Kids Planet Old Vicarage

The Old Vicarage Day Nursery 112 Hartington Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA14 5SS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14 May 2015 14 November 2011

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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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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Requires improvement The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Requires improvement The setting does not meet legal requirements for early years settings

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This provision requires improvement. It is not yet good because:

 Staff are not always deployed efficiently over the lunchtime period, to ensure that the ratio requirements of staff to children are effectively maintained. In addition, staff sometimes focus too much of their time on completing routine tasks, such as nappy changing. Therefore, they are not readily available to swiftly attend to children's every need.  Staff do not always receive the appropriate training, support and coaching, in relation to children's care needs, when children move from one room to another. This means that, on occasion, children's care is not always fully tailored to their individual needs.  Children are not always given enough time to respond and join in with familiar rhyming strings during story time.

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It has the following strengths

 Children's curiosity and desire to learn is ignited by the range of challenging and fun activities that staff provide to build upon their prior learning. As a result, children make good progress and are ready for their next stages in learning.  Effective communication, regular theme letters and 'what we have been doing this week' displays keep parents well informed of their children's time at the nursery. Staff provide information on how learning can be extended at home and encourage them to share any achievements that children make outside the setting.  Staff creatively display photographs of each child's family and encourage children to share any special events from home.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 improve how staff are deployed over the lunchtime period, to ensure that ratios of staff to children are maintained and to enable staff to be on hand to swiftly attend to children's every need and supervise them more closely  put appropriate arrangements in place to provide support, training and coaching to all staff, so that they have a consistently good understanding of children's specific care needs, when children move from one room to another, to ensure that children's care is fully tailored to their needs at all times.

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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

 maximise the opportunities for children to develop their communication and language skills, for example, by consistently allowing plenty of time for all children to join in with familiar rhyming strings during story time.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 ensure that the provision of any necessary training is provided for all those working with children, to ensure that all staff have the suitable skills and experience to care for children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).

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Inspection activities

 The inspector toured the nursery.  The inspector observed children in each of the playrooms and in the outdoor environment during their freely chosen activities.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the nursery and spoke with staff and children.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager of the nursery during a planned activity.  A range of documents were examined by the inspector, including the policies and procedures, the provider's self-evaluation form, staff training records, evidence of suitability checks, planning documents and children's learning files.

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who attend. This is good

The quality of teaching is good. Staff promote children's learning across all areas very well. Following on from children's interest in snails in the outdoor environment, staff plan a mini-beast visit for children to engage in, to enhance their knowledge of the natural world. Children confidently and independently handle worms and snails with care. They use their senses to explore their different textures. Staff support children in their communication and language development, and ask them to recall information from familiar stories, to talk about what caterpillars like to eat. Children have fun developing their physical skills when making a car from large construction materials outdoors. They take an active role in planting flowers and confidently explain that the plants need sun and water to grow. Children listen attentively to stories and are encouraged to join in with familiar rhyming strings. However, on occasion, staff do not allow enough time for children

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who attend. This is good

to join in, to fully maximise these opportunities.

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requires improvement

Children are happy in this welcoming and appealing environment. Staff are friendly, caring and kind. Key persons form secure emotional attachments with children. Staff readily comfort and reassure children during the day. However, staff are not always deployed effectively at lunchtime. Ratios of staff to children are not always fully maintained and much of staff's time is spent completing routine tasks, such as nappy changing. Consequently, this reduces the amount of time that staff spend with children, and affects their ability to swiftly attend to children's every need during this period. The encouragement, support and praise that children receive ensures that they are confident to engage in new activities. Children are emotionally prepared for their move to school. Staff talk to children about their move and, in support of this, enhance their areas of play with uniforms and books about starting school.

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provision requires improvement

Managers and leaders have a firm understanding of the procedures to take in the event of a child protection concern. Daily safety checks and effective risk assessments ensure that any potential hazards are minimised to keep children safe. Recruitment procedures are robust and ensure that staff are skilled and suitable for their role. The highly qualified manager monitors staff practice well. She works together with staff to regularly observe practice and shares her knowledge and expertise during training sessions to enhance the quality of teaching. However, not all staff have a consistently good understanding of children's care needs, when children move from one room to another. This is because staff do not always receive the necessary training, support and coaching to ensure they have a good knowledge of this. Children's progress is monitored at every level to ensure that any gaps in learning are swiftly identified and supported. Planned activities are constantly

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provision requires improvement

evaluated to identify what worked well and what needs to be improved. Staff work together confidently with parents and other professionals to support all children.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 317407 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 865120 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 131 Number of children on roll 247 Name of provider Hollingarth Limited Date of previous inspection 14 November 2011 Telephone number 01229 813 100

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Setting details

The Old Vicarage Day Nursery was registered in 1998. The nursery employs 40 members of childcare staff. Of these, 30 hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 2 or 3, including the manager with Early Years Professional status. The nursery is open Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am to 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities and 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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