Springwood Nursery & Link Club

Springwood Nursery & Link Club 50 Chapel Road, Penketh, Warrington, WA5 2NU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/11/2014 23/05/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children are protected from harm because managers ensure that staff have a robust induction, a good understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures and have first-aid certificates.  Teaching is good because staff demonstrate a secure knowledge and understanding of how children learn. Consequently, all children make good progress in relation to their starting points.  Staff are proactive in teaching children to develop healthy habits, such as by taking part in exercise, brushing teeth and hand washing.  Children form warm, responsive relationships with their key person, who knows them well. Partnerships with parents are good and they comment that their children are very happy and are making good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The menu offered to children does not always reflect the very good teaching they receive with regard to developing a healthy lifestyle, as sweet treats are offered frequently and some meals do not include fresh vegetables.  The outdoor area does not offer children plentiful opportunities to explore the natural environment and so fully develop their investigation skills. For example, there are no areas to grow plants or dig in the soil.

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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 looked at relevant documentation, including planning, observations and assessment records. She also looked at a range of policies, including information used to assess the suitability of staff and first-aid qualifications.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities and care practices in the playrooms and within the outside play area. She conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with children and staff. She also held a meeting with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers spoken to during the inspection and read their comments in children's learning records and parental surveys.

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Information about the setting

Springwood Nursery and Link Club has been registered under the present arrangements since 2007 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is privately owned and became a limited company in 2012. It is situated in purpose-built premises in the Penketh area of Warrington. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from five playrooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs seven members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including the manager who also has Early Years Teacher status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 30 children attending who are in the early years age group. An out of school provision is also available for children aged four to

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Information about the setting

11 years. The nursery provides funded early education for three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery receives support from the local authority and is a member of the National Day Nursery Association.

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

 review the planned menus so that they always complement the good teaching children receive in developing a healthy lifestyle, for example, by reviewing the frequency of sweet treats offered and encourage children to try even more fresh vegetables

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

 enhance the outdoor area further by providing pre-school children with more areas to explore and experience nature, for example, by developing areas for planting and digging and investigating insects and flowers.

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who attend

Staff know the children very well. They gather information from parents and carers about their children's needs, abilities and interests when they start at the nursery and throughout their time there. They do this through detailed All about me documents and regular verbal feedback. Most frequently, staff support children's progress by knowing their current interests and using them to extend their learning. For example, when children say they have been on a nature trail event, following the story from a popular children's book, staff plan complementary activities. They provide a log pile house and laminated photographs of the characters, read the story to children and provide opportunities for children to make their own pictures. Staff very effectively use children's interests to build on the next steps in their learning. For example, they use the rhyming elements of the story to reinforce initial letter sounds. Consequently, children are adept at

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who attend

recognising the letters in their name and the sound the letters make. Staff make regular and precise observations and assessments of children's play and use these to plan for the next steps in their learning, tracking their ongoing progress. Children with special educational needs and /or disabilities are very effectively supported through individual plans, devised with parents and health professionals, such as speech therapists. Children who speak English as an additional language see and hear their home language used in play and are supported in acquiring English by staff who use simple signing to accompany their speech. Consequently, all children make good progress from their varying starting points.

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who attend

Parents and carers are encouraged to continue children's learning at home in a range of ways. They receive weekly information detailing the activities their children have been involved in and what is planned for the following week, with suggestions for activities at home. Regular newsletters identify the current and planned themes and weekly learning logs offer feedback about individual children's progress. Parents and carers contribute to the assessment and planning process through their comments in children's half-termly reviews, home observation sheets, informal chats with staff and pre-arranged parent evenings.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is very good. Staff use a range of teaching strategies to effectively support children's developing language and literacy skills. For example, children look for their name at the snack table. Staff demonstrate how to make marks in shaving foam and offer many activities to use tools to begin to develop children's writing skills. Staff read stories and sing songs and enjoy extended conversations with children about their interests and home life. Staff assess all children to discover their communication style and then plan activities accordingly. They assess the environment to identify where children communicate most and make minor adjustments to areas to encourage children to speak even more. Consequently, children are becoming confident communicators and enjoy sharing their views and opinions. Children's mathematical skills are enhanced, as staff teach them to count and recognise numbers. Staff introduce the language of size and

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who attend

shape, when they say children have sat down in a big oblong at circle time. They support children to understand concepts, such as addition, when they ask children how many skittles there are in each hoop and how many there are altogether. As a result, children confidently add small numbers together. Staff encourage children who become frustrated when they make a hole in their picture, by explaining, 'Don't press your pen too hard'. As a result, children draw another picture and so are developing the skills and persistence they will need to be ready for school, when the time comes.

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

Parents comment that their children have settled quickly and enjoy spending time with their key person. Children are confident, communicative and independent, showing that they are forming secure attachments. Flexible settling-in sessions ensure staff quickly get to know children's likes, dislikes and familiar routines. Regular visits to the next room and sharing information between staff is very effective in supporting children to make the move from one room to another. Consequently, children's personal, social and emotional development is well supported. Older children are helped to prepare for the next stage in their learning by playing school in the role-play area and listening to stories about starting school. Consequently, they are excited by the prospect of moving on to school.

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

The nursery environment is bright and welcoming and offers children opportunities to play in a number of very well-equipped areas. The children's playrooms are arranged so children can access resources themselves and have spaces to be messy, as well as cosier, cushioned areas for relaxation. Colourful displays, depicting a diverse range of nationalities, family photographs and children's self-portraits ensure that all children feel valued. Plentiful resources reflecting the wider community support children's growing understanding of the similarities and differences between people. However, while the main outdoor area offers a range of resources to challenge pre-school children, there are very few areas where they can explore nature. This means they have less opportunity to investigate and compare living things, such as plants and insects. Children play well together and enjoy each other's company. For example, they play cooperatively during a

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

balls and skittles activity in the garden, having great fun knocking the skittles over together. Staff speak to children in a calm and quiet way and gently remind them to share and look after the resources. They regularly praise younger children when they cooperate in play or act as a helper at lunchtime. Consequently, children are helpful and kind towards each other, saying, 'Would you like your water bottle now?' to their friends and all children behave well.

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

Older children help to set the table, pour their own drinks and serve themselves at mealtimes, which promotes their growing independence. Discussions about healthy eating and exercise, songs to support hand washing and daily brushing of teeth, all contribute to children's good understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. However, this effective teaching is not complemented by the provision of a consistently healthy menu. Children receive frequent sweet treats and are not always offered fresh vegetables with every meal. However, outdoor play is accessible for all children on a daily basis. Children have opportunities to ride bicycles, push wheelbarrows, and splash in the water. In addition, specialist teachers offer weekly physical activity sessions. This further develops children's aiming and throwing skills and also helps them learn to listen to and follow instructions. Staff encourage children to negotiate balancing equipment with their support.

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

Consequently, children are beginning to learn about safety and risk. This attitude helps children to have a go and persist with more challenging activities when they eventually move on to school.

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provision

The manager and staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding issues. The nursery has a range of safeguarding policies and procedures to help ensure that children are appropriately protected. All staff have regular training on safeguarding issues and have current first-aid qualifications. Consequently, they are able to describe the procedures they would follow if they had concerns about a child's welfare. Robust recruitment procedures are in place. Clear records are held to demonstrate staff suitability, which include comprehensive details of the checks undertaken and a copy of all staff qualifications. Staff are deployed well and staffing ratios are adhered to at all times, which ensures that children are well-supervised. Detailed risk assessments are completed for all areas of the nursery and outings. Therefore, children's safety and well-being is fully assured.

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provision

Since the last inspection by Ofsted, where the nursery received a number of actions to improve and a subsequent monitoring visit, the setting has had a change of manager. The owner, who has recently completed an Early Years Teacher qualification, now manages the nursery on a day-to-day basis. This has allowed her to focus on driving improvements. All the actions set at the last inspection have been met in full. The small team have worked exceptionally hard under the motivational leadership of the manager and together they have made rapid improvements that have had a very positive outcome on children's learning. Annual appraisals and regular supervision meetings are used to help embed new procedures and to identify ongoing training needs. As a result, staff are enthusiastic, eager to attend training and skilled in effectively supporting children to make good progress in their learning and development. The manager ensures the quality of teaching

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provision

and learning is regularly monitored. She has established a system of observing of staff practice and she evaluates the effectiveness of their teaching. Robust targets are set and monitored, so that staff are very clear about what they need to achieve. Consequently, all staff are effective teachers. Children's progress is now tracked and monitored by the manager, who has dedicated time to examine the quality of staff observations and assessment of children's learning to ensure staff are promptly identifying any gaps in their progress. As a result, the manager has identified that some children need additional support with understanding and recognising numbers. This has formed part of the nursery action plan and all staff take opportunities to reinforce teaching in mathematics in a fun way.

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provision

The manager has well-established relationships with the local authority to help evaluate and support staff's professional development. Staff make regular use of training and professional support services to help drive further improvements. In addition, the manager attends meetings with other local settings to exchange ideas and good practice. The manager's commitment to work in partnership is extended to local schools, other settings children attend and professionals, such as speech therapists, to help ensure all children are fully supported in reaching their full potential. The manager values partnerships with parents and regularly reviews and revises the ways parents are encouraged to be involved in the nursery. For example, a parent's forum has been established and they attend fundraising events and parents' meetings, as well as completing questionnaires. Consequently, parents say they are kept well-informed, staff are friendly and that their

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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 EY448400 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 983552

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 73 Number of children on roll 51 Name of provider Springwood Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 23/05/2014 Telephone number 01925 722080

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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

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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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