Gosforth Nursery Limited

Gosforth Nursery Limited Gosforth Nursery, Wasdale Road, Gosforth, Seascale, Cumbria, CA20 1AZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/05/2014 31/10/2011

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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

 The quality of teaching is outstanding, the staff are well qualified and have an excellent understanding of how children learn and develop. Learning opportunities are rich, varied, imaginative and challenge children to learn and develop across all areas. As a result, children are highly motivated to learn.  The staff have a wealth of experience. They aspire to support children in making the best possible progress in their learning and implement highly innovative observations and assessments of them that accurately identify the next steps in their learning. As a result, children make rapid progress towards the early learning goals.  The manager and her team are truly inspirational and extremely passionate about the work that they do. They bring together their individual strengths to create a diverse and dynamic team who work extremely well together. They aspire to develop their setting through the highly effective evaluations and enhancements that they make

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This provision is outstanding

which have a positive impact upon children's care and learning.  Children are exceedingly safe within the setting, the staff conduct stringent daily safety checks and effectively minimise any potential hazards. The highly comprehensive safeguarding procedures are implemented exceptionally well and the staff have an excellent understanding of how to protect children from harm.  Partnership with parents are first class. The staff expertly involve them with their children's learning at every possible opportunity using a wide range of successful strategies. As a result, children have continuity on their learning and a shared approach is fully embraced.

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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 setting including the outdoor areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children in the preschool room, in the outdoor environment and in the upstairs play room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the staff and the children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector held meetings with the manager and the room leaders.

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Inspection activities

 A range of documentation was looked at by the inspector. These included, staff qualifications and suitability checks, a record of staff training and appraisals, children's observation and assessment records, planning documents, the policies and procedures and risk assessment records.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager in the baby room.

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Information about the setting

Gosforth Nursery Limited was registered in 2011 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in Gosforth, Cumbria. The nursery is managed by a committee and serves children from the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a purpose built building in the grounds of Gosforth Primary School. There is a baby, toddler and preschool play room on the ground floor along with toilet facilities and a dining area. There is an additional room for all children to access on the first floor. There are a number of secure outdoor areas for children to access. The nursery employs 14 members of childcare staff. Of these, three hold Early Years Professional Status including the manager, seven hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2. The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 48 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.30am

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Information about the setting

until 5pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 69 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two, three and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance the already excellent opportunities for babies to investigate and explore their wonderful outdoor environment.

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who attend

Children make excellent progress in their learning, given their starting points. Strong partnerships with the parents ensure that the staff acquire a detailed account of what children can already do, through effective daily communication and the all about me document. The staff skilfully complement this as they make their own highly comprehensive observations of children within the setting. A highly innovative system to record children's observations and assessments electronically has recently been implemented by the experienced and well qualified staff. They aspire to support children in making the best possible progress in their learning and development. They are meticulously detailed and accurately capture their achievements as they play, clearly recording the progress that children are making towards the early learning goals. The next steps in children's learning are clearly identified and well-supported. As a result, they

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who attend

make rapid progress in their learning and are ready for their next stages and for their move on to school. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are exceptionally well-supported, the staff readily identify when there are gaps in their learning. They use their expertise to work together with parents and other agencies to implement highly effective individual educational plans. These ensure that children are well supported through more specific, measurable and achievable targets. As a result, they make exceptional progress in their learning, given their starting points

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who attend

The quality of teaching is outstanding. The staff are exceptionally well qualified and have an excellent understanding of how children learn. They plan rich, varied and imaginative experiences that challenge children to develop their knowledge and skills across all areas. For example, children develop their listening skills when making paper aeroplanes. The staff strongly encourage children to independently do this and allow time for them to persevere in developing a new skill before stepping in to offer their support. The children develop their awareness of shapes as they talk about the shapes of the paper folds. They develop their early writing skills as they confidently write their name on the back, forming each letter correctly. Children have fun flying their planes in the garden and the staff extend their knowledge and skills, as they ask them to see who can fly theirs the furthest. In addition, children develop their awareness of numbers and measure because the staff

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who attend

ask them to use the tape measure to record the distances that they have flown. Children's love for books is supported exceedingly well, as the staff enhance the role-play area with a wider range of resources and turn it into the three bear's cottage. Children have fun as they pretend to make porridge and act out the characters of the story. The outdoor learning environment is a hive of opportunity for children. They develop their awareness of growth as they eagerly plant flowers in the tyres. They explore a range of natural materials as they build a house with bamboo sticks. Babies explore their surroundings and have fun running up the grass mounds. However, there is room to further enhance the already wonderful and well-resourced outdoor area. Providing a wider range of visual stimulants within the babies immediate outdoor environment enabling them to investigate and explore. Children have excellent opportunities to develop their language and

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who attend

communication skills. They actively talk to their friends about their adventures as they bring 'Max the monkey' back to nursery. Babies giggle and begin to repeat the words that they hear when playing a game of peek-a-boo with the staff who skilfully engage with them. An excellent range of purposeful dialogue is used by the staff to encourage children to creatively think for themselves. For example, the children learn about the world as they are encouraged to talk about the weather. The staff skilfully ask the children to tell them what the weather is like and they respond by talking about the thunder. The staff further extend their thinking skills as they ask the children to explain how thunder is caused. Children think creatively for themselves and actively talk about the clouds crashing together. This all means that children are extremely motivated to learn and are exceptionally well supported by staff who aspire to support them in their learning and

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are superb. The staff expertly use a range of highly effective techniques to engage parents at every opportunity. They actively contribute to children's starting points and are strongly encouraged to share their children's achievements from home on a regular basis, as they use the learning from home sheets. The staff value their comments and skilfully use this information to fully complement children's learning within the setting. Excellent daily communication ensures that parents are well informed of their children's achievements throughout their day. Learning with your preschool child, information sheets are given to all parents when children begin at the setting and enable them to gain an effective understanding of how they can support their children's learning at home. An open door policy ensures that parents are welcomed into the setting to discuss their children's care and learning needs at any time. This all ensures that a shared

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who attend

approach to children's learning is extremely well-embedded within the setting.

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

Children are extremely happy and settled in this calm and nurturing environment. The staff support their emotional well-being exceptionally well. They are greeted with a friendly smile and reassured as parents leave. A robust induction procedure ensures that children's individual needs are supported exceedingly well and are flexible in supporting children to settle when they are ready. Key person systems are excellent. The staff form secure emotional attachments with the children in their care. They have an excellent understanding of children's individual needs and care routines. They skilfully gather information from the parents during their initial visits to the setting. This ensures that children's transitions to the setting are smooth and effectively supported. The wide array of children's photographs and artwork demonstrates that children are highly valued in this inclusive setting. Children feel special as they look through their all about me family books.

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

They develop their confidence as they talk freely about their family with their friends and the staff. Children know their daily routine, the staff skilfully communicate what is coming next. For example, staff notify the children when it is time for lunch that they have a few more minutes until tidy up time. In addition, younger children are supported extremely well, the staff creatively display photographs of their daily routine on the learning is fun board. Children's behaviour is exemplary, the staff role-model positive behaviour exceptionally well. Children are encouraged to line up quietly as they wash their hands for snack. They await their turn patiently and respect each other's space as they stand nicely. The children clearly know the expectations of the setting and use their knowledge to sensitively explain this to younger children. They say please and thank you for their snack and on the rare occasions that they forget, the staff sensitively remind them of this. As a

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

result, children have an excellent understanding of what is acceptable behaviour.

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

The environments are extremely bright, colourful and rich in print. The resources are of exceptional quality and the staff organise the areas extremely effectively so that children can make many choices for themselves. The outdoor areas are freely accessible and therefore, children choose whether to play indoors or outside. Areas to relax are inviting, calm, cosy and children readily snuggle up on the cushions to play with treasure baskets, read a book or to have a snooze. Babies actively select their own toys from the low level shelving units and the resources in the toddler and pre-school room are attractively labelled in natural baskets for them to independently access. Older children develop superb self-care skills in preparation for their move to school. The staff encourage them to develop their independence skills. For example, they learn to dress themselves as they independently put on their coats and waterproof pants for outdoor play. They

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

independently access the toilet and wash their own hands. At snack time the children are strongly encouraged to butter their own toast and pour their own milk. They are supported in their move to school exceedingly well because the staff use effective strategies to prepare them. For example, children are able to swap days to visit school for short periods. Also the reception children are invited into the setting to talk to nursery children about their experiences of school life. This all ensures that children become independent in their learning and are well prepared as they move on to school.

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

Children have an excellent understanding of healthy eating. The staff highly promote this within the setting. For example, children readily identify a range of healthy and unhealthy foods as they engage in the thumbs up, thumbs down game. They actively participate as they put their thumbs up for bananas, apples and coconuts, they put their thumbs down for sweets and chocolate. The staff extend their skills, they encourage the children to talk about why the fruits are healthy. Children clearly understand the reasons for this as they talk about healthy foods being full of vitamins. As a result, children develop an exceptional awareness of healthy eating practices. Furthermore, the children have an exceptional awareness of good hygiene practices and understand the importance of washing their hands correctly to ensure that they wash away the germs. The staff are highly skilled in teaching them about this and explain the correct hand washing procedures. Children

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

benefit from lots of fresh air and have many opportunities to exercise as they play in their freely accessible outdoor play areas. Children learn about the effects of physical exercise on their body as they actively take part in a sticky kids exercise session. They understand the importance of having to warm up before doing any exercise, the staff's teaching skills are excellent. They develop excellent physical skills as they pump water up and down the rill and actively collect buckets of pebbles and lift them up using the pulleys. Children learn to keep themselves safe as they place coloured cones beside the steps on the decked area when taking part in their sticky kids exercise session. They understand that they are not to go near this area so that they are kept safe. They begin to manage risks for themselves. They climb up to the lookout tower, walk across the wooden ramp over the rill and climb

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

aboard the pirate ship in the adjoining school playground. As a result, children effectively adopt healthy lifestyles.

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provision

The manager and her team demonstrate a wealth of knowledge and have an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Highly comprehensive policies and procedures are exceptionally well written and effectively implemented to ensure that children are protected from harm. The whole staff team are highly skilled, they refresh their knowledge through regular safeguarding training events. As a result, they are extremely knowledgeable in their understanding of the procedures they need to take, should they have any concerns about a child in their care. The stringent safety checks ensure that the whole nursery environment is extremely safe for children and highly effective risk assessments minimise any potential hazards. The recruitment procedures are exemplary and clearly demonstrate the high regard shown for children's safety and

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provision

welfare. The high aspirations of the manager and committee ensure that newly recruited staff are well qualified and knowledgeable through a rigorous interview process. For example, the manager and committee members skilfully question candidates during their interview to determine whether they are suitable for their role. This is further enhanced as they invite them in to the setting and observe them as they engage with the children. Suitability checks are swiftly carried out and references are sought from previous employers. As a result, children are extremely safe with staff that are knowledgeable and trustworthy.

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provision

The quality of teaching is outstanding. The well-qualified and experienced staff are truly inspirational and bring together their individual strengths to create a diverse and dynamic team, who are fully in tune with each other. They demonstrate a desire to continually improve the learning opportunities for children and regularly bounce ideas off one another to provide the highest quality of experiences for them to take part in. Through daily observations the manager skilfully monitors the exceptional teaching practice of staff and they confidently discuss together what has gone well and what needs to be improved. Regular supervision meetings and appraisals provide staff with an opportunity to discuss their own performance and children's learning needs. The whole staff team aspire to learn and are highly invested in by the manager and committee. They are supported to attend regular training events that support them to extend their already first rate knowledge and

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provision

skills. They skilfully disseminate the information learned to other members of the team. Together they make enhancements to the setting that will have a positive impact upon the care and learning for children. The manager, committee members and the staff are clearly dedicated to the work that they do. The highly comprehensive evaluations of the setting demonstrate that there is a clear determination and commitment for continued improvement from all angles. The staff are constantly looking at ways to improve their service and regularly consult with the children using skilful questioning techniques to identify their likes and dislikes. They seek the views of parents and carers through excellent daily communication and regular questionnaires. They have made many changes to their environment that have had a positive impact for children. For example, they have further developed the baby room with a moveable fence so that it is flexible in supporting

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provision

the needs of younger immobile babies and older babies that can walk. The previous recommendations from the last inspection have been successfully addressed and the staff have worked hard to implement a highly innovative system to record children's observations and assessments. This all demonstrates that children benefit from a high quality learning environment where the staff are committed and dedicated to the work that they do.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are first class. The staff expertly involve them in their children's learning at every opportunity. They report that they are extremely happy with the care that is provided by the truly amazing and friendly staff who demonstrate a great deal of passion for the work that they do. Partnerships with others are also inspirational. Strong links with the school ensure that children are exceptionally well prepared for their move. The excellent communication shared between settings ensure that children have continuity in their care and learning. The staff have developed exceptional links with the local health visitor and invite her into the setting each month. This means that parents have access to a range of professionals within the setting. The staff confidently work alongside the health visitor to complete the progress check completed between the age of two and three years. This ensures that the staff are committed and confident in working with a range of other

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provision

professionals to support children's needs and to identify the progress that they are making. The manager has recently written a report to talk about the effects of healthy eating and the effectiveness of working together with other agencies. This demonstrates that she is highly regarded by the local authority and her knowledge and skills are worthy of dissemination to other providers.

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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 EY429649 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 853015

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 69 Name of provider Gosforth Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 31/10/2011 Telephone number 01946725800

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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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