The Avenue Children's Centre

The Avenue Children's Centre 7 The Avenue, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 9AA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/10/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress from their starting points because experienced staff make skilful use of opportunities to promote children's learning through play and structured activities.  Children's mathematical development is given high priority. Children use numbers in everyday situations, which means they are able to recognise, and in some instances write numbers, during play.  There are very good partnerships in place with local schools and teaching staff, which means children are supported as they move into full-time school or pre-school.  Leadership is strong and arrangements for safeguarding children are well embedded. Daily practice is further enhanced by clear, concise and relevant policies, procedures and documentation.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children do not always have ready access to a rich range of media and materials that further enhance their early creative experiences.  Staff miss opportunities for older children to take responsibility for carrying out small tasks, such as serving themselves at snack time.

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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 main playrooms and the outdoor area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of suitability of staff working within the nursery and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the manager, members of the staff team and children at appropriate times throughout the day.  The inspector invited the manager to undertake a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and grandparents, and looked at written correspondence from them.

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Information about the setting

The Avenue Children's Centre is located within the Avenue School in Warminster. The nursery operates from two rooms within the school and opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm throughout the year, apart from two weeks at Christmas. There is a garden for outdoor play. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 59 children on roll. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and /or disabilities. There are 14 members of staff who work with the children; of these, 13 have appropriate early years qualifications. A cook and a cleaner are also employed. 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 opportunities for children to independently access a rich range of media and materials, to make marks and write for different purposes

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

 offer older children further opportunities to enjoy the responsibility of carrying out small tasks, especially at mealtimes.

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who attend

Teaching is good. Staff have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements, and this means that children take part in a broad range of activities covering all aspects of learning. Staff assess children's starting points through information obtained from parents and through well-established settling-in sessions. They carry out detailed observations of the children as they play, and plan associated activities to meet their individual next steps, needs and interests. Staff record children's progress and achievements in individual learning journals that give a clear overview of their progress over time. They share this information with parents, who are encouraged to share their views and enhance children's development at home. Staff use the information gathered to help identify areas where children are below or exceeding expectations, as well as their progression since the last assessment. As a result, children are making good progress.

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who attend

Staff and parents agree strategies for working together, to ensure children reach their full potential. For example, parents help complete the progress checks for children at age two years. This promotes an effective shared approach to promoting children's learning and development. Children have good opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. For example, they have ready access to a wide selection of books with text and pictures. During the inspection, children enjoyed the experience of sharing stories with staff and enthusiastically listened to a favourite story about a caterpillar. Staff brought the story alive and introduced props such as leaves and butterflies, which kept the children interested. Babies grow in confidence as they join in enthusiastically with the actions of favourite songs and rhymes. For example, when staff sang 'Twinkle twinkle little star', some children tried to copy their actions and received positive praise for this. Babies have

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who attend

good opportunities to crawl around their playroom and access resources of different textures in the variety of treasure baskets, reaching for the different materials and placing them on their face. Staff give clear explanations about the material being 'smooth' and 'rough'. This inspires younger children's recognition of new words and different textures. Staff use the 'letters and sounds' programme to support children's language development further. For children whose home language is not English, staff provide words in both languages to support children's understanding. This means children maintain their focus, become deeply involved and make clear connections in their learning. Consequently, they make good progress and are well prepared for school when the time comes.

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who attend

Overall, children make good use of the selection of resources available to support their early skills in making marks, such as chalks and sand. However, creative resources are not always readily accessible for children to experiment with and further practise their early writing. For example, during the inspection, there were fewer opportunities for children to make a list or leave a message during role play, to enhance their early literacy skills. As a result, their creative experiences are not always as rich as possible. Staff support children's mathematical development well. They regularly talk about number, sorting and describing shapes through play. For example, young children showed confidence in counting to 10 and staff made the most of opportunities to extend children's understanding of concepts, such as 'one more' and 'one less', through questioning in everyday situations. Staff invited children to trace the number one in the air and then

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who attend

described the shape of the number as the children enthusiastically joined in. This gave children opportunities to recognise and represent numbers.

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who attend

Children enjoy the outdoor environment and make good use of the sheltered areas of the garden to develop their senses as they investigate, explore, construct and build. Babies receive lots of encouragement as they move around the outdoor play area. Staff assist babies to pull themselves up onto their feet as they hold their hands, and then encourage them to walk unaided. As they take a few steps on their own, staff clap and give lots of praise, raising the babies' self-esteem and confidence. Children regularly go for walks to enhance their awareness of the local community and the world around them. Consequently, children attending the nursery quickly grow in confidence and staff support them well to acquire the skills and capacity to develop and learn. This ensures they are well prepared for the next stages in their learning.

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

The key worker system is very effective. Staff are caring and committed to ensuring children are happy, comfortable and confident. For example, younger children showed that they have a special relationship with their key person as they sought them out for cuddles or for reassurance. Older children are able to talk with their key person throughout the session. Staff build trusting relationships with children's parents. They report to parents at the end of each day about what their children have been doing during their session. During the settling-in period, they advise parents about gradually extending the length of time children should stay, building up to a full day when children are ready. This means that parents can be confident that their children are happy in the nursery. Behaviour is good and when there are minor instances of unwanted behaviour, staff handle these positively and calmly, using distraction techniques and praise to promote the

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

desired behaviour. Children respond well to this approach. This means they learn quickly to value one another.

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

Staff promote children's health well, and there are clear and consistent systems in place to protect them from infection. For example, staff promote good hygiene practices with all the children, such as hand washing, and wear protective clothes when handling food and changing nappies. Children learn about a healthy lifestyle through being provided with a broad range of nutritious meals and snacks, all prepared on the premises. These include snacks of fruit and vegetables, and main meals of fish, meat, vegetables, salad and pasta. Drinks of water are available for all children throughout the day. Staff display weekly menus for parents to see. However, meal times do not provide enough opportunities for older children to take responsibility for small tasks, such as serving themselves. For example, during snack time, staff served children their fruit and snacks. In addition, they poured out water and milk from jugs into cups while children sat down, reducing

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

opportunities for children to demonstrate their independence.

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

Children of all ages have access to the garden areas each day, which means they benefit from fresh air and are able to develop their physical skills as they use various equipment, for example bikes, scooters and balancing apparatus. During the inspection, one member of staff set up a role-play activity outdoors to help children use their bodies in a controlled way. She showed children how to hold their arms out as they walked through the 'long grass' and reminded them to bend their knees as they took long strides. The staff member then challenged children to see how they could get out of the 'mud' safely before they found the 'bear's cave'. Staff are enthusiastic in their approach to being outdoors and this means children adopt the same attitude. Staff promote children's safety well; for example children show that they are aware of how to use equipment safely, such as scissors. They also take part in regular fire drills so that they know what to do in an emergency. Visitors

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

to the nursery, such as the emergency services, extend children's understanding of keeping safe. This enables children to interact safely with adults other than their normal carers, which further prepares them for school.

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provision

Staff are fully aware of the nursery's safeguarding procedures and demonstrate a good understanding of how to implement these, should the need arise. They are confident in their knowledge of the signs and symptoms of possible abuse and their responsibility to report any concerns to the relevant agencies, so that children are protected from harm. Each member of staff has attended up-to-date safeguarding training, so that they are aware of how to minimise potential risks to children. There is a comprehensive safeguarding policy and procedure in place; this includes the use of mobile telephones and cameras within the nursery. In addition, robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures are in place, which help to ensure adults working with the children are suitable to do so. Staff are fully versed with the whistle-blowing policy, should they have any concerns regarding their colleagues' conduct. They have good opportunities for

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provision

supervision and appraisals with the manager, along with regular staff meetings, where training needs are identified to ensure that all staff update their knowledge and skills. Staff implement and understand other policies and procedures that help to ensure the safety of children. For example, they identify and minimise potential hazards through their risk assessment procedures. The manager keeps thorough records of accidents, medication and attendance to further protect children and promote their welfare.

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provision

The management team regularly monitors children's planning and assessment to ensure activities offer a wide range of learning experiences to enhance children's development. Staff ask parents to provide information about what their children have done at home and then use this information to develop and enhance planning. Adult-led activities are appropriate to individual children's interests and development, enhance learning, and ensure that children make good progress because there are no gaps in their learning and development.

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provision

The self-evaluation process takes into account staff's and parents' views, through the use of questionnaires and regular meetings. Partnerships with parents are effective because there is a very good two-way flow of information about children's individual care and learning needs. For example, staff invite parents to consultation evenings, to discuss their children's progress in detail, and to open days at which they can meet up with other parents. Parents also receive lots of information through interesting displays and regular newsletters. Parents' comments about the nursery are very positive. For example, they say 'staff are so approachable' and their children 'learn lots of interesting things'.

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provision

The management team has strong links with outside professionals, such as speech and language specialists, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities; this enables children to reach their full potential. Staff work well with pre-schools and schools that children move on to, which makes their transition a pleasant experience. For instance, teachers visit the nursery to meet children before they move into their care and to discuss their progress with their key person. They also find out about friendships children have made. This means information about children's care and learning is shared effectively on an ongoing basis and supports children with the move to school when the time comes.

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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 EY294025 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 826984 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 59 Name of provider The Avenue Primary School Governing Body Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01985 214413

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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