Tinks Childrens Day Nursery

Tinks Childrens Day Nursery Jubilee Avenue, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 7PR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/01/2015 28/03/2012

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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

 Teaching is good because it is based on staff's detailed understanding of individual children. They effectively use this knowledge to plan activities which ensure children make good progress and are happy and well occupied.  Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Activities are adapted to ensure all children are fully included and can make steady progress.  The management team set realistic targets for improvement. They encourage staff to reflect on how they can improve their group rooms, based on evidence of children's progress. Safeguarding training is also prioritised to ensure staff can help to protect children they are working with.  Partnerships with parents are very strong. Staff work hard to ensure they communicate effectively with all parents. Parents find the staff approachable and very supportive. They are delighted with the staff's care of their children and the progress their children

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children are not always encouraged to develop their own ideas about how to manage problems, to maximise their ability to think critically and manage problems.  Managers are not included in the current programme of peer observation of staff's teaching skills, to identify improvements and ensure practice is helped to become exemplary.

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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 activities in the main playrooms and outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the setting and undertook a joint observation with her.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation and a selection of policies and children's records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed evidence of the suitability checks and qualifications for staff working with the children.  The inspector took account of the nursery's self-evaluation and improvement plan.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Tinks Children's Day Nursery was registered in 2004, and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a single story building in Crewe, Cheshire, and is managed by Tinks Children's Day Nursery Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from three rooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 15 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one at level 4. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round apart from a week at Christmas. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 75 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an

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Information about the setting

additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 enhance children's abilities to manage problems through discussion and experimentation, for example, by using questions that challenge children to think and supporting children to develop solutions for themselves

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

 expand the current peer observations to include managers as observers to support sharply focused evaluations of staff's practice and the impact of this on children's learning.

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who attend

Children's learning and development is well supported by staff, who get to know them and their families well. The staff ensure they gather a clear picture of children's abilities through discussions with parents, at the start of the placement. This ensures staff understand what children can do and what their next steps in learning are. It also means that parents have an early introduction to the Early Years Foundation Stage, and are included in plans to help their child move forward in their learning, both in the nursery and at home. Staff continue to gather information about children's development through short observations which are used to inform the planning of activities. This means children's learning is driven forward by meaningful play and good teaching linked to children's individual needs. For example, a baby who enjoys putting objects into containers and transporting objects, is provided with more opportunities to collect things and use posting

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who attend

boxes to develop skills in handling small items. Parents are included in the staff's ongoing observations of what children can do. Staff are careful to request specific information from parents about children's abilities, so everyone is fully informed about what is required to help each child move forward.

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who attend

Staff identify topics that children will enjoy and explore, for example, the toddlers enjoy a theme about ducks. The staff help children make connections between different activities and refer back to past events. Children use numbers as they sing a song about five little ducks with the help of props from a song bag. They develop their physical skills outside tossing rubber ducks on a parachute, or enjoy being creative as they take part in collage work for a display about the rhyme. Staff use observations to track children's progress across all learning areas, on a very regular basis. They also use them to make an assessment of children's development for the progress check for children aged between two and three years. Similar summaries are produced at the end of each term which ensures all parents are kept well informed of their child's progress. These progress summaries are also used in a computer programme which allows staff to analyse

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who attend

children's individual progress and the progress of the groups of children. The staff use this information to focus their teaching. For example, staff introduced more resources and time to encourage children to talk about how they were feeling and to explore their emotions after recognising that this was an area where some children were less secure.

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who attend

Parents are confident to talk to staff about any concerns they have about their child's progress. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities very well. Referrals to other agencies for additional help are made promptly, to ensure children are supported to make maximum progress. This also means that where necessary, children have additional help in place before they move on to school. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress given their starting points, and are very well supported to make the most of the learning opportunities.

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who attend

All children are making good progress and staff focus on encouraging their communication, language and literacy skills to help them develop into confident communicators. They are confident to seek out help from staff and express their wishes. Children with English as an additional language are well supported to make connections between their home language and English. Staff ensure they provide visual prompts and assess children's understanding of English through games and one-to-one discussions. Babies and toddlers enjoy the sing song conversations with staff and delight in their ability to join in with song actions as they choose props from the song bag. A mixture of large group times and small group work is used in the toddler and pre-school rooms for more structured learning. Children learn the key skills of listening to instructions, respecting and listening to the contributions of their friends and sharing their ideas in the wider group.

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who attend

Children learn to recognise their name during the welcome song. These are all skills which they will use when they move on to school. Children develop a love of books as they enjoy handling them and enthusiastically engage in the lively, interactive story sessions staff lead. Letter sounds are also introduced to the pre-school children. Numbers, shape and colour are introduced as part of daily activities which allows children to understand the concept of a number before moving on to recognise it in written form. Staff introduce children to other cultures through activities based around cultural festivals and national events to ensure they start to develop an understanding of the wider world. While the quality of teaching is good overall, children's ability to problem solve is not maximised as staff do not always encourage children to think through problems for themselves and come up with their own solutions. For example, they do not ask children to think about

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who attend

how they could make the ducks stay on the parachute or the best way to make them bounce.

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

The children and parents develop strong relationships with their child's key person and the staff in general. The key person undertakes most of the child's intimate care needs, such as changing nappies. Parents are given good levels of information about their child's day when they collect them and find the staff approachable and supportive. This has a very positive affect on children's emotional well-being; they are happy and settled and ready to explore and learn. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are sensitively supported to cope in group situations. The care and attention staff provide in supporting all children's social skills has a very positive affect on children's ability to move on to school successfully.

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

Children's behaviour is good. Staff help children think about other people's feelings and they learn to negotiate and cooperate with their play mates. They are kind and caring to their friends. If negative behaviour is identified, staff reflect on what may have caused this to happen, so they can consider if they need to change their approach. Positive behaviour is actively encouraged through the use of visual symbols, such as the green, amber and red faces for older children. This helps children to understand what is expected of them.

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

Children are encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle. All children have ample opportunity to enjoy exercise in the fresh air. They are encouraged to jump, run and climb with access to resources, such as hoops and slides. Parachute play helps children to cooperate with each other and exercise their upper body. Children's dietary needs are met though the provision of freshly prepared meals which cater for children with a range of dietary requirements. Children's self-care skills are encouraged, as they collect their meals from the serving table and clear their plates away at the end. The layout of the rooms allows children to make choices for themselves from a range of equipment and children show confidence as they make decisions about their own play activities. Good hygiene practices are introduced to children, through every day routines and they grow in independence as they access the toilet facilities. This is good preparation for their transition to school.

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

Children are shown how to keep themselves safe through discussions which carefully support them to think about how to manage risk, for example, when crossing roads on trips out in the local community. Where children are identified as having special educational need and/or disabilities or other medical requirements, advice and training from other professionals is sought. This ensures children's well-being is maintained and their needs are met by staff who are confident and competent.

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provision

The children benefit from a setting which has a strong management structure. Appropriate recruitment procedures and induction processes ensure staff's suitability is established when they are employed, and reviewed regularly. Children are also safeguarded through the implementation of clear policies and procedures. This ensures staff are very confident about identifying child protection concerns and take appropriate action to protect children. The building and grounds are secure which ensures that children cannot leave unaccompanied and helps staff manage the entry of parents and visitors. Staff have a clear understanding of risks, and health and safety concerns are promptly addressed. For example, the bark play surface was removed when it became contaminated by cats.

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provision

The management team's commitment to providing a quality service, and their understanding of the importance of professional development has a positive effect on staff's performance. Staff learn new skills and enthusiastically implement improvements to their rooms. Staff training is targeted at subjects which will meet the specific needs of the children they are caring for. This develops staff's teaching, for example, enhancing their abilities to encourage children's speech and language skills. Annual appraisals and regular supervision sessions are undertaken with staff and the small size of the team means the manager knows the key strengths of all her staff members. Staff also undertake observations of each other's practice and feed these back to managers. However, opportunities for the manager to observe staff's teaching in a structured way to feed into appraisals and training plans are not fully exploited, in order to ensure staff teaching is

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provision

always exemplary. The staff contribute data to a computer-based analysis programme which helps the management team ensure no group of children is progressing less favourably than others. This information also feeds into the training programme. Required policies and procedures are in place to help with the safe and smooth management of the setting. A culture of reflective practice, which involves all members of staff, parents and children has been developed. The self-evaluation is based on regular exchanges with the whole staff team which means everyone understands and is committed to playing their part in suggesting improvements and implementing changes. Plans for improvements are well thought out and achievable. For example, the nursery is extending the mathematics and literacy provision in the outside area and information technology provision for babies. Recommendations made at the previous inspection have all been addressed.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and carers are very strong. A range of communication methods are used, with discussion with parents being supplemented with daily information sheets and notice boards. Policies are shared with parents to keep them informed of how the nursery operates. Parents praise the ethos of the nursery which they feel provides a home from home and a safe space for children to play. Partnerships in the wider context are used to develop the quality of education. The setting actively links with other professionals to help children with special educational need and/or disabilities. The nursery is committed to their role in ensuring all children, regardless of ability, can access their provision. They realise the importance of early intervention for children with additional needs ensuring that services are in place to support a child when they transfer to school. The nursery has developed its links with other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage, where

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provision

children attend more than one setting and has been successful in developing links with the schools and nurseries the children often move on to. This helps provide continuity in care and learning and promotes smooth transitions to primary school when the time comes.

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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 EY282683 Local authority Cheshire East Inspection number 872827

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 55 Number of children on roll 75 Name of provider Tinks Childrens Day Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 28/03/2012 Telephone number 01270 560083

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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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