Overton Nursery & Pre-School Centre

Overton Nursery & Pre-School Centre 160 Royden Road, Upton, WIRRAL, Merseyside, CH49 4RH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/04/2014 14/11/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Teaching is good because the staff understand how to promote children's learning. This results in high expectations for their achievements. Consequently, all children's progress including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good.  Children are protected through robust procedures to prevent them from coming to harm. Staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities and the correct steps to take should they have a concern about a child.  Children receive warm, loving care and attention from the staff, promoting their emotional well-being at all times.  Very positive relationships with parents and carers are developed through good communication. Information is continually gathered and exchanged for the benefit of each child's continual care, learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children's play is sometimes interrupted to have snack. As a result, they are not always given sufficient time to pursue their learning or return to their previous activities at this time in the day.

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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 took part in a joint observation with the manager in the toddler room.  The inspector held meetings with the manager of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation, checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form, and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from information included in the nurseries own parental feedback.

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Information about the setting

Overton Nursery and Pre-school Centre opened in 2011 and is on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a single storey community centre in Upton and is managed by Overton Community Centre Ltd. The nursery serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas and offers an out of school service for children attending local schools. It opens Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. Children are cared for in three playrooms and there is an area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 13 members of staff who work directly with the children. Of these, one holds Qualified Teacher Status, six hold level 3 qualifications, and five hold level 2. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 77 children attending the nursery, of whom 62 are in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year old children. It

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Information about the setting

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:

 review the organisation of children's snack times, to enable them to pursue and revisit activities to complete them to their satisfaction.

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who attend

hildren fully enjoy their time at nursery and quickly participate in play activities. Staff have a good understanding of how to implement the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are well deployed, enthusiastic and eager to help all children settle into the nursery. Key persons build effective relationships with parents to gain information about each child, their interests and their achievements to identify initial starting points. This helps them plan for each child's individual learning needs. The quality of teaching is good and observation of the children playing and assessments of their progress assist in the planning of a broad range of fun and challenging play experiences and activities. The staff have effective assessment arrangements in place, including the progress check at age two, to accurately track the progress of each child and check they make consistently good progress. This information is analysed by the manager and deputy

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who attend

manager to assess the levels of children's attainment and progress. Each child has their own 'Learning Journal', which is shared with parents to help them understand how well their child is progressing. Where children are recognised as requiring additional support, staff work with parents and, where necessary, other professionals, to ensure each child's individual needs are well met. Parents receive regular updates of their child's day at nursery through verbal exchanges and a daily diary for all children. Activities and ideas are shared between the key person and parents, encouraging them to understand the importance of play in learning. Children benefit from this shared approach to learning and make good progress as a result.

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who attend

Staff are experienced practitioners and use their skills and knowledge to promote children's communication and language well. They speak clearly to children asking open- ended questions and overall give children time to respond. Staff also encourage the early sounds that babies make as they babble to themselves as they explore the resources in their room. As a consequence, children are ready for the next stage in their learning. Staff adeptly use books and stories to support children's communication and literacy skills, and to fire their imagination. A good selection of books is easily accessible in each room and children enjoy looking at them, both independently and with others. From a young age, children make marks on paper in various ways. They use paints and brushes, pencils, crayons and chalks. This leads to them developing early writing skills as staff help them learn how to start to form recognisable letters, which leads to the oldest children writing

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who attend

their names. Early mathematical skills are taught well. Activities, such as, sorting by size and colour, as well as sand and water play, help children to find out about shape, space and measurement. They fill and empty containers and count how many sand castles they have made. These skills help the children to prepare for the next stage of their learning, which is usually going to school. Children are motivated by staff, who show their own enthusiasm during activities, offer plenty of challenges to children and reward them with lots of praise and encouragement. Children generally concentrate well and listen to instructions and independently choose their play, gaining useful skills for the eventual move to school. Staff promote and enhance learning through play with positive approaches. However, the children's play is sometimes interrupted when they have to stop to have snack and tidy away the toys they have been playing with. As a result, the

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who attend

children are not always given sufficient time to pursue their learning without interruption or to complete or return to their activities at this period in the day.

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who attend

Children are well-supported in all aspects of their learning and development. Staff provide activities and experiences covering all seven areas of learning. A balance of adult-led and child-initiated experiences are provided and children learn through playful and enjoyable experiences. As a result, children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend at the nursery and are excited and motivated to learn. Children benefit from a range of sensory experiences; they use sand, water and dough on a daily basis, exploring textures. For example, babies delight in their play with play dough, using their senses to smell and feel the texture as they manipulate the dough. Toddlers excitedly join in with action games because practitioners show this is fun by using props, such as coloured blocks as traffic lights in the 'stop and go' running activity. Within the baby room, staff give priority to the prime areas of learning to ensure children have a secure foundation to build on for future learning. For

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who attend

example, staff foster a baby's physical development well by supporting them to pull themselves up which allows them to learn how to move and access toys independently. Children develop their creativity and enjoy using a good range of media and materials. They demonstrate a sense of pride in their creations and are keen to share their achievements with others. For example, one child is keen to show to the inspector the picture she has made. This means opportunities for them to play and explore creatively are well promoted.

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

The nursery provides a warm, safe and secure environment, which is used well to help children to develop secure attachments to appropriate adults. The key person system is fully established, which means the staff know the children and their families well. This is used effectively to support children's learning and developmental needs and personal, social and emotional needs during experiences and activities. Settling-in visits help children get to know their new surroundings, the staff and other children prior to starting. This means that there is a smooth transition from home to the nursery. Staff observe how children settle in and who they form a close attachment to, before assigning children a key person. Children show that they feel safe and secure because they happily separate from their parents. Older children confidently select their chosen activity, become engaged in their play and chat happily to their friends. This supports them in developing trusting

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

Staff provide a stimulating environment for children. The outdoor areas are well resourced with a good range of equipment and activities, which engages children's interest and develops independence. The playrooms are attractively set out with resources at child- level and easily accessible, so that children can make their own choices about what they want to do, which develops their independence. Staff are positive role models, they interact with children and play at their level. Behaviour is managed in a positive way and, as result, children are generally well behaved and any minor incidents are dealt with calmly by staff. Children learn good social skills, for example, they are encouraged to say please and thank you at snack and meal times. Staff are calm, reassuring and give children lots of praise and clear explanations about expected behaviour, consequently, children's behaviour is generally good and their self-esteem is high. Staff are skilled at

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

helping children become as independent as possible, for example, children pour their own drinks, spread butter on their toast and three- and four-year-olds use a self-registration system in preparation for starting school.

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

Children take part in a range of physical activities, both indoors and outside. This supports their understanding of the importance of regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Children develop an appropriate understanding of safety through daily routines. For example, they know the nursery rules and are encouraged to tidy after themselves. They participate in regular fire drills and staff use these occasions to discuss why certain routines are followed, in order to fully support children's understanding of how to keep safe. Once children are ready to move onto the next stage in their learning, such as school or another early years setting, there are good arrangements in place to support them. The children's assessment records are shared with schools. This helps children to have a smooth move into their new setting and ensure that teachers are well informed to support their individual needs.

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provision

The manager understands her responsibility in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements. As the designated lead for safeguarding, the manager has a good understanding of her role and all staff are knowledgeable about what to do should they have concerns about a child. There are clear policies and procedures in place, for example, daily checks are carried out to ensure the environment is safe and secure for children. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures are in place, which ensure children are cared for by suitable adults. This inspection was brought forward due to concerns being raised about staffing ratios; the procedures for recording complaints; the management of children's behaviour and how any physical intervention is recorded. Ofsted carried out an investigation and found no evidence to suggest that adult-to-child ratios are not met and that children are closely supervised. Also, there are appropriate complaints

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provision

policies and procedures in place. However, at this visit, Ofsted raised notices to improve with regard to reviewing staff practice to ensure children's behaviour is managed appropriately and any incidents are recorded and shared with parents. An additional action was raised which was not linked to the original concerns for the management to improve knowledge about the disqualification regulations to improve staff suitability decisions. At the inspection, it was found that these had all been addressed well and staff and management have a good secure knowledge of how to manage behaviour and have an even more in-depth knowledge of recruitment. The management has been very proactive in addressing concerns and has endeavoured to develop the nursery procedures further.

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provision

The manager has a good understanding of her role in monitoring the delivery of educational programmes. She monitors the quality of teaching and learning through peer observations and regular reviews of children's assessments and planning. Regular supervisions and annual appraisals identify and support staff development. Staff work well as a team, making for a pleasant environment. They meet regularly to review and evaluate their practice and use information from training to improve it further. Staff share an ambition to help continuously improve outcomes for children. Robust self-evaluation takes into account the views of children, staff and parents, to help drive improvement and supports children's achievement over time. Weaknesses are identified and action plans help to tackle and make continuous improvement.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are well established. They are supportive of the nursery and comment that they feel very welcome. It is apparent from the comments made that parents are extremely pleased with the care their children receive. They speak very highly of the staff and say that they recommend the nursery to their friends. Parents state they feel very involved in their child's learning and are supported by staff. They receive regular newsletters and can review detailed notice boards to gain further information about the nursery. In addition, staff work well in partnership with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to support children's individual needs. Staff have a good understanding of the advantage of liaising with local schools. This ensures that children are well prepared for their move on to school and gives teachers the ability to meet children's individual needs.

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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 EY427511 Local authority Wirral Inspection number 958952

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 65 Number of children on roll 77 Name of provider Overton Community Centre Ltd Date of previous inspection 14/11/2011 Telephone number 0151 6785635

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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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