Stepping Stones, Lewes Community Nursery Ltd

Stepping Stones, Lewes Community Nursery Ltd Southcourt House, Morris Road, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15 July 2015 15 July 2014

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Requires Improvement 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 Outstanding 1

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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 nursery's leadership team has made significant improvements to the quality of teaching and support for children's learning since the last inspection. Procedures to ensure all children are making progress are good.  Staff provide an exceptionally happy, fun and homely environment for children. As a result, children thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery.  Particularly good support is given to any child who may need additional support and help with their learning. This means they make good progress in their development.  Meticulous attention is given towards keeping children safe. Staff have an excellent knowledge of how to protect children and know what to do if they have any concerns.  Staff work hard to establish close working relationships with parents and carers. As a result, parents and carers are fully involved in helping their children to learn.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 The nursery's garden is still under-development and is nearing completion. However, at present, children have to rely on visits to the park and local town to experience learning outside.

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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

 continue to develop the provision for outside learning in the new nursery garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching and support for children's learning.  The inspector talked to staff about how they care for the children, how they plan for children's development needs and what they would do if they had concerns about a child in the nursery.  The inspector carried out two joint observations with the nursery manager to assess the quality of teaching and how well leaders monitor the quality of practice.  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager and the nursery owner to discuss how improvements have been made since the last inspection and how staff are supported to develop their practice.  The inspector talked to parents and carers who were available on the day of inspection to take account of their views.  The inspector sampled a range of written and electronic documentation including: children's progress records, staff training files, confirmation that staff have been

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Inspection activities

suitably checked to work with children and some nursery policies.

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who attend. This is good

Staff are highly skilled in supporting children's learning. The quality of teaching across the nursery is consistently good. As a result, all children enjoy taking part in activities which are based around their own interests and developing skills. For example, on the day of inspection in the Big Steps room, children were really interested in playing with the water. Staff provided for this extremely well, offering different types of resources, including sea creatures, tubes, funnels and nets to support different types of play. This maintained children's interests for a long period and encouraged them to play with water in different ways. Similarly, in the First Steps room, the children thoroughly enjoyed making their own play dough. Staff supported their learning during this extremely well by encouraging children to use different words to describe the texture of the mixture. Some very creative words were used by children aged two- and three-years old, such as 'crunchy', 'fluffy' and

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who attend. This is good

'creamy'. In the Baby Steps room, staff provide an extremely homely and relaxed environment where babies can explore freely. Staff are skilled in understanding babies' developing communication skills and respond to these appropriately.

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outstanding

The care provided for children is excellent. Staff are highly attentive, dedicated and fully committed to providing the highest standards of care. They are thoroughly 'in-tune' with the children and know them extremely well. As a result, they continually respond to children's interests and ideas. The key person system works particularly well and enables babies and children to form exceptionally strong attachments with the staff who look after them. As a result, any child who is upset is comforted very quickly. Throughout the routine, staff use every opportunity to develop children's skills in looking after themselves. For example, they allow children to consistently make their own choices and become increasingly independent. In the First Steps room, children begin to serve themselves at lunch time, helping to prepare them for the move to Big Steps where they manage the lunch time routine completely independently. Across the nursery, children are confident;

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outstanding

they express themselves freely and they behave extremely well. They show a keen interest in learning and are eager to explore new ideas. These skills prepare children extremely well for starting school.

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provision is good

The nursery owner and manager play a key role in supporting the nursery's improvement. They lead a strong, committed team of staff who have benefited from a wide range of training and support since the last inspection. Supervision meetings are used well to assess on-going training needs and to monitor the progress of all children. Effective and accurate self-evaluation, and the monitoring of practice, means the leadership team has a very accurate view on what needs to improve. Partnerships with local schools and other early years providers are good.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY459301 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 1006075 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 38 Number of children on roll 46 Name of provider Stepping Stones, Lewes Community Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 15 July 2014 Telephone number 01273 479699

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Setting details

Stepping Stones Lewes Community Nursery registered in 2013 and is privately owned. It operates from a purpose built building with stairs to the first floor in Lewes, East Sussex. The nursery is open Monday to Friday, from 8am until 6pm, all round year. It is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 46 children in the early years age range on roll. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are nine members of staff, of whom eight hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two staff members, including the nursery manager, are qualified to foundation degree level.

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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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