Pre-School Learning Alliance Langley Mill Childcare

Pre-School Learning Alliance Langley Mill Childcare Bailey Brook Drive, Langley Mill, Derbyshire, NG16 4FS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/04/2014 03/07/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 4 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children develop close bonds and friendships with staff and their peers. This means that they are generally happy and enjoy their time at the pre-school.  Suitable recruitment policies, procedures and practices help to ensure that children are kept safe.  Appropriate strategies to engage parents in children's learning, help to ensure that development is supported at home.

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It is not yet good because

 The quality of teaching and staff's interactions with children varies. This means children's attention can waiver and some activities lack a good level of challenge.  Procedures for the monitoring of the observation and assessment of children are not yet fully embedded in practice, so as to fully identify areas for improvement.  Behaviour management procedures are not always implemented consistently to help children learn how to play together well.  There is room to build on visual prompts and resources which support children whose home language in not English, to enable them to make good progress.

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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 all the playrooms and the outside play area of the nursery.  The inspector spoke with staff, children and their parents throughout the inspection.  The inspector held meetings and carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a range of documents, including children's profiles, staff suitability checks and the policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Pre-School Learning Alliance Langley Mill Childcare was registered in 2006 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated within the site of Langley Mill Children's Centre in Langley Mill, Derbyshire and is managed by the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a separate building and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, 9 hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 3 and three hold an early years qualification at level 5. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 95 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The setting

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Information about the setting

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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must:

 improve the consistency and quality of teaching methods used by staff, such as questioning techniques, so that children receive good support during activities to help them make good progress

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must:

 ensure that behaviour management procedures are implemented consistently and effectively by all staff, to enable all children to learn how to play together appropriately

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must:

 improve the procedures for the monitoring of the observation and assessment of children, to ensure all children are supported to make good progress.

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

 enhance resources and the environment to enable children with English as an additional language to make good progress in their acquisition of communication and language skills.

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who attend

The nursery offers an appropriate learning environment. Children in the baby room arrive enthusiastically and happily engage quickly in activities. Recent changes to the organisation of the rooms for children aged over two years has resulted in children having access to a range of activities and experiences that they mostly enjoy. These generally support their development across the areas of learning. An appropriate balance of adult- led and child-initiated activities means that children receive mostly attentive support from staff and make steady progress. However, the quality of teaching is variable and interactions between staff and children are not always effective to ensure that learning experiences consistently promote children's ongoing learning. Staff have a reasonable understanding of how children learn best and demonstrate suitable teaching skills which support children as they learn, for example, some staff ask questions which encourage

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who attend

children to think critically. However, the use of these good teaching methods are inconsistent and therefore, staff do not always support all children sufficiently to make the most of the activities provided and enable good progress to be made; as a result, some children occasionally become bored or disengaged.

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who attend

Babies and children develop appropriate physical skills and enjoy opportunities to discover and explore. Babies enjoy experimenting with different textures and materials and are given appropriate support and encouragement to develop their coordination and mobility. For example, strategically placed toys encourage new crawlers to reach and extend their movements. Older children develop dexterity and coordination when playing with malleable materials. For example, they push cars through cornflakes and jelly and enjoy talking about the different textures. Outside, children run, climb, balance and use wheeled toys. Generally, children are supported in their acquisition of communication, language and literacy skills. Babies and young children are encouraged to use simple words and form sentences and some older children can hold conversations and listen attentively. However, support for children whose home language is not English is variable. There are

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who attend

few resources available in languages other than English to further support their communication and language skills and enable them to make good progress. A suitable selection of resources is available to encourage children to write and express themselves creatively, which they freely use to make marks as they play. Children develop a sufficient understanding of mathematical concepts, such as more than, as they build and count bricks in the builders' yard. Some children develop the skills needed to lead their own play and use their imagination as they engage in a game of space stations and pretend to be spacemen. The nursery offers a welcoming and in the main part a stimulating learning environment. However, there is scope to enhance some areas of the nursery to make them more visually stimulating and inviting.

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who attend

Staff have developed a sufficient understanding of children's abilities. They carry out regular observations to identify next stages in learning. However, practice is variable and the frequency with which learning is assessed is not always sufficient enough to ensure that some children are making good progress. Flexible planning across the younger age groups provides a satisfactory range of activities which suitably promote the all-round development of children. Weekly child-led planning in the older age range is tailored to the interests of children, such as space, which helps to motivate and engage them in activities. Staff ensure that children have the basic skills they need for school or their next stage of learning. Staff share sufficient information with parents about their child's learning and development on a daily basis. In addition, parents are invited to attend parents' meetings where key persons share written assessments and discuss any

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who attend

emerging needs. Strategies to further engage parents in their children's learning, such as 'bring an adult to nursery day', have been developed and help to promote a continuity of learning at home.

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

Staff at the nursery are caring and affectionate. They ask children and their parents questions about their well-being. For example, they ask about children's health and reassure children with cuddles should they become upset. Parents and children are developing appropriate relationships with their key person. When children first start key persons use the first sessions to develop warm bonds with children. As children grow older and move into different parts of the nursery, the key person shows children their new rooms, which ensures that children are emotionally well supported during these transitions. Older children develop close friendships with each other. For example, they laugh and smile and share jokes together as they play, which demonstrates that they enjoy each other's company. Therefore, children are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff are mostly effective role models as they are polite and respectful and use

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

appropriate strategies to support learning, such as singing the please and thank you song with children. This helps children learn to use suitable manners well. Staff praise children's achievements appropriately and this helps children to develop generally good self-esteem. Children mostly play cooperatively together. However, although staff have adequate policy and procedures for promoting positive behaviour, they are not always implementing these well. Staff do not always intervene effectively to clearly explain their expectations for behaviour and as a result, children are not consistently learning how to behave well.

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

The environment has recently been reorganised and is reasonably well-arranged to enable most children to make some choices as they play. An adequate range of resources are developmentally appropriate and are stored at children's heights, this allows children to access them independently. Staff are deployed effectively throughout the nursery to meet the needs of children. Staff support children to learn how to keep themselves appropriately safe and provide opportunities for them to gain an understanding of risk. For example, they are encouraged to balance independently on the bench while staff remain close by. In addition, children participate in fire drills and are reminded how to use the bikes safely. Children's independence is adequately supported. For example, older children use toilet facilities by themselves and staff support younger children as they wash their hands. This means that they are learning how to manage their own personal hygiene

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

needs, which helps to promote their well-being.

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

The nursery provides children with a healthy range of snacks and meals. Parents have access to appropriate policies and advice, which encourage them to send their child healthy options in their lunch boxes if they wish to, for example, they do not bring sweets into the nursery. Mealtime routines further support children's independence. Babies learn to use knives and forks. Older children serve their own food and are encouraged to take responsibility for tasks, such as clearing the table themselves. In addition, mealtimes are social occasions where staff sit with children and engage in meaningful discussions with children. For example, they discuss favourite foods and meals that children have at home. Staff provide children with sufficient opportunities to move and play both indoors and outside, which helps to promote their physical skills.

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provision

The management team has a clear understanding of their responsibilities under the safeguarding and welfare requirements, which means that children's welfare is promoted within the nursery. Suitable recruitment policies and procedures are in place which help to keep children safe. All staff are appropriately checked to ensure that they are suitable to work within the nursery. A recent visit from Ofsted, following information received about the implementation of safeguarding procedures, found that the management team has reviewed these and trained staff to ensure these are followed at all times. The management team has recently attended safeguarding training and consolidated their understanding of how to keep children safe from harm. Staff have a sufficient understanding of child protection procedures and whom to report any concerns to in order to keep children safe. Although, there have been a number of staff leave in recent

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provision

months, suitable arrangements are in place to ensure staff are effectively deployed and children are adequately supervised at all times. Suitable policies and procedures are in place, which staff implement effectively in their daily practice. Staff carry out daily risk assessments which identify potential hazards and these are quickly minimised. Staff respond quickly and appropriately to accidents, which helps children to feel safe and secure in the nursery.

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provision

The management team has an acceptable understanding of their role in meeting the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The manager reviews planning documentation to ensure that children's next steps in learning have been planned for and observation of staff practice has identified that some teaching methods require further improvement. This, however, has not yet been fully addressed to ensure that children are effectively supported to make the most of the activities provided. In addition, the monitoring of the observation and assessment of children is in its early stages and is not yet fully embedded so as to fully identify weakness in practice. As a consequence, not all children make good progress. Overall, the quality of staff's practice is monitored appropriately through supervision discussions and annual appraisals conducted by the manager. Regular opportunities for staff to attend training to extend their

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provision

knowledge, understanding and skills are provided. As a result, in general staff are adequately trained and qualified to meet children's needs.

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provision

The management team is committed to improving the quality of the nursery and reasonable improvements have been made since the last inspection. They are sufficiently motivated to develop the environment and practice to enable all children to make better progress. Managers reflect effectively on the care and education provided and have developed in-depth action plans to overcome weaknesses. These are generally successful but have not yet been implemented over sufficient time to have had a significant impact on the quality of the provision. Staff are clear about the importance of working with other professionals and this means the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are met. The nursery has a sound knowledge and understanding of working in partnership with parents. Parents are generally happy with the care which their children receive. Recent parent questionnaires demonstrate that parents feel adequately supported

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provision

by the nursery staff. The managers have been working in close partnership with local authority advisors who provide interventions to support the development of the nursery. This has helped to improve practice.

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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 EY337018 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 961509

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 95 Name of provider Pre-School Learning Alliance Date of previous inspection 03/07/2013 Telephone number 07944 429424

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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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