St Lukes Nursery School

Inspection of St Lukes Nursery School St. Lukes Church, St. Lukes Road, Tunbridge Wells TN4 9JH

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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 Not applicable

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The provision is good

Staff help children to feel safe and secure. This can be seen when children arrive happy, readily separate from parents and are excited to see their friends. Children show high levels of concentration and engage in activities for long periods. For example, they take great care not to spill any water as they skilfully transfer it from one container to another.

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The provision is good

Staff have high expectations of all children. They use a range of strategies, such as visual timetables and sign language, to support children to understand and communicate effectively. This helps children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to successfully develop their communication and language skills. Additionally, staff skilfully introduce new words as children play. For instance, they learn about 'kneading' and 'squeezing' when making play dough, which helps them to learn new vocabulary.

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The provision is good

Children learn about boundaries and are caring towards each other. Staff gently remind them of the 'golden rules', such as using 'kind hands' and 'kind words'. Children demonstrate their understanding of rules when they ring the bell and turn the sand timer when they wish to use a tricycle. This means that children develop their social skills, which prepares them well for their next stage in education.

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need to do better?

n Staff provide a stimulating environment for children. They plan a range of interesting activities that support children to learn across several areas. For example, children successfully develop their imaginations and learn about recycling as they make 'monsters' from old egg boxes. n Children enjoy learning about the natural world, which is seen when they excitedly show adults a snail they find when digging in the garden. Additionally, they learn how to care for the plants and fruit they are growing. n Staff closely observe children's play and learning. They use the information gathered to monitor children's progress effectively. As a result, staff swiftly identify emerging gaps in children's learning and refer to outside agencies to enable children to get the extra support they may need. n Staff are good role models, showing respect for each other and the children. They explain to children how their behaviour can affect others, which helps

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need to do better?

children to behave well. n Staff help children to be confident. Older children demonstrate this when they teach visitors the names of dinosaurs. However, occasionally, staff do not fully support younger children to join in group activities to develop their confidence further. n Staff build strong relationships with children from the outset. For example, key

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need to do better?

4 July 2023 persons visit children at home before they join the nursery, to get to know them in familiar surroundings. n Staff use effective strategies to enhance children's emotional well-being. For example, nappies are changed by the child's key person, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Additionally, staff give plenty of praise and encouragement, which supports children's self-esteem and motivation. n Staff encourage children to be independent. For instance, children pour their own drinks at snack time, and older children attend to their own hygiene needs. Additionally, the environment is arranged to enable all children to choose their own resources and lead their own play. n The manager supports staff extremely well. For example, he has regular supervision meetings with them to discuss their well-being and workload. Furthermore, apprentices are assigned to a mentor for guidance and assistance

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need to do better?

in fulfilling the requirements of their course. n The passionate and committed manager regularly evaluates the quality of the provision to help to ensure that it meets children's and parents' needs. He has started to implement strategies to monitor staff performance. However, these are not yet precise enough to fully identify areas for improvement and raise the quality of teaching to an even higher level. n Parents are very happy with the care their children receive at the nursery. They are very complimentary of staff and comment on how confident their children have become since they started.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the signs that a child is at risk of abuse and/or neglect. They know the processes to follow if they have concerns about a child. Additionally, they know which agencies to refer to should there be an allegation against a staff member. The manager has robust systems in place to help to ensure that adults are suitable to work with children. Staff carry out robust risk assessments to help keep children and staff safe. Furthermore, children learn about keeping themselves safe. For instance, they learn about fire safety when the local fire service visits the nursery.

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should:

n review group activities to ensure that staff support young children to join in and take part to help fully promote their confidence n develop systems further for monitoring staff performance, to precisely identify areas for improvement in the quality of teaching.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2703267 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10300159 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 34 Number of children on roll 55 Name of registered person D Archer LTD

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reference number

Telephone number 07948354281 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

St Lukes Nursery School registered in 2022 and is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. It is open from Monday to Friday, term time only. Sessions are from 9am to 3pm. The nursery employs eight members of staff. Of these, six hold relevant childcare qualifications from level 2 to level 6. 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 nursery. n The inspector held discussions with staff, children and parents throughout the visit and took account of their views. n The inspector observed interactions between staff and children during activities and assessed the impact of teaching on children's learning. n The manager and the inspector carried out a joint observation of an activity.

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Inspection activities

4 July 2023 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

4 July 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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