Mama Bear's Day Nursery

Mama Bear's Day Nursery St Johns Church, Apsley Road, Bristol, BS8 2ST

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/06/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Staff promote children's social development, as children of all ages play together in the garden helping them make friendships with other children and play with their siblings.  Leadership and management is good, the robust self-evaluation systems mean the nursery is continuously improving.  Staff plan stimulating and exciting activities from children's interests and they effectively identify what children need to learn next. As a result, all children make good progress from their starting points with their learning and development.  Partnerships with parents are good, the nursery use effective communication methods and parent feedback are positive.  Staff teach children good mathematics skills and as a result, children have a good understanding of number, shape and measure.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 At times, some adults struggle to help the children to understand the rules of thenursery, which means some children try to do things they should not be doing.

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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 observed activities in the playrooms and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's records, planning and records to check staff suitability.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents, staff and children spoken to on the day of the inspection and of the provider's self-evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with the managers of the nursery.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Mama Bear's Day Nursery registered in 2013. It is one of 19 privately owned nurseries. It operates from St. Johns Church in the Clifton area of Bristol. The interior of the church has been converted into a purpose built nursery. The setting is on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. The whole nursery is based on the ground floor, with a ramp at the front entrance from the street. Children have access to four main play areas, sleep room and toilets. There is a fully enclosed garden area with a low impact surface. There is also a family room, and an office. The nursery will open from 7.30am until 7pm, five days a week, 51 weeks of the year, excluding bank holidays. The nursery will accept funding for free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery accepts children from three months old to five years and is able to accept older children up to the age of eight years during the school holidays. There are

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Information about the setting

currently 12 members of staff in post, nine of which hold an appropriate childcare qualification to level 3 or higher.

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

 consider ways to improve strategies to manage children's behaviour, so all adults are consistent and follow policy procedures

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who attend

Children settle quickly at the nursery and are keen to explore the exciting and stimulating play activities indoors and outdoors. Staff work with the parents to find out about each child's interests and stages of development. Staff know children well and have a good understanding of how children learn including ways to promote their learning and development. Staff carry out ongoing observations and use this information to plan activities so that they are of interest and relevant to the children. This is helping children move on to the next step in their development. There are assessment systems in place that enable staff to identify children's strengths and areas to develop. These are successful as they enable staff to organise specific learning activities to best support children's learning and development. Parents receive regular information about their child's progress and are encouraged to share their thoughts of their children by writing

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who attend

'wow' moments for the staff. Parents are invited to meet their key person regularly to go through their child's learning diary. There are resources that parents can borrow such as learning to use the toilet packs to use with their children. This enables parents to further support their child's learning at home. Strong partnerships with parents are well established. The staff are getting to know the local community and are working hard with parents to celebrate the diversity of the setting. For example, they teach children to count in Spanish and invite parents to share information about their home language. The quality of teaching is good and as a result children are making good progress in all areas of their learning and development. Children take part in a wide range of activities; staff are particularly skilled in promoting children's mathematical development. For example, while painting their hands and feet and printing on paper, they compare the size and shape of

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who attend

the marks and promote talk about how we get bigger. Children count their toes and fingers. Babies have great fun joining in a singing activity; the children giggle in excitement and join in with the songs and movements happily. Staff skilfully engage all children of different ages when playing in the garden and this supports children's social skills successfully. The garden offers children an opportunity to play with their siblings which promotes a family element and helps children feel happy and secure. Children have dens to play in; they share these spaces with their friends. The dens are spaces that children have social conversations and develop their communication skills. Children learn to take turns in conversation and listen to each other. Staff skilfully extend the older children by questioning them to encourage them to think deeper for example, 'what does it feel like?' and 'I wonder if it's sticky'. Staff are teaching children a good range of skills

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who attend

that will aid them in their future development. For example, they encourage them to count the number of children at welcome time and talk about the weather today and the days of the week. All children have access to sensory play activities. Some children investigate sand with different tools and others pop bubbles in the garden. Older children play board games and make up their own rules, such as, going backwards around the board. This allows children to be creative and make their own independent choices, which also develops their self-esteem. Staff organise activities to help promote children's reading and writing skills, such as, garden time where children make marks on the blackboards and quiet time when babies look at the pictures in books and listen to stories that staff read. Staff interact positively with children introducing vocabulary to build on children's language development and have additional strategies in place to that are effectively

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who attend

supporting children learning English as an additional language. For example, some staff use gestures alongside speech to help children understand the words being spoken. Pre- school staff also use pictures to help children follow the routine and they have these displayed on the board at children's height for them to use. This helps children that are learning English to be included. Consequently, children are confident communicators and they chat to their friends and confidently join in with group conversations.

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

Children build friendships with one another and play together well. Children are interested and occupied in play and as a result, they generally behave well. Staff are good role models for children, however they do not always use consistent behaviour management strategies, which means some children try to do things they should not be doing to test the boundaries. The key-person system is well established and works well to ensure that there is ongoing exchange of information between home and nursery to help ensure that children's individual needs are met. Parents have a good understanding of the role of the key person and they feel well supported and informed by their child's key person. The manager uses staff from other sites run by the same company to cover staff absence. This is an effective way of ensuring that there is continuity for the children and ensures that there is consistent practice from staff. As a result, children's emotional needs are being

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

well met. Settling-in sessions before children start helps them to feel confident in the nursery. Children spend time in the nursery with their parents and key person to help them to become familiar with the environment and build their confidence. Staff interact in a warm way with children, they always take time to listen and they provide cuddles and reassurance when children feel unwell or unsettled. They recognise when children are struggling to settle and work with parents to support the child to feel better. For example, by sharing tips using a communication diary, which gives children consistency at home and nursery. At mealtimes, staff sit with children, which makes it a social time as they talk to them about their morning, which develops children's conversational skills. Children have meals freshly cooked on the premises that promote healthy eating and a balanced diet. The meals provided suit all dietary requirements and all children eat the same meal, which

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

means they are not segregated and this promotes equal opportunities. Staff provide ideas to the chef about alternatives for young babies that are weaning. Staff encourage children to be independent. For example, wash their own hands before meals, serve their own food, and scrape their own plates. This helps children to be ready for school and helps them to develop good personal hygiene routines. Children are safe as staff are clear of their roles and responsibilities in order to keep a safe and secure environment. They have a range of policies and procedures in place and carry out regular risk assessments of the areas use by children. This significantly minimises hazards to children. Children move safely between different areas indoors and outdoors and are well supervised by staff. Staff use the garden well to ensure that children are getting fresh air and regular exercise, which benefits their health and well-being. Staff and children take part in regular fire drills

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

as a result, staff and children are clear of how to evacuate the premises safely.The nursery environment is well resourced and provides children with a wide range of good quality resources and play equipment. Toys and resources are organised well, clearly labelled and are stored in furniture at children's height, which means that they can access them freely and independently.

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provision

Staff have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding and welfare requirements. Staff are familiar with the nurseries safeguarding policy and have had training to help them identify any child protection issues promptly. All staff are clear about the procedures they must follow if they have any concerns about children in their care. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Parents are well informed of the nurseries policies and procedures and all of the required documentation is in place and well maintained to ensure that children are safe and secure.Staff have a secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. There are comprehensive systems in place, which includes observations, assessments and planning to support the staff in monitoring children's progress effectively. Key persons plan for their key children as they know them

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provision

best and can ensure that planning activities meet their interests and individual needs most effectively. The manager of the nursery and regional manager has responsibility for monitoring the delivery of the educational programme, which they do effectively. This means that children are well supported to make good progress. The staff team are well trained and highly enthusiastic and they work well together to ensure consistency for children. The regional manager, manager and staff team all demonstrate a drive for improvement. There are effective self-evaluation tools in place that allow the staff team to reflect on what is going well and what they want to develop further. The managers support staff well to ensure that they have regular opportunities to enhance their professional development. Staff receive regular and effective supervision, which provides them with opportunities to listen to feedback about their performance. Staff are clear

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provision

about their roles and responsibilities and are well updated of current issues. The nursery have completed detailed self-evaluation plans, which prioritise areas of development such as plans to overcome difficulties in children's irregular attendance. They regularly review systems to ensure that they are fit for purpose. Strong partnerships with parents, their link children's centre and others involved in children's care helps staff meet children's needs effectively. Staff have good links with the local schools and organise times to share information and visits to prepare the older children for the transition into school. The ongoing partnerships with parents is valued by all, they welcome this and use this as an opportunity to link children's experiences at home to those things they enjoy at nursery.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY471235 Local authority Bristol City Inspection number 942020 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 80 Number of children on roll 47 Name of provider Mama Bear's Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 0117 958 2030

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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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