growth, decay and changes over time.

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who attend

Staff have an excellent understanding of how to promote children's progress and development through a range of stimulating and exciting learning opportunities. Children's assessments are carefully managed so that staff track their progress and are able to swiftly identify if there are any gaps in children's learning and development. If any gaps are identified, the staff put in place carefully considered plans that ensure that they build on what children know and what children like to do. This ensures that children wholeheartedly enjoy their activities and make rapid progress in all areas of learning and development. Highly skilful teaching techniques ensure that children receive the best possible learning opportunities. Activities are skilfully designed so that children gain maximum opportunities to develop their independence. A visiting instructor provides children with an energetic physical activity session. Staff use the preparation for this

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who attend

activity as a valuable experience for children to learn how to undress and dress themselves into their tracksuits, providing excellent opportunity to promote children's independence. Group sessions are used to great effect to enable children to learn together and listen to each other's experiences. Staff support children during group sessions really well by creating excitement and anticipation as they explain what is happening. This ensures that children listen and are thoroughly enthused and attentive. Staff introduce 'shy bear' encouraging the quieter children to develop confidence as they develop skills in talking in a larger group. This ensures that children are very strongly motivated in learning new skills as staff ensure these are made interesting.

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who attend

A broad range of malleable materials support children in understanding cause and effect. Interlinking sand and water trays enable children to experiment with one activity then swiftly move onto another. A selection of carefully chosen containers extend children's problem-solving skills. Tall see-through cylinders allow them to see how much sand is being poured inside and compare quantity and volume. Staff skilfully extend children's understanding of language that describes what they see so children talk about containers that are half full or are heavier than another. The careful selection of fascinating resources responds to children individual interests and play preferences. Staff know some children are fascinated with a combination of pink sand, sequins and silver foil as they thoroughly enjoy concentrating fully on creating patterns and marks. Other children enjoy developing their creative skills by drawing pictures that have a strong attention to detail. Children are

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who attend

encouraged to think about their activities by the skilful questioning techniques used by staff, who ask children to think about what they are doing while sustaining their interest and building on what they know. Children have great fun during a group activity using a stretchy piece of fabric which they all pull in different directions. They learn about cause and effect as they enjoy bouncing knitted toys on the fabric and singing a song about jelly babies. This is a carefully planned activity that provides a wealth of learning opportunities. Children learn about subtraction as each of the jelly babies fall off the fabric. They extend their vocabulary as the fabric is pulled one way then another, describing in detail what is happening. Skilled staff intuitively lead and encourage children to develop extensive communication skills as they listen carefully during story time, extending their vocabulary

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who attend

as new words are introduced into the story. Children's confidence if further promoted as they are encouraged to talk to everyone. These activities provide children with excellent preparation for their eventual move into full-time school.

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who attend

Children who speak English as an additional language are very well supported as staff learn key words in the child's home language and carefully include their interests in the individual planning for each child. This enables new words to be introduced with visual prompts to make learning more memorable. Younger toddlers are thoroughly enthused as they enjoy a game of sound lotto and listen to recordings of both familiar and unfamiliar sounds. They are much congratulated by staff as they remember words that describe the sounds and then have great fun imitating the animal noises or the sound of a motor bike. Babies enjoy activities that both intrigue and stimulate them. Staff ensure they have full access to malleable materials, preparing a table covered with moist sand so babies can pat, mould and make marks with this. Careful consideration goes into planning activities so that children benefit from optimum learning opportunities. A selection of electronic light

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who attend

balls fascinate babies as they reach and roll these, knowing that the movement activates the light inside. Staff enhance this activity by darkening the room and setting the equipment on a silver blanket so that babies can fully see all of the colours. This ensures that babies find the activity thoroughly engrossing and interesting as their hand-to-eye coordination is very well promoted. Staff ensure they stay with children at their level, supporting their physical skills and demonstrating new language and words. The nursery ensures that parents are fully included in the planning and feedback of all activities. There is a wealth of information available to both inspire and help parents continue with and enhance their child's learning experiences at home. Weekly newsletters are specific to each of the age groups areas and give detailed descriptions of featured activities. There are daily discussions with children's key persons, regular parents' consultation sessions,

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who attend

contact books that are updated daily and learning journals. These all provide rich and valuable opportunities for parents to be fully included in their child's learning and continue with that learning when they return home.

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

Children settle into nursery extremely well as staff are sensitive to their individual needs and spend considerable time discussing their individual needs with their parents. Staff then put together a highly detailed 'all about me profile' before the child starts at the nursery. This enables staff to learn from parents' significant details so these are accurately included in the planning from the beginning of the child's placement in nursery. The nursery has produced a number of transition booklets for children who move into each of the rooms in the nursery, either as new starter or if they transfer to a new room. These provide parents with a wealth of information that include details of the daily routines in each of the rooms, the staff and activities and equipment that is available. These give parents opportunities to discus the proposed move with their child. This also enables a fuller understanding of what is available in each of the rooms and overall a smoother

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

move for the child. The nursery has also produced transitional booklets the children who are transferring into full-time school, which supports their parents immensely as they have a clear reference to many of their questions. Children's transfers into different rooms in the nursery are determined by their age and abilities and follow close and careful consultation with their parents. Key persons often accompany children during their initial visits and stay with their child ensuring they feel very safe and secure. Children's sleep sessions are very well managed with parents' guidance and wishes being stringently followed. Some babies are cradled by staff as they rock the child to sleep and ensure the child is comfortable and feels safe. Staff remain in the room with children at all times, reassuring them if they wake and ensuring those children who do not have a sleep while at the nursery are provided with stimulating activities that ensure their learning continues.

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

Children learn to manage a highly stimulating and challenging environment. Staff are consistently on hand to supervise and advise children how to play safely. Access to the outdoors is readily available for all of the age groups as a variety of outdoor play areas are adjacent to each of the care areas. There are a wealth of play materials outdoors that encourage children to use wheeled toys, climb and pull themselves up and enjoy a range of messy activities. However, there is scope to enrich children's understanding of nature, such as finding out about growth and decay outdoors. Younger children thoroughly enjoy trips to the local village using a pull-along train where they can sit if they become overtired and still enjoy the stimulation of the world around them. They visit local farms, observing animals and their habitats, shops and the local church. Staff ensure that all external trips are thoroughly risk assessed and managers ensure that there is a generous

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

child-to-staff ratio, which ensures children's safety is thoroughly met. There are extensive arrangements in place to support children who have special educational needs and/or learning disabilities. Key persons work very closely with a wide range of external agencies, which ensure that children receive the best possible support. As a result, key persons and staff are very well informed of how to promote individual children's learning needs. Staff use carefully developed educational programmes throughout the planning that ensure children's individual needs are at the very heart of this. The special educational needs coordinator is passionate about ensuring that each child has support that is closely tailored to their individual needs so that each child makes optimum progress in the nursery. As a result, she is able to provide knowledgeable and regularly updated support for the key persons in respect of children who have additional needs. Regular meetings around the

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

child include the key person or the special educational needs coordinator from the nursery. This ensures the nursery has all updated information in respect of the child's individual care and learning needs.

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

Dedicated and very skilled staff ensure that they form warm and close relationships with the children. As a result, children feel immensely secure and very happy to go to any member of staff for reassurance or support in their play activities. Children's independence is extremely well promoted as activities where children play a pivotal role in serving their meal and helping to clear away afterwards are provided. Getting dressed prior to physical exercise provides excellent preparation for children as they prepare to move onto full-time school. Healthy home-cooked meals are prepared in the nursery and ensure that every child's nutritional needs and dietary preferences are thoroughly met. Catering staff play an important role as they bring the food into children's rooms explaining to the older children which food contributes towards a healthy lifestyle. Children form close caring bonds and friendships with other children and they readily include them in their play. They recognise

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

that their play is much more exciting when they include others. Discussions during lunch and snack times encourage children to understand which foods are good for them and contribute very well towards their understanding of a healthy lifestyle. The exceptionally well-planned play environment has been carefully resourced and stocked with a range of exciting and interesting toys. This ensures that children explore and experiment with a wealth of learning opportunities that sustain their interest and ensure that they develop in all areas of learning.

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provision

There are excellent safeguarding arrangements in place as all staff and managers know exactly how to respond if there are concerns over a child's care. They promptly act on advice from the local authority and are very clear about nursery policies and procedures so ensuring that children are very well protected. Strong and highly effective management leads a knowledgeable and skilled staff team. The owner's infectious enthusiasm heavily influences the staff team, encouraging their dedication and hard work. As a result, the nursery constantly drives forward continual improvements in the quality of care and learning offered by the nursery. The continual measurement of this effectiveness means that managers leave no stone unturned in pursuit of excellence and high standards. Managers closely monitor the educational programme through regularly observing staff/child interaction and through this support staff as they develop finely tuned plans for

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provision

individual children's progression. A reflective approach is regularly used during planning and the observation of children's activities. Room meetings further extend the analysis of activities so that staff draw upon each other's ideas and expertise. Nursery staff share positive practice with other nurseries and schools. They readily provide advice for other settings and are in regular demand with other providers to demonstrate their expertise through visits to their nursery. The recruitment of staff is very thorough and carefully selected training and professional development opportunities ensure that staff skills are consistently promoted. There are regular staff meetings and group staff training sessions that ensure the needs of all the children that attend are accurately provided for. The nursery is exceptionally skilled in working with a range of external agencies that include speech therapists and special educational needs coordinators. This ensures that children

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provision

who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are exceptionally well supported. A range of sensitive techniques and close liaison with specialists are used, enabling all children to make optimum progress given their starting points.

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provision

The recruitment of new staff is very robust and the nursery always ensures that all staff are fully referenced. There are full Disclosure and Barring Service checks in place before they commence employment. Staff progress is meticulously monitored by managers to ensure that they are provided with training opportunities that enhance their professional development and continue with the ethos of excellence within the nursery. All staff have regular appraisals carried out by the full range of managers so that staff have plentiful opportunities to develop fully and provide thorough and extensive support for the children they care for. This enables all staff to be fully supported, both personally as well as professionally. The nursery invests heavily in staff development and training to ensure that they have a knowledgeable and skilled staff group where the staff retention is consistently high. Close working partnership with parents is nurtured and ensures that parents feel

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provision

relaxed and confident enough to share with the staff any aspect of their child's development and any ideas and plans they have for their child's further progression. Regular parent consultation sessions and an open door policy further promotes staff availability to parents. This ensures that there are extensive arrangements to ensure that parents are fully included in all aspects of their child's care and learning. There are close and effective links with teaching staff from local schools providing thorough support for children as they move into full-time education.

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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 EY362027 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 954962

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 104 Number of children on roll 174 Name of provider The Wendy House Limited Date of previous inspection 23/01/2013 Telephone number 01564 829888

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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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