Lenham Nursery School Limited

Lenham Nursery School Lenham County Primary School, Ham Lane, Lenham, MAIDSTONE, Kent, ME17 2LL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/05/2014 16/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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

 The manager and staff have established strong, effective and positive relationships with parents ensuring children can make progress in all areas of development.  The manager and staff work very well as a team and are collectively supportive at developing new ideas to continue to improve the outcomes for children. The children are also respected as members of the team enabling them to feel at home in the nursery.  The manager and staff work well in partnership with staff at the adjoining school to ease move for children when the time comes.  The manager and staff use their communication with children and parents to assist in gaining knowledge essential for safeguarding the children and families. Children are also given the self-help skills they will need to protect themselves in the future.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Resources to help children learn about early technology are not extensive.  Staff do not use every opportunity to encourage children to practise their early writing skills and write for a purpose.

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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 had a tour of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector interviewed the manager of the nursery and spoke with staff, parents and children.  A joint observation was carried out with the deputy manager.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Lenham Nursery School registered in 1998. The setting is a committee run group and is open from 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time only. The premises are attached to the village primary school. The children have access to a secure outdoor play area. The nursery is in a quiet residential area within the village of Lenham, near Maidstone in Kent. It is on a bus route and within walking distance to the main hub of the village.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 53 children in the early years age range on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery currently receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs ten staff to work directly with the children. Of these, nine hold relevant qualifications and one is working towards a level 2 qualification. The manager is currently completing her Early Years Professional Status.

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

 strengthen opportunities to enable children to write for different reasons

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

 increase resources and equipment for children to develop their knowledge of information and communication technology.

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who attend

Staff are effective teachers and communicators who are dedicated to providing a welcoming and positive learning environment. They offer children a variety of challenging activities and opportunities across all areas of learning. Consequently, children enjoy a broad range of stimulating activities to help them make good progress in their learning.

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who attend

Staff ensure that children enjoy themselves and help them to make progress in line with their individual needs. The staff and children use both the indoor and outdoor areas to provide individual and collaborative play and learning. Staff teach children to use their own gardening area to encourage understanding of the wider environment. They grow carrot and tomato seeds, discussing how they will be labelled, grow and then eaten at snack time. Staff encourage children to use a reference book about the life cycle of frogs. This helps them check on the progress of their tadpoles collected from the school nature garden. This also helps the children learn to recall information and extend their language development. Staff encourage children's understanding of the natural world well. However, the range of resources to help children develop an understanding of early technology is not extensive.

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who attend

Staff show great respect for the children. They value the contribution of the children in completing activities and actively listen to them when they offer comments and suggestions. Staff use children's ideas to further their learning opportunities. For example, a member of staff discusses healthy lifestyles at snack time. She encourages the children's thoughts, who then compare the fruit snack to a fruit salad. Later in the day the member of staff finds a book on fruit salad and shows it to the children, to extend their interest. Children have opportunities to practise writing skills. However, staff have not extended these opportunities to write by providing mark-making resources in more areas, such as in role play.

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who attend

Staff encourage outdoor play in all weathers. The children use the outdoor covered area during a light shower of rain. This provides good opportunities for conversations on safety on a wet slide and how the rain will help the newly planted carrot seeds grow. Children's communication and language development is strengthened by the way members of staff crouch down to the child's level and make eye contact to give focused attention. This supports confidence and helps children increase their vocabulary. This helps children to prepare for their eventual move to school.

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

All staff show high levels of skill when helping children. The help given is aimed at encouraging the children's ability to be highly independent. For example, children using scissors at a craft activity are given sustained help to manage them both safely and effectively. Staff remind children outside not to lean too far when at the top of the climbing frame, so they quickly learn about managing their own safety and that of others. Staff provide excellent opportunities for children to learn to manage risk and challenge themselves. Children transferring compost from the large sack into small growing containers are offered the chance to do this with their hands and consider the feel of the soil. This has the effect of developing independence that the children can use in other situations especially when protecting themselves from harm.

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

Children have high levels of confidence and are used to being heard. This also ensures they are likely to share information freely enabling adults to protect them. Children and staff have mutual respect and care for each other. For example, a child is concerned that their friends will miss out if they take the last strawberry at snack time. Children feel able to move between activities with ease, demonstrating their confidence and self-assurance. Staff are excellent role models and use consistent and positive strategies to manage children's behaviour. Consequently, children's behaviour is exemplary and relationships in the group and strong. The key-person system is well established, but flexible enough to allow for the children to take the lead in choosing the adult with whom they form a strong bond. Parents comment that this practice is highly supportive for their children, especially for those who find it

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

hard to settle initially. The key-person system also enables the staff to notice changes in behaviour and development giving them the opportunity to protect children in a robust manner.

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

There is an excellent liaison with the attached primary school staff enabling children to meet both teaching and support staff ahead of their transition into school. Staff provide school uniforms in the role-play area to enable children to become familiar with their next stage of learning. This ensures a seamless and settled move from nursery to school.

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

The learning environment is highly stimulating and activities are very child centred. Many activities are stored at the children's level so that they can be accessed easily. Staff are highly skilled in encouraging children's learning, without taking over. For example, at a craft activity children are encouraged to use their own imaginations, rather than complying with a set format. Each child creates the picture they want to and are praised for the effort they put into completing the activity.

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provision

Leadership and management are strong and focused on creating a consistently positive environment to enable children to engage in their learning in a fun and relaxed manner. Staff observe children and track their progress effectively. This enables them to plan challenging and adaptable activities to promote children's learning in the well-resourced environment. The manager monitors the educational programmes well because she has a good understanding of the learning needs of all children.

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provision

The manager has plans to develop both safeguarding and first aid training for all staff. Regular staff meetings provide opportunities to discuss practice and consider improvements. Partnership with parents and carers is strong. Parents' mornings held on Saturdays to enable staff to meet with parents informally. Because these meetings are held at weekends, it provides better opportunities for both parents to attend. The manager also shares her current university training with the staff, to share new ideas to benefit the children. Management and staff demonstrate a clear knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding requirements and implement effective procedures to keep children safe.

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provision

Staff appraisals and supervision meetings provide good opportunities to identify any training needs and monitor practice. Robust recruitment procedures mean that all staff are suitable for their role.

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provision

Management use the views of staff, children and parents to feed into the self-evaluation form. The manager uses Ofsted guidance to benchmark practice and to identify areas for improvement. Staff are aware of the need to liaise with other early years professionals to help all children make good progress.

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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 127314 Local authority Kent Inspection number 825410 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 53 Number of children on roll 53 Name of provider Lenham Nursery School Limited Date of previous inspection 16/01/2009 Telephone number 07967128056

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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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