Sunflowers Nursery Limited

Sunflowers Nursery Limited Sunflowers Day Nursery, Cobblers Way, RADSTOCK, BA3 3BX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30/07/2014 29/07/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff follow children's lead in play and challenge their learning so they make good progress.  Staff are positive role models for children. The use of consistent behaviour management strategies mean children behave exceptionally well and have highly effective social skills.  Staff listen to children, they teach them new vocabulary and use skilful questioning techniques to extend their language and communication skills.  The nursery promotes inclusion for all, this means that all children and families have equal opportunities to play, learn and develop.  The leadership team promotes staff development through regular training and supervision, which improves the teaching and outcomes for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Activities and learning experiences planned for children do not always reflect their current interests and achievements at home.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playrooms and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection and of the provider's self-evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with the manager and deputy of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector completed a joint observation with the deputy manager of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Sunflowers Day Nursery has been registered since 1997, but re-registered under new ownership in 2004. The nursery operates from a purpose-built building, which is situated in the town of Radstock, Bath and North East Somerset. The nursery is arranged into two areas, the Ladybird and Caterpillar room, of these, one room is for babies up until two years of age and one room is for children aged between two-to-five years. Both rooms are on the ground floor with toilet, kitchen and sleeping facilities available. All children share access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas. The nursery is open each weekday from 8.30am to 5.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. Children attending the nursery are mainly from the local area and surrounding villages. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free nursery education. The nursery supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those for which

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Information about the setting

English is an additional language. Currently, there are 93 children on roll in the early years age group. Joint partners privately own the nursery and employ 17 members of staff to care for the children and two domestic staff. Of the staff working directly with the children, 14 hold appropriate early years qualifications to level 3 or above and two are working towards qualifications in childcare.

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

 further enhance the systems for parents to share their children's current interests and achievements at home and use these to inform the planning of children's activities.

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who attend

Children settle quickly at the nursery and are keen to explore the interesting and stimulating play activities both indoors and outdoors. Staff work with the parents when they first start to find about each child's interests and stages of development. Staff know children well and have a good understanding of how they learn and how to promote their learning and development. Staff carry out ongoing observations and use this information to plan activities so that they are of interest and relevant to the children. This is helping children move on to the next step in their development. There are assessment systems in place that enable staff to identify children's strengths and areas to develop. These are successful, as they enable staff to organise specific learning activities to best support children's learning and development. Parents receive regular information about their child's progress but they are not always encouraged to share their thoughts of their

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who attend

children from home. Parents are invited to meet their key person at times throughout the year to go through their child's learning journal. Overall, partnerships with parents are well established. Staff get to know children's wider family members and work hard to offer useful advice to parents. For example, they offer some support with parenting in children's own homes.

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who attend

Staff follow children's lead in play and pay attention to their ideas and interests. The quality of teaching is good and as a result, children are making good progress in all areas of their learning and development. Children take part in a wide range of activities; staff are particularly skilled in promoting children's communication and language development. For example, staff and children role play in a pirate ship, they play imaginatively and the staff member asks children open questions such as 'where are you taking us' and 'what are we going to do?' This triggers children to share their imaginative ideas and think deeper. Babies and toddlers have great fun joining in an activity called 'I've got something in my box' where the children giggle in excitement and join in with the songs and movements happily. Staff introduce interesting objects to the children, which captures their interest such as a wind-up hopping kangaroo, which they enjoy watching so much

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who attend

that they ask for 'more' and 'again'. The staff use this as an opportunity to teach children new vocabulary as they model the words for children to use independently. For example, children pop bubbles and say 'pop' and staff extend this by modelling language such as 'bubble bubble bubble pop'. Staff skilfully engage all children of different ages and this supports children's social skills successfully.

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who attend

Staff organise activities to help promote children's social skills, such as, gathering time where all children's names are held up one by one, which teaches them to recognise their name in print, therefore, developing their reading skills in preparation for school. Each child is greeted 'good morning' giving them a sense of belonging. Staff use these times to revisit previous learning with the children. They give children time to share their ideas and give them prompts to help them remember things. For example, staff ask children if they remember 'the object which has snow on its tip' which gets them excited as they remembered the fun activity they had done where they acted out climbing a snowy mountain.

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who attend

Staff interact positively with children introducing vocabulary to build on children's language development. They have additional strategies in place that are effectively supporting children who are learning English as an additional language including those children that have special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, some staff use sign language, which consists of gestures alongside speech, to help children understand the words being spoken. Staff also use pictures to help children follow the routine and make independent choices. This helps children that are learning English and those with communication difficulties to be included. Consequently, children are confident communicators and they chat to their friends and confidently join in with group conversations.

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

The key-person system is very well established and used effectively to ensure children are happy and settled. For example, skilful key persons carry out home visits and effectively engage with parents. As a result, parents share key information about their child for staff to use in early planning of care routines. Key persons follow children's routines from home so that they have a continuity of care and review this regularly with parents to ensure it is kept up to date. These visits support children exceptionally well as they confidently attend the settling-in visits at the nursery and form strong attachments with their key person. There are strong links with the local primary schools to enable a seamless move for the children when they start school. The key person shares information with the school staff and the class teachers visit the nursery. Staff use picture books to help children feel confident in the new school and plan individual transitions for children with more complex

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

learning needs that may find the transition particularly difficult.

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

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are very respectful of children's play, giving them a five minute warning before they tidy away for story time. Children are consistently praised for their good behaviour. Staff manage children's behaviour calmly and consistently. Staff teach children to work together; they share their attention respectfully between children and as a result, children's play is highly productive. Children enjoy playing with their friends and with staff and staff are respectful of when to step back and when to be involved. Children are kind to one another and have excellent relationships. For example, a child arrives late to nursery and children welcome him with excitement as they shout his name and run to greet him.

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

The learning environments are fully inclusive and exceptionally well organised to encourage children to make decisions for themselves. Displays are vibrant and celebrate children's achievements exceptionally well. Children have access to an excellent range of high-quality toys and resources, which challenge their development successfully. Children have numerous opportunities to be outside and active in an exceptionally well-equipped outdoor environment. This includes a wild and grassy area and a large playground where children are beginning to explore nature and understand about keeping themselves safe. While playing outside in the sun, staff are excellent at teaching children about sun safety, such as wearing hats and applying sun cream.

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

Mealtimes are a sociable occasion as staff and children sit together. Children are confident to ask for help, such as cutting their food, and staff teach children to understand how to use knives safely. There are exceptionally robust procedures in place to support children's individual self-care needs through routines such as washing their hands and faces before and after meals and making healthy food choices at snack time. Staff give children time to do things for themselves and praise them for being independent learners, which builds their self-confidence and encourages them to persevere at things, helping prepare them for their transition into school.

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provision

The leadership and management have a good understanding of their role and responsibility to meet the requirements for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They take positive steps to safeguard children and have a good overview and knowledge of the educational programmes. Therefore, they can monitor that all areas are covered in planning and assessment and identify any gaps in learning. The managers and deputy rigorously implement appropriate safeguarding procedures and work closely with other agencies when necessary. Risk assessments are in place; these include the daily monitoring of the indoor and outdoor environment. The managers ensure fire drills take place and that staff are fully aware of the fire evacuation procedure. This ensures that the premises and equipment are safe and suitable. The use of effective recruitment and induction procedures, mean that children receive care from staff that undergo appropriate

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provision

checks and who are aware of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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provision

The managers use ongoing supervisions and appraisals to identify staff's strengths and weaknesses and inform future training plans. This supports staff's continued professional development and motivates staff, creating an environment that benefits the children. The managers closely monitor the early years provision and outcomes for children. They regularly review policies and procedures and meet with the staff team to discuss this.

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provision

Parents confirm that they are very pleased with the nursery and how well their children have developed since attending. They comment that staff are 'accommodating and give time to the whole family'. They say that they will be 'sad to leave'. Overall, parents feel staff are 'helpful and supportive' and keep them well informed about the latest news through newsletters. Information is on display for parents within the nursery. Staff encourage parents to give them feedback and there are established systems in place for this. For example, parents complete questionnaires during their time at the nursery and when they are leaving and this information inform future development to improve the nursery.

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provision

There are systems in place for self-evaluation and the managers are motivated to seek further improvement. For example, they use clear action plans and regular network with advisory services to identify areas for development. All staff contribute towards the self- evaluation, which includes sharing expertise they have gained from attending courses. Staff meetings take place on a regular basis to monitor training needs, quality of provision and reflective practice.

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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 EY280208 Local authority Bath & NE Somerset Inspection number 826799 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 93 Name of provider Sunflowers Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 29/07/2009 Telephone number 01761 419997

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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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