Acorn Under Fives

Acorn Under-Fives Oakland Infant School, Butler Road,, Crowthorne, Berkshire, RG45 6QZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/04/2014 11/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 The very good key person approach provides children with secure attachments and a strong emotional well-being.  Teaching is good and supports children to make good progress in the prime areas of learning, literacy and mathematics.  The manager has good systems in place to support staff's professional development, helping them to improve their knowledge and practice.  Good partnerships with parents effectively promote the sharing of information about their children's learning to support their progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The manager has systems in place to monitor individual children's progress however, systems to monitor specific groups of children are not fully effective.  The staff team do not provide a variety of text in all children's home languages in the play and learning environment.

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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 observed activities in two play rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the nursery and the chairperson of the management committee.  The inspector looked at the children's assessment records and planning documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability of practitioners working with the children and committee members.

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Information about the setting

Acorn Under-Fives was registered in 1986; it is managed by a committee of trustees. The nursery operates from a purpose-built building and is on the same site as Oaklands Infant School in Crowthorne, Berkshire. The nursery is open each weekday during term time and on limited days during the school holidays. A variety of sessions are available between 9am and 3.30pm. A lunch club is available every day. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Information about the setting

The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged, two, three and four years. Children attend from two years to five years old. There are 57 children on roll. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 10 staff, eight of whom, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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

 extend the systems for monitoring to record details about each cohort, such as, number of children, gender, birth dates and more specific details, to help monitor the attainment and progress of vulnerable learners

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

 include a variety of scripts to support language awareness in all children's home languages, for example, labels, community language newspapers and food packets.

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who attend

Teaching is good and children are making good progress in the prime areas of learning, literacy and mathematics. The staff have a very secure knowledge of the children's prior skills and make good observations to assess children's achievements. They use these to plan a good range of activities to enhance children's learning.

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who attend

The staff effectively support children to become confident and independent learners in the well organised environment. This allows children to enjoy exploring and to access a range of resources to support their learning. Children show a developing imagination, based on their first hand experiences. For example, children use the climbing frame as their castle and debate how 'Rapunzel' can help children climb to the top of the slide without using her hair. Good teaching supports children to resolve this problem and children decide to use their hands and a skipping rope.

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who attend

The staff plan a good range of activities for the oldest children preparing them well for their move to school. Staff skilfully support children to develop their skills for reading and writing. The oldest children are beginning to recognise initial sounds of their names and other words. Very good teaching supports children to continue a rhyming string when they sing songs and to recognise words with the same sounds. For example, during a game of 'silly soup' children choose a picture 'dog' and match the word sound to a picture of a 'frog'. Staff encourage children to write for a purpose. They enjoy mark making, write captions for their drawings, label their work and write some letters independently. Staff provide pictorial and written labels to support children to manage routines. However, there are fewer opportunities for children to experience a variety of writing in all children's home languages in their play.

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who attend

Staff include a good range of activities that support mathematical development. Therefore, teaching supports children to gain a good grasp of counting, number problems and mathematical language. Staff skilfully encourage children to learn how to use a range of technology. They learn how to make toys work by pressing and lifting flaps, how to retrieve information from a tablet computer and play games on the interactive whiteboard.

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

The management team supports children and their families to have a smooth settling-in process to nursery life. The effective key person approach means families and children get to know their key person in their own homes prior to starting at the nursery. The key people help children to form friendships in their key group, supporting them to become confident and independent. This means they are emotionally well prepared for their next stages in learning.

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

Staff plan a good range of activities outdoors in the garden, which promote children's physical well-being and supports a healthy lifestyle. For example, children learn to make kites and run around happily to make them fly. They gain control of their bodies when they climb and jump on and off play equipment. Staff prepare snacks that are balanced and nutritious, providing replenishment for energy levels. Staff teach children to understand a healthy lifestyle as they discuss their choices for snack.

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

The staff provide a safe and secure environment. They effectively follow health and safety requirements and teach children to keep themselves safe. Staff provide consistent role models for children, teaching them to manage risks and challenges through problem solving. Children consider the risk of jumping from the steps, debating with a friend whether it is too high before plucking up the courage to jump. Staff skilfully support children through the process of recognising and validating their feelings, listening to each other about their problems, and finding a mutual solution. Therefore, children talk through their problems, adjust their behaviour, and play together happily. Children's behaviour is exemplary.

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provision

Leadership and management have good systems in place to review practice and have made good progress since the last inspection to drive improvement. The management regularly monitors staff and meets them daily to reflect and make changes in practice. The management has systems in place to monitor individual children's progress, however, systems to monitor groups of children are not fully effective.

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provision

Recruitment procedures are robust. The leadership and management ensure that all staff and committee members complete the necessary Disclosure and Barring Service checks prior to starting work. They also ask staff and committee members to disclose any other relevant information that may affect their suitability to work with children. This helps to check the suitability of any adult involved in the nursery. The management implements a good induction procedure with a supporting handbook to help staff to understand their individual roles and responsibilities. The management has effective systems in place to support the team's professional development including supervision, appraisal and training. Team meetings provide opportunities for all staff to share good practice.

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provision

The management support staff to have a good knowledge and understanding of how to safeguard children in their care. They know how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report their concerns. Safeguarding is a regular discussion item at staff meetings and managers discuss safeguarding with individual staff at supervision. Risk assessments and daily visual checks work effectively to identify and minimise all possible hazards to children.

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provision

Parents value the partnerships they have with their key people and other staff. Parents express how happy they are with the care and learning provided for their children. Parents appreciate key people sharing and offering ideas as to how they can support their children's learning at home. Key people invite parents to consultation meetings and parents' evenings each term to share children's progress at nursery and home. This helps all children to make consistently good progress in relation to their starting points. Therefore, children are ready for the next stage in their learning and development.

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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 148637 Local authority Wokingham Inspection number 968795 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 27 Number of children on roll 57 Name of provider Acorn Under Fives Committee Date of previous inspection 11/06/2009 Telephone number 01344 752752

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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