Brambles Day Nursery & Out of School Club

Brambles Day Nursery and Out of School Clubs Kingshurst Way, Birmingham, West Midlands, B37 6DF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/08/2014 17/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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

 Staff are highly knowledgeable about how young children learn, and consequently provide activities that are challenging and engaging. As a result, all children make good progress.  Children's emotional well-being is supported at the nursery because staff carefully tailor the settling-in procedure and the care they provide to meet their individual needs.  Staff promote healthy lifestyles and encourage children's independence, ensuring that children develop their self-help skills and remain fit and well.  Staff are robustly knowledgeable in safeguarding procedures and practices. As a result, children's safety is very well promoted.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not consistently make sure that parents are sufficiently well informed about how they can guide their children's learning 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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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 toured the premises and observed activities in the main playrooms and outside.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the deputy manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the provision and spoke to staff throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's observation and assessment records and the planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability of the staff and the provider's evidence of self-evaluation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Brambles Day Nursery and Out of School Clubs was registered in 2006 and is on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a purpose-built unit within the grounds of Yorkswood Primary School and Children's Centre in Solihull. All children have access to a secure outdoor play area. The nursery opens five days a week, all year round, except for Bank Holidays and one week at Christmas. Children attend for a variety of sessions from 8am until 6pm. The out of school club opens from 7.30am until 9am and 3.15pm to 6pm during term time, and from 8am until 6pm in the school holidays. There are currently 128 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group. There are systems in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 23 staff. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years

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Information about the setting

qualification at level 6, two hold level 5, one holds level 4 and 16 hold level 3. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year- olds. It receives support from the local authority and accesses additional services offered via the children's centre.

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

 build further on the partnerships with parents, so that they are well informed about children's learning and are able to better guide their children's learning at home.

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who attend

Staff have a secure knowledge of how children develop and learn. Consequently, they plan exciting activities and provide a good-quality range of learning experiences for children. These actively support and promote their good progress across each area of learning. The educational programmes are well balanced with a mix of child-initiated and adult-led play, both indoors and outside. Therefore, all children are readily acquiring the skills, attitudes and dispositions they need for the next stage of their learning, and ultimately school. Staff are keen to help parents to guide their children's learning at home, but the strategies used are not fully successful in ensuring that parents are sufficiently well informed in able to do this successfully.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is consistently good throughout, and at times it is outstanding. Staff create numerous opportunities to extend learning. For example, they use sand play in the baby room to encourage children to explore different materials, experiment with tools, use early communication and language skills, and begin counting. Staff support and facilitate activities by gently guiding children's learning and using lots of positive praise. This encourages children to develop new skills and actively engage in learning. Equally, staff use play dough activities in the pre-school room to encourage children to use objects for role play, such as making cakes, and provide support through skilful questioning to prompt children to think for themselves and involve maths in their play. This encourages children to enhance their games more independently, therefore, shaping their own learning. Staff also successfully weave adult-led learning targets into the game. Staff know

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who attend

their key children very well and are accurate in their assessments of their development. Staff use the information they obtain from parents and their own assessments of children's progress to plan activities. They are quick to identify where children may need extra support and provide appropriate activities to help them catch up.

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who attend

Staff regularly complete assessments of children's progress. This includes the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years. They use these to build up a very clear picture of each child's abilities, and are therefore well placed to meet their individual needs. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress in their learning and development. The special educational needs coordinator is highly experienced and well focused on supporting those children who may need additional help. Appropriate training has been completed by staff to enable support for children with communication and language difficulties and for children with behavioural difficulties. Therefore, relevant intervention is made, which includes small group work and one-to-one work for children.

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

The staff develop positive relationships with children and their parents. This actively benefits all parties and helps children to feel secure in their care. Parents' comments demonstrate that they feel the nursery is very supportive and provides a safe and happy environment for their children. The nursery tailors the settling-in procedures according to children's individual needs. This is because they understand the importance of children feeling safe and secure within the environment, before they feel able to fully explore, and therefore, begin to learn. This approach fully supports children's emotional well-being.

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

Children follow good hygiene routines because the staff fully promote these, for example, by encouraging them to routinely wash hands before food. Children's intimate care needs are sensitively met and they are actively encouraged to manage their own self-care where appropriate. A wide variety of healthy food choices are offered to children during mealtimes and the staff discuss these with children and their parents. Therefore, children are encouraged to make their own healthy choices. Overall, children's understanding of keeping themselves healthy and well is effectively promoted. There are clear procedures in place, discussed with parents, to support children's medical and dietary requirements. These are robustly followed by all staff to ensure children's good health and well-being at all times. Children are frequently reminded about safety in the nursery, for example, they are reminded to walk in between rooms and the garden. Children also take risks in their

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

play. For example, they carefully use larger play equipment in the garden, and use different tools correctly. These activities teach children about keeping themselves safe.

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

The environment is stimulating and welcoming for all, with well-placed literature for parents and bright displays for children. Resources are well suited to the ages of the children and are carefully matched to their needs. Therefore, children's learning is actively promoted and self-motivation encouraged. Children's behaviour is consistently well managed. The staff positively reinforce good behaviour during activities using lots of positive encouragement and praise. They also gently remind children of why some behaviours are unwanted. For example, they are asked to not tip sand all over the floor, because it makes the surface slippery and may cause them to fall over. Children's understanding of these behaviour expectations are clear as they respond quickly to staff. Children are emotionally well prepared for the move into other settings and schools. The nursery carefully ensures that they acquire the right emotional skills needed to adapt to

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provision

Safeguarding arrangements are highly robust and the staff place a strong emphasis on ensuring children in their care are well protected. All staff understand their role in protecting children from harm and are fully aware of how to follow correct safeguarding procedures, should they have a concern about a child or member of staff. The manager and deputy are designated persons and fully understand the responsibility of this role. Risk assessments are well considered to minimise potential dangers to children and are undertaken daily. This helps to make sure that children are cared for in a safe environment. Documentation and record keeping are accurate and completed to a high standard, which helps to ensure that children's well-being is maintained.

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provision

The management monitor the educational programmes well. They ensure all children are making progress by recording staff's observations and assessments of children's development onto an electronic group tracking sheet. This enables them to clearly identify where progress is being made and any areas where there might be delay for some children. The effective monitoring system has recently been improved to provide more information about the progress made by funded two-year-olds. This has enabled managers to identify where progress can be improved, and as a result, additional staff training has been planned. The management are committed to developing the professional skills and qualifications of the staff. They successfully use appraisals and review systems to set targets for each staff member. This proactive approach helps to make sure that children benefit from continually improving provision.

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provision

Self-evaluation arrangements are strong and take account of the opinions of staff, children and parents. The management clearly identify areas for improvement, which they prioritise and address through a whole team approach. Overall, partnerships with parents are positive and contribute to children's good progress. Feedback from parents is positive and they comment that they feel their children enjoy attending the nursery. The nursery has recently sent out parent surveys and has introduced regular newsletters to actively seek parental engagement. Partnerships with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, the local authority advisory teacher, community nurses, local nurseries and schools, are well established, fully promote children's continuity of learning and ensure that they have access to the relevant help and support services they need to make good progress.

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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 EY319259 Local authority Solihull Inspection number 862340

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 75 Number of children on roll 128 Name of provider Yorkswood School Governing Body Date of previous inspection 17/05/2011 Telephone number 0121 7880908

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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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