Springboard Nursery

Springboard Nursery Springboard Sunderland, The Alec Dickson Centre, Rivergreen Industry Centre, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 6AD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/10/2014 08/11/2013

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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 the teaching is consistently good because staff fully understand how to promote children's learning. Staff display strong teaching skills that fully engage children and provide them with challenge that extends learning and development.  High priority is given to communication and language. This is achieved through staff's skilful intervention and the successful strategies they use to talk to children about their learning.  Staff have a good understanding of how to keep children safe. They are caring and thoughtful and nurture the children well. The good quality of care provided by the staff enables children to grow in confidence and become enthusiastic young learners.  The strong partnership with parents is a particular strength of the nursery. Parents learn about their child's learning, as well as how best to help their children to learn at home. They are very active participants in their child's education and are

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This provision is good

overwhelmingly positive about the nursery's effectiveness.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Opportunities for staff to learn from each other and share their best practice have not been fully exploited, for example, through peer observations.  Some staff discourage children from combining play resources from different areas. As a result, children are not always able to explore and satisfy their own ideas and curiosity.

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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 part 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 observed activities throughout the nursery in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, observation and assessment files, planning documentation and a selection of policies.  The inspector spoke to the manager, staff and children throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and from the nursery's own parent survey.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and the qualifications of staff working with children, and the provider's self-evaluation.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Springboard Nursery was registered in 2004 on the Early Years Register and the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. It is managed by Springboard Sunderland Trust and is situated within Rivergreen Industry Centre, Sunderland. The nursery serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery opens five days a week, from 8am until 6pm, all year round, except on bank holidays and for one week at Christmas. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 40 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. There are currently five members of staff working directly with the children and all have appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery manager holds Early Years Teacher Status, one member of staff holds a qualification at level 4, one holds a qualification at

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Information about the setting

level 3, and two apprentices hold qualifications at level 2. 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 existing good systems for the monitoring of staff performance to focus even more sharply on raising the practice of all staff to the highest levels, for example, through peer observations

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

 support children even further to explore and satisfy their own ideas and curiosity, for example, by enabling them to move and combine resources from different areas.

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who attend

The staff create an environment where the atmosphere is positive and encouraging. As a result, children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff demonstrate a very good knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They fully understand how to promote children's learning and use accurate detailed observations to plan for children's next steps, taking into account their individual learning styles. This means activities are sharply focused to enable all children to make good progress. Accurate assessment of children's learning, including wow moments, help staff to monitor learning in depth and ensure any gaps in their learning are identified and addressed. Staff observations of learning inform children's learning journey files, which contain a wide range of assessments, as well as samples of work and input from home. This information is shared with parents daily and at parents' evenings, so

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who attend

parents discuss their child's progress in depth with their key person. Consequently, there is shared knowledge about children and a complete picture of children's learning and development is obtained.

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who attend

The quality of teaching and learning is consistently good. Staff give high priority to the development of children's communication and language skills. They demonstrate good teaching methods as they sit at the children's level and interact with them, maintaining eye contact. They know how to develop children's speaking and listening skills when they are working individually with children, or when they are in a small group. Staff spend time talking with children, encouraging them to describe what they are learning and encouraging reluctant speakers to begin to engage in conversations. This approach contributes to the building of good relationships and listening skills to help prepare them for their move to school. Staff make very good use of open-ended questions to encourage children to extend their thoughts and ideas and to solve simple problems. Staff also inspire children to recall previous activities, such as when they carved their Halloween pumpkins,

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who attend

helping to consolidate their learning further. Parents are delighted with the quality of teaching and learning opportunities provided and comments, such as 'My child's speech has improved so much' is a common theme. Children thoroughly enjoy looking at books and their listening skills are developing well. For example, they pay close attention during story sessions, answering questions correctly and following simple instructions. This, combined with the excellent way staff use story props, ensures that children's involvement and interest is sustained. Older children are beginning to recognise and name letters, such as those in their names or on labels displayed in the nursery. They are also beginning to link them to the correct letter sound.

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who attend

Staff use opportunities to prompt children's thinking and discussion to help reinforce their understanding. For example, a group of boys playing with the cars announce that they are going to drive to the gym. Staff ask questions, such as 'Is there room for me'?' and this ignites a debate about how many can get in the car and who will have to go by bus. They decide that they have to look for the number three bus. The member of staff asks the children if they can find the number displayed around the room. This leads to great excitement and children are soon finding and identifying various numbers within the room. As a result, children are learning about numbers in a practical and fun way. Good opportunities are provided for children to develop the physical skills required for early writing. Indoors, children have access to an array of writing tools and even very young children can be seen enthusiastically attempting to make their own marks. Outdoors, they

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who attend

draw on the ground with chalk and sit at the table with paper and pencils to represent their ideas. Consequently, children are developing the required skills needed for future literacy development providing a very good foundation for future learning. The staff give priority to encouraging independence and individual responsibility. They generally make resources accessible to children so they are able to make decisions about appropriate equipment to use and what area of the nursery indoors or outside that they want to experience. However, occasionally some staff discourage children from moving and combining resources from different areas. This sometimes means that children are not always able to fully explore their own ideas and curiosity. Children have lots of opportunities to use large physical equipment and to manipulate small tools freely. For example, during outdoor play they confidently manoeuvre around obstacles as they pedal

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who attend

tricycles, build with logs and negotiate a safe path while running between their friends outside. They use rolling pins, glue spreaders, pencils and crayons successfully. All of which helps to promote and enhance their physical development.

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

All children are valued as individuals and staff help them to settle quickly by tailoring their admission to the nursery according to their individual needs. Staff work closely with parents during the settling-in process, finding out about children's individual needs and home routines. This ensures continuity is provided in children's emotional and physical well-being when they move from care in the home into nursery. Each child is allocated a key person to ensure that they have a named person to take responsibility for their daily well-being, plan for their learning and development and build positive relationships with parents. Parents are welcomed into the nursery. They spend time talking to staff and share key information, which is used effectively to address children's individual needs. This helps parents to gain confidence and develop trust when leaving their children for the first time. Children who move on to other nurseries or schools are well supported. Teachers

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

are invited to visit the nursery and this provides an opportunity for children to meet them in a secure and familiar environment. Staff also provide the teachers with a detailed transition report which outlines the progress children have made. As a result, children are well prepared for their next stage in learning.

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

Staff use the indoor and outdoor areas equally well to promote learning. The abundance of high-quality, imaginative resources is organised well and much care has been taken to adapt the provision, creating a calm yet stimulating environment for learning. Staff place particular emphasis on promoting and nurturing children's independence skills. For example, children are encouraged to clear their plates after snack and lunchtime and to put their own coats on to go outside. Staff are calm, competent and good role models. They sensitively support, praise and encourage all children, promoting their self-esteem, confidence and sense of belonging. Children are polite, well behaved and enthusiastic to take part in all aspects of nursery life. Children listen and respect staff and appropriate supervision ensures that even the youngest children are beginning to learn right from wrong and how to share and be kind to one another. Staff set, explain and maintain clear,

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

reasonable boundaries so that children can feel safe and secure in their play and other activities. For example, they use small group time to help children to understand the feeling of others by labelling emotions, such as happy and sad.

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

Staff help children to develop an awareness of the need to preserve their own well-being and that of others. This is achieved by gentle reminders from staff, such as requests to pick up toys from the floor in case someone trips on them and hurts themselves. Children respond very well to these requests and it helps them take some responsibility for keeping themselves and others safe. Well-established personal care routines and explanations from staff help children to understand the importance of washing their hands at appropriate times. Staff also give clear messages to children to ensure they are developing a good understanding of why it is important to have a nutritious and balanced diet. Children are offered a wide range of healthy meals and snacks and have independent access to water. Good use is made of displays to promote the importance of eating healthy food. For example, parents have access to recipes so they can reproduce some of the meals at

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

home. Outdoor play is a key feature of the nursery routine. Daily opportunities are provided for children to be physically active and enjoy energetic play in an area that is stimulating, well-resourced and supports children's all-round development well.

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provision

The manager and staff demonstrate a secure understanding of their role and responsibility with regard to safeguarding children in their care from abuse and neglect. They are knowledgeable of the required action to take following any concerns about a child or allegations made against a member of staff. Staff update their knowledge of child protection procedures through regular training and discussing safeguarding during staff meetings and individual supervision sessions. Robust recruitment, selection and induction procedures ensure all staff working with children are suitably vetted, qualified and understand their role and responsibility within the nursery. Detailed risk assessments are regularly reviewed and adapted, as and when required and daily checks are made. This means that potential hazards are swiftly identified and dealt with immediately and ensures that children are able to play in an environment that is safe and secure. Leadership and

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provision

management are strong. The manager is totally committed to the staff and children and this is reflected in the effective and enthusiastic management of the nursery. She has a very good understanding of her role in monitoring the delivery of the educational programmes and maintains an overview of the continuous provision for children in the indoor and outdoor environments. The manager monitors staff performance through supervisions and her observations made through her continuous presence within the nursery. However, she has not yet fully considered all ways to share and model best practice. For example, by developing peer observation, to enable staff to learn from each other, enrich practice and continually develop staff's knowledge, so that children make the best possible progress. Professional development of all staff is supported well through additional training. For example, staff have attended extensive training and this has

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provision

equipped them with a range of strategies that they successfully use with children to support the enhanced development of their communication and language skills.

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provision

Totally committed to improvement, the manager works closely with her team to identify areas for further development and strategies to improve these. They also welcome further systems for assessing the quality of the provision, such as the support and training they receive from the local authority and the childcare development officer. Staff have clearly worked immensely hard to address the actions and recommendations from the previous inspection. The responses have significantly improved the provision for children concerning communication and language, information for parents about children's ongoing development, and the quality of outdoor play. The nursery is equally committed to listening and responding to parents' views and comments. Parents are asked to complete regular questionnaires and the nursery is swift to take action on any suggestions made. For example, parents asked staff to consider how they could provide them with written

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provision

information about what their children had eaten. Parents were highly impressed when a successful system was implemented within two days of the request being made. Partnerships with parents and carers are very strong. Staff clearly recognise the importance of working closely with parents to ensure that children's needs are very well met. Parents receive good quality, comprehensive written information about the nursery and the policies and procedures in place. Copies of these are made available to parents, as well as lots of other relevant literature. For example, activity plans, daily routines, menus, the registration and insurance certificates are all clearly displayed. Parents have easy access to their child's records, which includes detailed information about their child's developmental progress. All parents receive regular written and verbal feedback from the staff, as well as the opportunity to talk to staff at planned parents' evenings. Parents are

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provision

actively encouraged to become involved in their children's learning. From making their own contribution to their children's learning journals to taking home recipes to make at home with their children. In addition, parents are also invited to attend parents' workshops. These provide excellent opportunities, in a fun and relaxed environment, for staff to share their expert knowledge, model good practice and develop strong relationships. For example, parents recently attended a course held over four weeks called Green Start, which focused on how they can provide activities to help children learn outdoors. Feedback from parents is extremely positive. In particular, they comment on the friendly, supportive and welcoming staff, the good variety of activities on offer, the excellent progress that they feel their children are making and the home-from-home atmosphere the nursery creates for their children. Partnership with the local nurseries and

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provision

schools is equally well established. This ensures consistency in children's learning, and prepares them well as they move on to nursery and school.

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The Childcare Register

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 EY292699 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 962787

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Springboard Sunderland Trust Date of previous inspection 08/11/2013 Telephone number 0191 5155300

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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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