Charnwood Forest Nursery

Inspection of Charnwood Forest Nursery Charnwood College, Thorpe Hill, Loughborough LE11 4SQ

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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 arrive at the nursery with their parents or carers and are eager to enter. Staff are warm and welcoming, and they develop positive relationships with children and their families. This helps children to be happy and confident. They walk in and hang their belongings up. Staff know their children well and identify children who may need additional support promptly. Staff adapt activities to ensure children have equal access to the learning experiences.

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The provision is good

Children have positive attitudes to learning and engage in activities for prolonged periods. The staff's calm and caring nature supports children to understand what is expected of them, and children behave well. For example, when a child attempts to tip his drink from one cup to another, staff approach this calmly, telling the child it is to drink. The child becomes frustrated, but even when they go to reach to tip it again, they manage to stop themselves.

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The provision is good

Children are supported to develop skills towards independence. For example, staff give younger children wipes to wash their own faces after breakfast and they give instructions and actions for children to copy. Older children go to the toilet, are supported to pour their own drinks and feed themselves. Children are proud of their achievements. For example, when children finish drawing pictures, they take them over to staff and show them excitedly, and then put them in their bags to take home.

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need to do better?

n Staff and managers have a strong understanding of child development and how children learn. They plan their environments and activities to support children's readiness towards their next stages of learning, including for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language. n Staff promote children's communication and language and offer children new language. They comment, repeat language and ask children questions. Staff use signs and actions to accompany their communication. For example, staff show children how to push a brick on top of another and say, 'push, push,' as the child attempts the task. Staff repeat sounds children make and add additional sounds that are age appropriate for the children. Children are encouraged by staff to sing at group times. They choose songs titles out of a bag and sing loudly all together. n Staff support children to understand the emotions they feel. Staff have created a

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need to do better?

space for children to use when they are finding self-regulation difficult. They support children by commenting on the emotions they are feeling and being there with them, until they have calmed down.

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need to do better?

22 November 2022 n Children are supported to develop mathematically. Staff introduce mathematical language to children's play. For example, children build a tower, and staff ask children to find 'two more' bricks. Staff encourage children to describe the bricks, using size, amounts and quantities. n Children develop their physical skills supported by staff. For example, inside, children use paint brushes, pens and pencils to make marks on paper. Outside, children balance, swing, slide and climb on equipment, supported by staff. They ride scooters, fill and empty buckets with water and enjoy using brushes to sweep away puddles with staff. n Parents are happy with the nursery. They say that the staff communicate with them regularly through conversations as well as the online app. They add they know what their child's next steps are and they are supported to extend their children's learning at home. For example, staff send books home for parents to

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need to do better?

read with their children, to help to develop communication. Parents comment on their children's happiness and would recommend the nursery to other families. n Staff say that they feel supported by their team and managers. They add they have regular meetings when they can share both personal and work-related issues, if they have any. Managers hold supervisions to review staff performance, as well as checking their ongoing suitability to work with children. n Staff interact well with most children. They join in with the children's interests and extend the learning experiences children have. However, this is not consistent. Less-confident children do not always benefit from the same prolonged interactions with staff. n Children's health and hygiene is generally supported by staff. Children wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. They enjoy a range of healthy food items throughout the day. However, staff do not help children to

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need to do better?

understand the difference between time for play and mealtimes. As a result, at breakfast time, children sit down to self-serve their fruit and bread. However, while they do this, other children bring over food they have been playing with. They place it on the breakfast plates that other children are eating from.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and managers have a strong knowledge of the signs and symptoms of abuse. They attend safeguarding training to support their knowledge of local safeguarding concerns, such as county lines and families being radicalised. Staff and managers are confident to make a referral to the appropriate agencies if required. Managers and staff maintain strong communication between agencies, to continue to support families and their children. The staff and managers ensure the environment is safe for children. They undertake regular risk assessments of the environment and make adaptations where necessary. Managers follow a rigorous recruitment process to ensure new staff are suitable to work with children.

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should:

n support staff to find more ways to consistently engage with quieter children, to enable them to get the most out of learning experiences n support children to learn what is expected at mealtimes and the difference between mealtime and playtime.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY496442 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 10234004 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 28 Number of children on roll 36 Name of registered person The David Ross Education Trust

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reference number

Telephone number 01509 554466 Date of previous inspection 24 January 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Charnwood Forest Nursery registered in 2015, and is located in Loughborough. The nursery employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 2, three staff hold level 3 qualifications, one staff holds a level 4 qualification and another one holds a level 5 qualification. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, during term time only. Sessions are from 7.30am until 4.30pm. 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 nursery 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 their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The special educational needs coordinator spoke to the inspector about how they support children with SEND. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, both indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this has on children's learning. n The manager and the inspector carried out a joint observation in the morning session. n The inspector spoke to parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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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

22 November 2022 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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