Kids Planet Widnes

Kids Planet Kingsway Learning Centre, Victoria Road, WIDNES, Cheshire, WA8 7QY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/01/2015 16/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff are enthusiastic and have the highest aspirations for each individual child's achievements. They use their expert knowledge to provide an exciting and highly stimulating environment for all children. Consequently, all children make significant progress from their starting points.  Younger children's emotional needs are exceptionally well met by staff who are kind, caring and extremely sensitive towards their needs. Consequently, they settle extremely well as they separate from their parents and are very happy throughout the day.  The highly skilled leadership team works exceedingly well at inspiring the staff team. They have an excellent overview of the progress children make and provide high quality supervision and a thoroughly focused programme of professional development, which continually enhances their practice.  Solid working partnerships with other professionals, parents and carers ensure each

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This provision is outstanding

child receives care specifically tailored towards their needs. Highly effective information sharing results in parents being kept continually informed and up to date with regard to their child's day, their progress and achievements.  Children are fully safeguarded. The manager and the staff are passionate and professional in their efforts to ensure children thrive, grow in confidence and are fully protected from harm. They carefully monitor children's well-being and skilfully promote their understanding of how to keep themselves healthy and safe and of how to safely develop positive relationships with others.

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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 children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to both children and staff and observed play and learning activities within the four playrooms and also in the outdoor environment.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager of the setting.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a meeting with the manager. She checked the qualifications and suitability of staff and looked at a range of policies, procedures and documentation.  The inspector carried out a tour of the premises.

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Information about the setting

Kids Planet was registered in 2008 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in Kingsway Learning Centre in the Widnes area of Cheshire, and is one of 12 nurseries owned and managed by Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs 23 members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including one with Early Years Professional status. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round from 7.30am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 144 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports 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:

 consider enhancing the support for children's already excellent literacy skills even further by adding more words, letters and numbers to the outdoor environment.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is outstanding. Staff have excellent skills and a secure knowledge of the learning and development requirements for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They have very high expectations of themselves and of the children in their care. Staff draw on their excellent knowledge of each child's characteristics and ways of learning to ensure they incorporate as many opportunities as possible for children to initiate their own discoveries. The educational programmes are finely balanced with a mix of child-initiated and adult-led play, which flows seamlessly between both indoors and outside. Therefore, all children are readily acquiring the desired skills, attitudes and dispositions they need for the next stage of their learning and ultimately, school. The all-inclusive environment ensures that all children are given the vital opportunities to access the same high quality education and care as each other. This is because the management and staff put children

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who attend

and their families at the centre of everything they do. The indoor environment is rich in print and text to help children learn about the written word, which supports children's literacy skills extremely well. However, the outdoor environment has fewer images, text and print displayed. As a result, children who prefer the outdoor environment have fewer opportunities to see words and text, in order to understand that print carries meaning.

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who attend

Children develop rapidly in their communication and language skills as they show interest in familiar sounds. Staff encourage them to repeat familiar words and give opportunities for children to participate fully. Babies understand what is being said to them as they begin to point and gesture and use single words to communicate. Children demonstrate their skills when singing favourite songs and rhymes, greeting visitors and expressing needs, such as using the toilet and asking for a drink. Highly focused training has been completed by staff and continues to be accessed, to enable support for children with communication and language difficulties. Therefore, relevant and timely intervention is made, which effectively supports children with these difficulties. Staff skilfully create plentiful opportunities to extend learning in all rooms. For example, staff use natural treasure baskets in the baby room to encourage babies to explore textures and seek new

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who attend

experiences. Babies move freely around the environment, and non-mobile babies are well supported by staff as they sit and reach for the objects within their sight. Older children enjoy experimenting in the sand play, delighting as they succeed in making sandcastles on their own. Opportunities for mathematical development are fostered extremely well. Children are introduced to new words, such as 'sphere' and 'cube', during an activity. Staff talk to the children about how many sides and corners the cube has, which enhances their mathematical skills. Staff use highly effective teaching strategies which meet the individual learning style of each child. For example, during a dinosaur activity, children are challenged as the practitioner asks them why they think the two dinosaurs are different. The highly effective questioning encourages children to think critically and solve problems. As a result, they are making rapid progress in their learning.

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who attend

This innovative and inspiring provision provides an excellent start for children to continue their learning journey. Staff regularly complete highly accurate assessments of children's progress. This includes the progress check for children between the ages of two and three years. They use these to build up a very clear and detailed picture of each child's abilities, and are therefore well placed to meet their individual needs. As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make rapid progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points. Parents and carers make important contributions to their children's learning and development. Their views about their children's abilities and interests help staff to securely assess new children's starting points and to plan effectively for these and their future learning. Parents and carers have regular informal and formal feedback about their children's learning and

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who attend

development, including discussing their progress and agreeing their next steps in learning. Staff are very keen to help parents to guide their children's learning at home and deploy highly successful strategies to engage them. This includes inviting parents to share what their child has been doing over the weekend so that staff can use this information to plan activities according to children's interests. Consequently, children's learning needs are well known to parents and there is continuity between developing achievements at nursery and home.

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

Children are fully supported in the transition from home to the nursery setting in a manner sensitive to their different needs. Parents are encouraged to visit and settle their children for as long as it may take. Staff are highly successful in reassuring parents and helping them to separate from their children. Children's personal, social and emotional development is given the highest possible priority by staff. Consequently, the relationship between each child, their key person and other staff is excellent. Children settle extremely quickly on arrival and are happy and confident in the nursery surroundings. Staff caring for the younger children are highly receptive towards their changing needs; they are kind, sensitive and very caring. Children gain confidence and high self-esteem in the very welcoming environment of the nursery and their well-being is given top priority by the caring staff. Behaviour is consistently managed with positive reinforcement in order to

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

boost children's self-esteem. All children are encouraged to be kind and play harmoniously together. Staff treat the children with respect and, in turn, the children learn to respect others. For example, older children use excellent manners when addressing adults. Children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their learning. This is because arrangements for transitions through to other rooms in the nursery, other settings and on to school are exceptionally well organised.

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

Children follow very beneficial hygiene routines because staff are excellent role models. They fully promote these routines, for example, by encouraging children to wash their hands before eating and after messy activities, both indoors and outside. Children's intimate care needs are sensitively met and they are actively encouraged to manage their own self-care as appropriate and in full discussion with their parents. A wide variety of healthy food choices are offered to children during mealtimes, as they employ a nursery cook. She plans the healthy menus in liaison with the management and staff. Staff work in partnership with parents to ensure children's diets are healthily balanced, both in the nursery and at home. Therefore, children are encouraged to make their own healthy choices. Children have daily access to the outside and the nursery also makes use of the wider environment to take both babies and children for walks locally. Therefore, children's

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

understanding of keeping themselves healthy and well is thoroughly promoted. There are also extremely clear procedures in place, discussed with parents, to support children's medical and dietary requirements. These are robustly followed by all staff to ensure children's good health and well-being at all times.

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

Children benefit extremely well from a clean, very well-resourced environment which is safe and equipped to meet the needs of all children. Risk assessments are thoroughly well considered to minimise potential dangers to children, and all areas used in the nursery are checked daily for hazards. Children are frequently reminded about safety in the nursery. For example, they are reminded to hold onto the banister when walking down the stairs to go outside. Staff are innovative with involving children to carry out risk assessments in the rooms. This helps children to understand the importance of safety. They are also well supported to use equipment safely in the garden and in the sensory room. As a result, children play and are able to take risks in a safe environment. Resources and space in the environment are organised in a way which promotes highly successful learning experiences and allows children to explore their environment independently. For example,

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

low shelving and storage accessible to children means that they can select and retrieve resources to support them in their learning. This encourages children's play and exploratory skills and play activities are sustained over a period of time. Displays reflect positive images and samples of children's artwork, giving children a sense of pride in their work and sense of belonging. As a result, children are making excellent progress in their personal, social and emotional development.

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provision

Safeguarding arrangements are highly robust and the staff place a strong emphasis on ensuring children in their care are well protected. All staff understand their roles in protecting children from harm and are fully aware of how to follow correct safeguarding procedures, should they have a concern about a child or a member of staff. All staff have undertaken safeguarding training and follow strict procedures and policies to protect children at all times. The nursery's robust safeguarding procedures and related policies are regularly reviewed to ensure they reflect Local Safeguarding Children Board protocols, guidance and regulations. Children are further protected by the nursery's robust recruitment and induction procedures. These procedures ensure that all adults working with children are suitable to do so. All required information is obtained about children and their families so that the staff know who can have access to children, including who will

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provision

collect them. An extensive range of policies and procedures successfully underpin daily practice and regular reviews are carried out. Documentation and record keeping is highly accurate and completed to a very high standard, which helps to ensure that children's well-being is maintained.

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provision

The leadership at the nursery is inspirational. The manager leads her team with motivation and passion, inspiring them to provide the best quality service possible. Therefore, management responsibilities are very well understood and successfully contribute to children being able to reach their highest potential. The manager continually monitors staff performance within the setting. She ensures that staff are deployed effectively according to qualifications and experience with specific age groups of children, resulting in the outstanding practice of all the staff. They are highly motivated in their continuous professional development and are continually seeking ways to improve. This is achieved through high quality systems for professional supervisions, peer observations, staff self- appraisals and discussions during meetings with the managers. As a result, staff are enthusiastic and committed to the continuous development of their early years practice.

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provision

The views of other professionals, staff and the children are fully considered and used to inform the nursery's self-evaluation process. Recommendations made at the last Ofsted inspection have been thoroughly addressed. This has positively impacted on children's safety and their learning and development.

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provision

The management team monitors the educational programmes extremely efficiently and ensures that all children are making excellent progress. Management records progress statistics for the individual children in their care and identify the progress of particular groups of children. They use staff's observations and assessments of children's development to record this information. This enables them to identify clearly where progress is being made and any areas where there might be delay for some children. This data shows clearly how much progress each child makes and the progress of particular groups of children. It accurately reflects the rapid progress children are making. The manager and staff welcome comments and suggestions from parents through a variety of means. Partnerships with parents and other professionals are evident and exceedingly well established. Excellent relationships, information sharing and good communication systems

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provision

ensure that parents are kept fully informed of their children's progress. The parents' voice is clearly reflected throughout the setting. Daily diaries give specific individual details of each child's day, staff chat to parents at handover times and arrange more formal meetings regularly to discuss progress in depth. Parents say they have many opportunities to talk to staff about their children, they receive superb feedback and information, and are delighted with the excellent progress their children make. There is consistent, secure support for all children, and as a result, their needs are extremely well met.

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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 EY379750 Local authority Halton Inspection number 858559

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 144 Name of provider Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 16/02/2009 Telephone number 0151 2577079

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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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