Munchkins Day Nursery

Munchkins 1-2 Mount Radford Crescent, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4EW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/04/2014 26/05/2010

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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

 Staff have positive partnerships with parents and encourage shared learning to support children's development.  Staff provide a broad range of activities to promote children's learning.  Staff are positive role models and help children form secure relationships. This helps children to feel happy and keen to learn.

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It is not yet good because

 The provider does not always ensure that staffing arrangements meet the required ratios. This compromises the safety and supervision of the children.  Staff do not use risk assessment effectively to identify and reduce risks to children so that they keep safe when moving up and down the stairs inside the premises.  Children do not have access to a good range of resources to extend their continuous learning during outside play.

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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 the playrooms and the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector engaged in discussions with the nursery provider, the manager, the deputy manager and the staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled relevant documentation including some policies and procedures.  The inspector looked at a sample of children's assessment records.  The inspector invited the manager to conduct a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

Munchkins registered in 2004. It is privately owned. The co-providers also own another setting in an adjacent building in the same grounds, which has a separate registration. Both settings work closely together, sharing a senior management team. Munchkins operates from a large Victorian house in the St Leonard's area of Exeter in Devon. Accommodation is arranged over four floors, providing a base for children aged from one year to under three years of age. There is an enclosed garden for outdoor play. Children aged under one year, and of pre-school age, are cared for in the adjacent setting. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 65 children on roll in the early years age group. The setting is open each weekday from 7.45am to 6pm all year round. There are 14 staff employed to work with the children, the majority of whom have relevant

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must:

 ensure staffing arrangements meet the required ratios at all times

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must:

 improve the use of risk assessment to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard and promote children's welfare when they are moving up and down the stairs

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

 develop the range of resources and learning opportunities to extend children's continuous learning as they play outside.

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who attend

Staff make useful observations and assessments of the children's play and learning, including completing the required progress check for two-year-old children. They use these assessments successfully to help with their planning to provide a broad range of activities. They also plan well to support children's individual interests to extend their learning naturally as they play. For example, children who show interest in cars and trains benefit from staff linking this to craft activities and stories that are read, to build on their learning. Children's work is put up on display throughout the nursery showing parents what they have been learning when they are collecting their child. This also promotes children's self-esteem as they see that the staff value their creative efforts.

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who attend

Staff teach the children about mathematical concepts as they play to develop their early understanding. Children learn how to solve problems by completing puzzles and constructing train tracks. They learn to count as they sing action songs and enjoy playing with musical instruments. Staff interact well with the children in groups and give one-to- one support and encouragement, particularly when they see a child focussing on their planned next step for learning.

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who attend

Children who speak English as an additional language receive ongoing support to develop their early vocabulary and communication skills. Staff learn key words in the child's home language to help them to settle and understand what they would like, in order to meet their needs. Staff are learning to use sign language with the children to support non- verbal communication and they use flash cards to help the children to gain an understanding of the daily routine. Children have use of a well-resourced sensory room in which to explore and investigate. Staff encourage children's early language well by repeating words and by making good eye contact with the children. Staff are gaining more confidence in asking open-ended questions, giving children thinking time to respond to support their language skills and general learning.

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who attend

Children enjoy exploring with a range of textures, sponge painting with paints and playing with play dough. They learn about nature with interest, for example the life cycle of tadpoles and the changing seasons. Staff celebrate festivals throughout the year with the children to help them to start to gain an understanding of the wider world and diversity. Parents bring items in from their own culture for children to play with in the home corner to promote their understanding of differences naturally as they play. Children have access to resources such as crayons, pencils and chalks, to help them to develop their early writing skills in preparation for their eventual move to school.

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

Staff present as positive role models. Children are clearly very fond of them and have developed strong attachments. This helps children to be happy, and to grow in confidence. Staff teach children about hygiene routines and to learn to become confident in feeding themselves at meal times. Children have a clean environment in which to play and staff follow good hygiene routines when changing nappies and at meal times to protect the children's health. Staff teach children to be familiar with the daily routine including washing their hands at meal times so they develop their personal care skills. The children eat nutritious meals cooked on the premises and their individual dietary needs are known and catered for very well. The nursery provides alternative meals to meet each child's dietary needs and their likes and dislikes, to support their health and well-being.

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

Staff teach children to learn to share and take turns as they play with gentle reminders and by giving the children consistent praise and encouragement. Consequently, children learn to play well together and behave appropriately which helps to build their self- esteem. Children receive support from their key person and all the staff. This is because they know the children well and work well as a team to promote every child's learning and development. However the children's well-being is compromised because the setting does not always maintain the required ratios of staff.

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

Children have planned times for outside play to ensure they have plenty of fresh air and exercise to support their well-being. They have use of equipment including a play boat, bats, balls and hoops to promote their physical development. They learn to play safely with each other as they throw balls and use the slide taking turns with each other well. However, there are fewer resources available to promote their continuous learning during outside play. Staff make certain that the premises are secure and supervise children well throughout the day. However, staff do not thoroughly review and make effective use of risk assessment following any accidents to children to protect their safety and well-being.

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

Children respond positively to staff requests, such as to help to tidy up after outside play, with even the youngest children being keen to help put items away. The children's key person helps them to be well prepared for when they move rooms so they feel confident and secure. Staff engage in discussions with parents and the children have short visits with their key person to help them to settle, feel secure and get to know their next key person. Their learning journals transfer with them so there is continuous support for their learning and planned next steps as they move rooms in the nursery.

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provision

The inspection took place due to the nursery notifying Ofsted of a significant event. A member of staff fell on the stairs while carrying a child, resulting in an accident where the child sustained an injury. This means that the nursery met their legal requirement to notify Ofsted. However, the nursery does not use risk assessment effectively to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard and promote children's welfare on the premises. The inspection found that the children have to be escorted several times throughout the day up and down the stairs on arrival, departure and when going outside to play in a group. At times, some staff, who do not usually work in this setting, do not follow nursery procedures when moving children up and down the stairs so they keep safe. During the inspection, a member of staff was observed holding on to the hands of two young children one in the front of her and one behind her going up the stairs despite this not being the

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provision

nursery's normal practice. This means that the provider does not ensure that all staff working on the premises follow agreed procedures to protect children.

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provision

The provider does not always make sure that there are good contingency plans in place to cover for staff absences. This results in the required ratio of staff not being consistently met throughout the day and is a breach of requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This has an impact on the continuity of children's care and learning.

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provision

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of how children learn and develop through play and support their learning needs well. They monitor children's progress appropriately and work well with parents and outside agencies to support each child's needs and inclusion well.

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provision

Security within the nursery is good with closed-circuit television (CCTV) in all of the rooms which parents can view to see their child at play. There are secure systems in place for the recruitment of staff and clear induction procedures are in place so that staff understand the nursery's policies and procedures, and their roles and responsibilities. This helps to ensure the staff are suitable to work with children. Staff have a secure understanding of the procedure to follow in the event of a child protection concern to protect children's welfare. Staff take responsibility to make sure that their rooms are safe for children to play in by completing daily safety checks and reporting any potential hazard so that prompt action can be taken to help keep children safe. Staff practise fire drills with the children so they learn to keep safe in the event of an emergency.

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provision

The nursery has an effective partnership with parents, keeping them well informed about their child through daily discussions. The staff hold regular parents' evenings to share information about the progress the children are making. This helps parents to be able to promote their child's continuous learning further at home. The nursery has a very informative website for parents that include regular newsletters. The nursery has strong links with other settings that children attend to provide a shared approach to children's learning and development.

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provision

The nursery staff receive regular support from an early years advisory teacher to help them drive improvement in their practice. Senior management continually monitor their provision to identify their strengths and areas for development to improve the outcomes for children. They seek the views of staff and parents to help monitor the service they provide and to identify any areas for further development to raise quality within the nursery for children.

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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:

 undertake a risk assessment of the premises and equipment immediately where the need for an assessment arises to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  undertake a risk assessment of the premises and equipment immediately where the need for an assessment arises to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (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 EY299719 Local authority Devon Inspection number 967915 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 1 - 8 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Munchkins Date of previous inspection 26/05/2010 Telephone number 01392 498814

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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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