Busy Bees at Riverhead

Squiggles Childcare Walker House, London Road, Riverhead, SEVENOAKS, Kent, TN13 2DN

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Inspection date

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

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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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children progress well in all areas and are becoming independent and enthusiastic learners.  Staff very skilfully use the impressive range of resources to engage children's interest and to enhance their learning and development.  Staff are teaching children excellent social skills, they learn how to take turns, share and generally to respect others. As a result, children behave very well.  Children receive superb support to adopt healthy lifestyles as they learn about the importance of exercise, good nutrition and good personal hygiene.  Good arrangements are in place to offer and inclusive environment where children learn to understand and respect diversity.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Featured displays within the nursery tend to be adult-led and do not include many examples of work created from children's own ideas to enhance children's positive self- esteem further.  There is some inconsistency in the arrangements for involving parents in setting future learning goals for their children.

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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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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed all areas of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the providers, management team, staff, parents and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the interaction of staff and children during a range of activities.  The inspector undertook a joint observation alongside the nursery manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a selection of documents including the complaints records, children's progress records, risk assessments and key written policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Squiggles Childcare registered in 2007. It is a privately owned nursery that operates from a detached building in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks, Kent. Children are cared for in group rooms on both the ground and first floor. All children have access to a fully enclosed outside play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It opens from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is able to support children with special educational needs and/or learning difficulties and children for whom English is an additional language. There are currently 185 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding to provide free early years education for children aged two, three and four years.

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Information about the setting

A team of 37 staff work at the nursery including a cook, a maintenance worker and two office staff. Of the 33 childcare staff, 27 hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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

 offer greater recognition of children's freely expressive art work within the nursery environment to more fully reflect how their own ideas are valued

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

 extend further the arrangements to share information about the next steps planned for each child's learning with their parents.

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who attend

Children progress well in all areas of their learning and development as staff effectively plan to meet their individual learning needs. Staff complete sensitive observations of children as they play. This enables them to provide activities that children thoroughly enjoy and which offers a good level of challenge. Recent improvements to the arrangements for planning and assessment are beginning to provide a clear picture of each child's abilities and the rate at which they are progressing. Parents receive regular reports which clearly indicate what their child has achieved each term. Each key person has a good understanding of how they are intending to support children's future learning.

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who attend

However, there is a slight inconsistency in the way in which they share this information with parents and involve them in their child's learning. While they include some general information on children's reports, the vast majority is shared verbally. This arrangement works better for some parents than others as it relies on them having time to speak with their child's key person. Staff do, however, invite all parents in for slightly more formal reviews during the year. Appropriate arrangements are in place to complete the required progress checks for children aged two years.

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who attend

Children in all rooms are becoming very independent learners. They benefit from the freedom they receive to explore their environment and make choices and decisions. They enjoy a good mix of free play opportunities as well as a range of adult initiated activities. Staff deliver these with enthusiasm and skilfully engage children's interests. For example, pre-school children speak very knowledgeably about the air ambulance, police cars and fire engines following a recent topic around 'people who help us'. Staff also very competently build on children's interests to promote their learning. This has led to the transformation of one of the role-play corners into a castle fit for kings, queens and knights. Children enjoy dressing up as different characters and benefit from input from staff about the history of castles and the people who lived in them. Throughout the nursery, children are able to express themselves creatively through imaginative play,

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who attend

music and arts and crafts. Staff reward their efforts and achievement with praise but there is little in the nursery environment to celebrate children's artistic achievements. The displays in each room and shared areas tend to be organised by staff to reflect topics and seasonal events such as Chinese New Year. This does not reflect to children the high value that staff place on the work they produce which arises from their own ideas.

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who attend

Staff promote children's communication and language well. They speak clearly, use repetition, rhyme and questioning effectively. This effectively engages children's interest in language and helps to develop their vocabulary. Babies are vocal and staff engage them in conversation-style exchanges as they play. Older children use their rapidly developing language to ask questions, to express their opinions and to share stories from home. Staff listen to children with interest, modelling good social skills and effectively promoting their positive self-esteem.

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who attend

Regular opportunities exist for children to develop their physical skills. All children regularly use the outdoor area. Older children have great fun as they run, climb, balance and use ride-on toys. Through these experiences, they are developing good coordination while benefiting from playing outside in the fresh air. Babies also have a lot of space in their group room to practise their mobility. Staff use resources such as tunnels to encourage children to crawl and there is furniture and clear floor space for children who are starting to walk. The nursery offers weekly yoga sessions for all two year old children to further support their physical development.

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who attend

Appropriate arrangements are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. One member of staff takes lead responsibility for working with key persons, parents and outside agencies to coordinate the care of individual children. There has been a recent focus on improving the provision for children who speak English as an additional language. As a result, there are now resources and signs which reflect the home languages of all children. In addition, staff offer regular opportunities for children to hear languages other than English. These include weekly French lessons for children over three years.

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

Arrangements to promote children's emotional well-being, physical care needs and health are exceptionally effective. Sensitively organised settling in arrangements help children to feel secure and support them to form trusting bonds with their key person. In addition, staff deployment is highly effective in creating stability in each group room.

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

There is a very positive, friendly and caring atmosphere throughout the nursery. This creates an environment where children are confident to try new things without fear of failure. It also very effectively supports children to develop excellent social skills. They are polite, enthusiastic and behave extremely well. Staff recognise the importance of supporting children to develop independence including some risk taking in a safe environment. They help to achieve this by providing resources such as wooden reels which stand approximately ten centimetres from the ground. Children choose to use these as stepping stones and have to move steadily and cautiously to avoid falling. This helps them to consider how to keep themselves safe and also to gain an awareness of their own capabilities.

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

The nursery environment is clean and comfortable. Rooms are well lit and maintained at an appropriate temperature. There is a maintenance worker employed by the nursery who takes prompt action to complete any necessary work. Children play with an extremely impressive range of toys and equipment. The outdoor area is inspiring with resources for a very wide range of activities and experiences. Each group room has a large selection of toys to suit the abilities and interests of the children based there. For example, in the baby room children become fascinated by a selection of shiny pots laid out on a sheet of silver textured material. Exploration of these resources encourages them to consider the different sizes of pots and to practise placing small pots inside larger ones. They also fill the pots with items, tip them out and fill them again. They concentrate hard on these tasks, giving them a sense of achievement, while also helping them to learn about

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

Children enjoy nutritious snacks and meals, prepared by a cook on the premises. Their individual dietary restrictions and preferences are respected at all times. There are drinks constantly available for children to reach. Nappy changing arrangements are entirely appropriate. Whenever possible each key person changes the nappies of children in their key group. They follow good hygiene procedures and make the experience positive for children by sharing jokes and talking to them. Older children receive a lot of support to understand the importance of healthy living. They learn to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. In addition, they each have individually labelled cups containing a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste which they use after lunch. Visits from professionals such as dental nurses and doctors also help children to learn about health related issues.

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

A range of effective strategies is in place to prepare children in the pre-school room for their move to school. These include turning the role play area into a classroom and ensuring that children are able to put on their own coats and shoes. Following a visit to the local school, the room leader has changed the lunch arrangements for pre-school children. They now queue up with their friends to serve themselves lunch as this is the system used in school. Staff speak with the parents of each child to find out which school they will be attending. They produce transfer documents on each child that provide reception teachers with information about their abilities, learning styles and any additional support they receive.

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provision

This inspection took place following a concern expressed by a parent that a portfolio of children's work and observations was lost. This file was taken home by the child's key person and was not returned. The key person left the nursery and the portfolio was not found. The portfolio did not contain sensitive or confidential information and procedures were in place to advise staff of their responsibility to protect the records. On this occasion the procedures were not followed correctly. In addition, parents were not informed that staff sometimes took portfolios home to work on. Since this incident the provider has taken action to ensure that this does not occur again. Staff are only able to take observations home for one night and only if they have written consent from parents. A recording system is also in place for staff to sign when taking observations off the premises and again when they return them. This means that the whereabouts of

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provision

The leadership and management of the nursery is strong. There is clear recognition of the nursery's responsibility to promote children's learning and development. In order to achieve this there are clear and effective systems in place to support staff and promote their professional development. Regular staff supervisions and team meetings help to promote consistency throughout the nursery. There is also a very strong focus on training. In recent months staff have attended numerous training courses. These include food safety, child protection, communication and language, well-being and involvement, 'getting it right for babies' and special educational needs. Ongoing self-evaluation accurately identifies the areas of strength within the nursery as well as the areas for development. This process takes into account the views of all staff, parents and children and supports the management team to prioritise improvements effectively.

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provision

Work is taking place to improve the monitoring of educational programmes. Currently the manager and room leaders monitor children's developmental records to determine whether they are progressing at an appropriate rate. The nursery has recently purchased an early years tracking computer program to record details of children's achievements and to provide documents to more clearly indicate any achievement gaps.

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provision

Staff have effective systems in place to work in partnership with other early years providers where children attend more than one setting. They also have experience of successfully working with a range of professionals and agencies. This helps them to provide coordinated and cohesive care for children. Feedback from parents indicates that they are very happy with the service they receive. A parent describes the nursery as 'wonderful' and all parents spoken to feel that their children are progressing well.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 EY348921 Local authority Kent Inspection number 953051

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 93 Number of children on roll 185 Name of provider Squiggles Childcare Ltd Date of previous inspection 09/05/2011 Telephone number 01732 461146

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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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