First Steps Nursery

First Steps Private Day Nursery Newall Street, Littleborough, Lancashire, OL15 9DL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18 January 2016 6 March 2015

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Requires Improvement

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This inspection: Good 2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2

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This provision is good

 Managers and leaders aspire to improve and have made vast improvements to their practice since their last inspection. Continuous evaluations and detailed improvement plans provide a strong focus on raising the quality of care and learning for children.  Staff engage exceptionally well with children as they play. They listen attentively to children and follow their lead, knowing just the right time to intervene and move play on. This helps to sustain children's interest and support their continued good progress.  Staff help children to become good communicators. They model language very well, helping younger children to develop their breadth of vocabulary. Older children are effectively challenged through staff's good use of questions to promote their thinking.  Children are happy and settled with devoted staff who attend to their every need. A highly effective key-person system takes account of children's preferences and helps to

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This provision is good

assure children as they move through the nursery and on to school.  Staff use innovative ways to engage parents in their children's learning. Stay-and-play sessions, daily reports and information stations help to give parents a flavour of the activities that children engage in and provide ideas to extend learning at home.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 The arrangements for staff supervision are not yet fully embedded within practice, in order for staff to build upon and enhance their teaching skills to the very highest levels.  Staff do not promote the very highest standards of hygiene practice with younger children during snack time routines.

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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

 strengthen the newly implemented systems for performance management that build upon staff's good knowledge and enhance their teaching skills to the very highest level  enhance routines for younger children and ensure that the highest standards of hygiene practice are adopted across the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector toured the nursery.  The inspector observed children in each room during a range of activities.  The inspector held discussions with the provider, the managers, the staff and children throughout the inspection.  The inspector examined a range of documents. These included, evidence of suitability checks, staff qualifications and training, the policies and procedures, risk assessment records, improvement plans and children's observation and assessment records.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager during a planned group activity.  The inspector took account of the views from parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff have a good understanding of the procedures they need to follow to protect a child's welfare. Recruitment procedures are robust. Effective staff deployment helps to ensure that children are supervised at all times and accidents are swiftly responded to. Daily checks of each area contribute to ensuring that children have access to a safe and clean environment. The well-qualified staff team works together very well. They are committed to improving their knowledge and skills and regularly share their learning from training. Mangers and leaders monitor staff performance well. They work together with staff each day and complete regular peer observations of practice. Supervisions of staff are in place and these, generally, help them reflect on practice. Children's progress is monitored at every level to help ensure that any gaps in learning are swiftly identified and supported through timely interventions.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff are fully responsive to children's individual learning needs. They use the information from their varied observations and assessments to shape future learning experiences, in order to help build upon children's prior learning. Younger children have fun exploring real-life materials and enjoy listening to the sounds that these make. They investigate how things work when playing with resources, such as the lock and switchboard. Staff engage very well, helping children to understand the concept of on and off. Older children are confident to take a leading role during activities. Staff use innovative ways to promote children's early mathematics skills. For example, children enjoy finding items of clothing that match. They attempt to count the number of pegs they have used when hanging these on to the washing line. Staff teach children to communicate in different ways very well. Children confidently engage in their song and sign sessions. They follow instructions

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

well and are helped to develop a good awareness of letters and sounds.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Children are happy and settled in this appealing, safe and welcoming environment. Staff encourage children to make their own choices about where they will play. Children thoroughly enjoy exercising in the fresh air and actively take part in activities, such as running games to develop their awareness of keeping themselves healthy. Older children confidently talk about the importance of washing their hands before meals and take a leading role in serving out their own food and drinks. Younger children enjoy selecting their own healthy fruits for snack. Staff promote the expectations for behaviour very well. They encourage cooperative play and swiftly intervene to resolve any conflicts. This contributes to children being kind, caring and respectful of others.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children, including those who receive funded education, make consistently good progress, given their starting points. Effectively tailored support and the good use of funding help to ensure that any gaps in learning are narrowing. This contributes to children developing the key skills they need for their next stages in learning and school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 316452 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 1009165 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 34 Number of children on roll 52 Name of provider Tina Stafford-Smith and Alan Smith Partnership Date of previous inspection 6 March 2015 Telephone number 01706 378 888

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Setting details

First Steps Private Day Nursery was registered in 1995. The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 2, 3 and 6, including the two managers who hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 5 and 6. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, all year round, with the exception of bank holidays. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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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

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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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