Next Step Nursery

Next Step Nursery Church Street, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 5JZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 8 March 2017 6 January 2015

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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

 The manager and staff regularly observe children's play and keep detailed records of their learning. They monitor the development of individual and groups of children closely. They use their good knowledge of the children to help them effectively plan for the next steps in their learning and close any gaps. Children make good progress from their starting points in learning.  Staff build strong bonds with all children. They are consistently kind and caring and spend plenty of time playing with children in a positive way. Children are very happy, secure and ready to learn.  Staff are very well supported and supervised by the ambitious manager. For example, they attend relevant training and have regular staff meetings to help update their skills and improve practice further. They continue to improve children's outcomes.  Parents are made very welcome and kept very well informed. Staff successfully involve

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This provision is good

them in their children's learning. For example, staff invite parents to regular reviews and offer meaningful suggestions for activities to continue children's learning at home.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Occasionally, planned group activities do not effectively engage all children's interest to fully extend their learning.  Staff do not consistently make the most of opportunities to support children's understanding of the importance of healthy diets.

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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

 develop the planning of group activities further to help consistently engage all children  provide more consistent support for children's understanding of how a healthy diet can help to encourage good health.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed teaching practices and the impact these have on children's learning.  The inspector held discussions with the manager, staff, children and parents.  The inspector read some of the setting's documentation, including the safeguarding policy and procedures.  The inspector sampled children's development information and records.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager and discussed the play, learning and progress seen.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

The manager and staff work closely together and accurately self-evaluate the provision. They actively include the views of parents and children to help identify areas for further improvement. For example, they have recently improved the resources they provide to support children's understanding of technology, by purchasing voice recorders and cameras. After analysing children's development, the manager identified that the boys were not as interested in early writing as the girls. She added new opportunities to encourage these skills, such as introducing clipboards to encourage children to make marks on the move. Safeguarding is effective. All staff regularly attend training to help keep their knowledge thorough and up to date. They help to ensure that children learn in a safe environment.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff develop a good understanding of children's interests and individual learning styles, which helps them to plan enjoyable activities for all children. For example, children enjoyed exploring a very well-resourced role-play 'bird watching' den. Staff provided further challenge. For instance, they encouraged children to use magnifying glasses to identify pictures of different birds hidden around the den and to record what they found on tick sheets. Staff support children's early literacy skills very well. For example, during daily 'phonics' sessions where they practice letter sounds with songs and actions.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Staff support children's physical development and well-being very effectively, such as with regular 'run club' sessions where they run around the local field. Children learn to care for their environment and to respect the world around them. They regularly visit the pre- school vegetable allotment and apple orchard and help to look after the pet dog. Children behave very well and are consistently kind and considerate of others. They build good friendships and social skills. For example, they happily passed out playdough so that everyone on the table had enough to use. Children develop a strong sense of self-esteem and proudly showed staff their finished playdough sculptures.

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Outcomes for children are good

Children develop positive attitudes towards learning and enthusiastically take part in a wide range of activities. They concentrate well, such as when drawing detailed pictures, and confidently describe what they have drawn. Children communicate very well and happily share their ideas and express themselves. They confidently count and compare sizes as they play and recognise written numbers. Children are very imaginative and enjoy acting out different scenarios in their play. They listen well to stories and answer questions about what has happened and what might happen next. Children quickly learn the skills needed for the next stages in their learning and for school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 113612 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 1085705 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 2 - 4 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 47 Name of registered person Janet Beales

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 6 January 2015 Telephone number 01444 455233

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reference number

Next Step Nursery registered in 1993. It operates in Cuckfield, West Sussex. The pre- school is open between 9.15am and 3.30pm each weekday, during term time only. The setting employs seven staff, three of whom hold appropriate early years qualification at early years professional status and four hold early years qualification at level 3. The setting receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four.

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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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