Little Dragons Nursery

Little Dragons 57-59 Bath Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 2BA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/07/2014 06/09/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 4 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

 Children make good progress as the staff provide and plan a good range of interesting and enjoyable activities that support children's learning and development well.  Staff ensure children's care and welfare needs are met. Children are happy in a safe environment and enjoy strong relationships with the nursery staff.  Evaluation of practice is effective. The nursery has identified what it needs to do to bring about improvement.  There are good partnerships with parents and the management demonstrates a positive attitude to working with other settings and professionals.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The older children do not currently have enough choice about when to access the outdoor area, which hinders the development of some children who learn best outside.  Children's mathematical development sometimes lacks challenge as staff do not consistently use language which supports their understanding of shape, space and measure.

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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 children's activities and staff interaction with them.  The inspector spoke to staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at relevant documentation including information about staff recruitment systems and some policies and procedures.  The inspector took into consideration parental views through discussion.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Little Dragons opened in 2003. It operates from a purpose built modular building in the grounds of the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust premises in Reading, Berkshire. The nursery has three base rooms including a pre-school room, older toddler room and baby/young toddler room. There is an outside play area for the children to access. The nursery operates every weekday from 7.30am to 6pm all year. There are currently 95 children on roll. The nursery receives support from the local authority and receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. It serves the local community and currently supports children who are learning English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are twenty four members of staff working with the children; of these, twenty one staff have relevant early years qualifications. One member of staff has gained Early Years

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Information about the setting

Professional Status. The nursery also supports a number of apprentices who are working towards gaining their qualifications. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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

 develop further the access to the outdoor area for the blue room to support those children who learn better outside

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

 introduce more mathematical language about the names of shapes, colours and numbers during play and planned activities.

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who attend

Children benefit from the good quality of teaching and learning across the nursery. Staff are knowledgeable about the learning and development requirements and provide worthwhile activities for ages of children. This in turn supports the children's emerging learning and development. Children are confident in their surroundings and enjoy the good quality toys and resources on offer. Staff regularly adapt and change these to maintain children's interest. For example, when playing with the water the toddler children enjoy washing and hanging clothes out to dry and experimenting with how far the water will squirt with the use of syringes. This successfully engages the children in purposeful activities to aid their small physical skills and understanding of technology. Children throughout the nursery enjoy singing time and stories. Staff read stories with enthusiasm to support children's listening and communication skills. Staff ask pre-school

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who attend

children about what they think will happen next in the story, to aid children's speaking skills and imaginations. Staff in the baby room support the children's sensory development well by providing a good range of resources to coincide with their play. This includes items such as leaves on the dinosaur's island and coloured paper. These good quality resources support their senses and imaginations as they play.

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who attend

Children all benefit from free play in the garden, which supports their learning and development. The babies have their own area to keep them safe, and staff adorn this area with age appropriate resources. The toddlers and pre-school children enjoy free play in the garden. Staff support their creativity as children draw and form letters with chalks on the floor, and listen to stories in the sunshine. Other children enjoy energetic play as they re-enact well-known stories. Staff support children's imagination of building houses through the use of crates and bricks. Children have a good amount of space to play and enjoy developing their physical skills as they climb the large apparatus and explore within the tyres and playhouses. Although the toddler and preschool children have an area where they can freely move into the garden, the pre-school children are not always fully able to access this area. This is due to ongoing refurbishments and

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who attend

means that there are fewer opportunities for children who learn best outside to enhance their learning.

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who attend

Children develop good skills to help them to become ready for school. For example, they are encouraged to choose their own resources and have good support with learning letters and sounds. This prepares them well for school. Staff successfully recognise children's achievements and departure from nursery through 'graduation celebrations'. Children wear gowns and hats for a parade and receive a certificate of achievement from the staff. This promotes children's self-confidence unconditionally as parents cheer and applause them. Children's readiness for school is promoted well through role-play, such as school uniforms for dressing up. This helps children learn to manage fastenings and buttons with support from staff. This supports their good skills for the future as they become independent in their self-care.

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who attend

Staff support and encourage children well overall to use mathematical skills through everyday routines. For example, staff sing number songs with the children to aid their understanding and accuracy of number sequencing. They encourage children to count how many steps they have climbed on the slide. However, children have fewer opportunities to develop their understanding of shapes, measure and space, as staff at times miss opportunities to discuss these with them. Staff demonstrate a strong understanding of their roles and responsibilities to promote, support and enhance children's learning and development. They have a good system of observation and assessments and use photographic evidence, and varying methods of observation recording to support children's learning and overall achievements. Staff in the toddler room complete a check for those children aged between two and three years old. This

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who attend

shows how the children's development is emerging and progressing over the three prime areas. Staff successfully share information with parents so that they can support children's learning at home. The parents receive informal, ongoing feedback from staff and regularly attend parent evenings to give them a continued involvement in the progress their children are making. This productively supports continuity of care.

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

Children are happy, settled and contented at the nursery. They benefit from a calm environment and relaxing atmosphere that aids their personal, social and emotional development. Children form good relationships with the staff and staff demonstrate that they know their individual key children very well. Parents share information about children's routines, preferences and dislikes upon starting the nursery. This allows the staff a secure awareness of each child's individual need, prior to them starting at the nursery, which in turn enables them to plan purposefully for the children. This contributes to their feeling of security. Children's behaviour is good. Older children are respectful of each other and all children form good friendships with each other. Staff aid children's self- confidence and self-esteem through a good use of praise and encouragement. In addition, the nursery environment is inviting and welcoming with photographs and children's

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

artwork on display. Children demonstrate a good understanding of safety, for example, they talk about using the tools on the dough table safely and remind each other to be careful when running and climbing outside. The staff promote children's safety through discussions and topics such as, people who help us and through regularly practising fire drills. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and understand the importance of hand washing before meals, and after using the toilet. Good hygiene procedures are in place to prevent the spread of infection. The nursery provides well-balanced and nutritious snacks and meals. All children enjoy meals and older children develop their independence as they assist in serving their meals and pouring their drinks. This helps children to be more independent and ready for the change to school. Meals times are a sociable occasion, which enables children to get to know each other and discuss how food and drink is

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

healthy for them. Children have daily opportunities to be active in the outdoor area.

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provision

The leadership team has a good understanding of their responsibilities to meet the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They give a high priority to safety, with staff undertaking daily visual safety checks indoors and out. This ensures that the environment where children play is safe and secure for the children. Staff understand their responsibilities for safeguarding children because they have all received training and are aware of the action to take should they have any concerns about the safety of children. Secure recruitment procedures are followed and all staff are checked for their suitability to work with young children. In addition, there are effective procedures to induct, monitor and appraise staff to ensure they are committed to their role in enhancing and promote outcomes for children. Staff work well together as a team and show a strong commitment to the nursery. Self-

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provision

evaluation systems are effective and successfully highlight strengths and areas for future improvement.The leadership team has acted proactively since their last inspection and undergone a significant amount of change. This has led to staff changes and reflection on documentation. This has had a significant impact on drive for improvement and children's wellbeing and learning and development. Staff in all rooms have a quality improvements folder, which enables them to reflect upon their practice and bring about positive changes to enhance children's learning and development. Parents benefit from verbal communication and a good range of information. For example, there are notice boards displaying information about the nursery and the Early Years Foundation Stage. Parents spoken to at the nursery were complimentary about the nursery and staff. The nursery has developed strong links with other professionals involved in children's care. This

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provision

promotes a consistent approach to meeting children's care and learning needs.

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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 EY263914 Local authority Reading Inspection number 963177 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 64 Number of children on roll 95 Name of provider Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust Date of previous inspection 06/09/2013 Telephone number 01189 585316

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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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