Play Away Day Nurseries

Play Away Day Nursery Basepoint Enterprise Centre, Anderson Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 5FE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/11/2014 22/04/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery. Children of all ages are very happy and confident owing to good relationships with staff.  Children feel very safe and secure in the nursery and arrangements for safeguarding the children are robust.  A very good partnership between the nursery and the parents ensures key information is shared between them, which help the staff meet children's individual needs well.  The environment provides children with excellent opportunities to choose their play materials and follow their individual learning styles.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not fully enhance older children's learning through consistently linking their next steps to the planning effectively, in order to provide further challenge.  Staff do not always use skilful questioning techniques to maximise and extend children's learning.

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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 inspection held discussions with the manager the registered person and talked with staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the indoor and the outdoor learning environments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and sampled other documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.  The inspector invited the manager to carry out a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

Play Away Day Nursery registered in 2002. It is part of Play Away Day Nurseries Ltd, a chain of three nurseries that operate locally. The nursery is purpose built on two floors, with a self-contained garden. It has full disabled access on the ground floor. It is situated in the centre of Southampton. The nursery serves families from the local community and those commuting into the city. The nursery is open from 7.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 126 children in the early years age group on roll. The provider receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are 23 members of staff employed to work with the children, of whom 20 have appropriate childcare qualifications. A chef and a kitchen assistant are employed, along with cleaning staff. The nursery supports children with special educational needs

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Information about the setting

and/or disabilities, and those learning English as an additional language.

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

 enable all staff to support and extend children's learning further, through discussions and asking effective questions to encourage them to think more.

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

 strengthen further the planning for the older children to ensure thoroughly challenging activities are planned to fully enhance children's next steps.

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who attend

The nursery is welcoming and child friendly. Overall, children receive very good levels of support to challenge and encourage them in their learning. Children are able to actively explore and take delight in playing with the activities available. Educational programmes are varied and offer high-quality play opportunities to meet every child's needs. As a result, outcomes for children are very good. Staff gather information from parents when the child joins the nursery to successfully support the children's learning. Staff document their observations within each child's learning record and clear tracking booklets show the progress each child is making. However, in the older age group staff do not always link the next steps set for each child into the planning to ensure they receive maximum challenge in their learning. Children move freely between the different activities. They find the resources they need, handling items and using tools effectively. Babies are actively

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who attend

involved in their play, confidently selecting and exploring resources. They enjoy the different textures of the objects they investigate and are able to climb and practise a range of movements in safety. Staff encourage them well in this respect and as a result, babies become confident in their daily routines. Staff use high quality teaching methods overall which help children to progress.

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who attend

Children are making very good progress. Effective systems are in place to help staff ensure children have many opportunities to consolidate or further their learning. Younger children are beginning to use tools, such as paintbrushes with confidence. Older children are very confident in naming colours and shapes. They are progressing to writing their own name and understanding simple mathematical concepts. They are able to access a good selection of resources such as, pencils, crayons and a selection of painting tools to practise their early writing skills. All children develop new skills, grow in confidence, and rise to the challenge of trying something new. They create imaginary, role-play games in the home corner, happily using the play equipment. Children relish the outdoor play opportunities. For example, in the puddles staff poured washing up liquid into the water so children enjoyed making lots of bubbles as they jumped.

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who attend

Throughout the nursery children play with programmable toys, a computer, and other toys to help them learn about technology and how things work. They develop useful skills for their future learning. Children are developing good communication skills and chat happily to both one another and to adults. Staff sit with children and most engage in conversations with them well. For example, there were discussions about songs they wanted to sing, the weather, what they were having for lunch and favourite stories they like. Consequently, staff promote children's language skills well overall to extend their thinking, creativity and communication skills. However, some staff are less confident to question and use discussion to extend children's learning further during some activities. This means that they occasionally miss opportunities to encourage children to think and respond at such times.

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who attend

The nursery successfully implements the required progress check for two year olds so they can identify and work with any gaps in children's progress. Staff keep parents very well informed about the life of the setting via the notice boards and through daily chats. They are able to regularly comment on their child's progress to help to ensure a continuous learning environment flows from the setting to home and back.

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

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff welcome them into a warm and friendly setting and they meet the children's welfare and learning needs with great success. Children are secure, happy and settled in a welcoming environment that offers a wide variety of resources and play opportunities. Children do well as they become independent and develop their own ideas. Effective systems are in place to manage children's behaviour. Children behave well in relation to their ages and levels of understanding. They learn the nursery rules and respond to staff when they gently remind them that running indoors is not safe. Staff further support children's understanding of appropriate behaviour as they encourage children to share and take turns during their play. Children are beginning to learn to take responsibility for their own personal needs through the everyday routines. Staff encourage children to wash their hands following a

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

visit to the toilet, most children do this independently, and overall, staff support the younger children well. Staff are fully aware of any health or dietary issues the children may have. They keep thorough records of accidents and medication administered. Children enjoy fresh air and exercise as they use the outdoor environment daily, all year round. They enjoy using balls, balance beams and other equipment to develop their physical skills.

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

One of the nursery's strengths is how they handle children's preparation for the move to the next age group rooms and their preparation for school. Staff support the children to help them settle when they first join the setting and as they progress into the older age groups. Very good procedures are in place for a smooth move. Staff support the children well to become independent and gain the skills needed to move successfully to the next stage in their learning. Staff liaise well with the local schools that children will move on to and this ensures a smooth transfer, consistency of care and learning, and reassurance for each child.

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provision

The leaders and managers demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and learning and development requirements and implement them well. Children are secure and happy in the nursery. The monitoring of children's progress towards all the early learning goals is very effective. The nursery use an excellent tracking system, which the management team uses to skilfully track the progress of all the children attending the nursery across the seven areas of learning. This enables them to highlight if any child is below or above average for their age and stage of development.

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provision

A very effective management structure is in place and communication with all levels of staff is very good. Staff safeguard children very well, because they prioritise their safety. Staff supervise children well, and staff deployment is effective to ensure ratios are maintained. Robust procedures are in place for recruitment and vetting of staff, which helps to ensure all adults working with children are cleared as suitable to do so. The induction procedure for new staff ensures they develop a very good awareness of the running of the nursery and their role in providing good quality childcare. There is a very effective appraisal system for all staff and they are encouraged to access training to increase their skills further. Staff know their role and responsibilities concerning safeguarding and are aware of the procedures for dealing with any safeguarding concerns. The nursery ensures access to the premises remains secure and that all staff, children and

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provision

visitors sign in when inside the nursery.

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provision

A range of policies and procedures are in place, including a clear safeguarding policy. All staff take responsibility and use vigilance and risk assessments to promote children's health and safety inside the nursery, as well as outside. They provide children with an inclusive environment and the nursery promotes equality and diversity very well. Systems for self-evaluation, monitoring and evaluating the nursery's practice are fully in place to enable the nursery to identify their strengths and any areas to develop. Regular meetings with staff ensure that information is shared and that all staff can contribute to the decision making.

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provision

The partnership between parents and the nursery is excellent. Parents are kept well informed about daily routines and staff take the time to talk to parents about their children's day. Parents express confidence in the standard of care, communication and their child's preparation for the future. They praise the wonderful atmosphere of the nursery and commented on how caring staff are and how happy they are with the progress their children are making. Parents are encouraged to contribute to their children's progress records and become involved in the sharing of the children's learning and development. The nursery has systems in place to link with other providers, where children attend more than one setting, to aid the continuity of children's care between provisions.

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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 EY229821 Local authority Southampton Inspection number 842670 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 126 Number of children on roll 120 Name of provider Play Away Day Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 22/04/2009 Telephone number 02380 230007

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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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