Noah's Ark Under Fives

Noah`s Ark Under Fives The Beeches Family Centre, Bulford Road, Bulford, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 9BT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/11/2014 15/03/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children are happy and have an enjoyable time at the setting. They explore the varied child-friendly play spaces and participate in some of the fun, purposeful-play activities on offer.  Staff have good links with outside agencies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  The new management team shows a passion for improvement, collaborative team working and a clear knowledge of effective early years practice.

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It is not yet good because

 Teaching is not consistently matched to children's individual needs and there is a lack of challenge and clear learning aims of play activities by some staff.  The key-person system is not well established to ensure children's needs are consistently and effectively met and strong relationships are forged with parents.  Management arrangements of staff supervision and coaching to improve personal effectiveness are not fully developed.

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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 inspector observed children's play and learning activities and the staff interactions.  The inspector invited the manager to undertake a joint observation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the deputy, manager, nominated person and looked at documents relating to leadership and management.  The inspector spoke to some parents to gain their views of the setting.

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Information about the setting

Noah's Ark Under Fives was registered in 2001 and is situated at the Beeches Families Centre in Bulford, Wiltshire. The setting operates as full day and sessional care for the local community. The setting have sole use of a military building and is on two levels. There is a secure garden and a woodland area for outside play. The setting operates five days per week for 45 weeks of the year. Opening hours are from 8am until 5.30pm. Noah's Ark Under Fives is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 67 children on roll. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are 21 staff in total, 16 of whom hold a relevant early years qualification.

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must:

 improve the quality of the educational programme across the setting to ensure teaching is consistently good, by making sure all staff are clear on the learning aims of play activities, that routines are matched to children's needs and there is a good level of challenge for children

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must:

 develop the key-person role to help ensure that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs well and to build good two-way communications with their parents

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must:

 ensure arrangements for the professional development of staff focus on raising their teaching to a consistently good quality by identifying weaknesses in individual teaching and addressing these through providing relevant coaching and/or training.

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who attend

Children are happy and have an enjoyable time at the setting. They explore the varied child-friendly play spaces and participate in some of the fun, purposeful play activities on offer. For example, toddlers jump and are very active in the soft playroom, developing their movement and climbing skills. Pre-school children make and explore scented play dough and use paint to create their own pictures using their imaginations. Overall, children demonstrate steady developmental progress, but the quality of teaching across the staff team is variable. This is particularly evident during the delivery of adult-led activities and some daily routines such as at toddler's snack time. For example, one group of children were very engaged when they looked at, handled and talked about objects beginning with the letter 'S'. The adult was skilled in including all children, who contributed excitedly, and learnt from the well-planned activity. However, other children

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who attend

were disengaged during the sharing of a favourite story, because the adult shared it around a circular table, with children sitting on chairs; they could not easily see the pictures and became restless. A couple of children joined in the elements of the story, but the adult did not ensure the activity matched all of their needs, with many possible learning outcomes. During toddler's snack time, staff clearly provide a narrative of the fruit and food they are having so children can develop their understanding and communication skills. They promote counting and some turn taking but, when young children have had enough after sitting for a long period of time, they ask them to sit for longer on chairs until every child has finished. This is not age and stage appropriate to meet the varying needs of the wide age range of children in this room. Therefore, because of the staff's variable teaching practice, not all children are supported effectively in all learning

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who attend

Babies receive warm, playful support from adults who are perceptive of their needs. There is lots of eye contact and non-verbal cues between adults and babies. Good, purposeful interactions from the adults take place to build on what babies know and can do. For example, when babies start to vocalise tunefully the adult cups a baby opposite her in her knees and sings favourite rhymes to them. This results in more smiles and more vocalisations. When babies walk and show an interest in the sensory light activity, they are encouraged to push the button to switch it on and explore the sights and movements. They investigate paint markers using paper when sat on age appropriate chairs. Key people complete assessments and learning records on each child, which documents their development. However, the system has recently changed and is not yet well embedded across the team. Children with special educational needs/and or disabilities are swiftly

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who attend

identified and management liaises with outside agencies to enable them to devise an individual education plan. This helps staff focus on specific areas that children need help and support with.

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

Older children are prepared for their next stage in learning because there are established links with two of the main feeder schools. Moves within the nursery are planned according to each child's individual needs with visits to new rooms taking place with their key person. However, the key person system is not well embedded to ensure every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs and to build an effective and communicative relationship with their parents. This is because not all parents know who their child's key person is. The verbal handover and communication between key person and parents is not consistently good across the staff team. Babies and children settle well because of the flexible settling-in process and the information staff receive on children's individual care routines. Staff closely follow babies home care and sleep routines, but these are not undertaken consistently by their key person or buddy which may impact on their

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

emotional development. Nappy changing and bottle feeding is in accordance with young children's needs but it is not always conducted by the key person. Older children show confidence and self-assurance during their freely chosen play.

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

Children are reminded by adults to wash their hands before they eat and after they use the toilet. There is good emphasis on outdoor physical play, with most age groups accessing the outdoors regularly throughout the day, often at a time of their own choosing. Babies have walks in the local community. Pre-school children take pleasure playing on the wheeled toys with their friends. They skilfully use the garden equipment to climb on and enjoy using tools to dig in the dirt with their friends, having fun in the fresh air. A hot, nutritious midday meal is on offer to children, which is a recent positive contribution to children's well-being. Overall, children demonstrate good behaviour and behave in safe ways. They learn about rules and boundaries, such as using 'kind hands'. Staff are good role models and offer children praise and encouragement. Overall, staff provide a suitably clean and stimulating indoor and outdoor play environment with

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

resources and furniture which provides for children's needs. For example, in the toddler area there is a dedicated room where children learn through their interests, previous experiences and their inquisitive and curious nature. Staff provide them with a very wide variety of household and other materials to explore freely, which they can focus on for an extended amount of time. This is all part of the recent positive management changes, with further environment changes planned, making it better, more enabling and beneficial to meet children's welfare and educational needs.

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provision

The very new management team has a positive drive for improvement and makes sure that staff implement the nursery policies and procedures to promote children's welfare and safety. Management and staff have a secure knowledge of safeguarding issues and know what to do when concerns arise with children, or in the event they need to carry out the whistle blowing policy. Management takes all complaints seriously and they are fully investigated in the required timescales, and appropriately recorded. Staff speak positively of the management team and feel they are well supported by them through an induction system. Staff supervision arrangements and appraisals have not been routinely carried out to ensure all staff are coached to improve their personal effectiveness. However, any underperformance is tackled and management disciplinary systems are followed with training needs identified. The management team is aware of the setting's strengths and

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provision

weaknesses and have a mostly well-targeted, up-to-date action plan. The setting undertakes mock Ofsted inspections by their experienced Nominated Person which gives them a quality audit and helps shape future improvements. The self-evaluation initiated by the new manager and involving the staff, rigorously analyses and self-challenges most aspects of the setting, in relation to effective practice in the early years. However, the strong management systems have not had the chance to impact on the quality of the outcomes for children because of their infancy.

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provision

Parents speak of how much their child enjoys attending but there are mixed reviews on the quality of the communication each day at handover time with the key person and information on children's care and learning. Babies have daily sheets which give information for parents on food, sleep, play and nappy changes. Notice boards outside each of the rooms inform parents of the new menu and other care information. Children's learning and development records are shared with parents and learning aims are discussed. Partnerships with external agencies and other providers are well established. There are good links with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board and childcare professionals who support children who are vulnerable or have additional needs.

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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 146066 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 997767 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 66 Number of children on roll 67 Name of provider TNB Garrison Early Years and Play Committee Date of previous inspection 15/03/2010 Telephone number 01980 633176

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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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