Alphabet City Day Nursery

Alphabet City Day Nursery 20 Cliddesden Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 3DT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 1 August 2016 Not applicable

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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

 Senior staff are particularly well qualified in early years teaching, speech and language development and strategies to encourage positive behaviour. The owner values her staff enormously. She invests extensively in high-quality continued professional development and supervision. Staff work as an extremely effective team who share their skills.  Staff understand that, for children who need additional help or protection, every day matters. The team is well trained, highly observant and skilled. Staff are quick to ensure that every child receives the support they need before any concerns escalate.  Staff regularly reflect on their practice and identify ways to improve the excellent progress children make. Parents say they feel part of their children's daily learning because all the staff are so approachable, informative and positive.  Staff are enthusiastic to learn and use words and phrases from children's home

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This provision is outstanding

languages, for example, when they settle in new children. Staff actively support children's use of other languages.  Highly professional staff work extremely well with parents and other professionals to ensure children are emotionally prepared for changes in their lives. Parents speak very highly of the help, support and guidance that staff offer them and their children.  Children's behaviour is excellent for their ages. Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe, such as when they sit around an open fire or use sparklers with staff.

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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

 refine further the teaching to enhance children's knowledge and respect of differences in their community.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed care routines and teaching, and the impact of these on children's safety, welfare and learning.  The inspector sampled records and procedures relating to safeguarding, risk assessment, health and safety, and discussed a range of other procedures relating to children's safety and welfare with the staff.  The inspector looked at children's records, staff planning and evaluation of activities, and how staff exchange information with parents.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day and reviewed written communication from parents.  The inspector spoke with staff about the impact of their training, experience and practice on children's well-being, learning and development.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

Visionary leadership builds on years of experience. This, combined with managers who are also experienced in nurturing highly effective partnerships with families and local agencies, provides an inspirational nursery. Children's needs are central to every decision. Staff diligently monitor and analyse children's progress to ensure that every child makes outstanding progress from their starting point. Safeguarding is effective. Staff are extremely capable of managing risks to children's health, safety and welfare. They implement the latest guidance to keep children safe, for instance, as they play at the nursery, follow outdoor pursuits and go on outings into the community.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Teaching is excellent in all age groups. One example, of many, is the innovative way in which staff use animal characters to identify how each child learns best. Staff quickly recognise when children are being like 'curious camels' or 'fascinated frogs' and vary their teaching style to make learning even more enjoyable. High quality teaching, training and supervision underpin the excellent levels of progress children make. Babies choose favourite songs and learn to listen and vary their voices to imitate rhythms and rhymes. 'Wobblers' and 'toddlers' quickly develop physical strength and coordination as, for example, they run, climb, wash ride-on cars in the garden or walk to the park.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Children of all ages form exceptionally warm and secure relationships with key staff and their room teams. Staff welcome parents to join stay-and-play sessions, and to share their expertise. For example, parents help children to prepare foods, enjoy stories and understand traditions from their home countries and cultures. Children are beginning to think about differences in their wider community, such as when they collect for the food bank and feel braille at the local library. However, staff are less confident in helping children understand and respect simple similarities and differences in people's faiths. On occasion, teaching around festivals is not as relevant as possible and this does not reflect the deep sense of family partnership that parents and staff value enormously.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

Children are enthusiastic learners who readily engage adults and other children in their discoveries. They happily experiment with an abundance of carefully selected resources, following their own lines of enquiry and persisting until they are satisfied with their achievements. Children make excellent progress in their learning. They develop the foundation skills for writing, for example, as inspirational staff build on their interest in jousting. Children use pretend swords to fend off 'baddies' with letter sounds and shapes. Parents commend staff for preparing them and their children extremely well for school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY476734 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 968248 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 83 Name of registered person Alphabet City Day Nursery Ltd

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01256 242 490

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reference number

Alphabet City Day Nursery registered in 2014. The nursery is one of two in a group and operates from a converted house in Basingstoke, Hampshire. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am until 6pm for 50 weeks of the year. There are 23 staff, of whom 20 hold relevant qualifications at level 3 to level 6. The provider holds early years professional status. The nursery also employs a chef and a cleaner.

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reference number

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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reference number

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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reference number

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reference number

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reference number

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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