The Willows Private Day Nursery

The Willows Private Day Nursery Bridgefold Road, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 5BX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/08/2014 17/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The quality of teaching is consistently high across the setting. The staff know the children extremely well and have very high expectations of them. As a result, plans to support children's development and learning are carefully tailored to the individual child. Consequently, children make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development.  The monitoring of the educational programme is rigorous, systematic and focused. Gaps or delays in children's development are swiftly and correctly identified. As a result, interventions are timely and conducted in partnership with parents and other agencies if needed, actively contributing to the rapid progress children are making.  Staff implement robust and meticulous health and safety procedures, and practice that is consistently reviewed and tested. Additionally, all staff have a first class understanding of safeguarding. This means that all children are protected and kept

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This provision is outstanding

safe.  Leaders and managers of this vibrant nursery inspire and support their staff. They have exceptionally high expectations of themselves and their staff team. The rigorous system for staff development and staff training results in a staff team that are very motivated and highly skilled, and they have a significant impact on children's learning and development.  Relationships with parents and external agencies are excellent. As a result, all involved in the child's learning are consulted with, so that a highly consistent approach to children's learning is maintained and they continue to make rapid progress.

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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 carried out a tour of the nursery.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a sample of the children's development records, planning and the tracking of children's progress.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a meeting with the manager and checked evidence of staff suitability, training certificates, performance management records and self- evaluation records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents on the day and took account of their views and experience.

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Information about the setting

The Willows Private Day Nursery is one of two settings owned by Willows (Rochdale) Ltd and was registered in 2005. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and it operates from a new purpose built premises in a quiet location close to Rochdale Town Centre. Children are accommodated within three base rooms depending on age. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The building is fully accessible. The nursery is open each weekday, from 7.30am to 6pm, all year round, with the exception of the Christmas week. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 97 children on roll in the early years age group and the nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. The nursery currently supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and English as an additional language. There are 25 members of staff, 22 of whom hold appropriate

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Information about the setting

early years qualifications to at least NVQ level 2 or above. The two managers both have (BA) Honours degrees in Early Years and Primary Education, and both hold Early Years Professional Status and Qualified Teacher Status. There is also three support staff.

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

 enhance the already excellent outdoor environment to provide even greater opportunities for literacy and numeracy.

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who attend

Children throughout the nursery are highly motivated and exceptionally interested. They demonstrate the characteristics of effective learning. They are curious, persistent, determined, good problem solvers and thinkers. This is because staff are highly skilful and very creative in their approach to teaching and supporting the children's development and learning. As a result, children are making excellent progress. Starting points are clearly identified and assessment is sharply focused using precise information and input from the parents and staff observations. These are recorded and progress is effectively tracked termly. All planning is individual and each child's key person successfully plans for children weekly. Parents are engaged in their child's learning as each child has a daily diary that goes home with them, informing parents of things their child has enjoyed, learnt or is interested in. In addition, all children have an individual file containing observations and

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who attend

photographs which is shared with their parents. Children's learning and development progress is meticulously assessed monthly and each child's next steps are quickly identified and planned for. Assessments are shared formally with parents twice a year at parent's evenings. In addition, a progress check for children aged between two and three years takes place. A comprehensive and rigorous summary of their child's learning and development is provided to parents at a mutually agreed time.

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who attend

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are exceptionally well supported, as children's interests are used to engage them in wider areas of learning. For example, laminating pictures of a child's family, so that they can be used in the water to engage them in their play. Additionally, visual time lines and signs of the week are used, which are taught to all children, so all are fully included. Staff strongly advocate for children and focus on their strengths. This ensures that other professionals, who are working with families, are aware of the children's achievements and what they can do, therefore ensuring there is a focus on the positives. Children's' language and communication development is superbly supported throughout the nursery in a variety of ways. The setting has a language lead that ensures that children's language development is assessed twice annually. This means that any delay in children's communication and

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who attend

language is swiftly identified, and comprehensive actions are developed with parents to support the child's development. In addition, the staff also use various teaching frameworks to help children listen to and recognise phonics, and develop good speaking and listening skills. The staff team are very skilled at supporting and extending children's language and communication throughout the nursery. As a result, children are making excellent progress.

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who attend

Staff provide a wide variety of superb activities and a wealth of resources for children to explore and develop their understanding. There is well-developed, continuous provision throughout the nursery both indoors and out. In addition, staff introduce innovative activities, such as baking gingerbread men with the children, to develop their language, independence and mathematical understanding. The teaching skills of the staff are evident as they support and extend children's understanding of more and less, and thinner and thicker. The staff pose questions that encourage the children to solve problems and think about what may happen next. Transitions and school readiness are a key strength of this nursery. The staff ensure that children are making excellent, or at the very least good, progress. Any additional needs are quickly identified and plans are swiftly put in place to support that child and family. In addition, they provide children with practical skills to help

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who attend

get them ready for school, such as using school uniforms, lunch boxes and pump bags in the role-play area. Children practise dressing themselves and opening their lunch box as they become skilful in managing their own personal needs. This supports their confidence and self-esteem effectively for the transition to school.

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who attend

Parents are welcomed and effectively included in the nursery as partners. There is a parent liaison worker who organises events where parents are included; for example, stay and play, coffee mornings and the opportunity to undertake paediatric first-aid training. Parents comment that they are very happy with the progress their children are making as a result of the individualised care and education that they receive in the nursery. One parent described the nursery as 'amazing'.

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

Children are very comfortable and highly secure in the nursery. Staff know them extremely well and have built up strong relationships with the children and their parents. Each child is assigned a key person who provides parents and children with a consistent familiar person. Every key person can clearly demonstrate their accurate and comprehensive knowledge of their key children, their likes and dislikes, their emerging interests and their levels of development and learning. This ensures that each and every child's emotional well-being and their development are supported consistently. For example, staff recognise when the babies are feeling sad or upset and they immediately attend to their needs, ensuring they are cuddled and comforted. Children actively seek out their key person for reassurance. These secure, strong relationships enable children to learn well, resulting in them becoming very self-assured.

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

Children delight in sitting in their key groups at mealtimes. A picture of key person is put on table to help children find their table. This helps to significantly enhance children's developing independence and choice as they consider where to sit. Additionally, children are supported to use their cutlery and feed themselves. The nursery provides healthy meals and children's dietary requirements are highlighted to all who need to know, therefore keeping children safe. This ensures children are kept healthy and protected. At snack time, children choose from a selection of fruit and healthy snacks, and learn about healthy foods through discussions with staff. As part of the support for the older children's transition to school, they are offered whole fruits. This means that they learn how to peel fruit, such as satsumas and bananas, in readiness for school and, therefore, develops their confidence in such situations, promoting their emotional well-being. Children are able to

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

identify what hygiene routines they need to follow before lunch and snack. Staff encourage and support children to wash their hands and take care of their own personal needs where appropriate. Younger children are beginning to predict the routines due to careful preparation, repetition and allowing children to manage risks.

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

Children are animated, enthusiastic, happy and extremely confident, thoroughly enjoying their time at the nursery. They learn effectively because the staff provide challenging, rich, varied and imaginative activities. For example, staff follow children's interests and experiences from home, such as providing a tent and camping resources in the outdoors. Children access this and talk knowledgably about what food they need to take camping. The children use their vivid imagination and learn to cooperate and play together, as they pretend to camp, go to sleep and wake up. Children are developing their very good social skills, as they know that by taking turns and sharing resources they can play harmoniously together. This is supported by confident and motivated staff that encourage their creative thinking and language development as they play alongside them. Older children are effectively supported to take turns and develop their listening skills in an outdoor musical

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

activity. However, the already superb opportunities for children to write numbers or letters outdoors could be extended. For the children about to move to school, strategies, such as self- registration with gradual support to write their name on smaller paper with smaller lines, have been put into place to help them feel more emotionally prepared for their next step. Staff effectively ensure that children learn the skills and knowledge they need for their next stage of learning.

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provision

The leaders and manager of the nursery have a superb understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Safeguarding is meticulously followed in the nursery. Staff have a robust knowledge and understanding of the safe guarding policies and procedures. Staff are fully aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse, and are confident in knowing what to do if they should have concerns about a child's welfare. The nursery policy is reviewed regularly and all staff have completed safeguarding training. The health and safety checks, undertaken daily by the nursery, are comprehensive, systematic and robust to safeguard children. Qualified first aiders are in every room. As a result, children are kept exceedingly safe and very secure while at the nursery.

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provision

Robust, rigorous and highly effective recruitment and induction procedures are in place to ensure the suitability of all the staff that work with the children. Managers ensure that they develop staff teaching skills and knowledge through regular use of high-quality supervision, observation of teaching, comprehensive appraisals and targeted training. There is good evidence of staff moving through training to higher qualifications supported by the setting. This means that staff in the nursery are very motivated, extremely passionate and highly skilled. This has a very positive impact on the children's progress. Assessments are robust, accurate and moderated in house and via local authority data groups. Staffs have an excellent knowledge of how young children learn and use guidance materials to support them to make accurate judgements of progress.

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provision

Parents, children and staff are inducted extremely well into the setting. The cycle of continuous improvement, staff qualifications, and the quality of the provision for children and families, is consistently and rigorously under review. The monitoring of the delivery of the settings educational programme is rigorous, reflective and systematic. Additionally, these processes ensure that a positive and pro-active approach to evaluation and continuing improvement of the provision is high on the agenda. Gaps and delay in children's development are accurately identified and interventions are swiftly developed in partnership with parents and other agencies, if needed. Relationships have been developed. Staff work effectively with a range of other professionals outside the nursery to support children's individual needs and ensure that they make the best progress possible.

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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 EY308399 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 848964

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 97 Name of provider The Willows (Rochdale) Ltd Date of previous inspection 17/02/2009 Telephone number 01706 654085

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Type of provision

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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