Footsteps Nursery (Paulton)

Footsteps Nursery (Paulton) Paulton Children's Centre, Plumptre Close, Paulton, Bristol, BS39 7QY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/08/2014 12/12/2011

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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 work in partnership with parents to share information about children's ongoing interests, progress and achievements.  Staff use open questioning techniques skilfully to challenge and encourage children to think deeper and share their own thoughts and ideas.  Staff teach children effective social skills and as a result they behave well, play well together and are well-prepared for school.  Staff take a differentiated approach to teaching which meets the needs of all ages and stages of children, so that they can all learn together and make good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although children generally have access to a good range of learning activities, there are some missed opportunities to promote children's learning in outdoor play.  Staff do not always make full use of the daily routines to help children enhance their independence and self-care skills.

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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 compulsory part 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.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the deputy leader of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Footsteps Nursery (Paulton) registered in June 2011. It is a privately owned nursery operating from within a newly built Children's Centre situated in Paulton, Bath and North East Somerset. It has a sister nursery based in Culverhayes, Bath. Children have use of two main indoor play rooms, both with integral toilet and nappy changing facilities. There is an enclosed outdoor area, which can be sectioned to provide play areas for children's different ages and stages of development. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 134 children on roll. The nursery is in receipt of government funding for two, three and four year olds. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 5.30pm for 50 weeks of the year. The owner/manager is a qualified primary teacher and employs eight staff, of whom seven are qualified to level three or above or are currently undergoing training.

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

 enhance the meal and snack routines to build on children's physical and independence skills such as, cutting their own fruit and serving themselves lunch.

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

 extend the targeted learning activities so that outdoor play features more in the planning for children's individual next steps

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who attend

Children settle quickly at the nursery and are keen to explore the interesting and stimulating play activities. Staff work with the parents when their children start to find out about each child's interests and stages of development. Staff know children well and have a good understanding of how children learn and ways to promote their learning and development. Staff carry out on-going observations and use this information to plan activities so that they are of interest and relevant to the children. This is helping children move on to the next step in their development. However, there are some missed opportunities to extend the planned activities for children to play and learn outside and this is an area less targeted by staff. Consequently, children who prefer to play outdoors do not always have the same opportunities to develop their next steps in learning. There are assessment systems in place that enable staff to identify children's strengths and

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who attend

areas to develop. These are successful as they enable staff to organise specific learning activities to best support children's learning and development. Parents receive regular information about their child's progress and staff encourage them to share their thoughts of their children by writing 'wow' moments for the staff. Staff invite parents to borrow their child's learning diary to go through at home and they offer regular meetings with their key person. Strong partnerships with parents are well established.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is good and as a result children are making good progress in all areas of their learning and development. Children take part in a wide range of activities, and staff are particularly skilled in promoting children's communication and language development. For example, they use open-questioning to promote children's critical thinking as they look at snails in the garden and give them time to explore and talk about what they can see. Children look through hollow logs and talk about the trees and sky, staff extend their thinking further by asking additional questions.

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who attend

Children have great fun joining in a 'carpet time' music activity; the children giggle in excitement and join in with the milkshake rhyme and movements happily. Staff skilfully engage all children of different ages and this supports children's social skills successfully. Staff organise activities to help promote children's social skills, such as, 'carpet time' where all children listen to stories before snack.

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

Children build friendships with one another and play together well. Children are interested and occupied in play and as a result, they behave well. Staff are good role models for children, they use consistent teaching strategies which promotes children's well-being and children have good relationships with staff. The key person system is well-established and works well to ensure that there is ongoing exchange of information between home and nursery. This helps to ensure that they meet children's individual needs. Parents have a good understanding of the role of the key person and they feel well-supported and informed by their child's key person. The manager uses staff from other sites run by the same company to cover staff absence. This is an effective way of ensuring that there is continuity for the children and ensures that there is consistent practice from staff. As a result staff are meeting all children's emotional needs well.

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

Settling in sessions before children start helps them to feel confident in the nursery. Children spend time in the nursery with their parents and staff to help them to become familiar with the environment and build their confidence. Staff interact in a warm way with children, they always take time to listen and they provide cuddles and reassurance when children feel unsettled. Children understand the importance of sharing and turn taking such as waiting for their turn to go on the bike. Staff regularly praise children which builds their self-confidence. At mealtimes staff sit with children which makes it a social time as they talk to them about their lives, which develops children's conversational skills. Staff encourage children to be independent. For example, they wash their own hands before meals and put their own boots on. This helps children to be ready for school and helps them to develop good personal hygiene routines. However, there are some missed

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

opportunities at meal and snack times to extend this further because staff prepare, cut and dish up children's food for them, rather than letting them do it for themselves. Children are safe, as staff are clear of their roles and responsibilities in order to keep a safe and secure environment. They have a range of policies and procedures in place and carry out regular risk assessments of the areas used by children. This significantly minimises hazards to children. Staff supervise children well as they move safely between different areas indoors and outdoors. This means children are getting fresh air and regular exercise which benefits their health and well-being.

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provision

Staff have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding and welfare requirements. Staff are familiar with the nursery safeguarding policy and have had training to help them identify any child protection issues promptly. All staff are clear about the procedures they must follow if they have any concerns about children in their care. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Staff ensure that parents are well-informed of the nurseries policies and procedures and all of the required documentation is in place and well-maintained to ensure that children are safe and secure.

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provision

Staff have a secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements. There are comprehensive systems in place which include observation, assessment and planning to support the staff in monitoring children's progress effectively. Staff plan together and key persons highlight specific activities for their key children as they know them best. This means they can ensure that activities meet their interests and individual needs most effectively. The deputy manager of the nursery is the curriculum leader and has responsibility for monitoring the delivery of the educational programme which she does effectively. Therefore, staff are working well together to support children and as a result, children are making good levels of progress.

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provision

The leaders and staff team all demonstrate that they have a drive for improvement. There are effective self-evaluation tools in place that allow the staff team to reflect on what is going well and what they want to develop further. The leaders support staff well to ensure that they have regular opportunities to enhance their professional development. Staff receive regular and effective supervision, which provides them with opportunities to listen to feedback about their performance. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and are well-updated of current issues. The nursery manager works closely with the children's centre manager to offer support to children and their families. This is effective in meeting the needs of the wider family and supports parents to contribute to their child's learning at home. The nursery completes detailed improvement plans which prioritise areas of development such as plans to develop the use of the outdoor play areas. They

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provision

regularly work with local authority advisors to review their practice and identify their strengths and areas to improve. This helps to ensure that improvement plans are fit for purpose.

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provision

Staff have good links with the local schools and organise regular activities and visits to prepare the older children for the transition into school. All value the ongoing partnerships with the children's centre; they welcome this and use this as an opportunity to link children's family life to their time at nursery.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY430081 Local authority Bath & NE Somerset Inspection number 823563

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 134 Name of provider Rabinder Jay Copsey Date of previous inspection 12/12/2011 Telephone number 01761 415535

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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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