Green Lane Nursery and Childcare Centre

Green Lane Nursery and Childcare Centre Green Lane, Barnard Castle, DL12 8LG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/10/2014 03/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Highly effective teaching strategies are in place to help children develop early language and communication skills and to support their physical, personal, social and emotional development. As a result, all children are extremely well prepared for their next stage in learning, including school.  Children enjoy an excellent range of activities and experiences, which effectively meets their needs and helps them to make rapid progress in their learning and development. Children are engaged and very eager to explore, they meet new challenges with real enthusiasm.  The management team brings great stability to the nursery. The manager is very hands-on in the nursery and she is an inspirational leader. Staff respond very well to her enthusiasm and they work closely with her to constantly meet children's needs. They have an excellent knowledge of safeguarding procedures and the action to take if they have any concerns about children's welfare.

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This provision is outstanding

 The manager and staff continually monitor the provision. As a result, they carefully identify clear plans for sustained improvement over time to support children's achievements.  The effective organisation of a key person for each child supports a mutual sharing of information with parents, which is expertly used to benefit all aspects of children's development. Parents' views are extremely well incorporated so that the individual needs of all children are superbly met.

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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 carried out observations of childcare staff and their interactions with children throughout the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with a deputy manager, held discussions with staff and spoke with children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's development records, planning documentation, the provider's self-evaluation form, evidence of suitability of staff working in the nursery and a range of other records, policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Green Lane Nursery and Childcare Centre opened in 2003 and is run as a company with charity status. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from three rooms in the grounds of Green Lane Primary School in Barnard Castle. The nursery serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas. The nursery opens five days a week from 7.30am until 6pm for 50 weeks a year, except for bank holidays and Christmas. The Out of School Club opens from 7.30am until 9am and from 3.30pm until 6pm during term time and from 7.30am until 6pm during school holidays. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 165 children in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery supports children who speak English is an additional language. There are currently

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Information about the setting

18 staff working directly with the children. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. 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:

 build on the excellent development of the outdoor area, so that children have as much opportunity as possible to investigate and explore in different environments.

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who attend

The management team and the enthusiastic and dedicated staff work exceptionally hard to deliver highly effective practice that ensures every child makes rapid progress, given their varied and diverse starting points. Staff have high expectations of children and use their expert knowledge to provide rich and varied imaginative experiences for children. Staff meet once a week to discuss their key children and use the previous week's observations and notes of children's interests to plan the next steps for individual children. This means that planning is precise and sharply focused on individual children's learning. Should staff have any concerns about a child's development they seek timely interventions from other professionals, based on their knowledge of the child and their family.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate an excellent understanding regarding the different stages of development and how they can support children. This is because staff are highly knowledgeable and well trained and therefore, understand individual children's learning needs. They join in with children's activities and they are highly effective in role modelling play and learning. This helps children to develop skills and achieve their goals. In the baby room staff are aware of children's needs. They follow what children are interested in as they explore the surroundings. For example, they show children different fabric balls and ask which one they would like. Children choose a ball and throw it. They smile and point when it lands on the floor. Babies are active learners and become deeply involved in their play as they explore unusual resources that staff have provided for them. They pull themselves to standing using available furniture and particularly enjoy pushing a door bolt

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who attend

backwards and forwards that is mounted on the wall. Children aged two- to three-years- old explore simple technology resources. They use a remote control and understand that when they press certain buttons the toy car moves certain ways. Staff interact where children need input, giving guidance about not leaning on the car when it moves. Throughout the nursery, staff support children to do what they want to do and how they want to do it. In the pre-school, staff provide a variety of coloured pipe cleaners for children to investigate. When children are unsure of how to do something they encourage them to think for themselves and find a solution. For example, children thread pipe cleaners through a button, they ask for help but staff encourage them to keep trying. The same happens during a craft activity. Staff teach children how to use scissors safely and correctly. They demonstrate to children how to hold the scissors and make them work by

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who attend

moving the scissor handles up and down. Children have a go for themselves and are successful in cutting the tissue paper. This promotes children's self-esteem and confidence. Communication and language is a strong focus in the nursery. Staff in the baby room understand how to teach children their first words. They include it in their planning, showing that they are focusing on the individual child, talking to them during their play. As children get older staff introduce new words in their play. When children use craft materials staff use descriptive words, such as shiny. Children who speak English as an additional language are fully supported. Staff are guided by parents about the words children know in their own language and introduce English words to them as they support them closely. This means that children are provided with a superb, rich and varied weekly programme to promote their learning. Children's self-esteem is very high and as a result,

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who attend

they display exceptional levels of confidence in their own abilities and growing independence. Consequently, all children are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps in learning, including full-time school.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are exceptional. Parents are encouraged to be involved in every aspect of the nursery. They meet regularly and discuss the development of the nursery and they help to raise funds through the Friends of Green Lane parental group. Parents are kept really well informed about their child's time in the nursery and their learning and development. Daily diaries and sheets are recorded about individual children's day. A white board is displayed detailing what children have been involved in, in the pre-school. Learning journeys are recorded by staff detailing children's progress. Parents can access them at any time and are invited to termly parents' evenings to discuss their child's progress. Parents come in and share their knowledge with the children, such as, storytelling, baking, gardening and woodwork. Many parents make a direct contribution to planning and assessment for their child's learning, so that these draw on a broader range

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who attend

of sources than key person observations alone. They fill in Weekend sheets about their child's home interests and any activities or outings they have participated in. This means staff incorporate children's learning and interests into planning. Parents of very young children add their comments to the daily diary. Staff in each room write a monthly newsletter that informs parents about what has happened during the month in the room. It informs them about forthcoming events, such as parents evening. Parents' opinions are also sought when staff consider changing their practice. For example, parents are asked their opinion about the use of the daily diary for children aged two- to three-years-old.

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

Each child is assigned a key person to be responsible for their development, routine care practices and liaison with parents. Children develop trusting relationships with their key person, who meets their care and development needs exceptionally well. Children have high levels of self-esteem and confidence and this is evident as children happily go to staff for cuddles and help when the need arises, demonstrating the excellent bonds and attachments formed between them. Children settle exceptionally well because staff find out meaningful information from parents about their child when they first start, to ensure all children's needs are known and effectively met. Settling-in visits are provided, which are highly flexible and are based on the needs of individual children, to maintain their emotional well-being. Behaviour is excellent and children use resources safely, showing a high regard for their own safety and that of others. All staff have a calm and consistent

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

manner with the children as they talk to them in a very thoughtful and respectful manner, which results in a warm and welcoming environment for children. Staff use gentle reminders regarding how children can keep themselves safe. For example, they explain why children need to move away from sitting by the door. They have visits from the fire authority and police, which helps children learn about keeping safe outside of nursery.

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

Playrooms are very spacious, giving children plenty of room to explore. Staff take a lot of time and consideration in the presentation of their rooms, which results in them being very attractively presented. Resources and toys are highly accessible indoors, covering the breadth of the areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The outdoor area is currently being re-designed for children aged from two years, so is not directly accessible. Children have access to a wealth of physical activities. Staff make use of the setting's club house to do ring games with children aged two to three years. Pre-school children access the sensory garden where they enjoy early literacy skills as they make marks in the walk in sand pit. Babies practice their developing large muscle skills as they use the steps to climb up onto the small indoor slide. They have access to their own well-designed outdoor garden, which they use on a daily basis. Pre-school staff have embraced the Forest school

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

programme. They use a wooded area on school grounds, which they access on their own or with the Reception class. Here, children learn how to build small and big dens, how to spot bugs and they learn how to use a fire pit safely. Marshmallows are toasted over the open fire and children learn how to count elephants to let the marshmallow cool before they eat it. This all links in with the excellent strategies that staff have as they skilfully support children with their move on to school. A strong relationship is in place with the host school. Pre-school children attend assemblies and have their lunch there. This helps to prepare them for full-time attendance at school. Teachers are invited to visit from other schools that some children move on to and staff support children with visits to the new setting where required. Excellent procedures are in place to support children as they move to the next room. A member of staff is shared between the baby room and the two to

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

three year room and another member of staff is shared between the two to three year room and pre-school. Along with settling-in visits, this helps children to transfer well as there is a familiar face for them when it is time to move. Children's good health and self-care skills are promoted through a wide variety of rich, varied and imaginative experiences for children. Baby room staff promote children's developing independence. At snack time they provide several food tastes for children, such as, toasted tea cake, prawn crackers and pickled onions. Staff show and help children to put butter on their toast. Children receive praise when they help to pour water into their cup and drink it without a top on. All children take part in cooking activities. They learn where different foods come from as they harvest the vegetables that they have grown outdoors. They investigate the vegetables as they learn how to prepare and cut

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

them safely. For example, children aged two to three years explore a pumpkin, sweet potato and onions. Staff encourage them to smell, feel and chop them ready to make some soup, which they eat later for snack. This leads to children being independent in making their own snack when they get to pre-school. They select whether they would like banana or scones and are competent at spreading the butter on the scone with a knife.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children in the nursery are excellent. All staff attend safeguarding training and procedures are discussed at regular staff meetings, which continually refresh practice. Staff show excellent knowledge of how to keep children safe. For example, they capably describe procedures for reporting all concerns or incidents to relevant agencies to protect children from harm or neglect. The safeguarding children policy includes the safe use of mobile telephones and cameras to safeguard children. Daily risk assessments for all areas of the nursery are carried out, which ensure that any possible hazards are minimised so that the premises remain safe for children. Children are further safeguarded by the nursery's robust employment procedures, which ensure the suitability of staff who work with the children. This is evident in the well-established committed staff team, with the majority having worked at the nursery for a long time.

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provision

Robust induction procedures, appraisals, peer observations, regular supervisions and staff meetings, enables the manager to sharply focus evaluations of staff practice to identify their strengths and areas for further development and training.

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provision

Children's progress is monitored through robust, highly effective observations and assessments of their learning, which ensures that the planning of activities are expertly tailored to the children's individual needs. Highly effective monitoring systems ensure that planning and assessment are consistent, precise and show that staff have an accurate understanding of all children's skills, abilities and progress. Children's progress is tracked by their key person and once a term each room collates the data they have recorded to show the progress that children are making as a group. The resulting tracking sheet highlights individual children's starting points and where they are now in their development. These are then brought to a staff meeting and discussed to see if there are any gaps or delays in children's learning. It gives the manager an overall view of how each child is developing and learning. There is a highly successful and well-documented drive to

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provision

strongly improve or maintain achievement for all children over a sustained period of time that takes into account the views of staff, parents and children. This is evident in the recommendations that were raised at the last inspection, which have been fully addressed. Staff are fully involved in the self-evaluation process. They do their own improvement plan for each room, which is then discussed as a whole and feeds into the managers overall development plan. Parents are consulted on their views through questionnaires and newsletters and their suggestions are acted on.

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provision

Staff place the utmost priority on positive partnerships with parents and other professionals to enhance children's care, learning and development. As a result, this is a key strength of the nursery. Parents and carers are extremely enthusiastic about their child's care, learning and development. They state that staff have really helped their children with their learning and development and know when to provide challenge to move children on to the next stage in their learning. They always know what their child has been doing through the feedback they receive from staff. Parents recommend the atmosphere in the nursery and feel that staff really care about their children.

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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 EY252401 Local authority Durham Inspection number 860358

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 95 Number of children on roll 165 Name of provider Green Lane Nursery and Childcare Centre Date of previous inspection 03/06/2009 Telephone number 01833 638581

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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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