Little Stars - Mother & Baby Unit

Little Stars - Mother & Baby unit H M P BRONZEFIELD, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, TW15 3JZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/08/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 The nursery is exceptionally well led and managed. Expectations are high and there is a strong commitment to drive improvement consistently to maintain the highest levels of achievement for all children.  Children feel safe and secure within the warm and welcoming environment. The highly effective key person system enables them to form secure attachments.  Purposeful and regular information is shared with parents, ensuring they are fully informed of their child's care, progress and activities they are involved in. Links with other providers and agencies are strong and all children are fully included.  There are excellent assessment systems in place. Staff plan for children's emerging interests and next steps in learning with extreme confidence to aid very good progress.  Staff are highly motivated and work extremely well together as a team, creating a secure and safe learning environment for the children.

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This provision is outstanding

 Skilled teaching combined with varied and stimulating opportunities for learning mean that children's achievement is excellent in all seven areas of learning.

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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 had a tour of the nursery with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager, deputy manager and throughout the inspection.  The inspector held discussion with key persons and staff.  The inspector took into account the views of parents on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at various documents, including policies and procedures, risk assessments, staff training, records of children and evidence of the suitability of staff.

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Information about the setting

Little Stars Nursery registered in 2014 and is based in the Mother and Baby Unit at HMP Bronzefield. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and offers care for the babies of the mothers within the unit. The nursery comprises one large room with a smaller cot room and has a large, secure outside area. The nursery is open Monday to Friday mornings from 8.25 am to 12 pm and on Monday to Wednesday afternoons from 1.25pm to 5 pm. The nursery also offers a stay and play session on Thursday afternoons from 3 pm to 4 pm. There are currently five children on roll. The nursery employs three members of staff. All staff hold recognised early years qualifications and all have valid first aid certificates. There are procedures in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language.

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

 enhance children's opportunities to learn more about the natural world and living things.

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who attend

The nursery is an integral part of the mother and baby unit at the prison. Staff have very high expectations of themselves and children. They have an excellent understanding of how to engage babies and young children in playing and exploring. As a result, children are highly motivated and make rapid progress in their learning and development given their starting points. This means babies and young children build firm foundations for their learning and development and are extremely well-prepared for the next stage in their education, pre-school, for example. All staff members are confident teachers who are very knowledgeable about how young children learn. As a result, babies and young children are extremely confident and enjoy exploring the world around them, returning to the comfort of their key person's lap if they feel unsure. The environment is bright, airy and welcoming, and encourages children to explore and concentrate on things that they find.

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who attend

This encourages them to move independently, and as a result babies are developing great confidence in their walking skills.

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who attend

There is an extremely sharp focus on helping babies and young children to acquire and extend their communication and language skills, and on supporting their physical, personal, social and emotional development. This helps all children make very good progress in their learning. Children explore and investigate splashing the water in the paddling pool, laughing alongside staff and clearly expressing themselves. Staff use every opportunity to extend learning; for example, they model language and babies and young children attempt to sound out difficult words, 'duck', for example. Outdoor learning is an integral part of the planning and links closely to children's interests. Hence, children have excellent opportunities to progress their physical abilities and extend their learning in their chosen manner. However, outdoor play could be further developed with activities that support children in their understanding of living things in the natural world. For example,

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who attend

they miss exciting opportunities to explore magnifiers and study small living creatures such as worms, as currently children do not have opportunities to dig in the ground.

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who attend

The staff's interactions with babies and children are highly productive. Babies and young children enjoy many imaginative and varied opportunities to develop their physical skills. They express themselves and develop early writing skills by using crayons, pencils, water and sand to make marks. They have many opportunities through activities and daily routines to develop their small muscle skills, as they learn to feed themselves with spoons for example. Babies and young children learn to sing and move their bodies during a singing session. Staff members sit in a cosy corner with them and sing their favourite songs. Babies dance and make sounds and actions with staff. Mathematical language is encouraged as children learn counting songs. Staff members are highly skilled at involving even the youngest children. This means that even the young babies actively join in the activity.

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who attend

Observation and assessment are sharply focused and build on an initial assessment that fully includes parents. Each child has a written summary, completed and shared with parents every three months, to identify what children have achieved and what has motivated them. Parents are fully involved in their children's learning and they receive home observation forms to add to their child's learning journal. Daily verbal exchanges are a key part of that sharing process and enhance the close monitoring of children's learning and development at the unit and in the setting. Parents respond extremely positively to daily suggestions of activities to do with their children at the unit. Children with specific identified needs, including those where there is no external agency involvement, receive well-planned support to ensure that they make rapid progress. This includes those children who are learning English as an additional language. These measures mean that

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who attend

the manager and staff team securely monitor the ongoing learning for every child, the involvement of parents, and the level of engagement by the children.

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

Babies and young children are very happy, settled and thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery owing to the trusting relationships established with all staff. Children are extremely happy and secure within the setting, separating from their parents well and forming close bonds with the staff team. Babies' routine needs are met efficiently by staff who are flexible and adaptable. All staff know the children in the nursery exceptionally well. This robust and well-established key person system ensures that routines are individual to each child and agreed with parents. Behaviour within the setting is extremely good and the staff effectively support and encourage children to behave appropriately, to share and take turns, through continuous praise and encouragement. This builds children's confidence and self- esteem and increases their concepts of appropriate and expected behaviour.

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

Resources are laid out so that they are safely accessible to babies and young children. Staff use their comprehensive knowledge about individual children's likes and learning needs to provide things to interest them. Babies and young children are highly inquisitive about their surroundings. They confidently help themselves to the good quality resources and equipment. They interact extremely well with staff, asking for help or support if required. As a result of the secure emotional bonds they have formed they are confident to approach any member of staff and quickly learn the daily routine. The nursery demonstrates an extremely positive approach towards inclusion. The staff team works closely in partnership with parents to fully meet the individual needs of all children attending the nursery. Staff show a comprehensive understanding of each child's unique needs and have detailed information on child record forms of individual requirements. A

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

variety of resources and displays around the nursery depict positive images of diversity, including those of culture, language, gender and disability.

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

Children benefit from healthy, nutritious snacks and plentiful opportunities for fresh air every day, which contributes to their good health. The soft play surface and canopy in the outdoor area mean that children can benefit from fresh air throughout the year. The organisation and planning for outdoor learning means babies and children are very well encouraged to exercise and develop their bodies and minds through a wide variety of physical and highly stimulating activities. As a result, children have fun outside, using a wide range of equipment to encourage their physical skills and fitness. Weekly outings to places of interest in the local area develop children's awareness of the community around them. These outings also help in building children's confidence by preparing them for taking the next steps towards being introduced to other settings, such as pre-school or nursery.

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provision

The manager and her staff team work extremely well together to ensure that the nursery is very well organised and that daily routines operate smoothly. They have an exceedingly good understanding of their responsibilities in meeting all the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and ensuring staff suitability. Robust and efficient systems ensure that all staff are suitably qualified and appropriately vetted. Adults are not allowed to work with children until all checks are cleared. Thorough induction, appraisals and high quality, professional supervision result in focused programmes of professional development. These ensure that staff are constantly improving their understanding and practice, and children benefit from their exemplary, continual sharing of significant information.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children's well-being are extremely effective. All staff receive local authority and in-house training in how to protect the children in their care and, as a result, have an excellent understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Implementation of an extensive risk assessment programme results in the premises being entirely secure and safe. A comprehensive range of policies and procedures and accurate completion of records ensures children's needs are exceptionally well met and that they are fully safeguarded. Staff are made fully aware of any changes in procedures, to underpin the safety and well-being of all children. Self-evaluation to identify areas for development in relation to all aspects of the provision is a key feature of the nursery. The views of parents are sought verbally and more formally, through questionnaires.

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provision

The manager and staff team track and monitor the education provided for children, ensuring that very good progress is made in all areas of learning. Staff form very effective and close relationship with parents. Parents comment they are very happy with the care their children receive and say that the excellent communication of staff on their children's progress gives them confidence to continue with their next steps in learning, upstairs in the unit. Policies and procedures are readily available to parents, and regular newsletters help to keep them informed about what their children are doing and plans for the future. Excellent partnerships with other professionals, such as the health visitor, ensure that any interventions needed are secured and children receive the support they need.

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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 EY474454 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 959690 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 13 Number of children on roll 5 Name of provider Sodexo Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01784425690

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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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