Our Lady Star of the Sea Nursery

Our Lady Star of the Sea Nursery Management Committee Kenilworth Road, St Annes, Lancashire, FY8 1LB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/09/2014 21/03/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Outstanding teaching is consistently high and is underpinned by practitioners excellent knowledge and understanding of children's learning and development. As a result, children are making superb progress in all areas of learning.  Children's imaginative thinking is challenged and continually promoted exceptionally well by practitioner's enthusiasm and motivation to progress children further. Practitioners are first class role models and as a result, children's behaviour is exemplary.  Partnership with parents is exceptional. They speak very highly of the practitioners and trust their ability and expertise to keep their children safe.  The practitioner's ability to safeguard all children is remarkable and it is their utmost priority. Consequently, children feel very secure and greatly enjoy attending the nursery.  The supervisor of the nursery is inspirational. The excellent leadership and extensive

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This provision is outstanding

knowledge ensure that this is a cohesive, professionally developed team who continue to evolve through excellent monitoring systems and reflective practice. As a result, outstanding care and learning is delivered and ensures all children's achievements are acknowledged and supported.

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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 observed activities in the playroom and outdoor learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the supervisor.  The inspector held a meeting with the supervisor.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector asked the practitioner questions about their practice at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, a range of other documentation, including the safeguarding procedures and verified staff qualifications and suitability checks.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection and from information recorded in home link diaries and parental questionnaires.

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Information about the setting

Our Lady Star of the Sea Nursery has been operating under a management committee since 1997. It operates from one main room in the Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School. The children also have access to the school hall and other facilities. The nursery serves the local area. There is an enclosed area for outside play, and children have access to the larger playing field and environmental garden. The nursery opens five days a week from 9am to 3.30pm, during school term time only. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. A maximum of 20 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently, 28 children on roll in the early years age range. All of the children receive funded early years education for three- and four-year-olds. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are five staff who work with the children, and all have a

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Information about the setting

relevant childcare qualification to at least level 3. The supervisor has achieved Master of Arts in Social Policy. The nursery has completed a local authority quality assurance scheme and has a lead practitioner status for the area. 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 already excellent support staff give to children at lunch time so they can consistently seek guidance and reassurance when developing new skills at the table.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is consistently high across all aspects of the nursery. The supervisor and practitioners all share the same vision of children achieving their full potential. Practitioner's enthusiastic and consistent teaching approach enables all children to be actively engaged and highly focused on activities and resources provided. Practitioners are exceptional role models to the children and their consistent teaching styles highly motivate the children to learn. Consequently, children are able to settle into their familiar and well-trusted environment quickly resulting in higher achievements. Practitioners support children sensitively and extend their thinking by talking about real- life, home experiences that help children to make connections. For example, children actively discuss how the washing at home is hung up to dry by using big and small clips on the washing line. The practitioner incorporates new vocabulary such as, long and short

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who attend

to extend children's understanding of mathematical concepts. Children's development in mathematics and literacy is continually stimulated by practitioners and included exceedingly well throughout daily routines and activities. For example, children are asked if they would some more triangle bread and are asked to consider how many grapes would they like. Young children show good listening and attention skills and their understanding of numbers as they respond, 'I would like 3'. Practitioners are passionate about making a positive contribution to children's learning. The supervisor in particular, has a clear drive for closing the gap within children's development. As a result, assessment is rigorous and consistent throughout the nursery. Practitioners know the children remarkably well; therefore, children's planning and assessments are tailored towards the individual child supporting meticulous results. Practitioners are passionate

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who attend

about working with parents supporting their children's learning within the home. As a result, one-to-one meetings with parents happen on a regular basis to help achieve the best possible outcomes for the children.

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who attend

Practitioners are highly knowledgeable about child development and know the children who attend the nursery extremely well. There is a high emphasis on children's personal, social and emotional development, communication and language and physical development in the first term. This ensures children acquire the skills they need to learn and quickly become confident within the nursery. Children settle quickly and easily at the beginning of their session, because excellent routines mean they rapidly develop the confidence to choose their own activities. They show great concentration as they enjoy a variety of activities. These include painting, looking at books, or working on their cutting skills by independently using scissors. The children become self-assured and independent and move purposefully between the different areas. The activities provided are rich, varied and imaginative with a strong balance between adult and child-led activities. The vibrant,

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who attend

stimulating environment, indoors and outdoors, both compliment and enhance all aspects of children's learning and development. Consequently, they are enthusiastic to learn and explore their surroundings confidently. For example, children are keen to access the highly innovative and inviting water area. They enjoy squirting water from the hose pipe onto the wooden wheel and watching the water collect in the bucket below. The children enjoy developing new skills such as pouring, filling and emptying using the varied styles of water troughs readily available. This helps to develop their physical skills, cooperative play and their understanding of volume and measure.

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who attend

Practitioners are highly motivated to support children's speech, language and communication skills. The nursery has successfully achieved an accreditation in a National ICAN Teacher Talk Programme. Practitioners use the strategies learnt within this programme outstandingly well. As a result, children are provided with excellent opportunities and support to develop in this area of learning. The effectiveness of teaching and learning in all areas is exceptional. Consequently, children rapidly acquire positive dispositions and proficient skills in readiness for school. Children who speak English as an additional language, including those at the early stages of learning English, are making outstanding progress. This is because of the sharp focus placed on developing language within the nursery. The children's home language is strongly promoted through practitioners learning key words to support the child's daily routines. The nursery has very

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who attend

strong links with the school. The children visit the school throughout the year and use the facilities frequently. This is more intensive throughout the Summer term to support children's transitions into Reception. Children are supported to visit the reception class and meet the teaching staff, to allow them to become familiar with the environment. Consequently, children feel self-assured in embarking on their new stage of learning. Handover meetings are arranged between the school and the nursery to enable a smooth transition for all. Year 6 pupils from the school come into the nursery and read with the children. Year 6 pupils are positive role models to the children and the nursery children aspire to be like them. Consequently, children look forward to starting school and find the transition into school a positive experience.

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

Practitioners prepare children exceptionally well to become independent learners. Simple, well-practised routines help children to find the toys they need for play, as well as, knowing the rules for sharing and caring for each other. They quickly understand their responsibility for keeping the nursery a pleasant place to learn, and all join in at tidy-up time. All resources and baskets are clearly labelled with photographs and words to support this. These simple routines give children a very strong sense of belonging and well-being, because they teach them how to manage this exciting and inspiring environment, both individually and as a team. Children contribute well to making the nursery a safe and happy place, by following clear expectations, rules, boundaries and routines. For example, being kind, gentle, sharing and taking turns. Practitioners consistently apply their 'golden rules' throughout the daily routine, which focus on the positive behaviours to be adopted

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

by the children. They recognise all children's efforts as achievements and offer praise, which encourages children to repeat their actions. As a result, children learn the importance of building friendships and working together as a team. Consequently, behaviour is exemplary. Practitioners strive on building positive and secure attachments with all children and parents who access the nursery. The nursery has a clear, robust key- person system in place. Practitioners know all the children exceptionally well and can confidently say where they are up to in terms of learning and development and where their interests lie. Practitioners are able to tune into the children's individual needs resulting in caring and loving relationships being formed. Children rapidly develop strong friendships between each other and the adults around them. At lunchtime they sit together and happily wait their turn to be served. They display good manners and strong

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

social skills. Children wait for assistance during lunch while practitioners support their peers. As a result, children are learning the importance of patience. Although practitioners provide children with excellent levels of support, they occasionally miss opportunities to provide help as swiftly as it is needed to help support all children with developing new skills at the table.

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

Children's confidence and self-motivation are developed and supported constantly by highly skilled practitioners. Children are provided with endless opportunities to enhance their imagination skills and creativity. The 'fairy den' is a splendid approach to this. Children have established that fairies visit their nursery garden during the evening to dance and have fun like they do. Practitioners extend this learning by enhancing the den with fairy dust and fairy footprints. Practitioners anticipate children's acknowledgement of this and support their animated imaginations further by providing situations that create awe and wonder. Children take ownership of the fairy den by making a swing out of twigs, leaves and string. Children make mention of the swing resembling a bed, which practitioners extend by talking about hammocks and introducing new vocabulary. Practitioners pride themselves on their consistent approach to encouraging children to

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

'have a go'. Practitioners are warm, friendly and caring and are always on hand to support. Practitioners allow children to have the space they need in order to develop their independence and self-confidence. They offer a wealth of praise to encourage children to master new skills. As a result, children are becoming competent and highly motivated individuals who are emotionally equipped for their future moves and school.

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

Practitioners utmost priority is ensuring that children are safe within the nursery at all times. They complete daily risk assessments to ensure all potential risks are minimised and every eventuality has been covered. Consequently, children are extremely safe when attending this nursery. They promote children's health and well-being exceptionally well by ensuring that they have plenty of exercise and fresh air every day. The nursery operates a healthy eating policy and ensures that all meals and snacks are nutritious, balanced and account for children's individual dietary needs, preferences and portion sizes. Children are supported well with developing their independent hygiene practices, including understanding the importance of washing their hands regularly. As a result of these positive practices, the spread of infections are minimised. Children are actively encouraged to take controlled risks, while practitioners are on hand to provide support if needed. For

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

example, children are shown how to climb up and down the ladder of the tree house correctly. Therefore, children develop a sense of achievement and pride when looking at the world around them at a different level.

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provision

The supervisor of the nursery is inspirational and her vision and enthusiasm fuels all practitioners to drive improvement, and deliver the highest standards of care and learning they can. Therefore, children are provided with a highly motivated and dedicated team that all share the same vision, and have the highest aspirations to achieve continuously outstanding results. The supervisor's knowledge and expertise is first class and evident throughout her leadership and management skills. Practitioners constantly praise the cohesive team that this creates and value the positive working environment that this fosters. As a result, children and parents are delighted to attend and it is a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The supervisor's passion for the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework is exemplary and embedded within her role. As a result, practitioners feel well supported and often seek guidance and advice when needed to

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provision

support children's learning and development. The supervisor has a clear focus to ensure all practitioners receive their 'non-contact' time each week in order to keep up-to-date with children's assessment records. Consequently, practitioners respect this time and use it effectively to study their key children and their interests. The supervisor places a strong emphasis on supporting practitioner's well-being in order for them to support children's well-being and achievements to their maximum potential. To achieve this, practitioners receive weekly supervision meetings where training needs are highlighted and rapidly provided. The supervisor conducts her own training sessions for practitioners, devised from her expert knowledge. She is an excellent role model for practitioners with her on- going professional development at Master of Arts level and continuing. Practitioners admire this commitment to her role and the passion and dedication she has for driving

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provision

improvements that benefit the children and the nursery as a whole. The quality of teaching and the progress children make over time is monitored well through regular checks and strategies for tracking children's progress and modelling good teaching practice. The supervisor frequently shares information from her training and research with practitioners. Consequently, they see positive practice and receive accurate information to develop their own practice further.

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provision

Children's safety and welfare is at the heart of all practitioners work. Safeguarding procedures are followed rigorously and the supervisor goes above and beyond to ensure the nursery fully meets the statutory requirements. Practitioners have all received safeguarding training and all have a comprehensive understanding of child protection and what to do if they have concerns about a child's welfare. All policies and procedures are securely in place and translated effectively into practice by practitioners. The supervisor ensures policies and procedures are readily available on the very informative website. As a result, parents, visitors and other professionals are kept well-informed about how the nursery is organised to keep children safe. Robust risk assessments are completed of all aspects of the nursery that children have access to, including if they go off site on an outing. Safety checks are completed to identify any hazards and effective safety measures

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provision

are implemented to minimise these. The nursery is secure, indoors and outdoors, to prevent the risk of unauthorised access, and supervision is vigilant to ensure children's safety at all times. Recruitment procedures are robust and ensure that all staff have appropriate qualifications, experience and have completed Disclosure and Barring Service checks to verify their suitability to work with children.

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provision

The supervisor and her colleagues have been involved with the nursery for a number of years and have established exceedingly strong partnerships with the school and the wider community. They build positive and effective partnerships with parents and other agencies. The supervisor and practitioners always ensure they are available to talk to parents when they wish, particularly during transition times. The supervisor is a strong believer of getting to know the family as a whole and not just the child. Regular meetings, home-link diaries and daily discussions ensure this is achieved to a very high standard. During the inspection parents were very keen to speak personally to the inspector to give their views about the nursery. They were overwhelmingly positive and value the work of the supervisor and practitioners very highly indeed. Parents described the nursery as 'warm, friendly, fantastic and enchanting'. As a result, parents are thrilled and extremely

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provision

confident for their child to attend this nursery. Practitioners highly value parents as primary contributors to their children's learning and actively seek their views about improvements to the nursery. The supervisor confidently talks about what works well for the nursery and is highly motivated to continue to improve the nursery further. She has inspiringly designed all aspects of the outdoor area with the children's needs at the heart of the plans. As a result, children's opportunities for innovative learning are significantly enhanced.

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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 EY262167 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 848436

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 28 Name of provider Our Lady Star of the Sea Nursery Committee Date of previous inspection 21/03/2012 Telephone number 01253 720 497

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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

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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