St Nicholas House

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

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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

The nursery is filled with happy and confident children, who keep trying and express delight when they achieve what they set out to do. Babies create close bonds with skilled and experienced staff, which helps them to feel safe. Babies giggle as they play with familiar musical instruments. They learn to recognise themselves in mirrors, and begin to develop an early respect for books. Babies also make great progress in their physical development, such as crawling and taking their first steps, as staff know precisely how to support them in this. Toddlers develop their self-care skills as they begin to use potties and toilets and wash their hands independently. Children treat each other kindly and are respectful to everyone around them.

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The provision is good

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff are providing children with even greater support in the development of their communication and language, and social skills. They are also providing children with greater challenge in their learning to help them to catch up. Small group activities provide children with lots of opportunities to express their own thoughts and ideas, which helps boost their confidence. Children are learning the sounds that letters represent. They identify letters of the alphabet that are significant to them and make the links to a variety of different words.

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need to do better?

n The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. Leaders leave no stone unturned when it comes to removing barriers to learning. External professionals monitor intervention plans, alongside nursery staff, and children with SEND make good progress. For example, very young children progress rapidly in their physical development, which prepares them well for the next stages in their learning. n Partnership working is a strength of the nursery. Links with parents and external professionals are rooted in trust and respect. Parents comment that staff are 'amazing and really care for the children'. Staff provide daily updates to parents and share ideas to help extend their children's learning at home. For example, staff share consistent strategies to help children regulate their behaviour. This approach helps to provide continuity in children's learning and aids their

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need to do better?

progress. n Children access a variety of books. Staff read to children with enthusiasm and children relish opportunities to enact the roles of their favourite characters. Pre- school children talk about taking books home to share with their parents. The impact of this can be heard throughout the nursery. Toddlers talk with increasing fluency, while pre-school children talk in complex sentences and are able to explain their ideas coherently.

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need to do better?

1 December 2021 n Overall, children are confident and competent communicators. However, some staff do not consistently pronounce the correct letter sounds and words when speaking to children. For example, staff, occasionally, say 'fing' and 'avin', which does not help to best support children's emerging vocabulary. n In the main, children are taught about the world around them. For example, they enjoy learning about different celebrations, such as Christmas and Eid. However, children have limited opportunities to learn about similarities and differences beyond their own experiences. This does not help to fully enrich their awareness of the wider world. n Staff support children's large-muscle development. Children relish opportunities to climb on low-level apparatus outdoors and show excellent physical skill while playing football. This helps to develop their balance and coordination. n Overall, staff receive support during supervision sessions and appraisal

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need to do better?

meetings. They feel valued and, generally, staff morale is high. However, leaders do not consistently provide staff with incisive feedback to raise their teaching to a higher level. n Leaders evaluate the nursery well. Priorities for improvement are accurate and include the views of children, parents and staff. The capacity for leaders to continually improve and bring about change is good. This helps to promote children's care, learning, and development.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and leaders at the nursery are fully committed to safeguarding children in their care. They have a good knowledge and understanding of the procedures to follow should they have any concerns for any children in the nursery. The staff know the children very well and, as such, are attuned to changes in behaviour that might indicate concern. Both staff and leaders accurately recognise what constitutes an allegation. They are clear about the action they would take in the event of an allegation being made, or inappropriate practice being observed. On a daily basis, staff ensure that the nursery environment is clean, well maintained, and thoroughly risk assessed to ensure that children are safe. Leaders ensure that staff to children ratio requirements are always met and that staff are appropriately deployed to meet the needs of all children.

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should:

n strengthen staff knowledge of how to teach children about differences and similarities n provide staff with incisive feedback about their interactions with children, to raise their teaching to a higher level

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should:

1 December 2021 n strengthen children's communication and language skills, by supporting staff to model the correct pronunciations of letter sounds and words.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY259610 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 10214423 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 120 Number of children on roll 101 Name of registered person Busy Nought to Fives Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01925 850755 Date of previous inspection 17 August 2017

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Information about this early years setting

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 22 members of staff employed who work directly with children. Of these, two hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 6, two hold qualifications at level 4, 16 hold qualifications at level 3 and one holds qualifications at level 2.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors Richard Sutcliffe Luke Heaney

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Inspection activities

n This inspection was carried out following the risk assessment process. n This was the first inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and took that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The inspectors took account of the verbal views of parents. n A range of documentation was reviewed by the inspectors in relation to the suitability of staff. n Observations of specific teaching and learning activities were carried out jointly with the manager. The inspectors evaluated the quality of education across the nursery. n The inspectors spoke with a number of staff and considered their knowledge of how to keep children safe.

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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

1 December 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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