Growing Places @ Oakmeadow

Oakmeadow Childcare Centre Oakmeadow Early Years Centre, Tewkesbury Avenue, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15 6LL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/07/2014 09/11/2010

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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

 Staff provide a very wide variety of active indoor and outdoor learning opportunities and this enables children to rapidly manage their own safety as they negotiate small risks and hazards during their play.  Staff enable children to increase their confidence through making independent choices and this effectively enables children to extend their experiences and follow natural challenges during their play.  There are high ratios of staff working to support children and strong levels of team work, and information sharing promote good relationships at all levels.  Partnerships with parents are well-developed and effectively maintained through clear information sharing and strong support for families.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always limit the number of children taking part in an activity and this affects younger children's ability to understand about taking turns and building relationships.

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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 showed identification documents on arrival.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector explained the reason for the inspection and agreed inspection protocol and timescales.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed all areas and spoke with staff and children, also with the group manager and parents.  The inspector observed activities and viewed a range of documentation.

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Information about the setting

Oak Meadow Day Nursery and Child Care Centre is part of Community Childcare Centres that is a non-profit making registered charity. It opened in 2003 and operates from premises within Oak Meadow Children's Centre in Fareham, Hampshire. The nursery is open each weekday from 8 am to 6 pm for 51 weeks a year. The Childcare centre provides occasional creche facilities, a breakfast and after-school club and a holiday playscheme that operates from the site. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 177 children on roll, of these 114 are within the early years age range. The centre serves children from the local and surrounding communities. Babies and children under two-years-old have separate indoor and outdoor facilities. All other early years children share rooms and access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas. School age

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Information about the setting

children also have dedicated indoor and outdoor play space. Children attend the centre for a variety of sessions and the nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff also support children who are learning English as an additional language. The nursery employs 20 members of staff. Of these, 17 have appropriate early years qualifications and the manager has achieved her Early Years Professional Status. The setting receives support from a group manager who also holds Early Years Professional status. There are regular visits from two male colleagues who are responsible for developing physical opportunities for all, with a focus on boys development and closing achievement gaps.

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

 develop further opportunities for younger children to build relationships and understand each other's feelings by reviewing the organisation and number of children taking part in activities.

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who attend

All staff continually engage with children during activities and routines. This effectively promotes children's understanding and provides strong opportunities for increasing children's development. Children enthusiastically choose from a wide range of activities during indoor and outdoor play and they often follow staff ideas for role play spontaneously. For example, staff encourage children to take part in a pretend bear hunt in the wooded area. Children keenly listen to staff describing what will happen next and they show high levels of involvement and excitement in following the actions. They learn to tiptoe and use actions to pretend to walk through long grass and swampy areas. Children show how capable they are by extending their physical abilities and naturally challenging themselves. For example, children climb the low trees, learn to balance and jump. In other outdoor areas children sit comfortably to listen to stories, they are eager to

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who attend

read with staff and use the pictures to follow the story. Children are keen to paint and they capably use dialogue to explain they are painting a model which will become a butterfly. Staff encourage children's creativity and imaginary play scenarios. For example, when children talk about going to the doctor to make themselves better staff organise a doctor's surgery with them. Staff then talk to the children about the doctors and what they are doing. Consequently, children respond and use speech and language well to show they are increasing their understanding of the wider world. Staff encourage children to draw pictures from real life objects and children show interest in the caterpillars they have available. They use magnifying glasses to study these and they learn the butterfly's life cycle through conversation and using reference books with staff. Staff plan and organise activities fully to meet the different ages of children attending. For example, younger

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who attend

children have opportunities to experience and handle spaghetti in a quieter atmosphere. Staff recognise that this sensory play enables children to develop the feel of textures and learn to use words to describe this. Staff explain that older children can take responsibility for adding and mixing colours to the pasta, and they can make patterns and letter shapes. In this way staff can adapt many activities to meet the age of children attending and encourage their learning.

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who attend

Babies and toddlers have well-organised and planned activities and resources to enable them to develop in their learning. Staff ensure that there is equal indoor and outdoor play choice and children take part in music and movement sessions. They learn how to make simple puzzles with staff. Staff ensure that there waterproofs and wellington boots available for children to use so they can go out in all weather. All children enjoy playing with water in the outdoor area. In this way toddlers and mobile babies have a variety of experiences to increase their early learning skills. Staff continually record very clear information to show how children make progress. They use their observations and awareness of individual children's achievements to plan effectively for children's learning across all nursery rooms. Staff complete regular summaries of all children's ongoing achievements and they use the areas of learning well to measure children's progress. This

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who attend

includes a summary assessment for parents when children are between two- and three- years-old. There are meticulously planned processes for younger children to transfer to the older age group and children visit and join in play sessions many times. Staff use their knowledge of children's development and plan in advance with parents to introduce and organise their moves through the provision and on to school. The management have recently introduced computerised systems to monitor the progress of all children attending and in this way to accurately measure specific areas of the provision and identify any gaps in children's learning.

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who attend

Staff show high levels of initiative when helping children who are learning English as an additional language. They work with parents to write and pronounce words in children's home language, and effectively link words with pictures to depict the meaning. Staff also use photographs and record children's voices to encourage parents to share and promote children's new language at home. Consequently, children show competent skills of sharing information with each other as they increase their understanding of English. Parents have a range of flexible options for organising their children's care and they are welcomed into the nursery at any time during the day. The manager provides ample information and keeps parents up-to-date with specific and relevant details following any events. Parents have good opportunities to increase their knowledge and understanding of how their children learn. Staff encourage them to attend many of the wider stay and play

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who attend

sessions, or events planned through the nursery group. In this way staff and parents fully maintain and strengthen their relationships. There are well-formed links with the school on the same site and the head teacher visits prior to children's transfer. Children show growing confidence and clear skills of managing independently, and they fully understand when and where they will attend school.

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

The older nursery room has well-planned family 'pod' groups where children have a base area. This contributes strongly to children's sense of belonging. There are high ratios of staff to children across the nursery and throughout all activities and daily routines. This means that staff supervise children well. This also reassures children as they gain independence and increases their trust as they form strong attachments. The family group 'pods' have more than one key person responsible and this encourages children in all age ranges to build their relationships across different staff. Staff are closely involved with children's play and they readily follow imaginary play ideas, using their knowledge of individual children to extend activities. Staff vary activities throughout the session and introduce fresh resources at times to motivate and stimulate children. They continually use suitable questions and interaction with children of all ages. The freedom to choose

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

activities for most of the session motivates children's growing independence and fully encourages their confidence. Staff are successfully deployed at all times during activities and this promotes positive behaviour. For example, staff remind children to follow the rules for tidying up and how to keep themselves and their friends safe. Staff readily offer praise to raise children's self-esteem.

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

All children have a very wide selection of activities and resources to encourage their all- round development. These are organised across the provision in separate adjoining rooms and especially in the ample outdoor provision. Children show they are building relationships with each other when they develop role-play ideas and communicate well. However at times too many children play in the large sand pit and this prevents some younger children understanding and following their own ideas. Children respond well to staff requests for tidying their play equipment and following the nursery rules for safety. The high levels of engagement between staff and children fully promote positive relationships and enable all children to gain an understanding of how to manage their own behaviour.

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

Children have ample daily outdoor physical exercise to encourage a healthy lifestyle. They are continually active and often very engrossed in gaining strength and increasing their physical movements. For example, children very capably use the outdoor water pump to fill containers and carry these. They learn to negotiate the paths and different surfaces well. They climb the trees and eagerly take part in an improvised obstacle course, showing increasing skills of balance and flexibility. Staff promote children's health at meal times and the family 'pod' system enables staff to effectively supervise children and encourage them to learn about healthy foods. Children have a water cooler for constant drinks and they capably help themselves throughout their play. They also drink water at lunchtimes and in this way staff ensure children have continual fluids in hot weather. There are clear notices displayed for all younger children attending and these show children's individual

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

daily routines. All nappy changing procedures for individual children are recorded and staff share the information with parents at collection time.

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

The nursery group have introduced and successfully included special physical activities for older boys. These children use the nearby school playing fields to take part in specific physical sessions to widen their expertise and provide a strong focus for following instructions, and increasing their capabilities. Visiting staff from across the nursery provision have initiated this and there is a strong male influence in gaining the response from older boys. Staff explain how this regular practice has fully engaged children and reflected positively in their behaviour and increased confidence. Children eagerly explain this is their favourite time.

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

Staff complete risk assessments and promote safety throughout all activities and routines, and they encourage children to understand about risks and hazards. For example, they remind children to return all the wheeled toys to the parking places. Children can also only ride these mobile toys in one area to maintain safety. Staff remind children to face forward when using the slide to prevent falling, and staff hold hands when younger children want to practise on the obstacle course. Throughout all activities and across the age range, staff enable children to take small risks and in this way children learn effectively how to manage their own safety. Staff provide suitable clothing and spare boots, and encourage children to use all outdoor activities throughout all seasons. Staff build children's knowledge and gain their support throughout the daily routines.

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provision

The nursery management team implement very well-organised systems to share information and promote team work. The high ratios of staff working with the children ensure that there is effective supervision of children. In addition, staff cover and support each other and this results in good relationships at all levels. Most staff are qualified and all staff have a secure understanding of how children learn through play. The key person clearly follows the systems in place for observing and recording children's achievements. They use the daily team meetings effectively to share information and plan learning opportunities. There are dedicated systems currently being included to monitor children's progress overall and to analyse the impact of the wider provision on children's individual development.

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provision

There are rigorous procedures implemented for safeguarding children, and for checking the suitability of staff and students to work with children. Once employed, staff sign every year to confirm there are no changes to their suitability. There is a fully planned induction system and annual appraisals take place for all staff. The nursery maintains high levels of staff continuity and this promotes strongly shared aspirations for the children attending. All staff complete training in child protection and they show a responsible understanding of their duty to raise any concerns about children. Staff follow the daily risk assessment processes to provide a safe and secure environment. They follow well-organised routines for deployment and have clearly designated daily responsibilities. Staff clearly recognise that younger children learn to negotiate many small hazards during their play and their independent routines, and they know that this increases children's ability to manage.

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provision

There are thorough systems for recording all accidents and treatment provided and for administering medication. Parents are informed and sign the recorded details. Staff list all accidents recorded to form part of the risk assessment process and these are all acknowledged with a parental signature.

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provision

All documentation to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are implemented. The manager has clear information to show the previous evaluation of strengths and weaknesses. This resulted in an action plan and many improvements to raise the quality of the provision have followed. There is ample evidence to show how staff liaise with other agencies and in the local community. There are wider systems to engage families across the nursery group and this fully benefits all children and families attending.

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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 EY258696 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 980192 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 177 Name of provider Community Childcare Centres Date of previous inspection 09/11/2010 Telephone number 01329 849 349

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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

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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