The Gatehouse Nursery

Gatehouse Nursery Gatehouse Centre, Hareclive Road,Hartcliffe, Bristol, BS13 9JN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/08/2014 01/12/2010

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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

 Staff use effective techniques to teach mathematics through everyday activities so children have a good knowledge of number, size, shape and measure.  The leadership team promotes staff professional development and shows a commitment to continuous improvement.  Staff work well in partnership with parents to share information about their children's progress and things they can do to help their children's learning at home.  Staff work consistently across the nursery with planning, observation and teaching so all children make good progress and are well prepared for school.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 At times, the organisation of daily routines means there is less opportunity for children to learn in small groups. As a result, staff do not always challenge the more able children or offer as much targeted support to individuals during these times.  Staff do not always extend children so they learn about healthy eating.

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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 observed activities in the playrooms and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's records, planning and records to check staff suitability.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of children, staff, and parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection and of the provider's self-evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with the senior leaders of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Gatehouse Nursery opened in 2002 and is managed by Hartcliffe and Withywood Ventures (HWV), a registered charity primarily set up to offer training to local people, which also oversees and develops projects in the locality. It operates from three rooms in a self- contained unit in the Gatehouse Centre building in Hartcliffe, Bristol. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery opens five days a week all year round, except for bank holidays and Christmas, from 8am to 5pm. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 118 children from birth to five years on roll. The nursery primarily offers places to children of parents living in the BS13 area of Bristol. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery is in receipt of the free early years education funding for

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Information about the setting

two, three and four-year-olds. They currently support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 22 members of staff, of these, 20 hold appropriate early years qualifications and two are currently working towards a level 3 qualification. The nursery receives support from the local authority.

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

 enhance the routine to incorporate more small group learning to extend and challenge more able children and target support to individual children

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

 extend the opportunities for children to try a wider variety of healthy foods, for example, through food tasting activities and providing a wider range of snacks.

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who attend

The educational programme is good. This is because staff establish children's prior learning, skills and abilities using information from parents in addition to their own observations. They consult with parents to identify children's next steps and plan and provide experiences, which engage children's interest and promote their learning. Parents share 'wow' moments, which inform staff of the things their children achieve at home, and staff regularly share ideas and tips with parents to help them promote their children's learning at home. Staff use ongoing observation records to monitor when children achieve their next steps and the rate of their progress. These enable key persons to produce regular progress summaries. Staff have a secure understanding of how children learn and develop, and work consistently across the rooms to ensure that all children get the same quality standard of care and education. They know children well and use this knowledge to provide activities

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who attend

that interest and engage them. As a result, children enjoy a broad and balanced range of experiences across all areas of learning. For example, children in the butterfly room relish in counting songs, which develop their mathematical skills, they use their fingers to count and staff support them to take numbers away; children join in and enjoy the songs. Staff skilfully use the daily routine to reinforce mathematics for example, at snack time children counted how many are sat at the table and staff used this opportunity to teach numbers. As they counted, staff referred to the number line and counted to 10 together, therefore, staff teach the children to recognise numbers as well as count, which helps children make connections and embed the learning. Children and staff in the nursery engage in whole group playtimes outside in the garden. This supports children's social skills as they chat and play with others of different ages and get to know all of the staff team. In addition,

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who attend

children benefit from this as it is helping them with change as they move up through the rooms and develop the social and emotional skills they need to start school. There is a good balance of both staff-led and self-initiated play. Staff interact well with children as they play, to encourage and support them to achieve their next steps. The daily routines do not offer consistent opportunities for children to learn in small groups. Consequently, the more able children and those in need of targeted support do not always receive the challenges and assistance they need to fully promote their next steps in learning.

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who attend

Babies are beginning to explore language; staff introduce new vocabulary and use some sign language and gesture alongside speech as they follow the children's lead. This encourages babies' curiosity and confidence and they begin to learn different words in a meaningful context. Staff in the baby room use young children's developing interest in walking to support their physical skills, for example, they held on to their hands to help with their balance as they moved around. Children thoroughly explore the nursery and enjoy walking, crawling, climbing and playing imaginatively in the garden, as staff encourage them by ensuring the environment caters to their interests.

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who attend

Children in the toddler room develop their ability to participate in group activities such as, circle time. This helps children learn the names of their friends and develop their social skills; staff asked them to introduce each other, which builds on relationships and children's sense of belonging. Children are fully engaged in the session and actively involved in a range of activities, such as singing and action rhymes. Staff extend children's learning well during a threading activity to support their mathematical skills. Staff skilfully talked about the colour of the threading beads as children selected them, helping them to learn colour language casually as they play. Threading helps the children to develop their fine motor control, which later helps them with their writing skills as they develop control of the pens to make marks. Staff use some size language, such as bigger and wider to extend children's learning of comparison and measure.

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

Key persons get to know their key children well and develop secure, warm relationships. They are flexible to meet the needs of the children and parents when they are settling into the nursery. This supports children's growing confidence and sense of security, enabling them to explore their environment, participate in activities and play with their friends. Children have easy access to a wide range of good quality resources, which help to promote their independence well as they choose what they would like to play with. They are also encouraged to put on their own coats and wash their own hands. The nursery provides meals and snacks for some children, and others bring their own prepared lunch. Staff do not use mealtimes as an opportunity for children to learn about making healthy food choices and try a wider variety of foods through activities, such as food tasting to learn how healthy foods supports a healthy lifestyle.

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

Staff are positive role models, who are consistent in their practice and set good examples to children. As a result, children follow their lead and are respectful of one another and well mannered. They show concern for others and learn to share and take turns. Children know how to keep themselves and others safe, as staff encourage them to identify and manage everyday risks. For example, walking when inside. As a result, children move carefully to negotiate furniture and each other. Children take part in regular fire drills, helping them to learn how to behave and keep themselves safe in the event of a fire. Staff are vigilant in maintaining children's safety and supervise them appropriately at all times. Because of the attentive nature of staff, children feel safe and secure. Children's good hygiene is promoted as staff implement effective procedures to keep children clean and to reduce the spread of cross-infection. Daily opportunities for children to engage in physical

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

exercise benefit them well. The premises are spacious, light and welcoming. Staff have established positive links with schools and other professionals that are working with children, which in turn helps children move seamlessly on to other settings and manage changes.

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provision

The experienced staff team are suitably qualified and have a good understanding of the learning and development, and safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This helps them to maintain children's safety, promote their well-being and support them in making good progress towards the early learning goals. Staff have a secure understanding of the local safeguarding procedures and are confident to follow these if required. This means they are able to recognise potential signs of abuse and report any child protection concerns to support children's welfare. A comprehensive range of written policies and procedures maintain continuity in staff practice and inform parents. Written risk assessments are in place to support staff in maintaining a safe environment, and children participate in regular emergency evacuation procedures to develop their confidence and familiarity.

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provision

Management support staff well. This motivates staff, who demonstrate a good commitment to ongoing professional development. For example, they identify further appropriate training during their monthly staff development days and regular supervision meetings. Good recruitment, vetting, induction and monitoring procedures are in place to determine staff suitability to work with children. In addition, regular appraisals establish ongoing suitability and monitor the performance of staff to ensure they all have the necessary skills and knowledge to undertake their roles and responsibilities. Staff monitor and assess children's progress well, and extend children's learning effectively through their play. Partnership working with parents is successfully in place, which contributes to meeting children's needs well.

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provision

The leadership team works closely with staff to evaluate the effectiveness of their practice. As a result, they securely identify targeted areas for future development, which feeds into the setting's self-evaluation. The leadership team demonstrate a commitment to ongoing improvement through their effective self-evaluation systems. For example, they use clear action plans and regularly network with advisory services to identify areas for development. All staff contribute towards self-evaluation, which includes sharing expertise they have gained from attending courses. Staff meetings take place on a regular basis to monitor training needs, quality of provision and reflective practice.

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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 106962 Local authority Bristol City Inspection number 813305 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 65 Number of children on roll 118 Name of provider Hartcliffe & Withywood Ventures (HWV) Date of previous inspection 01/12/2010 Telephone number 0117 9781708

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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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