Footsteps Nursery

Footsteps Day Nursery 89 Station Road, Castle Donington, Derby, Derbyshire, DE74 2NL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 5 May 2015 23 January 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 management team are passionate and committed to the continual improvement of the nursery. Therefore, they strive to always provide the best care and learning for the children.  Practitioners know babies and children well and make good use of what they know about the next steps in their learning to inform planning. As a result, babies and children make consistently good progress across the seven areas of learning.  Babies and children are happy, keen to learn and settled in the nursery. This is because they quickly establish warm relationships with all the practitioners.  Practitioners promote healthy eating and healthy practices. Children follow good hygiene routines, including brushing their teeth after meal times. As a result, children learn about healthy lifestyles.  The nursery has strong partnerships with parents because it uses a number of successful strategies to engage them. Consequently, parents feel well informed about

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This provision is good

their child's learning and know how to support their learning at home.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Toddlers' personal, social and emotional development is not always promoted effectively during adult-led activities. This is because group times are occasionally too long and the size of the group is too big. As a result, some children find it difficult to remain focussed.  Practitioners sometimes offer children solutions too quickly. This means children are not able to fully build on their own ideas and find solutions to problems for themselves.

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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

 help toddlers to remain focussed on learning during group time, for example, by reducing the size of the group and the length of the session  develop pre-school children's problem-solving skills further, for example, by giving them enough time to respond to and explore their own ideas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children during activities indoors and outdoors.  The inspector looked at a range of documentation.  The inspector spoke with practitioners and the management team at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff working with children and discussed the provider's improvement plans.  The inspector held a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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who attend. This is good

Practitioners provide children and babies with an environment that ignites their interests, both indoors and outside. Consequently, they are engaged in purposeful play. Babies delight in sensory play and benefit from practitioners' skilful interactions. This promotes babies' language skills and their motivation to explore and experiment with the different textures. Practitioners promote children's understanding of the world around them because children learn to care for living things. This is because the children are involved in growing plants and caring for the nursery pets. Practitioners ask effective questions to extend children's learning and support their problem-solving skills. However, sometimes practitioners do not give pre-school children enough time to find solutions to problems in their play. For example, when making models practitioners sometimes suggest ways to join the materials before the children have had a chance to experiment with different ways

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who attend. This is good

of doing this. Toddlers' personal, social and emotional development is generally developing very well. This is because practitioners provide toddlers with many opportunities to take turns and develop their independence. However, on occasions adult- led activities do not always fully encourage toddlers' concentration skills. This is because sometimes the length of the session is too long and young children find it difficult to remain focused. Additionally, the group is sometimes too large for the activity and does not enable all children to be as actively involved in their learning as possible.

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good

Families and children are valued in the nursery. Parents are encouraged to visit the setting to share their skills with the practitioners and the children. This enhances the learning opportunities and the well-being of the children. Children who speak English as an additional language receive good support. Practitioners work closely with parents and use a number of successful strategies to support communication. Babies and children are effectively safeguarded. All practitioners are well informed about child-protection issues and children's safety is promoted through effective risk assessments and safety procedures. Children are emotionally very well prepared for their move to school because staff work well with the schools children will be moving on to, and provide children with fun activities so they learn what school will be like.

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provision is good

The management team and a vast majority of the practitioners are well qualified and all attend relevant training to further their professional development. This means they fully understand and implement the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Practitioners are provided with a targeted programme of supervision that supports their teaching practice. The whole staff team have been trained in sign language, which they consistently use throughout the nursery. This supports their good teaching and children's learning in communication skills. The manager monitors educational programmes effectively for individuals and groups of children to ensure children's needs are met.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY361824 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 857646 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 68 Name of provider Elizabeth Lillian Eve Hearst Date of previous inspection 23 January 2009 Telephone number 01332 850 699

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Setting details

Footsteps Day Nursery was registered in 2008. The nursery employs 15 members of childcare staff, 12 of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff holds a qualification at level 4, nine at level 3 and three hold a qualification at level 2. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. 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 additional language.

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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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