Rascals Childcare Limited

Inspection of Rascals Childcare Limited Rascals Childcare Ltd, Huntingdon Hall, Talbot Avenue, RAYLEIGH, Essex SS6 9HP

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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 Inadequate

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The provision is good

Children thrive in the welcoming and supportive environment. They explore the available resources, chatting confidently to each other and staff. Children behave well and have a positive attitude to learning new skills. They listen to stories quietly, waiting with anticipation to find out what happens next in the book. Toddlers use paintbrushes and balls to explore and make marks in sensory activities such as sand play. Pre-school children experience interest and fascination when they spot a spider and its web in the sandpit. Staff help children to learn to be gentle with the spider, carefully finding it a new home somewhere more suitable. Lots of related language helps children to consider the way the spider moves and how they build their webs.

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The provision is good

Overall, children make good levels of progress from their starting points. Staff have high expectations for children's learning. They continually support and encourage children's achievements and progress. Pre-school children are confident communicators. They respond to staff's questions, using increasingly complex sentences. Children quickly pick up new words from their conversations with staff, that they repeat and use in context. Toddlers join in enthusiastically with nursery rhymes and songs. They follow staff's actions, clapping their hands and rolling their arms to 'Wind the Bobbin Up'.

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need to do better?

n The provider and manager, along with the staff team, have worked hard to successfully meet all the actions and recommendations set at the last inspection. Children benefit from close relationships with their key person. This helps to support children's emotional well-being and confidence. Children understand and follow the daily routines, finding familiarity in knowing what will happen next. n Staff know what children need to learn next and their interests. They use this information to plan and sequence a curriculum that challenges and helps children to develop skills for their future. This is successfully implemented for children in the pre-school. However, staff working with the toddlers do not consistently provide a broad curriculum that encompasses all aspects of their learning. For example, toddlers are not fully supported to learn to use their imaginative skills, or explore the wider world, outside.

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need to do better?

n The manager continues to undertake special educational needs training to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff know children's needs, stages of development and the individual ways in which they communicate. This enables staff to tailor learning experiences to ensure children make the best possible progress. The manager has built partnerships with other professionals to enable additional guidance and help to be sought when required.

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need to do better?

17 August 2023 n Staff teach children a range of skills that they will need when they start school, such as learning to recognise their names and taking care of their bags and coats. Staff share information about children's progress and achievements with local school teachers. They encourage teachers to visit the children in the nursery so that they can meet them prior to starting school. This helps to provide children with confidence and continuity as they move on to the next stage in their education. n Staff successfully keep parents aware of their children's achievements and their next steps. However, some information, such as the cooked meals provided for children, and some policies and procedures, particularly relating to children's care and health, are not regularly shared with parents. In addition, links with staff at other settings that children attend are not fully explored to enable regular information sharing. This hinders the continuity between settings.

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need to do better?

n The quality of teaching is good. Ongoing supervisions and appraisals help staff to identify areas of their practice to develop and their strengths. Training and regular meetings enable staff to learn new skills and refresh their professional development. Staff are keen to attend training to help them communicate better with children, such as by using sign language. n Pre-school children enjoy mark making. They use clipboards, paper and pen as they search the garden, looking for different-coloured items or finding out how many adults are outside. Consequently, children learn that print or marks carry meaning, and their mathematical knowledge is supported. Children confidently count the number of lines on the paper, sharing the answer proudly with staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff show a good awareness of the possible signs and symptoms which indicate that children are at risk of harm or abuse. They know the procedures to follow in the event of any concerns that children are being exposed to extremist behaviours or radicalisation. Staff understand what they must do should they have any worries about another member of staff's or the manager's conduct, including the statutory agency they need to contact. Regular training and staff meetings further help to keep child protection as a high priority. Staff wear lanyards with contact details and possible symptoms for easy access should they be concerned about a child.

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should:

n implement a broader and more ambitious curriculum, particularly for the younger children, to help them make the best possible progress in their learning n engage more effectively with parents and other settings that children also attend.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY299101 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10282482 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 30 Number of children on roll 48 Name of registered person Rascals Childcare Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01268 786893 Date of previous inspection 20 February 2023

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Information about this early years setting

Rascals Childcare Limited registered in 2005. The nursery employs 16 members of staff. Of these, eight hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 3. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round, from 7.30am to 6.30pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The inspector viewed the provision and discussed the safety and suitability of the nursery. n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n Children told the inspector about their friends and what they like to do when they are at nursery. n Staff spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n The inspector carried out a joint observation of story time with the manager. n Parents and grandparents shared their views of the nursery with the inspector. n The manager showed the inspector documentation to demonstrate the suitability

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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

17 August 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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