The Slade Early Years Centre and Day Nursery

The Slade Early Years Centre and Day Nursery Titup Hall Drive, Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 8QQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/08/2014 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 There is a strong focus on safeguarding vulnerable children and supporting all families. Partnerships with parents are positive and a lot of support is available.  The inviting outdoor space provides good opportunities for children to explore the natural environment.  Children demonstrate they feel secure and settled in the nursery and have positive relationships with staff.

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It is not yet good because

 Assessment systems are not successful to track children's progress from their starting points and identify their next steps for learning. This weakens planning for purposeful and challenging activities for individual children.  Staff do not always focus effectively on promoting specific areas of children's communication and language skills.  Staff do not always respond effectively during children's self-chosen play or encourage them to help out with small tasks to extend their increasing independence.

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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 both indoors and in the garden.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector talked to parents, key persons and other staff.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of documentation, including observations of children, the setting's action plan and evidence of staff suitability and qualifications.

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Information about the setting

The Slade Early Years Centre and Day Nursery registered in 2004 and is run by The Slade Nursery School Governing Body. It operates from premises within the grounds of Wood Farm Primary School in Headington, Oxford. Facilities include an open-plan play space with three nest rooms and toilets. An enclosed outside area provides fixed climbing apparatus and a sand pit. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register to care for children under three years and currently has 40 children on roll. The nursery also caters for children over three and offers wrap around care for those attending the adjoining nursery school. The nursery cares for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, children learning English as an additional language and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is open on weekdays from 7.30am until 6pm, all year. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two-years.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 11 staff to work with children, all of whom hold relevant qualifications. It works in partnership with other on-site provisions (The Slade Nursery School, The Slade and Headington Children's Centre and Wood Farm School) and as part of the Aspiration Network to support staff.

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must:

 make regular and precise assessments of children's on-going progress from their starting points to plan challenging activities to meet children's individual learning needs.

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

 improve children's developing communication and language skills by asking more open questions, narrating children's play more thoroughly and increasing the range of new vocabulary

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

 improve learning opportunities during children's self chosen play and snack time by providing additional resources in response to children's ideas and encouraging them to help out with small tasks.

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who attend

Children enjoy a variety of different activities to support their learning. They share books with staff and explore a light board with a variety of shapes. Staff enable them to access activities easily, for example, they place the light board on the floor to fully include the youngest children. Children enjoy activities to support their physical skills and their interest in the world around them, such as exploring flour during a cooking activity or different containers in a tray of water. Staff provide modelling dough with interesting resources, such as lollipop sticks, leaves and twigs, so that children can make their own creations. Children engage in imaginative play together, for example, they pretended to care for each other when they have poorly fingers.

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who attend

Staff use some ongoing discussion to support children's free play. They ask some questions, sing nursery rhymes with actions, and model early counting to support their communication and language, and mathematical development. However, the quality of teaching is variable because staff do not always make the most of all learning opportunities. On the day of the inspection, some staff did not focus well on promoting communication and language skills or on extending learning. For example, there was a lack of emphasis on engaging in high quality interactions to challenge children's thinking by asking more open questions, talking to children about what they are doing and introducing a wider range of new vocabulary. At times, they did not build on children's self-chosen play effectively by providing additional resources for them to follow their own ideas and direct their own learning. During snack time in the morning session, there was a

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who attend

lack of emphasis on promoting children's independence to undertake small tasks, which does not reflect the nursery's ethos.

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who attend

Staff discuss children's progress routinely within their key groups to support all children's ongoing development. They complete appropriate progress checks for two-year-old children. However, there is a lack of evidence to show how staff assess children's prior skills, knowledge and understanding on entry to the nursery. This restricts effective planning using children's starting points. Staff record some of their observations but are not able to effectively evidence that assessments are regular and precise. The management team is able to demonstrate that groups of children moving into the over three years age range are making good progress but this system does not identify the progress of individual children under three. As a result, the nursery is not able to clearly show that individual children are progressing well from their starting points in learning. This also impacts on effective planning so that activities use children's next steps in

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who attend

learning to provide challenging and purposeful activities based on individual children's learning needs.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are positive. Parents report that they value the support and reassurance they receive from the nursery and state that their children enjoy attending. Staff talk to parents on a daily basis, giving advice and guidance where needed, such as helping parents to understand the benefits of particular learning experiences. The nursery works in close partnership with the on-site nursery school and children's centre to provide a wide range of support to families. There is a range of professional expertise on site to support families, such as those with children learning English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

Children have the same key person throughout their time in the nursery wherever possible, which ensures that they are able to form secure emotional attachments. Some key persons work term time only so the nursery has a policy for children to receive care from other staff within their key groups. Key group staff share information routinely to support children's individual needs. Children receive warm greetings from their key person or other staff on arrival, which helps them to feel secure. Parents comment that they are able to build positive relationships with key persons and appreciate the nursery's commitment to placing siblings in the same key groups. This process enables key persons to build strong relationships with individual families, which has a positive impact on promoting continuity for children.

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

The nursery does not separate children into different age groups and instead enables children of different ages to play and learn together. Staff are aware of potential issues, such as ensuring that older siblings do not dominate younger ones. Children enjoy each other's company, play cooperatively and learn to behave well. They show that they are confident in exploring their surroundings and particularly enjoy the inviting outdoor space. The garden provides good opportunities for children to explore the natural environment, such as tending to the vegetable patch and exploring a large sandpit. Challenging equipment encourages children to extend their physical skills, such as a large-scale climbing frame. Staff risk assess activities well, providing a good balance with the benefits for learning, such as enabling younger children to access this equipment according to their capabilities.

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

There is a strong focus on safeguarding vulnerable children and the manager works closely with other professionals on site to provide a range of support to families as necessary. Staff provide ongoing advice to parents to support their children at home, such as guiding development in potty training and promoting positive behaviour.

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

The morning snack time involves children sitting on the floor in a group, which is the nursery policy to provide a relaxed and informal environment. Children enjoy healthy food, such as crackers and fruit, and have opportunities at other times during the day to sit at tables to promote their social skills further.

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provision

Overall, the nursery management team demonstrates a secure understanding of its responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Well- established procedures are in place to safeguard children. The manager ensures that staff have a thorough understanding of procedures through ongoing supervision and team meetings. Clear processes are in place to identify and support children at risk. The manager and other staff work closely together and with relevant professionals to share information and agree strategies as necessary. Staff ensure that the premises is safe and secure to reduce the risk of accidents and incidents. They provide good levels of child supervision and carry out routine risk assessments to promote children's safety.

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provision

The nursery has robust recruitment procedures in place and ensures that all staff have appropriate background suitability checks. Induction procedures help new staff to become familiar with the nursery's policies, procedures and routines. All staff have access to regular training and receive ongoing supervision and support from the manager. The manager spends half of each week working in the nursery room alongside staff to support practice. Designated members of staff oversee the process of planning activities alongside all key persons to provide additional support. The manager receives ongoing support from the senior leadership team through regular meetings. However, assessment systems are not robust enough or consistently used to demonstrate individual children's progress to promote the effective planning of challenging activities. In addition, on the day of the inspection, the quality of teaching was variable and did not always reflect good practice.

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provision

The nursery shares an action plan with the other settings on site, demonstrating that they all work together to evaluate practice and identify areas for further development. There is a current focus on areas, such as promoting the achievement of boys and improving attainment in numeracy in order to enhance outcomes for children. Staff seek to gain the views of parents through ongoing discussions and questionnaires.

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provision

Staff maintain good partnerships with parents, the other settings on site and external agencies. Staff work closely with the on-site nursery school to provide wraparound care for children, exchanging information and ideas to promote consistency in meeting children's individual needs.

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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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 EY276613 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 837378 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 3 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Slade Nursery School Governing Body Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01865 762 679

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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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