Discovery Nursery LTD

Discovery Nursery LTD Dover Discovery Centre, Market Square, Dover, Kent, CT16 1PH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12 March 2015 20 November 2009

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Good 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The setting meets legal requirements for early years settings

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This provision is good

 The children are happy at the setting because the staff are friendly and welcoming to children each morning and encourage them to share their home experiences.  The staff use knowledge gained through training well to increase children's range of vocabulary. Staff also use lots of words relating to mathematical concepts, such as weight, measurement and volume to extend their understanding.  Staff provide an interesting garden where children love to explore and make good use of the physical play activities available. These include a real boat, a bug garden, and learning about lifecycles as they grow plants and flowers.  Staff engage in good partnership working with parents to enable them to effectively provide for children's individual needs, particularly around meeting the needs of children with special educational needs and English as an additional language.  The provider ensures that all staff have a good understanding of how to protect

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This provision is good

children and keep them safe. Staff are effective at maintaining appropriate adult-to- child ratios and complete effective risk assessments processes of the play areas, garden and for outings.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 The staff provide a good range of books for children to read in the book corner. However, staff don't always provide books near activities to reinforce to children that books contain information about what they are doing and enhance their learning.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 further promote the use of books in each individual play areas to support children's interests and enable them to learn to use them for information and reference.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector watched the interaction between children and staff indoors and in the garden.  The inspector talked to staff, parents and children to obtain their views about the nursery.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the provider.  The inspector sampled a range of paperwork including the nursery's safeguarding procedures and the children's progress records.

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who attend. This is good

Children use a good range of well-maintained equipment and toys. They select from the activities available or choose to play at planned adult-led activities. They enjoy making farms and talking about how to care for the animals, or listening to stories in the book area. They become absorbed in the stories and talk about what comes next or make up different endings to them. The messy play and sand play areas are also firm favourites where children can use their creative skills. Staff regularly observe children and accurately assess their next steps in learning, which they use effectively to plan activities. Staff use a good range of activities to support children prior to their move to school, such as creating school role-play activities. Staff talk to the children about what school is like. They accompany children on visits to schools and welcome in teachers to meet the children. This helps children to be emotionally ready for the changes in their lives.

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good

Children show confidence as they move freely around the nursery. They are happy to chat with visitors and are interested in what they are doing. They have good conversations with staff at snack time about the nutritious food they help prepare and where food comes from. They serve themselves, pour their own drinks and clear away their own plates and cups. Parents provide lunch boxes for children and receive advice from staff about the provision of healthy contents. Children sing and dance indoors to engage in more healthy activities. The staff provide gentle reminders to children about keeping themselves and others safe as they use equipment and transfer between the nursery and the separate garden area. Children also learn to respect each other's feelings, share toys and play cooperatively as they remember and use of the provider's rules about how to behave.

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provision is good

The provider and her deputy provide good support for staff and encourage their further training. Staff choose courses and workshops to attend and then effectively cascade new learning to their colleagues at team meetings. As a result, they improve activities to benefit the outcomes for children. The nursery has good links with different professional organisations, such as the local health visitors and speech and language service, to provide additional support for children who need it. The nursery's special educational needs coordinator supports staff and children by developing individual learning plans to meet their needs. The provider welcomes input from staff, parents, children and others to help evaluate the nursery. She effectively acts upon comments received to improve all aspects of the organisation. This demonstrates a strong commitment to drive continual improvements.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY290188 Local authority Kent Inspection number 837562 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 36 Name of provider Discovery Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 20 November 2009 Telephone number 01304 244580

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Setting details

Discovery Nursery Ltd registered in June 2004. It operates from the Discovery Centre in Dover, Kent. It is open each weekday, from 8am to 6pm all year round. The setting only opens during school holidays if there is sufficient demand. The setting is in receipt of funding to provide free nursery education for children aged two, three and four years. The provider is one of six members of staff at the nursery, of whom two, including the provider, hold recognised early years qualifications at level 4 and three hold relevant qualifications to level 3.

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Setting details

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

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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