Partou Hucclecote Day Nursery & Pre-School

The Little People Day Nursery 165 Hucclecote Road, GLOUCESTER, GL3 3TX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/02/2014 07/09/2011

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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

 Children have outstanding relationships with their key person, which means they settle happily into their daily routines.  The leadership and management has an extremely strong vision for the nursery's continuing improvement and ensuring the best care and learning outcomes for children.  Staff understand and provide for children's individual needs extremely well, ensuring that the nursery's provision has the highest regard for inclusiveness.  Staff plan a vibrant range of highly stimulating and exciting activities indoors and outside, which motivate children and challenge their thinking. As a result, children make rapid progress in their learning.  Staff have excellent relationships with parents who speak overwhelmingly positively about all aspects of their children's care.  Children greatly enjoy their experiences. The nurturing environment supports their personal development extremely well, preparing them significantly for their transfer to

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This provision is outstanding

school.  Staff supervise children extremely well at all times which ensures their safety and strongly supports their well-being.

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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 both the indoor and outside areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's records, planning documentation, as well as policies and procedures.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents and carers about their views on the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to senior leaders, managers, staff and children during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

The Little People Day Nursery re-registered under the current management in 2011. It is one of a small group of nurseries run by All About Children Limited. The nursery operates from a converted, detached house in Hucclecote, Gloucester. Children are cared for within four age-based areas, including a baby unit, and have access to two, enclosed, rear gardens. The nursery serves the local area and is close to local amenities. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm all year round, except for Christmas week and bank holidays. The nursery is on the Early Years Register. There are currently 132 children aged from three months to five years on roll. Children attend on either a full-time or part-time basis. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. There are 27 staff members and 17 hold appropriate early years qualifications. Of these, six members of staff are working

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Information about the setting

towards a qualification. There are three staff who have gained degrees, two in childhood studies and one in Early Years at foundation degree level. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-olds.

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

 enhance staff awareness about the wide range of available resources to support children's interests in literacy.

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who attend

The nursery provides outstanding support for children's learning and development needs. Staff are highly knowledgeable about the educational programmes and plan stimulating and exciting activities, which children enjoy. For example, babies enthusiastically explore the contents of treasure baskets, shaking toys and pressing buttons. During a sand activity, staff interact and motivate babies extremely well by demonstrating how to shake sand through sieves and then encouraging them to try for themselves. Staff say key words clearly and encourage babies to repeat them, such as 'ball' and 'dog'. Older children enjoy the challenge of making obstacle courses from building bricks. They work together extremely well and enjoy problem solving, such as working out that when building a tower, bigger bricks need to go at the bottom and smaller ones nearer the top to stop it tumbling down. Staff make excellent use of open questioning, such as 'how?', 'what? or

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who attend

'why?' to challenge children's thinking as they engage with children. During a story time, staff use repetitive phrases such as 'run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me'. Children confidently and independently repeat these phrases, which develops their communication and language development very well. Older children make outstanding progress with their literacy development. They ably recognise initial sounds and can identify words that rhyme, competently suggesting their own rhyming words. Children are making very good progress with their early writing skills; they hold pencils and crayons correctly to draw and try to form letters. A wide range of very good supportive resources such as name and picture cards are available to help children spell words. Children express interest in writing their names independently. Staff encourage them to do this very effectively and ask about initial name sounds and letter formation. However, on rare

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who attend

occasions, a very few staff miss opportunities to make the most use of the literacy resources to enhance children's interests. In all rooms, children have excellent creative opportunities, such as painting, sticking and modelling with constructional apparatus. Staff support children's mathematical development extremely well. As babies put objects into containers, staff say 'one, two, three'. Older children confidently recognise 2D shapes and explain that rectangles have straight sides and circles are round.

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who attend

Both the indoor and outside environments provide excellent opportunities for investigation. For example, children enjoy stamping in puddles and mixing dry sand with water to make mud. Hiding dens in the small forest area are exciting places for children to appreciate nature. They enjoy making models from twigs and finding small animals, such as a worm, which they watch intently as it squirms away into the mud. A wide range of resources supports children's physical development extremely well. Babies persevere as they try to climb the steps of the indoor slide, while older children enjoy play with wheeled toys and outdoor climbing apparatus. Children are highly independent and confident which prepares them significantly well for their transfers to school.

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who attend

Assessment procedures are extremely thorough. Children's individual records are comprehensive and clearly identify their developmental levels. Staff regularly observe children and use this information to plan future learning. For example, staff plan activities which encourage critical thinking, such as using non-fiction books to prompt discussions. Specialist staff plan highly detailed individual educational plans which provide excellent support for children's individual learning needs. As a consequence, all children, including babies make rapid progress from their individual starting points.

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who attend

Staff have very strong relationships with parents. Informal discussion between key persons and parents, together with 'daily booklets', ensure that parents receive very good detail about children's daily routines and activities. Additionally, parents receive formal assessment reports, including those following progress checks for two year olds, which give comprehensive detail about children's progress and emerging needs. Parents keenly contribute towards development records by sharing children's home achievements, such as writing comments in the daily booklets or sharing information on the 'At home' board. Excellent induction systems, such as taster sessions and meetings between the key person and parents, help children to settle smoothly into the nursery's routines.

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

The nursery's warm and nurturing environment helps children of all ages to settle quickly and happily into their daily routines. The relationships between children and their key person are outstanding. When children arrive at the nursery in the morning, staff greet them in a friendly and welcoming manner, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Babies hold their arms out to key persons and older children run happily in, confidently talking to staff about their home experiences. The comprehensive 'settling in' booklets that parents complete when children join the nursery ensure that staff have an excellent understanding of children's individual personal needs, such as their likes and dislikes. In the baby room, staff ask parents to provide photographs of favourite toys and family members. Staff make excellent use of these to help babies settle and to develop their attention and communication skills. Extremely good strategies are in place to support

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

children with English as an additional language. Parents work closely with key persons, teaching them words in home languages, so that staff can use these as they interact with children. This creates an exceptionally strong inclusive environment which successfully nurtures children's cultural awareness and significantly supports their well-being.

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

There is a priority focus on children's safety. All areas and resources, both indoors and outside, are secure, clean and safe for children's use. Risk assessment processes are thorough and staff carry out daily checks on all areas, both before and after children's use. All risk assessment records, including those for the regular cleaning of toys and resources, are comprehensive. Staff develop children's awareness of danger consistently well, such as explaining the need to use scissors responsibly and the need to sit carefully on chairs to prevent accidents. There is a harmonious atmosphere throughout the nursery which creates a very happy environment within which children thrive. For example, children and babies confidently explore their respective areas, making choices between the activities with a high degree of self-assurance and independence. Children behave extremely well because staff maintain a strong, consistent approach to supporting their positive

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

behaviour. For example, staff explain the importance of turn taking, sharing toys and being kind to friends. Because staff are exemplary role models, who work extremely well together as a team, children are keen to please and meet their expectations. Staff make excellent use of positive praise to celebrate children's successes which supports their self esteem very well. Children enjoy the company of their friends and are highly imaginative in their play, such as younger children setting out plates and cups for a pretend picnic with the dollies. They play co-operatively together, helping each other to complete puzzles and dig holes in mud. Consequently children develop extremely strong personal skills, which support them well for their next stages in learning.

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

Staff promote children's good health extremely well. A wide variety of fresh fruit and healthy foods are available at snack time for children to choose between. All children have easy access to drinking water at all times. Nutritious and well-balanced lunches are freshly cooked on the premises each day which children greatly enjoy. Children's individual dietary needs are very well provided for. Children are highly independent in their self-care routines and understand the need to wash hands after toileting and before eating to prevent the spread of germs. Nappy changing and sleep facilities are extremely hygienic and routine records are meticulously kept. Children have excellent opportunities to enjoy fresh and exercise each day, even during inclement weather, which greatly benefits their good health.

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provision

The leadership and management of the nursery have an outstanding focus on fulfilling their responsibilities for safeguarding children. Designated staff for child protection have appropriate qualifications. All other staff regularly attend update training to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. During discussions, staff confidently explain the action to take in case of concerns about children within their care. Policies and procedures are extremely comprehensive and strongly promote children's welfare. Senior leaders and managers review these regularly and make them easily available for parents to view. The recent review of the existing thorough procedures for registering children, so that staff know where they are at all times, enhances further the very strong priority focus on children's welfare. For example, when children are moving between outside and indoor areas, staff record their names on

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provision

a list, which identifies which environment they are playing in. There is now a board outside which additionally records children's whereabouts. This is checked regularly throughout the sessions by both room leaders and managers to ensure its accuracy. Adult to child ratios are high and staff supervise children extremely well at all times. The manager has a very strong commitment to correctly maintaining ratio levels and a meticulous focus on the effectiveness of staff deployment in caring for children. New staff undergo stringent recruitment and vetting checks, alongside comprehensive induction processes. Further measures ensure that staff have suitable experience and qualifications to work with young children. The management maintains comprehensive records for accidents, medication and behaviour incidents. Staff always inform parents of any occurrences concerning their child during their time in the nursery. Emergency evacuation

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provision

drills in case of fire take place regularly and highly detailed records are in place. These rigorous procedures mean that the nursery is a safe, stimulating and welcoming environment for children to enjoy.

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provision

Senior leaders and managers have an excellent understanding of the learning and development requirements. They observe all staff as they interact with children on a weekly basis, which helps to ensure highly effective practice and the best outcomes for children. Additionally the regular review of planning documentation and children's assessment records strongly promotes equality for all children and consistently high support for their individual needs. Staff undergo regular appraisals which support their professional development very well. The owner company provides a very comprehensive and regular training programme to ensure that staff keep up to date with excellence in early years' education and safeguarding children's welfare.

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provision

The leaders and managers have an extremely strong commitment towards developing the provision and ensuring the nursery's continuous improvement. Self-evaluation processes are rigorous and clearly identify the nursery's strengths and set challenging targets for future development. For example, further development of the already stimulating outdoor area to provide even more exciting learning opportunities for children. All staff have excellent opportunities to contribute their views through staff forum meetings. Parents' comments are highly appreciated and valued; all contribute significantly towards the improvement processes. The recommendations from the last inspection have been successfully achieved.

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provision

The nursery has excellent links with external specialists, such as speech and language therapists to support the developmental needs of children when they require it. The nursery also benefits from further support and guidance from the local authority. Links with other early years providers and local primary school are extremely well developed. For example, in the summer term staff meet together to exchange children's assessments and development information. These valuable links provide highly effectively support for children's smooth transfers between their educational phases. During discussions, parents comment that they are overwhelmingly pleased with the high quality care that children receive. They feel secure in the knowledge that staff have a paramount focus on children's safety and welfare. They say that staff know and understand their children well and as a consequence, children make excellent progress in their learning and development.

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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 EY424050 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 953267 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 72 Number of children on roll 132 Name of provider The Little People (Gloucester) Limited Date of previous inspection 07/09/2011 Telephone number 01452 610477

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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

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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