The Palace Day Nursery

The Palace Day Nursery 2 Windsor Street, Bletchley, MILTON KEYNES, MK2 2LN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/08/2014 22/06/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Equality is a strong feature of the nursery. There are robust procedures in place, which enables all parties to work jointly in the interest of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Staff have good knowledge of the different aspects of safeguarding. They work effectively as a team to make sure that their daily practices are in keeping with the nursery's policies and procedures; this safeguards children well.  Children are happy and confident learners, staff are supporting them to make good progress in learning and development.  The key person system is well established; staff fully understand their roles to support children to make secure emotional attachments.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There are fewer continuous opportunities for children to practise writing for different purposes to extend their skills in this area.  Staff do not always plan a wide range of challenges for children as they play outdoors, and this slightly lessens occasions for children to use the outdoor provision to extend their 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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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 spoke to children and observed their activities indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed specific children, looked at children's assessment records and discussed activity plans with the manager and staff.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation and discussed self-evaluation and improvement plans with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents and took note of parents' views.

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Information about the setting

The Palace Day Nursery is privately owned. It registered with new owners in 2006 and operates from a converted house in Bletchley, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. It is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The staff care for children in three main rooms. There is a separate sleep room for babies with nappy changing, washing and toilet facilities in close proximity to the areas in which children play. A kitchen and office are located on the first floor of the premises. There is an enclosed garden at the rear of the premises for children's outdoor activities. There are currently 40 on roll. Of these, 39 are in the early years are group. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Thirteen staff including the cook, cleaner and a bank member work in the nursery. The nursery manager

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Information about the setting

holds Early Years Professional Status and the nursery deputy holds a relevant qualification to level 4. A further six staff members hold early years qualifications to level 3. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for two, three and four year old children.

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

 increase the opportunities for older children to extend their early writing

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

 develop more ways in which to challenge older children by making better use of the outdoor space, particularly when children are playing in mixed age groups.

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who attend

Staff plan and deliver good quality educational programmes that cover all areas of learning. They make good use of observations and assessments to inform their daily plans and this enables them to deliver learning that is interesting and appealing to individual children. However, they do not always make the most the learning opportunities to extend children. For example, staff challenge children's understanding as they engage in pretend play. Children increase their understanding of health and self-care and begin to understand the different reasons why they may visit a hospital, because staff ask children open questions and challenge their thinking. However, they miss the opportunity to encourage children to extend their early writing. There are fewer opportunities for older children to practise writing for different purposes. Even so, children are enjoying and learning as they play. They play group games and staff encourage them to share and take

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who attend

turns and to develop wider friendship groups. Their warm and positive interaction with staff demonstrates that they feel safe in the nursery. Their dispositions show their enjoyment in learning.

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who attend

Overall, staff engage with children well and this encourages children to share their learning and interests. Additionally, it provides more opportunities for staff to gauge children's understanding. For example, as children chose the game that they want to play. They use their understanding of mathematics to inform their decision-making. They choose the smaller parachute as they know that this size fits better indoors. Children increase their knowledge of mathematics in several ways. For example, they explore shapes in the environment and discuss their findings with their friends and staff. They weigh, compare, contrast, and are confident to discuss what they are learning with others. Staff encourage children to share their knowledge and learn from each other. This increases children's independence to do things for themselves and to value the achievements of others.

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who attend

Staff who work with the youngest children are confident to change the learning environment to reflect the children's moods. As an example, the babies are responding to the nursery rhymes next door. Baby room staff then sing with the babies who clap their hands. Staff make eye contact with the babies and are very are responsive to them. Very young children are starting to show their preference and they are beginning to make choices. They invite others to play and they share books and toys with staff. From an early age, children are learning to share their learning and showing enjoyment of books.

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who attend

Staff extend the youngest children's vocabulary with single words. Babies mimic and staff respond with smiles and affirmation. Staff provide plenty of opportunities for the youngest children to promote their physical development. Babies roll, crawl stretch and reach to try new things. These very young children are developing close emotional attachments with their carers and this is helping them to relax and experience the joys of learning.

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

In all areas of the nursery, children's behaviour shows that they are developing secure emotional attachments with staff. There is warm interaction between staff and children and the atmosphere in all of the rooms is busy and purposeful. It is staff practice to be down at children's level, and this makes for easier communication between them. Young children gain reassurance from their key carers and carry on exploring when others enter the area. Older children invite staff and friends to play and share their learning. Staff share information about individual children with each other and this helps to make certain that there are no gaps in children's care and their individual routines. They refer closely to guidance from parents to settle children. Children interact confidently with staff, who respond caringly to them. The special education needs coordinator give clear information about the knowledge, skills and expected developmental stage for individual children. Staff

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

record this information and use it to inform activity planning in the nursery. Overall, this keeps children's learning moving forward at a good pace. Children's engagement in interesting and fun activities demonstrates their motivation for learning now and for the future.

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

The key person system is well established and staff work efficiently as team. For example, staff know the arrangements that are in place to meet the needs of children when their key persons are not present. This joined up approach to staff management ensures that there are always familiar adults to work directly with each group of children. Good and consistent planning for individual children ensures that when there is movement of staff, other staff members can continue to follow through with the next step for individual children. Equality and early intervention is a strong feature of the provision that staff make for children. They work extremely closely with parents and professionals to identify, plan and provide children with well-targeted care and learning opportunities. There are effective systems in place for ongoing assessments, target setting and continuous reviews for children with special educational needs and or/disabilities. This ensures that staff

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

initiate appropriate and prompt interventions, with consistent integrated professional partnerships, which continuously involve parents. This enables all children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make good progress from their starting points and close gaps in their learning over time and in readiness for school.

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

The nursery welcomes children from varying backgrounds. The well qualified staff make efficient use of a wide range of quality resources that are appropriate to the age and stage of the children that are using them. There is a welcome sign in different languages and this helps to set the expectation for a warm welcome for every parents. The good support that staff give to children enables all children regardless of ability or background to play and learn together. This helps children to learn that all people have equal status in society.

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

Children have ready access to a good range of resources to support different learning styles, indoors and outside. However, staff miss some opportunities to extend the older children's learning at times when they play outdoors. Nevertheless, they are supporting children to develop good understanding of practices that support healthy lifestyles though consistently good routines. For example, children make healthy choices about what they eat and drink, and learn why it is important to take regular exercise. Older children can explain why they drink milk and why they wash their hands before they eat. Staff support children very well to move from wearing nappies to using the toilet independently. This helps children to take control of an essential part of their personal care. Through good hygiene practices, children are learning to safeguard their well-being and to limit the spread of infection between individuals. The safe physical environment is a strong

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

contributing factor to children's understanding of their own safety.

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provision

The leadership team manages the nursery effectively. As a result, they achieve the efficient running of the nursery. They develop educational programmes, which provide all the children with a broad range of learning experiences overall. The staff support all children well to make good or better progress from their starting points. Staff practice across the nursery shows that they have good, secure understanding of the areas of learning, as well as how children learn. The manager and staff consistently use effective procedures to base planning, assessment and monitoring of children's learning and development on accurate information about children's skills knowledge and abilities. Staff complete the progress check for two-year-old children and the manager reviews these reports. Nursery staff involve parents, health, and educational professionals when compiling these reports. These effective partnerships ensure that the report covers all the

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provision

required elements and that the correct strategies are in place for their implementation.

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provision

There is a fully developed recruitment procedure in the nursery, which includes full vetting of all staff and people who have access to the children. Induction, staff meetings, ongoing supervision and appraisal for all staff are well established. There are effective procedures, which enables staff in the nursery to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements. For example, staff have good knowledge of different aspects of the safeguarding policies, such as the whistle blowing element. They know the designated safeguarding officer in the nursery and they are clear about lines of communication to Children's Services. They have clear expectations for the manager to deal with concerns about children's well-being, in a timely manner and in accordance with the policy. Staff are clear to follow procedures that are in place to promote children's good health. As an example, they know why it is essential to continually assess risks to individual children's health and follow their care

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provision

plan consistently and closely. Staff know that it is essential to do all that is required to safeguard and promote children's good health, including managing documentation efficiently. Staff in the nursery makes effective use of the policies and procedures to safeguard children and promote their welfare.

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provision

Self-evaluation takes account of the views of staff and parents. There are several ways for parents to influence practice in the nursery such as; recording in their children's records, parents' meetings, communication books, daily feedback and an annual questionnaire. The nursery is striving for improvements. Since the last inspection, the manager has achieved her Early Years Professional Status. There are good working partnership with the local authority consultants, there is now cohort tracking of children to ensure that children are experiencing the full depth and breadth of the educational programmes. Through monitoring and evaluation, the management team recognise that there is a need for improvement to the resources for information and communication technology that children use. They have secure funds to improve this range of resources for the benefit of the children.

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provision

Parents' engagement includes the settling-in period and their continued involvement in arrangements for children. This is especially so for those with special education needs and/or disabilities. Good quality information helps all parents to understand how children experience learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage and children's progress and achievements. Parents praise the staff at the nursery. They say that staff support children well, that they follow their guidance closely and are very responsive with their communication about children.

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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. 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 EY341118 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 844019 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 39 Name of provider Greenstone Investments Limited Date of previous inspection 22/06/2012 Telephone number 01908 640901

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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