Oakwood House & Forest School

Inspection of Oakwood House & Forest School Oakwood House, 2 Hungerford Road, HUDDERSFIELD HD3 3AL

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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The provision is good

Children clearly enjoy their time in the setting. The indoor and outdoor learning environments are stimulating and provide good opportunities for children to make safe and independent choices. They eagerly complete their own risk assessments of the forest school areas, making sure that the space is safe for their friends to use, and discuss the rules for keeping safe around the fire pit. Children behave well as they explore outdoors. They show great enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards their learning.

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The provision is good

The dedicated manager is enthusiastic, has high expectations for every child and has developed a curriculum based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. Staff consider children's interests and next steps. A varied range of experiences build on what children know and can do, especially in building their communication and language skills in preparation for their move to school. Staff highly value contributions from parents. They use information about children's achievements at home to complement their learning and help them to consolidate new skills. Parents are complimentary about the staff team and the care and learning they provide. They are particularly grateful for the advice, support and guidance that staff have afforded them during COVID-19 (coronavirus).

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need to do better?

n Staff complete regular observations of children. They use these to promptly identify any gaps in children's learning and seek early professional help, when needed. Staff have been proactive in identifying the impact on children's learning and development of prolonged absences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, they have a consistent approach to supporting children's learning, and children are catching up quickly. n Children form close bonds with caring key staff and are confident to leave their parents and carers as they arrive. They freely explore all areas of the nursery and forest school. Overall, children behave well and follow the daily routines. However, on occasions, staff do not set consistent boundaries in order to help children to manage their behaviour as they move between different activities and spaces in the setting. n Children grow their own herbs and flowers and use these in their dough play.

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need to do better?

Staff encourage children to use their senses and available tools to chop and mix. They create their own magical concoctions and potions. Additionally, they teach children new words to enhance their growing vocabulary, such as 'combine' and 'dice'. n The managers use the early years pupil premium funding effectively to broaden the experiences available to children. For instance, they have developed 'den building areas' to support children's growing imagination. In addition, this

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need to do better?

29 June 2021 widens the experiences on offer outside for those children who prefer to learn outdoors. n The recently appointed manager is ambitious and passionate about the service she provides. She provides ongoing training for staff and meets with room leads to plan and discuss children's needs. However, there is scope for further improvement in helping the staff to gain an even better understanding of how to support children. n Staff encourage children to be independent in their self-help skills and, as a result, children are learning how to take care of themselves. For example, they find their own belongings and return plates and dishes after eating. Staff support children to be healthy and make good choices about their diet. They encourage children to eat their vegetables and discuss what food is good for them. n Staff provide children with lots of opportunities to explore mathematical concepts. For example, in the forest school, children roll balls down guttering of

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need to do better?

varying heights. They then investigate what would happen if the height of guttering changed. n Children have many opportunities to listen to stories and rhymes. Younger children independently choose books and take them to staff, who read to them. Staff recognise when babies become restless and they sing songs to calm them. Children stop what they are doing and join in with the words and actions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager keeps her knowledge of safeguarding legislation and guidance up to date and shares information regularly with staff. This contributes to staff's secure knowledge of how to identify children at risk of harm and what to do if they are concerned about a child's welfare. Knowledge extends to include wider safeguarding concerns, such as the 'Prevent' duty. Ongoing checks help to ensure that all staff remain suitable for their roles. Staff carry out checks on the environment and ensure it is clean. This helps to provide a safe environment for children to play.

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should:

n support staff to develop successful behaviour management strategies, to further promote children's positive behaviour as they move between different activities n sharpen the focus on monitoring staff practice to allow more frequent opportunities for staff to discuss their practice and set targets to help raise the quality of teaching and children's outcomes even higher.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY428586 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 10117667 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 101 Number of children on roll 181 Name of registered person Portland Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01484431384 Date of previous inspection 16 May 2013

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Information about this early years setting

Oakwood House & Forest School opened in 2010. It is one of four nurseries owned by Portland Nurseries Ltd. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 6pm, except for bank holidays. There are 28 childcare staff employed at the nursery. Of these, 24 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above, one has early years professional status and one is a qualified teacher. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the setting and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the nursery manager to evaluate the quality of teaching. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk together. Senior staff also contributed to discussions. n Parents spoke to the inspector about their children's experiences at the nursery and the information that staff share with them. n The owners, the manager and the inspector held a meeting together. The inspector looked at a sample of documents, including evidence of staff's suitability.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

29 June 2021 regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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