Zoe's Childcare Dallas Street

Zoe's Childcare The Lodge, Dallas Street, MANSFIELD, Nottinghamshire, NG18 5TA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/09/2014 13/11/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The quality of teaching is good. All staff understand their responsibility for the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and the educational programmes are effectively promoted as staff provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum. This enables children to make good progress from their starting points.  Children learn how to keep themselves healthy through opportunities to eat nutritious food that they have grown. They skilfully handle gardening equipment and tools and spend time in the fresh air taking part in exercise.  The nursery staff work in partnership with parents to ensure that every child's individual care and learning needs are met.  The nursery manager strives to make continuous improvement. She monitors the educational programmes well and ensures that staff are supported in their training and professional development. This results in staff continually developing their skills and

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This provision is good

knowledge, which enables children to make good progress.  Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and child protection procedures. Recruitment and induction procedures are robust. Consequently, children are kept safe from harm.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Occasionally, opportunities are missed for children to develop their independence skills during daily routines, such as at lunchtime.

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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 had a tour of the premises and observed children both indoors and outdoors, and also carried out observations in the baby room.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and a range of other documentation including the safeguarding procedures and improvement plans.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and the nursery's policies and insurance documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of inspection.

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Information about the setting

Zoe's Childcare was registered in 2013 and is privately owned. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. There are currently 37 children on roll, of whom, 32 are within the early years age range. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery is open from 7.30am until 6pm, Monday to Friday, 50 weeks of the year. It closes for Christmas week, the Spring bank holiday week and all other bank holidays. The nursery employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery also employs a cook and a practitioner who helps with taking children to and from

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Information about the setting

school and nursery and carries out building maintenance.

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

 extend opportunities for children to enhance their independence skills during everyday routines, for example, by enabling them to pour drinks and serve themselves at lunchtimes.

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who attend

Teaching is good. Children are well supported in their learning and development because staff have a clear understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the educational programmes. Staff have a good awareness of the ways in which individual children learn best and they provide children with many opportunities to explore, investigate and to learn through first-hand experiences. For example, in the baby room, staff extend a singing activity by introducing musical instruments for the babies to experiment with sensory play through noise. Staff show affection and give praise to the babies' achievements, who in turn respond with squeals, smiles and gurgles to demonstrate their engagement in the activity. Consequently, babies are happy as they actively play and explore, using their senses to learn about the world around them.

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who attend

The nursery staff understand the effective characteristics of learning that children experience from the activities they carry out. They skilfully support children to learn through effective teaching, which supports them to develop their problem solving skills. Children's critical thinking skills are also effectively promoted through staff making good use of the resources, sensory experiences and play equipment to meet children's individual needs and abilities. Planning is retrospective, rather than structured, which means children are free to follow their interests. Staff skilfully extend play experiences so that children's learning is fluid without abrupt breaks between activities. For example, when children bring a selection of items into nursery after a nature walk, they show curiosity in their individual findings. Staff are spontaneous in making suggestions, which encourages children to maintain their focus by painting leaves or counting pine cones.

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who attend

From this, their mathematical development is promoted as they observe leaf shapes and repetitive patterns. Children have free choice to leave an activity when they lose interest and find another. Staff monitor children closely to ensure to ensure each child is sufficiently challenged and they encourage them to show satisfaction in meeting their own goals. Children show good levels of fascination and as a result, are active learners. This prepares children well for their future learning, including starting school.

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who attend

Staff know the children they care for very well through clear and careful observations. They identify relevant next steps in learning when planning children's future learning and they take into account children's individual needs. Staff record both planned and incidental observations electronically, which the manager monitors, approves and adds suggestions to. This ensures that children's progress is constantly moving forwards in all areas of learning. It also results in any gaps in children's learning being quickly identified so that clear support is implemented at the earliest opportunity to enable all children to make good progress. Parents are sensitively questioned during the settling-in period, which helps the staff to identify their children's starting points, routines, characters and interests. Initial information collected is very thorough and the electronic learning journals are detailed with each child's history, achievements and progress. The staff use a variety of

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who attend

methods of sharing information with parents so that learning can continue at home. For example, parents can log on to the nursery's password protected website and follow their own child's progress. This ensures parents are fully aware of their children's achievements. Consequently, learning is good because children are provided with a broad range of stimulating activities, which build on their prior skills and knowledge.

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

Children feel emotionally secure as the staff provide a comfortable and welcoming environment where children are happy. For example, a big fuss is made when babies succeed in feeding themselves at lunchtime. Staff clap and offer praise, which babies respond positively to. The effective key-person system enables children to form secure emotional attachments with staff. Children of differing ages are placed into family groups, which are overseen by a specific key person. This is to encourage peer working, where the older children show care for the younger children, and the younger children aspire to be like their older peers. Children's behaviour is good because it is managed extremely well through clear boundaries. Staff work well together to support each other's family group, enabling one-to-one attention to occur when needed. The manager has deliberately kept the appearance of the nursery rooms plain to create a calming atmosphere for children.

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

For example, wall displays are minimal and light is as natural as possible. Sofas and soft furnishings give children a feeling of calmness and homeliness. Shelves and toy storage are made of natural wood with baskets. The manager's ethos is to provide quality interactions in a familiar, calm environment. This helps new children or children who have anxiety issues. The manager states that children are more relaxed, are able to concentrate and babies sleep better. Consequently, children are making strong relationships and developing their social skills, which supports them to feel emotionally ready for their eventual move onto school.

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

Healthy lifestyles are promoted because children are provided with nutritious food. Baby- led feeding is successfully carried out, meaning babies eat the same meals as the older children. Staff are on hand to cut food into smaller pieces for babies, who are all encouraged to feed themselves, either with a spoon or by hand. The belief behind this is that fussy eating is eliminated and independence skills encouraged, such as hand-eye co- ordination. Each child has a name card so they know where to sit and can recognise each other's names and feel part of the group. The environment is kept clean at all times and children's personal hygiene needs are met. For example, children know to wash their hands before eating begins and can identify their own names above their towels, which helps to prevent cross-contamination. Physical exercise is promoted through the indoor and outdoor resources provided for children to play on, such as the bikes. Visits to the

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

allotment enable children to extend their physical activities further through digging and gardening. Children learn where food comes from by feeding the chickens, planting seeds, watering plants in the greenhouse and digging up vegetables, such as potatoes to cook and eat in nursery. Children have free access to the outdoors environment everyday, which encourages their curiosity, exploration, confidence and self-motivation. As a result, children are generally learning to care for themselves and to keep themselves healthy. However, there are occasions when children are unable to be fully independent during the daily routine. For example, although children try to pour their own drinks, the jug is sometimes too large and overfilled with water, causing children to struggle with the weight and aim.

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

Supervision of children is good, which protects children's safety. The premises are a safe environment for children and staff ensure that they are also safe on outings. Children are kept safe because the nursery staff collect a good amount of information on each child, including any dietary requirements, medical history and medical instruction. This ensures that they can meet children's specific needs and requirements. Children are taught to keep themselves safe, such as closing the safety-gate behind them when they go into the playground. The playground itself is covered in rubber matting so that children are able to take sensible risks and challenges, as this minimises the risk of serious injury if they fall. The environment is friendly and well resourced. All resources are stored at a low level and are labelled to encourage children's engagement. Children are taken on outings to explore, such as the toy library, museums and parks in the area. There are resources that reflect

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

positive images of equality and diversity to develop children's awareness of difference and the wider world, such as other languages and different types of family structures. As a result, children are able to access flexible indoor and outdoor spaces and resources where they can explore, build, move and play, engaging in new experiences through trial and error.

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provision

The nursery effectively meets the safeguarding and welfare and the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All nursery staff are fully aware of their safeguarding responsibility to protect children and of potential indicators of abuse and neglect. They are clear about the local procedures and have access to all relevant contact details, should they have concerns regarding a child in their care. Staff training is ongoing and all staff are qualified to administer paediatric first aid. This helps to protect children's health and safety. Recruitment and induction procedures are effective and probation periods are in place to ensure staff are committed to working effectively with children. As a result, children are protected and are confident to try new ideas in a safe environment. All parts of the premises are safe, secure and suitable. This is because risk assessments are effectively implemented to ensure potential hazards are identified

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provision

All staff demonstrate a good understanding of their responsibilities to implement and monitor the required educational programmes. Observations and assessments effectively monitor children's progress in their learning and development. Activities are planned long- term, according to the children's age, stage of development and their interests, through a broad and balanced range of experiences and activities.

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provision

The nursery staff have a good, consistent understanding of how children learn and develop their skills through play. This is because they are a highly qualified and motivated staff team who use their good knowledge and experience to effectively teach children. Staff take pride in their work and welcome constructive feedback from their supportive manager. Some children have exceeded the early learning goals by the time they leave the nursery because of the high levels of support and good interaction provided by staff. Performance management systems, including staff supervisions, are strong. This results in children benefiting from consistently good teaching and learning experiences, which enables them to make good progress.

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provision

A good range of policies and procedures provide parents with clear information about the daily operation of the nursery. Sound communication systems ensure parents are kept well informed of their children's care and achievements. The nursery staff have effectively developed partnerships with other providers, which enables them to complement the learning that takes place in children's lives when they attend other settings. Parents are signposted to other partnerships, such as Surestart's services, where they can engage their children in playdays, crafts and sports sessions, or attend classes, such as adult literacy and maths. Multi-agency working is very good. For example, speech and language therapists implement strategies to reinforce the staff's knowledge of sign language communication to support any children with speech issues. The nursery's self-evaluation is effective, with the manager using this to ensure her own skills and the skills of her staff

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provision

team are current, in order to provide the best experience for children. The manager has made improvements by working on all the actions and recommendations from the last inspection. This has improved the quality of provision for all children. The manager is committed to continually developing the nursery to ensure high standards of care and learning are maintained.

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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 EY462408 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 962925 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 37 Name of provider Zoe's Childcare Ltd Date of previous inspection 13/11/2013 Telephone number 07403 330 402

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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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