Hobby Horse Children's Centre

Inspection of Hobby Horse Children's Centre Oxford and Cherwell College, (Banbury Campus), Mewburn Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 9PA

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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 Good

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The provision is good

Children show that they thoroughly enjoy going to nursery. They thrive in the positive, happy and homely atmosphere, created by the attentive staff. Children show great delight when they see familiar staff. Children greet these staff members with smiles, hugs and cuddles. Children are excited to celebrate staff's birthdays. Children proudly present cards that they have made, and sing 'Happy birthday' enthusiastically. This all contributes to children feeling very safe, secure and welcome.

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The provision is good

Children behave very well. They respond to the consistent messages from staff about acceptable behaviour. Children listen to what is asked of them and show care and respect for staff, each other and resources.

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The provision is good

Children benefit from a curriculum with a strong emphasis on developing their speaking and listening skills. Staff understand the importance to children of knowing lots of words and having the confidence to hold meaningful conversations. Staff skilfully thread this aspect of learning through the whole curriculum. Children hear familiar and new words as the play and learn. This good practice is helping to successfully close any gaps in children's communication and language development. Children are developing well into confident communicators.

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need to do better?

n Staff plan well how they will deliver teaching so that children remember what they have learned. For example, in preparation for commemorating Remembrance Day, staff teach children, very sensitively, about why it is important and what people are remembering. Children then understand why they are observing a two-minute silence, and do so with great respect and dignity. n Staff provide good levels of support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The manager ensures that additional funding is used effectively to provide the targeted support that some children need to reach their full potential. n Leaders and staff work well together to clearly identify what they want children to learn during their time at nursery. Staff are then able to plan and teach accordingly. For example, staff working with babies sing number songs, older toddlers learn to recite numbers in order, and older children learn to count, sort

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need to do better?

and recognise shapes. n Staff join in children's play enthusiastically. Overall, staff make very good use of these opportunities to extend children's learning and understanding. Occasionally, in staff's enthusiasm, they do not leave enough gaps in conversations and explanations to allow children useful time to think and share

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need to do better?

11 November 2021 their own thoughts and ideas. n Children are curious learners. They find the learning experiences on offer very interesting. As a result, they focus well and show high levels of concentration. n Children respond promptly to requests from staff. This is because children understand the routines of nursery life. For example, older children know that when staff ask them to put their hands on their heads, they need to stop and listen. This helps to ensure smooth transitions from one activity to another, and means that useful learning time is not lost. n Staff are very caring. Leaders and staff understand the importance of the key- person system in helping children to feel settled. The warm and close bonds between children and staff are evident throughout the nursery, and especially so in the baby room. n The manager and other leaders regularly review what they offer and make meaningful improvements to enhance experiences for children. For example,

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need to do better?

leaders have reflected on how best to make use of the outdoor space to encourage children to be more physically active. Outside, staff focus on playing energetic games with children. Staff laugh as they run with children and show children how to pause and feel their heartbeat. n Children are safe. Staff supervise them closely. However, staff have not considered fully how to include teaching about the safe use of technology in the curriculum in order to further enhance children's understanding of personal safety. n Staff feel very valued. Many have worked at the nursery for a long time and feel very lucky to do so. This adds to the happy working environment. Leaders deploy staff so that less-experienced staff can work alongside and learn from their more-experienced colleagues. This has a positive impact on the quality of teaching. n Staff place a high importance on building strong and meaningful partnerships

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need to do better?

with parents and professionals. This helps to ensure a shared sense of purpose in meeting the needs of children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager and staff fully understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. The manager discusses safeguarding with staff regularly and takes effective steps to ensure their knowledge remains current. All staff attend regular safeguarding training. All staff have a thorough understanding of the signs that a child may be at risk of harm and know how to share these concerns to help keep children safe. The provider and manager follow effective recruitment procedures in order to ensure the suitability of those who they employ to work with children. Staff supervise children closely at all times, including when children are using technology.

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should:

n support staff to make the best use of opportunities to encourage children to share their thoughts and ideas, to extend further children's thinking skills n incorporate teaching about the safe use of technology into the curriculum in an age-appropriate way.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 133593 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 10210759 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

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

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inspection

Total number of places 62 Number of children on roll 48 Name of registered person Oxford & Cherwell College Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 01295 250687 or 01865 551662 Date of previous inspection 29 November 2016

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Information about this early years setting

Hobby Horse Children's Centre registered in 1992. It operates in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It is open from Monday to Friday, 8am until 6pm, all year round, except for bank holidays. The provider employs 16 members of staff. All staff hold relevant qualifications at level 3 or level 4. The provider receives funding to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four years.

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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 provider and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the provider. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk. n The inspector and the manager carried out a joint observation. n Parents and children shared their views with the inspector. n The inspector held a meeting with senior leaders and looked at relevant documentation.

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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

11 November 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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