Discovery Day Nursery

Discovery Iddesleigh House, 97 Heavitree Road, EXETER, EX1 2NE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/11/2014 07/01/2014

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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 warm and positive relationships between staff and children help children to settle in quickly and feel confident at the setting.  Staff work hard to provide individual support for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that all children make good progress.  The management team implement robust self-evaluation systems and support staff's continuous professional development, to drive improvements well.  Children have ample opportunities to engage with the natural world and local communities, to develop their understanding of the world effectively.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 At times, staff do not use questioning effectively to elicit ideas from children and extend their thinking skills as well as possible.  Although staff share information with parents regarding children's progress, they do not routinely communicate their next stages in learning to support the use of meaningful learning opportunities at home.

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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 observed children's play both indoors and outdoors.  The inspector and manager completed a joint observation.  The inspector talked with some parents, children and staff.  The inspector held discussions with the manager and provider.  The inspector sampled a range of documents.

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Information about the setting

The Discovery Nursery registered in 2013. It operates from a detached building in the Heavitree area of Exeter, Devon. The various rooms are organised to provide space for younger children on the ground floor and older children on the first floor. There is an enclosed garden for outdoor play and a parking area for parents. Children attend from the local surrounding areas. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 41 children on roll in the early years age group. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery is open five days a week from 7.30am to 6.15pm all year. There are 14 staff members employed to work directly with the children; of these, nine staff hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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Information about the setting

Additionally, two further members of staff support the running of the setting. The manager has an early years degree and holds early years professional status.

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

 enhance staff's use of questioning to develop the thinking skills and language of older children

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

 strengthen partnerships with parents by regularly sharing information regarding their children's progress and next steps, to support them in extending children's learning at home.

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who attend

Children make good progress due to the staff team's strong knowledge of the children's individual interests and stages of development. Each child is set termly learning objectives and staff ensure that planned activities link closely with these. This means that each child engages in play that provides an appropriate level of challenge. Key persons complete regular observations of the children, which they use to identify what children need to learn next. Staff provide particularly strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They establish good links with other professionals that enable consistent approaches and individual support. As a result, staff support all children well to make effective progress. Appropriate arrangements exist to complete the progress check for two-year-old children. Staff use a good range of positive teaching strategies to extend children's communication.

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who attend

For example, they narrate young children's activities to surround them with language from an early age. A child says that they would like a, 'nana' and the staff member models the correct pronunciation through a response by clarifying, 'You would like a banana?' Staff help older children's understanding through, 'survey of the day', which requires children to consider and talk about their responses. The quality of teaching is not consistently high because staff do not always ask pertinent questions or provide children with time to think carefully to provide thoughtful responses in order to help them progress rapidly.

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who attend

Staff introduce children to mathematical language during their play and throughout the nursery environment. For example, displays around the rooms and hallways familiarise children with quantities and numerals. Staff recognise the importance of developing children's early love of books. Children enjoy listening to stories and talk about the book illustrations, often linking these with their personal experiences. They begin to recognise familiar letters, such as those used to spell their name when they find their name during self-registration. Such teaching helps children gain useful skills ready for their eventual move to school.

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who attend

Children enjoy daily access to a large outside play area, which staff resource well. It is split into different areas for various purposes, which meet children's differing stages of development and interests. This means they are challenged well in all areas of development. Children explore the 'forest school' outdoor area through many interesting experiences, including hunting for insects and molluscs, playing with mud and climbing on and navigating over equipment. They plant vegetable seeds to learn about their growth. Consequently, children develop a particularly good understanding of the natural world. Staff plan, 'funky finger' activities to support children's hand coordination to extend their physical development and underpin their eventual handwriting skills.

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who attend

Staff establish positive relationships with parents. They keep parents well informed of children's daily experiences and care routines. Staff invite them to twice-yearly parents' meetings to share children's progress and parents keep staff informed of children's experiences at home. However, staff do not provide ongoing information regarding children's individual next stages in learning, to further aid parents in extending children's learning at home, to aid rapid progress. Links with other settings help provide complementary learning experiences.

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

A well-established approach helps children form secure attachments with a designated member of staff who takes special care of them. For example, when staff enter the nursery at the start of the day, children shout and excitement and delight on recognising their special person. Staff frequently praise children's efforts and achievements to boost their self-esteem and confidence. Children proudly show their friends photographs on display of their family. This promotes children's self-esteem, well-being and independence because they feel confident to explore their surroundings. Staff are good role models to children and consequently, support their social skills well which helps children form friendships. Staff deploy themselves well and are always available to provide extra support to achieve positive behaviour when required. Staff do this well and follow agreed strategies to help teach children about what is acceptable behaviour and how to keep

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

themselves safe. This promotes a consistent approach across the staff team so children understand expectations.

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

Staff provide children with a good range of resources and a welcoming environment, both indoors and out. For example, children explore the garden freely and confidently, following their own interests using the available equipment. The environments support children's development well in all areas of learning.

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

Staff teach children about healthy lifestyles through the nutritional meals that are prepared in a clean and well-equipped kitchen. They provide children with a wide range of fruit during snack time that the 'special helper' prepares with staff. This arrangement promotes independence. Staff use good hygiene routines, such as removing their shoes before entering the baby room, to keep the flooring clean and maintain the good health of these children. This helps prevent the spread of cross infection effectively.

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

Staff encourage children to manage their personal needs such as by reminding children to wash their hands before mealtimes and after using the toilet. Staff implement robust safety procedures to help safeguard children at the setting. Risk assessments and daily health and safety checklists help them to monitor the suitability of the premises. Signs on entrance doors remind parents and visitors not to let others in to ensure that staff are constantly aware of those adults present in the setting. Staff help children understand how to leave the premises quickly and safely in the event of a fire through practising regular emergency fire drills.

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provision

The leadership and management of the setting is good. The manager implements strong systems to check the educational programmes. The manager demonstrates a clear understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and her roles and responsibilities in meeting them. Most staff complete first-aid and safeguarding training, so requirements are met effectively. Staff are clear on the procedures to follow in the event of a child-protection concern and are able to administer basic first aid and respond appropriately when needed to get children the help required.

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provision

Staff provide parents with copies of policies so they understand routines and procedures that staff follow. There are always appropriately qualified staff present to work with children. As a result, children receive good supervision from staff and support in the indoor and outside play areas. The majority of staff are suitably qualified and use their effective teaching skills and knowledge effectively so children progress well in their learning. Leadership and management have recently made changes to recruitment processes to ensure the suitability of new staff. These are now robust and contribute to the effective organisation of the nursery. Support meetings for staff provide effective and individual help to staff, and identify personal training needs to further enhance the quality of teaching. The team work together well through effective communication and sharing of information. This arrangement contributes to the staff's good knowledge and awareness of

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provision

their roles and responsibilities within the routine, and in meeting the learning and development requirements effectively.

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provision

There is a strong emphasis on driving improvement and on monitoring and evaluating the nursery's practice. The manager carefully checks children's progress through detailed tracking systems, which identify gaps in learning. Staff then implement action plans to minimise these to help all children make good progress. Management has enhanced security in the garden and intend to make further changes to provide additional learning opportunities for children. This all demonstrates a clear ability to make improvements. Although staff have recently completed training to enhance the communication and language programme, at times staff miss opportunities to use questions skilfully to develop children's thinking skills as well as possible and so hasten progress.

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provision

Good relationships with parents contribute to meeting children's individual needs and to their development. Parents comment positively about the setting and staff, saying that their children are well settled and central to all procedures and routines. Although staff share children's development records during twice-yearly parents' meetings, they do not provide detailed information on an ongoing basis. This means that they are unable to implement fully complementary learning experiences at home.

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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 EY461033 Local authority Devon Inspection number 962586 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 80 Number of children on roll 41 Name of provider Exeter Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 07/01/2014 Telephone number 07557272285

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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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