St Thomas' Church Nursery

St Thomas' Church Nursery Nairn Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S10 1UL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25 April 2016 12 May 2011

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children form very strong attachments with the staff, who have a superb knowledge and understanding of the children they care for. This helps to provide a solid foundation for children's personal, social and emotional development.  Children are highly motivated learners who demonstrate a strong willingness to explore and try new things. They enjoy rich and varied activities and are given an excellent grounding in early mathematics and literacy. Children confidently use numbers for counting, comparing three-dimensional shapes and problem solving.  Children learn to celebrate and respect each other's differences. Staff are excellent role models and positively promote good manners, sharing and being kind at all times. Children behave exceedingly well. Very occasional minor conflicts are managed extremely well, ensuring the child's self-esteem remains intact.  Staff are exceptionally well trained and supervised. They engage in innovative

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This provision is outstanding

professional development activities, in order to maintain high standards of care and teaching. This means that they are well equipped to deliver first-class learning experiences that support children to make rapid progress.  Partnerships with parents are extremely strong. Staff engage parents exceptionally well in children's development and provide them with an extensive range of information to support children's learning at home. This promotes an exemplary collaborative approach to children's 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

 build on the already excellent outdoor provision to provide even more inspiring learning opportunities for children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the nursery manager.  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager and deputy manager. She looked at relevant documentation, such as the nursery's self-evaluation and evidence of the suitability of staff working in the nursery.  The inspector spoke to a small selection of parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the early years foundation stage and other relevant legislation. The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff have an expert understanding of their individual responsibilities to safeguard children. Continuous reflection on feedback from children, parents and staff ensures that improvements to support the needs of the children are always being made. The manager swiftly identifies where targeted teaching is needed through the exceptionally precise tracking of children's progress. This enables any identified gaps in their learning to be closed extremely quickly. Staff work in very close partnership with a vast range of other professionals. They very effectively and sensitively support children with a diverse range of needs. Parents speak very highly of the nursery, the staff team and the excellent service provided.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Staff provide a diverse and imaginative range of learning experiences that excites children. They very skilfully involve themselves in children's play to pose challenges to help them learn and develop. For example, they make excellent use of questions to challenge children's thinking about superheroes. Staff innovatively gather information from parents to personalise children's learning experiences. Extremely accurate observation and thorough assessment procedures help staff to plan precisely for children's next steps in learning. Staff skilfully differentiate each activity to ensure that it is appropriate for all children's interests and abilities. This helps to promote children's concentration and motivation to learn highly effectively. Staff are skilled at developing spontaneous learning opportunities. Children's interests are carefully used to develop activities that motivate them and encourage perseverance. For example, a child's fascination with keys is

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

extended into an exploration of magnetism.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff are very calm and patient and give children innovative individual attention. This helps to ensure that each child feels valued and special. Staff encourage meticulous hygiene routines as part of helping children to learn about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Children play in the outside area throughout the session. They develop high levels of imagination as they mix their own concoctions and potions in the mud kitchen. Staff plan to enhance the already stimulating outside provision further to provide even more inspiring opportunities for children who prefer to learn outdoors.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

Children, including those in receipt of funding, such as the early years pupil premium, thrive in this stimulating and fully inclusive environment. They are skilfully helped to be very self-assured, articulate and resourceful learners. Children's language and communication skills are progressing excellently, including those who speak English as an additional language. All children are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their learning, including their move on to school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 300781 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 854985 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 3 - 4 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 47 Name of provider St Thomas Church Committee Date of previous inspection 12 May 2011 Telephone number 0114 2671090

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Setting details

St. Thomas' Church Nursery was registered in 1986. The nursery employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and five hold qualified teacher status. The nursery is open Monday to Friday during term time. Sessions are from 9am to 1pm on Monday and Friday and from 9am to 3pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 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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