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Early years · Early years inspection (CIF)

Little Rascals Nursery

Inspected 11 Jul 2014 · published 6 Aug 2014 · URN EY270903

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Summary

Outstanding

Hannah Barter

What we read, and from where

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  • Inspection datesingle source

    11 Jul 2014

  • Inspectors verified

    Hannah Barter

  • Overall effectiveness verified

    Outstanding

  • Postcode verified

    BN11 2AA

  • Name on report verified

    Little Rascals Day Nursery

  • URN verified

    EY270903

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

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Grade profile

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  • OverallOutstanding

Tone of the report

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+72Very positivemore positive than 5% of reports of this type graded Outstanding
OutstandingGoodMetRINot metInadequate

Reads more critically than most reports of this type graded Outstanding.

Markers show where typical reports of each grade sit.

Praiseexcellentextremelyexceptionallyconfidentlystronghighly effectivegood progresssafe
Criticisminadequaterequires improvementnot metnot extremelygapsnot confidentnot effectively

How the report reads, start to finish

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FindingsAbout the inspectionWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings185w+87
  • What needs to improve2015w+68

Strengths

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Concerns

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No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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Anatomy of the report

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Pages
10
Words of findings
2,129
longer than usual (typical 693)
Reading level
Hard
Flesch 47, typical 43
Average sentence
19 words
Next steps
8
typical 1
Hedged sentences
2%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 6%What needs to improve 64%About the inspection 30%

Full report text

Little Rascals Day Nursery 45 Chesswood Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 2AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/07/2014 31/07/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 4 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

 The environment is highly stimulating and activities are expertly set up to provide children with excellent learning opportunities.  The management team is highly effective in supporting the staff which means they are continuously motivated to develop their practice and improve outcomes for children.  Children receive unlimited praise and support during activities which allows them to create their own ideas and learn effectively.  Staff have excellent relationships with parents and constantly gather feedback to ensure children are being offered the best possible care and learning experiences at all times.  Children are extremely confident and motivated to learn through play and make very good progress due to the high levels of encouragement they receive from all staff.

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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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed at length the progress made from the last inspection and gained evidence to show this.  The inspector spoke to parents and gained feedback both verbally and in writing.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled policies and procedures, including safeguarding procedures and risk assessments.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to staff throughout the inspection regarding their practice and knowledge of policies.  The inspector observed activities in the indoor and outdoor environment.

p.2

Information about the setting

Little Rascals Day Nursery registered in 2003 and is privately run. It operates from a converted house in Worthing, West Sussex. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 96 children aged from birth to under five years on roll. The nursery gets funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery cares for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 16 members of staff. Of these, 15 hold appropriate early years qualifications, with three members of staff qualified at level 5 and 12 qualified at level 3. One member of staff is currently in training. The provider holds a

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Information about the setting

degree in early years care and education.

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

 support children's understanding of the world by maintaining technology equipment in full working order.

p.3

who attend

The quality of teaching throughout the nursery is of an exceptionally high standard. Staff support children's communication and language development expertly during activities with the constant use of open-ended questions. For instance, children sit with a staff member exploring shells and staff ask the children what they might find at the seaside. The children show their understanding of the world by suggesting that they might find a crab. The staff challenge children further and encourage them to think and deepen their understanding of nature by asking them, 'What does a crab look like?' and 'How do crabs move?' Staff listen to children's responses with enthusiasm which gives them extremely good levels of self-confidence as they extend their ideas further. Staff have an excellent knowledge of the areas of learning and constantly monitor and evaluate the activities on offer to children. This ensures that children are suitably challenged in their learning and

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who attend

are making excellent progress. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported exceptionally well by the staff to develop their communication skills and to promote inclusion for every child. Staff give added focus to them during activities to ensure that their progress is developing as well as other children.

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who attend

Children are exceedingly happy and constantly motivated to learn as they take part in the inviting activities provided by the staff. Children happily select from the wide variety of toys at their level, confidently making their own decisions about what they do and play with. However, occasionally technology equipment is not fully operative for children to explore independently to increase their understanding of the world.

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who attend

Children confidently play, explore together and show considerable excitement at what they find. For instance, young children explore cornflour and water mixture. They feel the mixture with their hands and watch it change from a solid to a liquid, experimenting by pressing shapes into the mixture and shrieking with excitement when the shapes disappear. Staff support children who are not as confident extremely effectively; they gently talk to them about the mixture and with support encourage them to touch it. This develops children's confidence and encourages them to have a go and try out new experiences.

p.4

who attend

Staff plan some activities for children using their extensive long, medium and short term plans so that children are challenged and learn new skills across all areas of learning. However the focus is placed heavily on the children's interests and their ideas throughout the day so that their learning is purposeful, extremely effective and children actively learn through play. For example, a group of children are singing songs from a well-known film. Staff join in with the children and discuss the characters of the film, one of which is a snowman. Staff talk to the children about snow and what happens when the sun comes out. Children confidently tell staff, 'It melts because it's hot'. Children show an interest in making snowmen and as a group decide together what is needed. They gather resources which the children then turn into pictures of the character, expressing their creativity freely. The flexibility from the staff allows the children to actively learn and decide how

p.4

who attend

they want to do it while all the time being fully supported. Children's mathematical development and knowledge of number language is met with consistent enthusiasm by staff as children explore shape sorters and number jigsaw puzzles.

p.4

who attend

The nursery has highly successful strategies in place to ensure that all parents are comprehensively involved in their children's learning. Forms are completed before children start which detail routines, interests and dislikes. Superstar Surveys are sent out at the end of every term for parents to detail information about activities children have done at home, outings with family or any event that then informs children's planning. This enables staff to link activities and learning to children's first-hand experiences. The nursery's secure social networking page allows parents to upload information and videos of what their children have achieved at home, strengthening the already excellent partnerships in place. Staff complete in-depth assessments every six weeks and share information with parents which highlights the exceptionally good progress their children are making. This guarantees that all parents are thoroughly engaged in their children's learning.

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

All staff have an excellent knowledge of children's individual needs and their routines. The strong bond between staff and children is evident through the confidence and high levels of self-control that children display during activities. For example, during role play children build a police car out of blocks and they stick up pictures they have drawn of fire and help to direct their friends around the fire to keep them safe. Staff ask the children why they cannot go near the fire and children explain, 'Because it is hot, it will burn you.' Children fully understand how to keep safe and show care and consideration to their friends to also ensure their safety. Babies have exceptionally strong bonds with all of the staff that care for them. They confidently approach staff for cuddles and are gently rocked and sung to when they become tired or upset. Staff help children to settle when they are dropped off

p.4

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

at the nursery. They offer comfort and gently talk to them about what they would like to do using their interests as a distraction. For instance, staff say to children who are a little upset, 'Look, over there I have got the play dough and cutters out for you because you really enjoyed doing that yesterday'. These close relationships ensure that children feel comfortable and secure and are fully emotionally prepared for the next stages in their learning.

p.5

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

New children take part in activities confidently during their settling-in sessions. This is documented through observations and shared with parents. This is because key people ensure that optimum support helps them to feel comfortable and secure. Strong support is given to children who speak English as an additional language. Staff devise vibrant displays in children's home languages and use dual language reading books to familiarise them with English words. This helps to ensure that any gaps in the children's development are closed and children's confidence is consistently promoted. Children continually learn about keeping safe during routine activities. For example, while walking around the room staff remind children not to climb over chairs but to walk around them so they do not fall off and hurt themselves. Older children risk assess their environment by being Safety Spies and walk around the different areas ensuring it is safe to play in. This gives children

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

a very thorough knowledge of how to identify and manage everyday risk for themselves.

p.5

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

Older children understand the importance of being healthy and are able to move freely between the indoor and outdoor environment. The outdoor space is extensively resourced with equipment to promote children's physical skills. For instance there are tyres for children to climb over and tunnels for them to crawl through. Large play cars allow children to explore the garden while skilfully navigating around the equipment and other resources on offer. Babies and younger children explore their local surroundings and go to a small beach a short distance from the nursery. Here they explore the sand, pretend to be pirates and sing songs. The nursery has also taken part in Healthy Body, Happy Me Week. This further developed children's knowledge about the importance of exercise and eating healthily.

p.5

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

Staff give extremely high levels of support to children moving between rooms within the nursery and for those attending other early years settings or school. Staff complete transition sheets and meet with fellow key persons and teachers to discuss children's progress and next steps. When visiting school, staff attend with the children to support this change and to help them feel even more confident in their new surroundings.

p.5

provision

The commitment and dedication from the management team are inspirational. The provider strives for excellence and demonstrates this through the highly detailed systems for continuous provision. The provider and staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are extensive policies and procedures in place which highlight the extremely high standards that are expected from the staff to protect children's welfare and promote their learning and development. Weekly evaluations of activities during planning meetings with senior members of staff ensure that children are being offered the best possible learning opportunities, which, in turn, ensures they are making excellent progress. Assessments carried out on children are precise and detailed and clearly show their progress in all areas of learning and development.

p.6

provision

Staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures. They can explain step-by-step procedures when dealing with accidents and safeguarding procedures. This means that children keep extremely safe at all times. Highly detailed risk assessments are in place and regularly updated to keep children safe. Following the nursery's last inspection, the provider accessed training from an external company to assess the areas and train the staff on how to ensure they are risk assessing appropriately to safeguard children. Recruitment procedures are thoroughly in depth to ensure the suitability of all staff to work with children. Staff development is extremely well focused on raising standards and improving outcomes for children even further. All staff receive paediatric first aid, safeguarding children and food hygiene training as a minimum to support them in their roles and care of the children. During regular supervision

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provision

sessions, staff and the manager highlight areas for development and access courses to continuously develop their practice. The management make sure that all required documentation is completed appropriately and is stored securely both in files and on the computer within the nursery to maintain confidentiality for children and their families. They fully understand the requirement to notify Ofsted of any changes, such as the appointment of a new manager.

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provision

All staff, children and parents are involved in the self-evaluation for the nursery. Feedback is gained through a variety of ways, such as questionnaires, suggestion boxes, online forums and email to ensure that everyone's views are valued and ideas inputted into the nursery. Parents offer high levels of praise when talking about the staff. They comment that, 'They cannot do any more to make you feel included in your child's day.' Another parent explained that if they cannot attend parents' evenings then suitable times are arranged to discuss their child's development. This ensures that parents never miss out on discussing their children's learning and development or being made a part of their children's early education.

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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 EY270903 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 963183 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 1 - 8 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 96 Name of provider Sharon Anne Ashworth-Leach Date of previous inspection 31/07/2013 Telephone number 01903 600577

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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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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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