TippyToes Stantonbury Nursery

Tippytoes Stantonbury Nursery Stantonbury Park Farm, Wolverton Road, Great Linford, MILTON KEYNES, MK14 5AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/09/2014 24/04/2012

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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 understand that every child is unique and carefully plan experiences across the nursery to ensure children's next learning steps are accurately identified. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points.  A highly effective key-person system ensures that children settle quickly into the nursery and parents are well informed of their children's learning and development.  Children's personal, social and emotional development is supported well by enthusiastic staff. Plentiful praise and encouragement is offered to children and, as a result, children's behaviour is good.  Staff have a good understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures, and are proactive in keeping children safe.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always plan sufficient meaningful opportunities, particularly for those more able children, to practice their phonic knowledge and early writing skills. Therefore, some children do not fully explore their emerging literacy skills and gain enjoyment in their writing, both in the inside and outside environment.  At times, within the nursery routine, staff do not make the most of all opportunities to encourage children to take a more active role in developing their independence 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with children, parents and all available staff, and took account of their views.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector tracked children in their play, both indoors and outdoors, in order to provide evidence of children's progress.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation including evidence of staff suitability, a representative sample of the safeguarding policy and procedure, planning documentation and children's learning and development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager to discuss her self-evaluation process and conducted a joint observation of a nursery activity with her.

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Information about the setting

Tippytoes Stantonbury Nursery opened in April 2011 and re-registered as a limited company in September 2011. The nursery operates from a modified, detached farmhouse. It is situated in a rural area on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, close to Newport Pagnall, Bedfordshire. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, for 50 weeks of the year. All children share access to three enclosed outdoor play areas. There are currently 70 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register only. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early years education to children aged three and four. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are learning English as an additional language. The nursery employs 17 members of staff, of whom 15 hold appropriate early years qualifications. This includes two staff members who have a degree in early childhood

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Information about the setting

studies and one staff member who holds Early Years Professional Status.

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

 further encourage children's indepence skills through planned daily activities, for example, snack times

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

 extend the range of meaningful play activities and opportunities during the day to support pre-school children with their developing literacy skills, for example, enhancing their awareness of how to link letters to their sounds, and increasing resources to extend pre-writing skills.

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who attend

Children make good progress relative to their starting points in this nursery. This is because staff take time to get to know their key children and partnerships with parents are strong. Parents report that they value the information and support they receive from their children's key person. They feel well informed about their children's progress in the nursery. For example, staff make good use of daily opportunities to talk to parents about their children's learning and development and provide parents with written assessments of their children's progress. Parents report that they feel comfortable to share their successes and challenges with sensitive and caring staff and, as a result, parents understand how to help their children's learning and development at home.

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who attend

Staff and management have worked together to develop effective systems through which children's progress is monitored and supported. Staff use information shared by parents, together with their observations of children in the nursery, to accurately assess children's learning and development. Staff skilfully recognise children's achievements and identify their next learning steps. Children with an identified special educational need or disability are well supported. The staff welcome, and act on, advice from outside agencies as they plan to meet each child's individual need. Staff take pride in their role as educators of young children and continually reflect on the systems they use. This means, overall, that activities are well planned to support all children to make progress. In addition, children are made ready to move on to their next stage of learning and their eventual move to school.

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who attend

The nursery staff take account of children's interests and utilise spontaneous learning opportunities across the nursery day. They plan for a balance between adult-directed activities, and the activities and experiences that children choose for themselves. Since the last inspection the nursery have invested in a wide range of resources to support children to develop their motor skills. Babies and young children engage in sensory play as they explore sand and find farm animals that are hidden in hay. They are developing coordination and control as they dig with spades, fill shapes with sand and pour water from small jugs. In the outside environment they use walkers, and sit and ride-on toys, to develop their muscles as they move around the large space. Staff interact skilfully supporting children's developing vocabulary. They use simple repetitive phrases to describe younger children's actions and to motivate them to repeat and sustain their play.

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who attend

Older children build structures with large bricks, and explore natural materials such as conkers and leaves within their self-chosen art work. Some children choose to make patterns with small coloured animals, and staff carefully match their interactions to individual children's next steps in learning as they talk about numbers, colours and repeating patterns. Children are developing their understanding of information technology as they use computers to draw pictures. They delight in their success as they use programmable toys, predicting how far the toy will move with each touch of the button.

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who attend

Children are developing the literacy skills they need because staff take every opportunity to engage the youngest children in stories and rhymes. They sing songs outside, and as they settle children to sleep. Older children freely pick up books and make up stories to match the pictures. Older children engage in a short daily sessions which supports them to link sounds to letter shapes. Staff have high expectations of children and make these sessions fun and, as a result, children make good progress in their learning and development. However, in the pre-school room there are missed opportunities for children to practise writing letters in some play activities, for example within their imaginary play both indoors and outdoors. This means that children are not using their developing knowledge of letters to write in meaningful play situations, and for a range of purposes.

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

Children's personal, social and emotional development is well supported by staff. Children and babies quickly build strong relationships with their key person and turn to them to share their achievements or ask for help. Enthusiastic staff demonstrate a genuine interest in children, as they offer praise and encouragement, supporting children's sense of belonging in the nursery. Staff help children to take turns and support them to share equipment fairly. In the outdoor environment, children willingly get off their bikes and offer them to a friend when they see they are waiting. In addition, older children take great care not to disturb the play of younger ones as they build with blocks. Staff are good role models, demonstrating that they listen to children's views and ideas. As a result, children's behaviour is good and they are learning to respect boundaries, and show understanding of each other's needs.

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

The nursery has highly effective systems in place to support children to settle quickly as they start, and then move rooms within the nursery. Staff meet with parents and listen carefully to their views and the individual needs of their children. Staff take account of parents' views and, as a result, care routines in the nursery are tailored to meet children's needs. Parents are encouraged to stay with their children as they settle in. This means that children establish a bond with their key person before parents leave them at the nursery. Parents are kept well informed as children develop and move rooms within the nursery. Children are given plentiful opportunities to develop relationships with new staff, as they are supported to make short visits to new rooms alongside their key person. Time is spent sharing children's development records so that staff are fully aware of children's next steps in learning and individual needs. This means that children's emotional well-

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

being is well supported and, consequently, children feel safe and secure in the nursery.

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

Staff are vigilant and support all children well as they learn to manage their own personal hygiene routines. Staff employ hygienic practices as they sensitively change children's nappies and support children to recognise when they need to use the toilet. Staff use gloves and thoroughly disinfect mats in between nappy changes. Older children's bathroom areas are clean and tidy. Visual prompts remind older children of the toilet routine as they learn to wash their hands independently. Staff remind children to 'catch the sneeze' as they use tissues to blow their noses. Children understand about germs and the importance of keeping themselves safe. Children put on their own coats and their shoes and wellington boots to go outside. They independently select equipment to develop their ideas in their play. However, across the day staff do not extend all opportunities for children to develop their independence skills. For example, during snack

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

time children do not pour their own drinks or cut up their own fruit.

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

Children are developing the skills they need to support a healthy lifestyle. Developments since the last inspection mean that pre-school children now have free access to an all- weather outdoor environment. For example, all children are given the opportunity to use the outdoor environment on a daily basis. Plentiful resources are provided to encourage children of all ages to engage in activities to develop their coordination and muscles, as they learn to negotiate space and to run, jump and climb. Children are kept safe as staff apply sun cream and encourage children to drink frequently, and remove clothing when they are hot.

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provision

The manager and staff are very aware of their legal responsibilities to safeguard children and promote their learning and development. Management, alongside staff, regularly update a good range of documentation, which includes policies and procedures. The nursery building is secure and all areas of the children's environment are clean and tidy. Registers are completed promptly, and incident and accident logs are monitored to identify any risks to children. Staff are aware of the content of risk assessments and act to ensure that children are kept safe. All staff undertake paediatric first aid and safeguarding training. This ensures they understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe and protecting children from abuse and neglect. Staff are deployed well so that all children play within close proximity to a staff member who has current paediatric first aid training. Staff are clear about what steps to take if they have concern over the well-being

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provision

of children. Senior staff and management have attended enhanced safeguarding training. This enables them to review procedures in the nursery and ensure they are current and robust and that the nursery meets the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

Strong recruitment and selection processes are implemented and the manager understands her role in ensuring that all staff are suitable to work with children. New staff have a thorough induction before working with children in the nursery. They meet with the manager, read policies and procedures, and have time to ask questions. The manager and senior staff observe new staff to ensure that they understand their role. New staff members shadow existing staff so they can observe best practice, this ensures that care routines are carried out consistently across the nursery and children are kept safe.

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provision

The manager is knowledgeable about her staff team. Consistent staff are employed in the pre-school who know the children's abilities and needs well. The manager is proactive in ensuring that staff who are employed in the nursery remain suitable to work with children. Regular staff supervision meetings and yearly appraisals are carried out, through which staff have opportunities to discuss their strengths and the areas in which they need to develop. The manager identifies opportunities for staff to support their professional development and, as a result, the staff team have a good understanding of how to support children's learning and development.

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provision

The nursery has developed good links with the local children centre and the staff are aware of activities that will support specific parents. The nursery proactively advertises children centre activities to parents. This means that parents have links to other professionals who can support them with their children's development. The nursery work effectively with visiting local authority specialist teachers so that children with an identified special need or disability make progress. Children move on to a number of schools within the area and the nursery encourages visits from local teachers to support children's move on to their next stage of learning.

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provision

The nursery has good systems in place to effectively track individual children's progress. Staff share assessments of learning with the manager enabling the nursery to identify and support any child who is not making expected progress. Parents praise the nursery for the support that they have given to individual children. Parents are knowledgeable about the strategies that staff have used to support individual children to make good progress in their learning and development. They report that children are learning because the 'nursery is more than willing to work with us to achieve the essential consistency between the nursery and our home environment.'

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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 EY435679 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 824103 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 63 Number of children on roll 70 Name of provider Tippytoes Stantonbury Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 24/04/2012 Telephone number 01908222841

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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