Otford Nursery School

Otford Nursery School and Oasis After School Club Otford Primary School, High Street, Sevenoaks, TN14 5PG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15/09/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 The sound relationships between the children and staff promote children's positive well- being.  The staff support the nursery children's learning well with a wide range of child-led and adult-led activities.  The environment is welcoming and children enjoy easy access to the outside play areas.

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It is not yet good because

 Processes in place do not ensure that there is effective sharing of information where a child attends more than one setting to support their individual needs.  Not all children who attend the after school club are having their learning and development needs fully met.  Some resources are not accessible to children to make easy choices about their play.

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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 held meetings with the provider and the managers of the nursery and the after school club.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playrooms and outside play areas and completed a joint observation with the manager in the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including some children's learning and development records.  The inspector spoke to some parents during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of safeguarding practices, staff recruitment, ongoing professional development and self-evaluation processes.

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Information about the setting

Otford Nursery School and Oasis After School Club registered in 2014 as a limited company. It operates from two ground floor buildings on the site of Otford Primary School, Otford, Kent. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open weekdays from 9am to 3.30pm, term time only. The after school club operates from 3.30pm to 6pm, during term times and for occasional weeks in the summer holidays. The nursery and after school club is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 79 children aged from two years on roll, of these, 58 children are in the early years age range. There are close links with Otford Primary School. The nursery and club support children with special educational needs.

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Information about the setting

There are 12 members of staff and a bank staff member. The staff team includes an early years teacher, a member of staff with Qualified Teaching Status and eight staff who hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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must:

 ensure effective systems are in place to obtain detail and share information where a child attends the after school club and another early years setting

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must:

 ensure staff in the after school club assess early years children's progress and plan challenging and enjoyable experiences for each child across all areas of learning.

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

 look for ways that make it easier for children to make choices from the resources stored out of their reach.

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who attend

Overall, most staff are confidently aware of their key children's individual learning needs. However, this is not the case for all early years children who attend the after school club. This means that some children's learning and development assessment needs are not being met fully. The nursery staff make observations and plan activities to promote children's next steps in their learning, making effective use of children's interests. The nursery manager is introducing a clearer process for ensuring all staff are aware of each child's next steps. This makes it easier for all staff to support each child's learning needs as they play. Each term, the child's key person shares the informative written assessment summaries for each child with their parents. This gives them clear details about how well their child is progressing across the areas of learning, and what the planned next steps in their learning are. This information ensures staff have the detail they need to produce the

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who attend

written progress checks for two-year-old children. This detail informs parents about their children's personal, social, emotional and physical progress, as well as their communication and language development. The nursery staff encourage parents to support their children's learning at home. For example, children take books home or key persons discuss individually ideas for home learning and encourage parents to give feedback. However, at times the detail given is verbal and the manager is encouraging staff to record comments to give a clearer picture of children's experiences and learning. The key person ably tracks children's developmental stages across all seven areas of learning. This enables the staff to identify any learning gaps easily to address in future planning.

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who attend

All staff listen to and value what every child has to say, supporting their language and communication skills well. They recognise the importance of using open-ended questions such as 'What shall we do?' that encourage children to think of more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. As a result, children are keen to share their ideas. The good relationships between staff and children enables staff to motivate children to engage with activities. For example, a group of children were extremely excited as they used the rocket launcher with staff encouraging them to catch the rocket as it fell. This activity brought in problem solving as the rocket got stuck in the tree so the children and staff had to decide together how to get it down. Children play and explore outside, using the muddy areas for digging and mixing or rearranging the large wooden blocks to create a vehicle for an imaginative journey. Staff encourage children's understanding of mathematics well with different

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who attend

activities that help children count and learn to add one more. Children are confident, motivated to learn and keen to communicate with the staff and others. Consequently, children clearly develop the abilities they need for their future learning. The younger children attending the after school club settle well and make choices about their play. They benefit from the outdoor activities, such as using bats and balls. Mark-making materials are available for early writing practice or creative drawing. The early years children enjoy the after school club activities but the lack of effective assessment means their learning needs are not being addressed to help children make good progress.

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

There was a weakness in well-being relating to information sharing about early years children's needs that requires improvement in the after school club. The issue was rectified at the inspection but had not been recognised by staff. The staff had not ensured they obtained the required detail about children's individual care needs before a child started at the after school club. This helps ensure that children's health and well-being is not at risk.

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

Staff develop positive attachments with their key children and others. They work closely with parents in settling children into the nursery, deciding together on appropriate introductions. Children gain strong personal and social development, and relate well with other children, playing cooperatively together. This promotes their emotional well-being well. Children are ready for their move on to school. They gain good levels of confidence and independence skills as the staff encourage them to make choices about their play. Most resources are at child height to encourage self-selection. However, there are some large storage boxes on shelving that children cannot reach. Currently, staff rely on children asking for these but this does not support those children who are reluctant to ask or who have limited English language skills.

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

Nursery children go to the toilet when they need, help prepare snacks or pour themselves drinks at snack time to gain further independence. The after school children confidently help prepare their snack tea, such as making wraps or spreading cheese. For most of the day children decide when they want to play outdoors or stay indoors. Overall, staff ensure the resources and activities they provide meet children's interests and promote their learning. However, staff in the after school club are not fully aware of the learning needs of all early years children in their care to ensure this happens. The nursery outdoor area promotes physical play and offers children interesting experiences for exploring, learning across the areas and imaginative play.

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

The staff manage children's behaviour well. Children willingly share resources when necessary and learn about taking turns, for example, as they play with the rocket launcher. Staff help teach children about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and how to keep themselves safe. The younger children know to wear outdoor shoes or boots outside and mostly put these on themselves with no help. They all practise fire evacuations and staff ensure all children take part so they learn what to do in an emergency to keep safe. The staff encourage the provision of healthy packed lunches for the nursery children and provide healthy, balanced snacks to promote the children's health.

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provision

The staff team meet most of the safeguarding and welfare requirements well. However, some required recorded detail relating to individual information about a child in the after school club was initially unavailable at the inspection. The staff had an awareness of some details but did not have the information about one child's possible individual needs. This was obtained before the end of the day and as such, an action was not set for the breach of requirements. There are issues relating to the provision to support children's learning and development, and partnership working. Staff are not able to support fully the learning and development requirements for every early years child who attends the after school club. Detail about children's attendance at other early years settings is not available for all children. As a result, staff are not able to have a regular two-way flow of information between providers to promote children's learning and welfare needs. This breaches a

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provision

specific requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

The staff conduct daily checks to help ensure the premises remain secure for children to explore safely. Staff minimise potential hazards and note any ongoing actions to improve safety for children. For example, the area where the swing seat is being erected is cordoned off so children cannot access it. The organisation of the nursery building means children easily access the outside area and the toilets when they want, promoting their independence.

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provision

There are sufficient staff available to be able to supervise all children well, both indoors and outdoors. Staff for the nursery and after school club have a secure knowledge of safeguarding practices and receive relevant training. They have a clear knowledge of possible child protection issues and of the processes to follow should they have concerns about a child's welfare. The provider follows a robust recruitment system and this includes obtaining the appropriate checks to help to ensure staff's suitability. There is a thorough induction process for new staff and this enables them to learn about the nursery's practices and procedures, including safeguarding. There is ongoing professional support for staff with regular supervision sessions. The provider is tightening up the related records to show clearly how he or the managers follow up any actions set to help to improve practice. The committed staff are keen to improve outcomes for children and, if

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provision

appropriate, train to obtain a childcare qualification. The staff reflect on the practices at the nursery and after school club to ensure they identify strengths and areas for improvement. Following recent changes to the registration, the nursery and after school club managers are working closely together to ensure a consistency across documentation and processes to support children's needs. Development plans are ongoing and the staff demonstrate a capacity to sustain continual improvement.

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provision

There are effective communications with parents and other settings for those children who attend the nursery as well as the after school club. However, good processes are not in place to ensure partnership working with parents and settings for those younger early years children who attend the after school club but do not attend the nursery. This means the staff do not get useful feedback on children's learning so they can promote and supports this as appropriate. The nursery staff meet the learning and development requirements well, supporting and promoting children's progress in their learning. The key person is responsible for monitoring their key children's learning and development. They share this detail with the manager who uses a computer system to help her monitor and track children's progress. This helps the manager to ensure that each child is making good progress, and that the staff address any identified learning gaps. The process is not as

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provision

secure for the after school club early years children and has an impact on their learning opportunities.

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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 EY475278 Local authority Kent Inspection number 956740 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 54 Number of children on roll 79 Name of provider Otford Nursery School Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01959522364

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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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