Caterpillars Nursery At St Johns

Inspection of Caterpillars Nursery At St Johns The Nursery, 59 The Avenue, Tadworth KT20 5AA

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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 are happy to enter the nursery. They are enthusiastically greeted by staff and quickly settle. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have identified children's ability to self-regulate their emotions as an area for development. Changes to the settling-in process for new children have been really successful at supporting their inclusion into nursery life. For example, they adapt the amount of sessions they attend before starting according to each individual child's needs. Children have a key person, who remains the same throughout their time in the nursery. This allows children to be resilient, and staff know their key children very well. Children form a strong bond with staff and are clearly comfortable approaching them when needed. This helps to support children's personal, social and emotional development well.

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The provision is good

Children confidently engage in play and clearly feel safe and secure. They behave well and listen to and follow instructions from staff. Children make friendships and interact well together. They respect their peers and staff alike. Children enjoy daily physical play and fresh air and exercise. For example, they have access to a large outside space, which offers many opportunities to explore nature and the world around them. Children share their interest of animals with staff, who encourage them to build on their learning through this. For example, children have access to a wormery, and they watch caterpillars grow into butterflies. Staff extend this learning for children, explaining to them how to care for and feed these insects. All children make good progress, including children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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need to do better?

n Staff believe that children learn through play. They plan activities around a topic and adapt this according to children's interests. For example, during the Easter break, children visited the local community café, and then staff recreated this café within the nursery. This included using real tea, coffee and food, a menu and a kitchen with a cardboard oven. In addition to extending children's real-life experiences of the world around them, children develop their fine motor skills by pouring and scooping, and they understand the concept of sinking and floating. n Staff identify that being independent and being able to take care of themselves are important skills for children to have in preparation for starting school. Children experience many activities to promote their independence and prepare them for school. For instance, they take themselves to the toilet, help to cut up fruit ready for snack and take off their outdoor shoes. Staff work in close

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need to do better?

partnership with parents to ensure children are school ready. For example, they offer advice and leaflets to help parents support their children when starting school.

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need to do better?

23 May 2023 n Staff identify communication and language as an area for development. They support this by putting strategies into place. For example, they talk to children during activities and ask them questions. Staff wait for children to reply to questions they ask about the stories they read together. Overall, staff implement mathematical skills effectively throughout the nursery, asking children, for example, to identify colours, shapes and numbers. However, on occasion, the promotion of children's number and counting skills needs to be extended further. n Staff have high expectations for how children should behave in the nursery. They remind children of the nursery rules and boundaries, such as sitting down to eat their lunch so they do not choke on food. Staff ensure that the nursery is a safe place to be by regularly risk assessing with the children. For example, they encourage children to conduct mini audits of their environment, to

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need to do better?

understand and recognise the risks and hazards. n The manager fully supports staff, and they feel they can approach her at any time. Staff say their well-being and mental health are very important to the manager. They regularly attend meetings to discuss concerns about children and planning. Staff have continuous access to regular training, such as through an online facility and face-to-face meetings. This supports their continued professional development and furthers their knowledge of providing the best outcomes for children. n Parents compliment staff at the nursery. They say how they support children effectively who need extra help, such as when settling in. Parents state how they receive regular feedback on their children's development, such as during parents' evening and through a regular newsletter. They say that the progress children make is very clear. For example, parents have seen an improvement in

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need to do better?

speech and language skills, in children's confidence and in their recognition of letters and sounds. Parents state that children love coming to the nursery, which reassures them that they are in a kind and nurturing environment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a secure knowledge of safeguarding children. They have a good understanding of their role in child protection. Staff confidently identify signs of abuse, including physical abuse and neglect. They clearly explain the process of the actions to take upon having a concern about a child or an adult. Staff know who the designated safeguarding lead is and who to escalate concerns to. The manager has a robust safer recruitment process in place. She assesses staff knowledge of safeguarding by discussing topics in meetings and randomly asking them questions about safeguarding. Staff continuously strive to ensure that the environment is safe and secure for children.

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should:

23 May 2023 n enhance children's understanding of mathematics further, and support staff to be more consistent in their promotion of children's number and counting skills.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY491181 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 10285397 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 Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 39 Number of children on roll 39 Name of registered person Baxter, Rebecca

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reference number

Telephone number 01737 813 032 Date of previous inspection 4 October 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Caterpillars Nursery At St. John's registered in 2015. It is located in Tadworth, Surrey. The nursery is open between 8.30am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time only. There are seven members of staff working with the children, five of whom hold relevant childcare qualifications from level 3 to level 6. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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 nursery. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about the nursery curriculum and what they want children to learn. n The inspector spoke to children to find out about their time at the nursery. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector observed the interactions between staff and children. n The inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The manager showed the inspector documentation to demonstrate the suitability of staff.

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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

23 May 2023 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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