Chatterbox Day Nursery & Out of School Club

Chatterbox Pre-School and Out of School Club Ludlow Junior School, Clee View, LUDLOW, Shropshire, SY8 1HX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/06/2014 29/03/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision requires improvement

 Children are sociable and well behaved. Praise and encouragement from staff ensures children feel secure and included. This supports children's emotional well-being.  All staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures. They understand how to protect children's welfare if they have a concern about a child in their care.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported in the setting. Staff work well with parents and outside agencies to provide effective support for children's development.

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It is not yet good because

 Risk assessment is not fully effective, as staff do not prevent children from accessing areas that they have identified as a potential risk to their safety.  Systems to assess, observe and monitor children's development are not rigorous enough. As a result, some children's initial starting points and next steps in learning are not consistently identified to promote their learning and development to best effect.  Some staff are not confident in their teaching of early phonics to support children fully in their early reading skills. They do not exploit opportunities to promote children's independence or self-care during mealtimes. As a result, teaching is variable.

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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 compulsory part 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 checked evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff working with the children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at and discussed a range of policies and procedures with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of children's assessment files and progress tracking information and spoke to the key persons.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed play and learning activities and spoke to staff and children in the indoor and outdoor environment.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Chatterbox Pre-School and Out of School Club was registered in 2009 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is one of three settings run by Chatterbox Day Nurseries and operates from a purpose built building, situated in Ludlow Junior School, Ludlow, Shropshire. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, all year round, except for bank holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 150 children on roll, of whom 42 are in the early years age group. The pre-school receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The pre-school supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are currently five staff working directly with the children, all of whom have an appropriate early years qualification at level 3. The pre-school receives support

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must:

 review risk assessment procedures to minimise all risks to children's safety, for instance, by preventing children from entering the kitchen area

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must:

 develop observation and assessment systems further to; ensure management regularly review the quality and content; ensure staff establish children's initial starting points and identify and target children's next steps in their learning, so that children make good progress in their learning and development.

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

 improve staff practice to ensure that they are confident in teaching early phonics to children to support their early reading skills

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

 review mealtimes, so that children's health, independence and self-care skills are effectively promoted, for example, by encouraging children to serve themselves and offering them a choice of drinks with meals.

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who attend

Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They use this to provide children with a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Staff have developed a circle time, which helps to promote children's all round development across all areas of learning. For example, they count the number of children present, encourage them to share their feelings and promote good listening and speaking skills. Consequently, children are learning some skills and attitudes that prepare them for the next steps in their learning. However, some staff are not fully confident in teaching phonics to children, in order to support their early reading skills. Staff have started to use a range of programmes to deliver this, but do not exploit opportunities to fully engage children. Consequently, teaching is variable in the pre-school and children make satisfactory as opposed to good progress. Children's physical development is promoted in

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who attend

a variety of ways, as they explore the outdoor environment. For example, they enjoy playing in the pre-school's 'mud kitchen' and riding on bicycles.

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who attend

Staff have a suitable understanding of the requirements of the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years. This means that they and other professionals have the necessary information to arrange appropriate support if necessary. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well with appropriate intervention and support. This helps to ensure they reach their expected levels of development. Children have individual files that contain artwork, annotated photographs and observations of their learning and development. However, observations and assessments are not being used effectively to consistently identify all children's initial starting points or to determine their next steps in their learning and development. This means that gaps in children's development are not clearly identified and targeted to ensure that children make good, rather than satisfactory, progress and that they are fully

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who attend

Staff strive to form effective partnerships with parents. For example, they discuss care arrangements and future settling-in procedures with parents. Staff obtain information about children on entry, which they use to plan activities that are of interest to them. However, information about some children's initial starting points in their development, is not gathered to help ensure that assessment is accurate. Parents are kept informed of children's daily activities through detailed conversations with staff. This helps parents to be involved in some aspects of their children's learning.

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

Children are happy and courteous to each other, staff and visitors. They are confident to engage with visitors and tell them about their day at school. Staff are good role models and remind children to use their manners. As a result, children know what is expected of them. Staff praise children's efforts and reward them with smiles and cuddles. This helps to promote children's confidence and emotional well-being. Staff give children clear boundaries and use successful methods to manage their behaviour. For example, a large sand timer is used to regulate the time children spend on certain toys. Children respond well to this and are happy to share and take turns with resources. As a result, children behave well and are kind to each other. Children are beginning to understand about using equipment safely. Older children remind younger children to be 'careful when using scissors'. Consequently, children manage their own safety and show concern and

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

The pre-school operates an effective key-person system. Details of this are displayed on the notice boards for parents information. Parents' comment that their children are 'very happy at pre-school' and that staff are 'very supportive'. They are aware of who to go to if they have a concern about their child. Consequently, parents are involved in their children's care and well-being and they settle quickly as a result. Relationships with the host school are good and children regularly attend the reception class before they move up to 'big school'. This helps children to become prepared for their next steps in their learning as they become familiar with the school environment and teachers.

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

Children have regular access to the outdoor area and enjoy fresh air and physical exercise. This introduces them to the importance of being healthy. However, staff do not always use opportunities to teach children about good hygiene procedures. For example, staff do not ensure that all children wash their hands after playing outside and before eating snack. Consequently, this does not teach children about keeping themselves healthy. Mealtimes and snack times are not always organised effectively, as staff do not consistently use opportunities to encourage children to serve themselves. Consequently, the organisation of routines does not fully support children's health, self-care or independence skills.

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provision

Staff demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of child protection procedures. They know the process to follow in the event of a concern about a child in their care and what action to take if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Staff restrict the use of mobile telephones and cameras in the pre-school, to further protect children. They seek visitor identification and record this in the pre-school's visitors' book. All required policies and procedures are in place and readily available to parents, so they understand how the pre-school operates. Suitable recruitment and vetting procedures ensure staff are safe and suitable to work with children. Risk assessments have been completed to cover all areas of the pre-school. However, staff do not consider these in their daily practice, to ensure children are protected from potential hazards. For example, the safety gate fitted to prevent access to the kitchen is not kept closed at all times and is

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provision

left wide open, which often results in children swinging on it. Staff supervise children as they enter the area to wash their hands at the sink. However, this practice does not reflect procedures recorded in the risk assessment for the area and does not fully promote children's safety. As a result, risk assessment of this particular area is ineffective. This is also a breach of the Childcare Register requirements.

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provision

Systems for performance management are in place and staff regularly attend courses to improve their practice. Annual staff appraisals and six-weekly supervisions are carried out to monitor and evaluate staff's practice. This shows that management are keen to improve the quality of the provision. However, they have failed to recognise that some routines and practices do not effectively promote all children's learning and development. This relates to mealtimes and the teaching of early phonics. Consequently, performance management is not sufficiently focussed on improving the quality of teaching and learning to ensure children are fully prepared for school. In addition, management have failed to ensure that staff consistently identify children's initial starting points, to ensure that any gaps in their learning and development are effectively targeted. As a result, the monitoring of observation and assessment is not fully effective.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are generally good because parents receive lots of verbal information about their child's day. Parents are given questionnaires to complete and staff use this information to help evaluate the provision. For example, they are arranging parents' evenings, so that working parents have the opportunity to discuss their children's progress. Staff actively seek the help of outside agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Relationships with the host school are good. Teachers are invited into the pre-school and information is shared regarding children's learning and progress to support children's future learning at school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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

 ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory 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 EY400026 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 860122

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 150 Name of provider Joanne Ceri Van Mook Date of previous inspection 29/03/2010 Telephone number 01584 876 716

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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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