The Grosvenor Day Nursery

The Grosvenor Day Nursery Church Hall, Grosvenor Place, Exeter, EX1 2HJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/07/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Relationships between adults and children in the nursery are warm and supportive, which means that children are well settled, calm and happy.  Staff treat children with attention and respect, so they are confident both to play independently and to approach adults for help or to engage in conversation.  The environment is spacious and appropriate for the children to use safely.  The provider has established a robust staff recruitment and induction process to help keep children safe.

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It is not yet good because

 The provider does not have fully effective arrangements to ensure that children are cared for in the required adult-to-child ratios so that children's needs are met well at all times.  Teaching is sometimes ineffective, because staff do not fully tailor their work to meet the needs of all of the children, and the provider's systems to monitor and develop the work of the staff are limited.  The provider has not ensured that the named deputy would be able to meet all the requirements in the case of the manager's absence, in particular, the requirements to provide a trained first aider at all times and for those handling food to have relevant training.  The children have too few outdoor play opportunities and staff do not actively work in partnership with local schools to help children as they prepare to move on to school.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children interacting in the nursery.  The inspector examined relevant documents, records and plans.  The inspector questioned staff and met the manager and owner.  The inspector questioned parents about their experience of the nursery.  The inspector invited the manager to carry out a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

The Grosvenor Day Nursery was registered in 2014 and is run by a partnership. The nursery operates from a converted church hall in Exeter, Devon. Children have access to an outdoor play area behind the adjacent church. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6.15pm all year around apart from bank holidays. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery has four staff, two of whom hold relevant qualifications at level three, one at level two and one in training. The nursery provides funded nursery education places for two-, three- and four-year-olds and supports children for whom English is an additional language. There are currently 19 children in the early years age range on roll.

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must:

 ensure that the deployment of staff is effective in maintaining suitable adult-to- child ratios to meet children's needs well at all times of the day

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must:

 monitor teaching and learning in the nursery to identify and address all weaknesses in practice, and focus on raising the quality of teaching so that indoor and outdoor activities are tailored to meet the needs of each individual child

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must:

 ensure that the named deputy is capable and qualified to meet all the requirements in the absence of the manager, including providing paediatric first aid cover and safe food handling.

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

 develop partnership working further to provide a cohesive approach to promoting children's individual needs and to help them as they prepare to move on to school.

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who attend

Teaching in the nursery is sound overall but does not always fully meet the learning needs of the range of children. This is because staff do not always plan variations or alternatives to their activities for those who are much younger or more capable. For example, staff planned activities about letters and sounds suitable for the older children, with no alternative planned for the babies or younger toddlers. The older children responded with interest to these simple activities about sounds. Some were able to suggest words beginning with the letter 'a' and found the letter on the wall chart. However, staff leading these activities did not take account of what things look like from the children's point of view when drawing letter shapes in the air. This did not give a clear demonstration to the children who were seeing the letter shape in reverse. The children are often cared for in one group with a wide age range, and one adult-led activity is planned for the day. The

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who attend

babies and toddlers are happy, confident, settled and secure, because the staff give them appropriate attention and affectionate support, but they do not always have access to their own room and resources. This limits their opportunities for learning. For example, in the book corner in the main room there are very few books suitable for babies and toddlers, and although there are a good number in the baby room they are not accessed when the children are cared for together. However, the babies have a lot of space to develop their rolling, crawling and toddling. Staff support them well in learning to feed themselves, allowing them to use their hands or offering spoons for them to practice eating with.

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who attend

Children's records show that they experience a range of suitable activities across the seven areas of learning, and records made over time are beginning to show that they are making appropriate progress. Children in the nursery are generally happy and confident. When a child is upset on arrival a key member of staff offers comfort and stays with them until they are happy to move away independently. The staff respond very well to what the children have to say and show interest in them. The older children in particular confidently play independently, using talk to create elaborate scenarios between them. They talk together and with adults freely, for example, approaching the inspector to ask why they are there. In their play they show awareness of things in the world around them, such as farms, and they use numbers spontaneously. For example, a child counted each note individually up to 11 while playing a xylophone. The staff provide suitable group activities

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who attend

which help the children to practise listening to an adult and following instructions, and also offer practice in using pencils. Some children show good skill in pencil control and drawing. This is all suitable preparation for moving on to school. The children are working within the typical range of development expected, but staff do not always plan activities that provide sufficient challenge to stretch the older children or support the youngest.

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who attend

The nursery includes some children who are learning English as an additional language. Staff try to use some of the home languages in nursery and are aware of the need to provide resources to support this. Staff give them an appropriate level of personal support and attention where needed.

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who attend

The provider has recently developed a suitable and safe outdoor area. However, staff do not always use it effectively to promote learning, because the resources available outdoors are limited and they do not take the children out to play every session. This means that children attending for half days may not always experience outdoor play during their session.

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who attend

Parents of children attending the nursery are happy with the level of verbal feedback which is offered to them every day, and with their child's activities at the nursery. Children's records show that parents are asked about their child when they start nursery and that the staff collect a suitable range of information, including children's likes and dislikes and interests to form the basis of their assessment records.

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

The contribution of the nursery to the well-being of children is sound overall. The staff focus their attention on the children and generally offer them an appropriate level of care and attention. There is a clear, established key person system and in this small nursery all of the children are well-known to all of the staff. Children go to adults with confidence and their care needs are met effectively. During the inspection the required adult-to-child ratios were not met for a short period of time at the beginning of the day. However, such times are of short duration and staff maintain the children's safety, so the failure to meet the requirement does not have a significant impact and children are not at risk.

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

The staff have established a supportive atmosphere and the children respond with settled and calm behaviour. During the inspection there were no instances of less appropriate behaviour in the small group. When a younger child unintentionally disrupted a game being played by older children they were tolerant and forgiving. The provider has also ensured that staff are aware of their responsibilities to safeguard children and the staff know what they should do in the case of having concerns about a child's safety.

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

Babies and toddlers are safe and staff care for them conscientiously, for example, they sit close to children when feeding them in highchairs and give them full attention. They encourage babies to begin to feed themselves, and they change nappies promptly and follow appropriate hygiene procedures. When babies and children are cared for in the main room with older children staff sometimes leave them to their own devices for short periods because staff are focusing on the other children. The babies are safe and happy but this limits their opportunities for constructive adult intervention and because their specific resources are in the other room, sometimes limits their opportunities for exploration and learning.

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

The provider ensures that food offered is healthy, for example, the children have fruit snacks and the staff encourage the children to drink water at frequent intervals, particularly during the hot weather. Staff teach the children about healthy living, for example they encourage the children to wash their own hands and they join in and dance with them, acting as role models for movement and exercise. Children do not always have regular outdoor play opportunities.

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

Children moving between age groups in the nursery are well catered for, because this is a very small group and all of the children know all of the staff well, so there are no abrupt changes within the nursery. Links with schools are not well established and this does not help support children transferring to reception. However, children are confident and independent because staff treat them with care and respect and this is a good foundation for moving on to school.

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provision

The management team understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard the children and meet their needs, but some contingency arrangements are not sufficiently robust. There is a named deputy, but in the event of the manager being absent the deputy is not capable and qualified to provide first-aid cover or safe food handling as required, because the manager is the only person qualified in these areas. No other staff are first-aid trained This means that the deputy could not safely continue the provision in line with the requirements if the manager were to be absent. In addition, the manager does not plan staff deployment effectively enough to ensure that there are always sufficient staff to meet the required adult-to-child ratios at all times.

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provision

The provider has recently installed shades for the high level windows to reduce the temperature in the building and has also installed a fan system to change the air and keep the children comfortable in the hot weather. This shows that they are aware of their responsibilities in meeting children's needs and keeping them safe in the current hot summer. However, they have not given enough consideration to the provision of regular outdoor play.

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provision

The manager works alongside all of the staff with the children, and they discuss their approach to the work. However, she does not rigorously monitor teaching in the nursery overall or the teaching of individual staff, or coach staff to improve practice. This curtails the rate of improvements that can be made in teaching and learning. The nursery is moving from a paper system for recording children's achievements to an electronic system. The older paper records show that staff are conscientious in recording children's achievements and progress and the manager is working to develop the electronic system so that all records can be shared more easily with parents and carers via email. This shows an intention and capability to identify and drive forward improvements in the work of the nursery. The records show that children have made appropriate progress and enable staff to identify any gaps in the children's learning. The provider is aware of the

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provision

need to arrange staff training, particularly in first aid, food hygiene and managing children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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provision

The manager has established good relationships with parents and is working to make information about their children's activities more easily accessible to them through the electronic recording system that is newly in place. She has carried out parent questionnaires and in response to their comments has increased the time spent on helping older children to learn about letters and sounds. The manager is aware of her responsibility to work with other professionals, such as physiotherapists, to support children and is developing links with other agencies such as social services.

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provision

The provider has established a good system for checking new staff and inducting them into the work of the nursery to help ensure that children are safe. Overall, the provider and manager have a good awareness of their responsibilities but have not established fully effective contingency arrangements or sufficiently rigorous systems to monitor and develop the teaching in the nursery.

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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 EY472686 Local authority Devon Inspection number 952837 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 19 Name of provider The Grosvenor Day Nursery Partnership Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07753 313029

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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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