Starjumps Nursery, Creche and Out of School Provision

Starjumps Nursery, Creche and Out of School Provision Furzefield Centre, Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3BW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/04/2014 25/04/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children are confident to make decisions about their play as they make choices from the range of resources available to them.  Staff establish warm relationships with children. As a result, children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.  Partnerships with parents are encouraged by the nursery and make a sound contribution to supporting children's well-being.

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It is not yet good because

 Planning is not fully developed to consistently reflect and fully support the needs of all children attending the nursery.  At times, less experienced staff do not always enhance children's learning through the use of open-ended questions.  The systems in place to make sure that all required areas of learning are effectively monitored are not effective. This does not fully promote children's continued 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 indoors and outside.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children and the provider's improvement plan.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of a teaching activity with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, staff and parents at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Starjumps Nursery, Creche and Out of School Provision registered in 2010 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is managed by Hertsmere Leisure. It operates from the first floor of Furzefield Leisure Centre. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 48 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 a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, five hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3.

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must:

 ensure that observation, assessment and planning for children under three years provides consistent support and challenge, both indoors and outdoors, so they make good progress given their age, abilities and starting points.

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

 support less experienced staff to enhance children's learning through consistently good interactions and the use of open-ended questions

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

 continue to develop self-evaluation systems, in order to drive improvement for the monitoring of educational programmes and ensure all required aspects of learning are fully covered to help children make progress.

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who attend

Staff have a sound understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They use their knowledge to plan a range of experiences for children. They observe individual children's progress and record their development in their profile folders. However, they currently do not always use these observations effectively to plan and provide relevant experiences to consistently meet the individual learning and development needs of all children. For example, staff working with the youngest children do not always make full use of their observations and planning to consistently challenge and support children to make good progress according to their age and starting points. As a consequence, children are not fully prepared for the next stage in their learning. The key-person system supports effective links with parents and carers. Staff obtain information about children's interests when they start and provide resources

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who attend

to aid the settling-in and initial assessment process. Staff communicate with parents on a daily basis and parents have regular opportunities to view their child's profile folder. This approach successfully engages parents in their children's education.

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who attend

Overall, staff understand the needs of babies and rooms are set up safely, in order for young children to crawl, take first steps and toddle around. Staff arrange toys and equipment so that children can make some independent choices, enabling them to follow their interests. In the baby room, children explore a range of developmentally appropriate resources and staff encourage social interaction as they talk to babies throughout the day. That said, this is a result of staff's intuition and knowledge of childcare, rather than through planned opportunities based on their observations of children's achievements in the prime areas of learning. Older children enjoy leading their own play and take part in activities which are guided by adults. For example, children maintain focus for sustained periods of time when they use construction blocks and sand to build towers. Staff extend children's mathematical learning as they encourage older children to talk about the shape

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who attend

and size of the tower they are making. Elsewhere, attentive staff play alongside children offering gentle support and encouragement. Skilful questions by most staff extend children's thinking and they gently guide children to develop their skills as they play alongside them. However, on occasions, less experienced staff do not always use spontaneous opportunities to ask open-ended questions to extend children's thinking and development in all areas of learning. Outdoors, staff encourage children to try new activities and to judge risks for themselves. Staff are on hand to monitor safety and provide guidance and encouragement when children use a range of wheeled toys outdoors. This promotes children's physical development and encourages them to get better at things through effort and practice.

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who attend

Staff support the communication and language skills of all children, including those who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff introduce songs and rhymes effectively throughout the session and children actively join in the singing. Staff join in with children's play, talking to them clearly and taking opportunities to extend their vocabularies. Staff encourage children's development in early literacy as children are eager to share books with them. They enjoy snuggling up together to share a favourite book, establishing children's interest in reading for pleasure and purpose. Staff provide a range of accessible writing materials for all children to practise their early writing skills. Consequently, they develop skills to support their move to school.

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

Children share warm relationships with the approachable and friendly staff. New starters settle quickly into the nursery as staff take account of information about individual children's care needs obtained from parents. A key-person system is in place to help children build relationships with their special member of staff, to support their emotional needs and be motivated to learn. Children demonstrate a positive approach to learning, supported by the cheerful interactions of the staff team caring for them.

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

Children learn to adopt healthy lifestyles and are developing appropriate personal hygiene routines with support from staff. Meals are varied and nutritious and children are encouraged to make healthy choices. Older children develop their independence skills as they pour their own drinks and serve their food. Staff take account of any allergies and special dietary requirements are specifically catered for. Staff give children appropriate support in putting on their coats as they prepare for play outdoors. As a result, children achieve some independence in hygiene and managing their personal care. Children benefit from regular fresh air and exercise during outdoor play. Here, older children develop their physical skills; however, support for the younger children's individual learning is not consistently tailored to their particular needs.

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

Children learn about the needs and feelings of others through sharing, taking turns and helping others. Their behaviour is generally good, as staff share consistent expectations and act as effective role models themselves. Children willingly take on responsibility, for example, tidying away equipment before moving outdoors. The nursery is comfortable and children move freely and safely in their environment because staff take appropriate steps to ensure that hazards are kept to a minimum. Gentle reminders from staff help children to understand about keeping themselves safe as they play and use a variety of equipment. Complying with these expectations means children enjoy their nursery experiences and have some emerging skills to underpin their eventual move to school.

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provision

The manager and her team demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They understand their responsibility to promote the learning and development of all children. The manager monitors staff performance, both informally through working alongside staff and more formally through annual appraisals. Suitable induction procedures are in place to support new staff and students and to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. The manager uses regular staff meetings to discuss and share any ideas and practice issues to further promote effective outcomes for children. Overall, these systems are generally effective in raising the professional practice of staff. Training needs are also identified and the effectiveness of recent training on working with boys can be seen in some parts of the provision. In general, the manager has a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the educational

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provision

programmes and identifies areas for improvement accurately. For example, a recommendation from the previous inspection to enhance the outdoor area has been successfully addressed. This helps to promote good outcomes for children. However, due to weaknesses in the monitoring of the educational programmes, particularly for the younger children, not all required aspects of learning are fully covered to help children make progress.

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provision

Children's welfare is promoted because safeguarding regulations and duties are appropriately met. Staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures and are aware of their responsibilities in this respect. They know how to report and record concerns and have attended relevant training. Vetting and recruitment procedures check that all adults working with children are suitable to do so. Staff demonstrate a sound awareness of the need to retain confidentiality and share children's records only with those who have a right or a professional need to see them. The nursery adheres to regulatory ratios and staff supervise children appropriately to meet their needs and promote safety. Children are protected in the event of an accident because a number of staff have a current paediatric first aid certificate. Children play in a secure, safe environment where staff complete daily safety checks and regularly review

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provision

risk assessments to promote their welfare.

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provision

Effective partnerships with parents are in place. As a result, parents speak positively of the care and learning their children receive. They are regularly informed about their child's learning through daily verbal feedback and termly consultation meetings. Informative display boards and newsletters provide details of the nursery's routines, procedures and policies, including the complaints policy and contact details for Ofsted, as required. Relationships with other professionals and external agencies are established, so that children's needs are supported and help them to make progress. Staff promote sound links with other early years providers, which further aids children's progress and development. Information sharing is effective and this eases children's move to other settings or on to school.

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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 EY402500 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 962147

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 48 Name of provider Hertsmere Leisure Date of previous inspection 25/04/2013 Telephone number 01707850555

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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

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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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