Littluns Day Care

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/06/2014 08/12/2010

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Effective planning, interventions, and evaluation of activities ensure there is a consistent approach to teaching and learning. This enables staff to identify the most important areas for improvement in relation to children's learning and progress.  Children make good progress towards the early learning goals given their starting points, their individual needs, and length of time at the setting.  Care practices are effective in helping children feel emotionally secure and learning how to behave in a positive, friendly and trusting manner.  Staff supervision and on-going professional development is effective and has a strong impact on children's well-being and learning and development.  The manager places a high priority on working with parents to meet the individual needs of all the children in her care.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always encourage parents to contribute or acknowledge the information shared in their children's daily communication books, developmental records and termly reports to improve the effectiveness of partnerships and continuity in children's learning.  The management team and staff are not yet effectively linking into other settings and professionals to learn from their experience, and to use this to help identify and prioritise new ideas for improvement.

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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 a wide range of activities across all areas of the setting and talked with staff and children about what they were doing.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documents and procedures relating to safeguarding, staffing, supervision, risk assessment, equal opportunities and health and safety, and checked a selection of other policies.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of children's records, the setting's systems for planning, evaluation, and exchanging information with parents and external professionals.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the leadership team and conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Littluns Day Care registered in 2010, although it has been operating since 2007 on the childminders registration. It operates primarily from a suite of purpose built rooms within the grounds of the owner's home, which is situated in a residential road in Camberley in Surrey. Babies and toddlers are based in a large chalet playroom with an enclosed veranda at the bottom of the garden. Children have access to fully enclosed gardens for outside play. The setting is located within walking distance of parks and shops. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 28 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. Littluns operates four days a week, Monday to Thursday, from 7.30am to 6pm throughout the year. It closes for the period between Christmas and the New Year and for all Bank holidays. Children may attend for a variety of sessions. The setting welcomes

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Information about the setting

children with special educational needs and/or disabilities although access to the baby room is via steps. A total of seven staff, including the owner/manager, work with the children. With the exception of the apprentice, all staff hold relevant early years qualifications.

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

 review and strengthen systems to engage all parents in their children's learning

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

 develop links with other early years centres to see and discuss excellent practice and build up a professional support network to enhance staff and children's learning and development.

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who attend

Staff are good at meeting the needs of the range of children who attend this attractive and well-organised setting. Staff provide a wide range of interesting experiences which link with all areas of learning and development. Children of all ages enjoy songs and rhymes throughout the day. Enthusiastic staff help young children learn to listen and respond to rhythm as they move their bodies in time with songs. Older children learn to anticipate the next line, make up their own rhymes, and sing out with confidence in front of their friends. Their growing competence and readiness for school is evident as they quite independently sing the alphabet song, while hoping from one square to another, outdoors. Older children make up stories together using small props, which rhyme or share an initial letter. They understand the concepts of adding one more, or taking an item away as they engage with books, puzzles and games. Staff add a wide range of baby

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who attend

care items to a role-play area so children with younger siblings may act out their own experiences. Children practise and play out the skills they have seen others do at home, represent their own thoughts and feelings, and develop stories with friends. Staff give children time to follow, explore and investigate their own lines of thinking. This helps them find new ways to do things, review and rethink strategies, and make predictions to support their future learning skills. Children are keen and enthusiastic learners, and eager to join in with, or develop, the opportunities staff prepare for them. Consequently, they make good progress towards the early learning goals and are well prepared for their future learning and school.

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who attend

Staff meet with parents to establish clear baseline information on children's care routines, needs and achievements prior to their start at the setting. Each child's key person uses this information to plan activities that will quickly engage children, and then add tasks that are more challenging. Staff observe how children learn and play, what they can achieve independently, and what they might be able to do with a little more support. They have high expectations for children and design education programmes that are constantly moving children forward in their learning. Staff planning, interventions, and evaluation of activities ensure there is a consistent approach to teaching and learning across the setting. This enables staff to identify the most important areas for improvement and build on children's interests. It also highlights the rate of children's progress, any gaps in their learning and areas where they excel and need further stimulation. As a result, staff quickly

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who attend

identify when children require more help or a new teaching strategy. Therefore, staff generally meet children's individual needs effectively.

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who attend

Staff prepare written progress checks and children's next steps in development to share and discuss with parents on a termly basis. However, parents rarely sign these reports to confirm they are part of the process or add comments on how their children's learning and development can, or does, link with their achievements at home. This means that despite the setting's clear focus on preparing children for their next steps in learning current strategies do not effectively enhance continuity of learning and progress for all children. Nonetheless, partnerships with parents are very strong when it comes to supporting children's well-being.

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

Staff complete daily diaries for babies and for older children, which detail their care routines and key activities across the day. Parents say they are pleased to receive this information as it helps to maintain consistency of care across settings. An initial exchange of information on children's likes and dislikes, needs and preferences underpins the role of the key person. Staff provide a secure and reassuring presence, and give children the confidence they need to explore many exciting opportunities at the setting. Parents say their children enjoy coming to preschool, and generally settle quickly at drop off times. Children make strong relationships with staff and have a stable foundation on which to build new attachments and friendships. Children's behaviour across the setting is generally very good. Staff work consistently to establish clear boundaries so children know what to expect and how to behave. Staff also

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

provide a wealth of interesting activities to captivate children's attention indoors and outdoors. The baby and toddler cabin includes an enclosed balcony with a playhouse and enough floor space for little ones to crawl, pull themselves up, walk, and scoot on small sit on toys. Staff encourage older children to move freely between their playrooms and patio for large parts of the day. Children are able to choose between sand, water, sensory play, musical instruments, role-play and many other resources spread across the indoor and outdoor environments. Consequently, children master their small muscle control while handling small tools, judging measurement and capacity. Staff foster children's imaginations and creativity, as much outside as they do inside. Staff also challenge children's physical skills in the enclosed wooded play area at the bottom of the garden. For example, children learn to climb, swing and balance, feed the birds, and hunt for insects.

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

The manager creates a wonderful balance of meeting all the needs of the children and their parents, within her relaxed and welcoming home environment.

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

All staff are good role models; they play alongside the children encouraging them to strengthen their communication and vocabulary skills with adults, and with their peers. Consequently, children are confident communicators who are happy and enjoy what they are doing. Throughout the sessions, staff use mirrors fixed at appropriate heights to assist children as they explore their facial expressions when discussing emotions. This helps children stop and think about their actions and how they may behave in a positive, friendly and trusting manner. Staff find amicable ways of resolving conflict when it occurs. They use sand timers to give the children time to think about their actions and to reflect, or to reinforce taking turns and sharing. Staff also use a variety of visual reminders, such as, smiley faces and 'star of the day' with the children to promote and reinforce positive behaviours. Children learn positive ways of behaving and can be seen modelling these

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

strategies as they welcome younger children into their group. Staff help children learn to assess and manage risks appropriate to their ages, such as, learning to use scissors safely. Children's safety is staff's highest priority and staff are able to demonstrate that daily working practices help to keep children safe from harm.

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

Staff encourage children to learn to be independent in managing their personal needs relative to their age. For example, children find and put on their shoes and wellington boots, which staff keep by the outside door. As children move freely between the inside and outside learning environments this helps them become actively involved in their learning and prepares them for their move on to school. Staff prepare children well for the changes they experience within the setting, and as they join other ventures in their community. Toddlers make smooth moves up to the preschool room as staff plan times when they meet older children. For example, younger children eat and play together in the preschool rooms to make them familiar with these areas before they move up. A few children attend a second early years placement and staff from both settings work together to exchange information with each other and with parents. Children tend to move on to

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

one of two local primary schools. During the summer term staff welcome in staff from each of the schools so they meet the children in an environment where they are confident and, by that time, relatively independent. Staff prepare children well socially and emotionally for change and this includes their move on to school.

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provision

The roles of the manager and her deputy are clearly established and they work well together. The manager has built a lively and effective nursery, and preschool setting from a small childminding business. Her deputy has worked alongside her and has recently completed a degree in early years education. Together, and with a caring and able team supporting them, they continue to aim to improve achievements for all the children across the setting.

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provision

The manager and her deputy understand and implement the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage effectively. Good systems are in place to monitor and revise the education programmes for children. These ensure that activities have sufficient breadth, depth and challenge, and reflect the needs, aptitudes, and interests of all children. Monitoring is effective enough to ensure that planning and assessment are precise enough for early intervention. Managers also evaluate the activities they prepare for children and adapt their teaching accordingly. Between them, the staff have very little experience of working in other settings and, therefore, are not always effective at knowing what local services and expertise are available when identifying further areas for improvement. The manager encourages and supports her staff in pursuing opportunities for their continuing professional development. This helps raise standards across the setting as staff reflect,

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provision

question and introduce new ideas. The manager also embraces local authority support and guidance. Ideas for improvement from a recent review of the preschool area, along with advice from the Early Years Advisory Teacher are already in action. The quality of provision is improving for all children and leadership now seek to 'raise the bar' even higher. This demonstrates a strong capacity to drive continual improvement.

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provision

The management team clearly understands the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All staff receive training in the Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures so that they are up-to-date with current legislation and guidance. A comprehensive child protection policy and fortnightly staff meeting reinforces their understanding and supports staff as they keep children safe from risk of harm and neglect. The manager implements and shares policies and procedures about the use of cameras, and the sharing of images through social network sites. Regular reminders and annual signed agreements remind all staff, parents, and carers not to share images of other people's children on other sites. Procedures for vetting, recruitment, induction, and supervision of staff all help to ensure staff are and continue to be suitable to work with young children. Regular supervision includes support, coaching and training for staff and

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provision

promotes the interests of children. Systems for performance management are also effective and link staff training needs with improvements for targeted groups of children.

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provision

All mandatory documentation for the safe management of the setting is implemented and there are procedures in place to monitor this. A clear system is in place to log the expected and actually daily attendance of all children on the premises. The setting has clear and well-understood policy and procedures for assessing any risks to children's safety, and reviews risk assessments regularly. As a result, staff do everything possible to make and keep the environment safe for children. The setting has written policy and procedures for administering medicines including records for permission for emergency medical advice or treatment, non-prescribed and prescribed medicines. With the exception of the apprentice, all staff have completed recent training in first aid and they keep and share clear written records of accidents, injuries, and first-aid treatment with parents. Staff maintain a record of evacuation drills, where they log two practises each term.

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provision

Evacuation drill practises occur at different times and on different days of the week to ensure all children experience the drill, and all staff cover all areas of the setting. Parents report they are very happy with the setting. They feel their children are in a safe place and that they are extremely well supported by the staff. Parents appreciate the opportunity to attend six weekly coffee mornings where they meet their children's friends and their parents. They commend the staff for their dedication to their children and for giving them a solid and caring base for all future development.

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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 EY412496 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 816389 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childcare - Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 28

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Telephone number

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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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