Maple Lodge Nursery

Inspection of Maple Lodge Nursery Maple Lodge Nursery, 9 Moor Road South, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE3 1NN

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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 learn to share, take turns and be kind to their friends at this welcoming and friendly nursery. They form close bonds with staff, who are responsive, caring and warm. Staff provide strong support for children's personal, social and emotional development. They encourage children to explore their feelings, using displays that show different types of emotions. Staff provide gentle reminders to children about positive behaviour. They give clear explanations about the impact children's behaviour can have on others. Staff give clear praise and encouragement. This helps to raise children's confidence and self-esteem.

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The provision is good

Children are happy, curious and enthusiastic. They use all their senses as they explore a pretend dinosaur swamp staff have made, using bran flakes, soil and herbs. They bathe baby dolls with sponges and water and explore with soil and sand. Additional funding is spent on helping children to benefit from settled and secure routines. Staff use visual prompts to help explain the daily routine to children and to support them to understand what will happen next. They provide strong support for children's growing independence. Children tidy away their toys and wash their hands before mealtimes. They serve their own cereal and pour their own drinks.

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need to do better?

n Staff know the children well as individuals. They plan activities and experiences that they know will challenge and interest them. Staff assess well where children are in their development and plan how to embed and extend their learning further. n There is strong support for children's physical development. Outside, in the spacious, enclosed garden, children benefit from good opportunities to stretch, balance and climb. n Staff plan interesting and exciting activities to help children develop different ways of using their hands. They practise unscrewing lids on jam jars and threading cereal hoops on straws. Young children wave scarves, push spools and play with dough. This helps to prepare them for later tasks, such as tying their shoelaces and early writing. n Overall, there is good support for children's developing speech and language skills. Staff use stories, songs and rhymes to help extend children's vocabularies.

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need to do better?

The introduction of signing with children, following staff training, has been particularly successful. n Children hear lots of language throughout the day as staff talk to them about their play. However, staff are not always deployed effectively at group times. This impacts on support for children's listening and attention skills. n Some staff settle children at the beginning of story time. However, this approach

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need to do better?

13 June 2023 is not consistent across the nursery. This means that some children are not ready to listen and learn. n Staff encourage children's mathematical understanding. Children count the slices of cucumber, radish and tomatoes they use to make pictures of caterpillars. They discuss the colours of paint they choose and guess what might happen to colours when paints are mixed together. n There are good opportunities for children to learn about the natural world. They plant flowers and learn about how they grow. Children observe how caterpillars develop over time and watch chicks hatch. They talk with staff about cocoons and pretend to make their own, as they play imaginatively with scarves and blankets outside. n Staff provide strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with other professionals in education and health to help ensure a consistent approach to support for children. This includes when

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need to do better?

children move on to school or the next stage of their learning. n Parents speak highly of the nursery and staff team. They say that staff are nurturing and excellent at building relationships with children. Parents praise the home-made, healthy meals on offer and the effective systems in place for communication. n The manager provides strong support for her staff team, including for their well- being. She provides support for staff's professional development through meetings, constructive feedback and opportunities for training. n The manager and senior staff are reflective and committed to continuously improving the service they provide. The manager is passionate about outcomes for children. She and her staff team are dedicated to providing a quality experience for children in their care.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager has a thorough understanding of her role and responsibilities in relation to keeping children safe. This includes a range of aspects of safeguarding. The manager and staff know what might concern them about a child in terms of safeguarding. They know who to contact and the processes to follow to help keep children safe. All staff complete safeguarding training. They encourage children to learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy. For example, they support children to chop vegetables carefully, using training knives. Staff talk to children about sun safety and why they need sun cream and hats.

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should:

n review the deployment of staff to better support children's listening and

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should:

13 June 2023 attention skills during group times n develop a consistent approach to settling children at the beginning of story time so that they are ready to listen and learn.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY476668 Local authority Newcastle upon Tyne Inspection number 10289200 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 67 Number of children on roll 90 Name of registered person Nursery House Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01912131066 Date of previous inspection 15 November 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Maple Lodge Nursery registered in 2014. The nursery employs 17 members of childcare staff. Of these, 13 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above, including two members of staff who hold qualifications at level 6 and one member of staff with qualified teacher status. The nursery is open from Monday to Friday, all year round, except for bank holidays. Sessions are from 7.30am to 6pm. 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 staff and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the nursery. n The manager discussed with the inspector how the nursery organises and plans the curriculum and experiences for children. The inspector viewed the inside and outside spaces used by the children. n The inspector observed the quality of education during activities and assessed the impact on children's learning. The manager and the inspector evaluated an activity together. n The inspector looked at a sample of documents, including evidence of staff's training and suitability. n The inspector held discussions with the manager and staff. She took account of parents' 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

13 June 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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