New Horizons Day Care LTD

New Horizons Day Care Ltd Unit 33, James Carter Road, Mildenhall, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, Suffolk, IP28 7DE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/05/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Accidents and injuries are not always recorded and the systems are not robust enough to demonstrate that parents have been informed of any accident sustained by the child on the same day.  Systems for ensuring the suitability of staff are not robust. The nursery does not have evidence that Disclosure and Barring Scheme checks have been obtained in respect of every member of staff or hold a record of all staff qualifications.  Areas of the premises and some practices are not always fit for purpose because health and safety procedures are not followed and risk assessments are either not effective or not in place. As a result, children's safety and well-being are not assured.  The quality of teaching is variable. There is ineffective monitoring of staff practice to ensure that staff consistently use ongoing observation and assessment to plan and provide activities that are matched to children's identified needs.

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This provision is inadequate

 Opportunities for parents to have a shared approach in their children's learning are not securely in place. Currently, information shared with parents is heavily focused on care routines and does not fully promote partnership working.

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It has the following strengths

 The manager has started to use self-evaluation to identify areas that require improvement. This demonstrates that there is some capacity to improve.

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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 three playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked the suitability of all staff and their qualifications, the nursery's self-evaluation and improvement framework.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents and information given by the nursery.

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Information about the setting

New Horizons Day Care was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a converted unit on an industrial estate in Mildenhall, Suffolk. It is privately owned and managed. The nursery serves the local area and provides a breakfast, after school and holiday club for school-aged children. There are two main playrooms downstairs for the nursery children and two upstairs rooms for the breakfast and after school club. The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff, including the manager. Of these, five staff hold early years qualifications. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery also supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational

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Information about the setting

needs and/or disabilities. Currently, there are 49 early years children on roll. There are also six on roll in the holiday club.

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must:

 ensure all accidents and injuries are recorded and that parents are informed of any accidents or injuries sustained by their child on the same day. This is in order to robustly safeguard children

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must:

 improve recruitment procedures to ensure that staff who work directly with or who have regular contact with children are suitable; this includes providing evidence that Disclosure and Barring Scheme checks have been completed for all staff and keeping a record of all staff qualifications

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must:

 review risk assessments to ensure that all risks and hazards, such as broken and unclean toys or inappropriate objects being within reach of children, are identified and appropriately dealt with in order to maintain children's safety

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must:

 ensure that all staff are appropriately inducted, so that they understand and can follow the nursery's policies and procedures. This will ensure the setting is prioritising safeguarding and keeping children safe

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must:

 ensure that children are kept safe on outings by assessing the risks or hazards that may arise for the children and by obtaining written parental permission for all children to take part in outings

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must:

 improve the quality of teaching of all staff and ensure that children's emerging needs and interests are planned for, using observation and ongoing assessment, to shape the learning experiences for each child

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must:

 ensure that the key person system is well embedded, so that every child's care and learning is tailored to meet their individual needs and that parents are engaged and involved in their children's learning in the nursery and at home

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must:

 ensure children's progress between the ages of two and three years is reviewed and ensure parents are provided with a short written summary of their children's development in the prime areas of learning.

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who attend

Children have access to a broad range of toys and resources within the playrooms and freely enjoy painting, mark making and messy play. Throughout the year, the staff provide activities that cover various festivals and celebrations, in order to promote equality and diversity in the nursery. Staff plan activities that generally cover the seven areas of learning but these are not always challenging for children. This is because staff do not consider individual children's interests or stage of development when planning activities or make effective use of ongoing observations and assessments of the children. Staff have carried out a progress check between the ages of two and three years for some children but they have not used the information that they gathered to shape the learning experiences for those children. Although, staff record observations in each child's learning journal, they do not analyse these effectively and use the observations to plan for

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who attend

children's next steps in their learning. In addition, not all staff know their key children's stages of development well enough. Therefore, this means that some children, including those with English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are not being suitably challenged in their play or being adequately supported to acquire the skills that they need for their next stage of learning or ultimately for school.

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who attend

The quality of staff interaction with children at times is good but this is not consistent and some staff lack understanding of how to skilfully interact with children and question them to help them to develop their own ideas and strategies for doing things. Staff read a story and offer a singing session to the children before lunch. However, despite the staff's best efforts to engage the children, for many of them this is an activity with which they are not yet familiar and as a result, several become distracted and disengaged very quickly. Consequently not all of the children are benefiting from these adult-led times. Inside the pre-school room there is an activity where a member of staff supports children to count using pegs. This activity is simple but effective and demonstrates how some activities support mathematical development. A planned activity in the baby room includes ice cubes. Staff use some effective words to describe the ice cubes, such as 'cold' and 'wet'.

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who attend

Although, activities such as these are planned for, at other times activities are not set up in response to the children's interests and needs. For example, for one key group, activities are predominately offered inside, when the children show a desire to play outside and therefore, this activity would suit their needs better in the outside area. Many of the pre-school children seek delight in playing outside in the water play and in riding on ride- on toys for the majority of the morning. Staff foster some appropriate ideas to extend learning outside, such as creating a road for the bicycles to go around. However, the outside area is not a language rich environment and areas, such as the garden, are not adequately checked before children enter. This poses a significant hazard to children's safety as some equipment is not clean and some toys are broken.

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who attend

Parents are asked to complete basic initial information regarding their children's learning and development when their children first join the nursery. Each child has an individual learning journal completed by key persons, but many of these are currently incomplete and do not hold important information, such as a record of the progress check at age two. Additionally, staff are unsure whether parents have seen this progress check, which means that strategies for engaging parents in their children's learning and development, at nursery and at home, are ineffective.

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

Staff offer appropriate support to young children, who show signs of being upset when they come into the baby room. Although, there is a key person system in place, this is not fully effective as during their time in the baby room, children are greeted and settled by one member of staff and then passed to a different member of staff for personal care, such as nappy changing. This current practice means that settling-in and transitions for some very young children are emotionally more difficult and do not offer them the best reassurance. The nursery helps children to develop an understanding of a healthy diet as they provide a cooked meal, which is balanced and nutritious. Staff work with parents to understand and follow the children's care routines for the day, but they do not always present as good role models to the children. This is because staff do not routinely adhere to the nursery's hand washing policy with regard to washing their own hands after nappy

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

changing and before snack time, or encourage the children to follow the same routines. As a result children's well-being is not fully assured and staff are not supporting children to understand the importance of healthy practices. Similarly, due to some weaknesses in teaching practices, children's interest is not always maintained, as a result, their behaviour and their ability to fully engage in activities are affected.

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

Children develop some independence as they choose what they want to play with from the range of toys available. However, during snack and mealtimes, they have fewer opportunities to be independent as those that are able, are not encouraged to pour their own drinks, despite the jugs being child-sized. In addition, as health and safety are not prioritised in some areas of the nursery, in turn children are not adequately learning about keeping themselves safe. Some children have regular opportunities to play outdoors in a secure garden in the fresh air, which enhances their health and well-being. However, the way that the outdoor play is currently planned and organised means that in the morning, some of the babies do not have the opportunity to engage in or enjoy outdoor activities, according to their needs.

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provision

The manager does not have a sufficient knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. As a result, she has failed to provide evidence that all staff hold a Disclosure and Barring Service check and ensure that there is a record of each staff member's qualification. Most of the staff team have an adequate knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures. However, the manager could not provide evidence that lead practitioner's child protection training has been completed. This does not demonstrate that the lead practitioner can provide appropriate support and guidance to staff or that children's safety and welfare are assured.

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provision

Staff attend team meetings and the manager carries out supervision with the staff, in order to discuss issues and identify solutions to address any issues as they arise. The nursery has a number of policies and procedures in place and risk assessments are available for staff to refer to. However, there is insufficient evidence to show that all staff have been appropriately inducted to help them to understand their roles and responsibilities. As a result, hazards to children, such as broken toys, the cleanliness of equipment and the need to ensure that parents are informed of accidents and injuries on the day the incident happens, have been overlooked. The nursery takes children on outings and uses a car on some occasions. Appropriate car insurance is in place, however, adequate risk assessments have not been carried out and not all parents have given permission for their children to go on outings. Appropriate adult to child ratios are

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provision

maintained throughout the nursery, but there are times in the day when staff find it difficult to fully engage in activities with the children and as a result the flow of teaching is interrupted. This is because the current staffing arrangements require a staff member to leave to go and check on sleeping babies and for other staff to regularly leave the children to monitor the entrance and respond to the door bell, opening the door to visitors and parents. Although, there are weaknesses in the management of the nursery, the manager has begun to use self-evaluation and reflective practice to identify areas for improvement. This demonstrates that the nursery has the capacity to improve. The manager is in the process of recruiting additional staff, in order to support the current staff. She is aware of the need to monitor the educational programme and staff practice and the impact that professional development can have on the quality of teaching. She is keen to upskill staff

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provision

in all areas of learning and development and staff have undertaken some training. However, so far, this has not had a significant enough impact on the delivery of the educational programme, to ensure that staff provide activities that have sufficient depth, breadth and challenge and that ongoing assessment of children is being used effectively to help them to make the best possible progress in their learning and development.

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provision

The nursery has a useful website and parents all give good feedback on the approachable manner of the staff. At the time of inspection, comments from parents acknowledge their positive and friendly relationships with the staff. The nursery proposes to have good communication methods with parents and in part, these are working. However, these systems are not yet embedded and as a result, key persons do not keep parents well informed about the progress that their children are making or get them fully involved in their learning at nursery or at home. The nursery has satisfactory arrangements for sharing information with external agencies and other settings. They liaise with the local primary school, where some nursery children will move onto, welcoming visits from the teachers and sharing information, in order to support children's move into school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that effective systems are in place to demonstrate that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children. This must include obtaining an Disclosure and Barring Scheme check (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that effective systems are in place to demonstrate that any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children. This must include obtaining an Disclosure and Barring Scheme check (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY472340 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 945861 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 49 Name of provider New Horizons Day Care Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07975 622986

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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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