St Nicholas House

St Nicholas House St Nicholas House, Walton Lane, Birchwood Park, Warrington, WA3 6YL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17 August 2017 17 September 2014

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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 Outstanding 1

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This provision is good

 The highly skilled and experienced newly appointed manager, together with the team of committed and dedicated staff, has implemented many changes since the last inspection. This has had a positive impact on helping to improve the overall quality of the nursery.  Staff have a good understanding of the learning needs of children in their care. They plan a wide range of challenging and exciting activities and experiences that help to motivate children to learn. Children make good progress.  The key-person system is well established and highly effective. Babies and children develop extremely close emotional attachments with staff and strong friendships with each other. They demonstrate high levels of confidence and emotional security.  Partnerships with parents and other early years providers are very strong. Superb links with external professionals have a positive impact on supporting children who have

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This provision is good

special educational needs and/or disabilities. This contributes to ensuring all children's individual needs are met and promotes excellent continuity of care and learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 The new observation, assessment and planning system is in its infancy. The manager has not yet had sufficient time to measure its effectiveness and the impact this is having on helping to improve learning outcomes for children.  The monitoring process does not offer consistent opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and share ideas with each other.

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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 review and monitor the observation, assessment and planning process and evaluate the impact this has on improving learning outcomes for children  enhance the existing good arrangements for monitoring practice to help staff to reflect on, learn from each other, and improve their practice further.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching in the indoor and outdoor environment and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector talked to staff and children throughout the inspection.  The inspector carried out a joint observation of a planned adult-led activity with the nursery manager,  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager. She looked at relevant documentation, such as children's records and evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff working in the nursery.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

Safeguarding is effective. Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the referral procedures to follow should they have concerns about the health or welfare of a child. The manager closely checks the progress made by different groups of children. Informative data is obtained, which helps to identify gaps in children's learning and implement effective strategies to ensure that they reach their full potential. The manager uses her excellent knowledge, skills and expertise to guide, coach and support staff. She carries out regular supervision sessions to manage their performance. Professional development opportunities are carefully targeted to meet staff's individual learning needs and help to improve the quality of their practice. Self-evaluation is effective.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Well-qualified staff provide babies and children with a wide range of experiences that capture their interests and enthusiasm. Babies spend long periods exploring cereals and pasta. They are fascinated by the crunching sound it makes when they move it around the tray with their fingers, hands and feet. This helps babies to learn using their senses and promote their natural sense of curiosity. Children huddle together with staff and stare wide eyed when they listen to stories. Highly skilled staff ask questions about the story and explain to children the meaning of new words. For example, they tell children that 'delighted' means happy and that a 'tavern' is a place where people go to eat and drink. Staff make the most of every opportunity to help children to understand mathematical concepts. Children use words, such as 'long', 'longer' and 'longest' to compare the lengths of the snakes they make out of dough.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff place high priority on promoting children's health and welfare. Extremely attentive and sensitive staff respond quickly to babies' physical and emotional needs to ensure they remain comfortable and content. Staff provide children with a wide range of nutritious meals and snacks and offer alternatives to meet individual food preferences. The introduction of daily yoga sessions for older children has had a remarkable impact on helping children to learn to relax and develop a sense of calmness. The sessions also help children to develop an excellent awareness of their bodies and a positive self-image. The whole ethos of the nursery is based on mutual respect and kindness towards others. Children are extremely caring and demonstrate a helpful attitude towards staff and each other. Their behaviour is excellent. Staff teach children to keep themselves safe and give them opportunities to take controlled risks. For example, when climbing outside they

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

encourage children to balance and climb and challenge their own capabilities.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children make good progress. This includes children whose starting points are below expected levels of development. Children develop a wide range of skills that help to give them a firm foundation for future learning and the eventual move to school.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY259610 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 1111085 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 1 - 4 Total number of places 129 Number of children on roll 125 Name of registered person Busy Nought to Fives Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 17 September 2014 Telephone number 01925 850755

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reference number

St. Nicholas House registered in 2003 and is one of six settings owned and managed by a private company. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, all year round with the exception of bank holidays and one week at Christmas. It provides funded early years education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. There are currently 23 members of staff employed who work directly with children. Of these, two hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 6, 15 hold qualifications at level 3 and three hold qualifications at level 2.

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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

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

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