Seashells Nursery

Seashells Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): EY297098 Address: Sheerness Children & Families Centre, Seashells, Rose Street, SHEERNESS, Kent, ME12 1AW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 06/04/2005 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Children and Families Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's wellbeing is consistently prioritised across the setting. Staff create a nurturing, calm and predictable environment, where children feel safe and secure. They are exceptionally attentive to children's changing needs and respond with warmth and sensitivity, ensuring that all children receive the reassurance and comfort they require.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff actively promote children's independence, with a clear progression in expectations across the age groups. Younger children use beakers confidently while older children use open cups and pour drinks for themselves. Healthy habits are promoted effectively. Staff support children to understand the importance of handwashing and making healthy choices at mealtimes. Leaders have worked closely with parents to strengthen their understanding of healthy packed lunches. On the whole, children now bring in food that is nutritious.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's individual care routines are well understood and communicated. Sleep arrangements meet children's needs with babies benefiting from a dedicated sleep room, where they are monitored closely to ensure their safety.

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Achievement Expected standard

All children make steady progress from their starting points. Staff know the children well and provide appropriate support that helps them build the foundations they need for future learning. Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills, such as washing their hands, eating with cutlery and drinking from open cups. They learn to play cooperatively with each other, sharing and taking turns.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children access outdoor play that supports their gross motor skills. Younger children learn to walk with support from staff, while older children engage in a variety of gross motor play, such as riding bikes, climbing and kicking balls. These growing skills support their confidence and readiness for their next stage in learning, however, as teaching is not consistently targeted to individual children's needs they do not always make the progress they are capable of.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff have high expectations for all children, and these are reinforced through well- established routines that help children to understand what is expected of them. Staff provide a positive and calming environment for the children and adapt their expectations to support children's varying needs. For example, when children find group times overwhelming, staff take them outside to sing their morning welcome song. Children behave well and play cooperatively. When minor disagreements occur, staff respond swiftly and calmly, supporting children to resolve issues. Children have trusting bonds with staff. They readily seek comfort and reassurance and staff respond sensitively, helping children to have a sense of security. Staff encourage children to have good attitudes to learning through praise and encouragement. However, staff are not always aware of the skills and attitudes that they are encouraging children to learn. This means that children are

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

not always developing positive attitudes to learning as fully as they could be.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders promote attendance and recognise the importance for children's learning and development. They monitor non-attendance closely and promptly follow up with families to ensure children are attending regularly. Where there are concerns about children's attendance these concerns are escalated appropriately.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

All children enjoy a wide variety of activities that support all areas of the curriculum. Staff have a good understanding of each individual child's stage of development and interests and use this information to broadly plan learning activities. For example, children engage in a play dough activity. Staff add pasta to the play dough and children use these resources to make birthday cakes. Children sing along to simple songs during play and use their imaginations, when creating with the play dough. Staff support children to build their social skills through turn-taking and sharing and encourage the use of mathematical language, when reading books and playing with the animals.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff support children's communication and language skills well through their engaging interactions with the children. Staff model new vocabulary to children, who often repeat the words back to them. Staff follow children's lead in their play. When children lose interest in an activity, staff adapt the activity to further support the children's interests. For example, during a messy play activity, children want to go back and forth to the sink to wash their hands, staff notice this and encourage the children to wash the animals they have been playing with in a bowl of clean water.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff ensure that all children can participate in the activities on offer. They adapt activities to meet these children's needs, for example when children are less mobile activities are set up in low-down trays that they can reach. Staff weave a variety of learning through the activities, although this is not always planned and intentional. This means that children are not always learning as much as they could be.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff identify children's needs early through ongoing observation and assessment. They use this information to plan appropriate support that helps children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make steady progress from their starting points. Referrals are made promptly, when further support is needed, and leaders work effectively with other professionals to ensure that children are making progress. Leaders use funding to further support these children, investing in resources that specifically support their needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff take steps to reduce the barriers for children, who face challenges in their learning. They adapt their practice so that children can participate fully. For example, sensory needs are supported by ensuring that children are able to access the right environment for them. However, leaders identify that staff would benefit from further training in strategies to support children's individual needs to further strengthen practice within the setting.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff build positive partnerships with parents and offer guidance that helps them to feel confident in supporting their children's learning and development. Leaders work closely with the attached children's centre to ensure that parents have the support they need.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders provide clear direction and ensure that the setting runs smoothly. They have established a consistent supervision system that supports staff to understand their roles and responsibilities, meeting with each team member regularly to review their practise and offer advice and support that helps them to develop their skills. Supervisions have helped leaders to identify training needs and training has been completed to support staff in their roles. For example, it was identified that staff needed further training in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities needs. The setting's special educational needs coordinator has delivered training to staff that has helped them to develop these skills. Staff report that workloads are manageable and that they feel supported by the leaders.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders monitor practice and children's progress, identifying where improvements are needed. They use this information to guide staff to make adjustments to their practice. This helps to ensure that all children's needs are being met. However, leaders have identified that staff would benefit from further training in how to adapt their practice more independently to meet children's individual needs. Leaders work well with parents and external professionals to ensure that children are receiving the support they need. For example, leaders work with parents to ensure that staff have a list of home language words for each child that speaks English as an additional language, this ensures that children are understood when they are using these key words to communicate.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children are happy and well supported in this warm and welcoming setting. Children enjoy an array of activities inside that are planned based on their interests. Outdoors, children have access to large play spaces set up with activities that support their physical skills, for example bikes, climbing equipment and sand and water trays. Throughout the day, the toddlers and pre-school children free flow between indoors and out, allowing them to choose the environment they are most comfortable in. Babies have a garden dedicated to them, which ensures their safety.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children develop meaningful bonds with caring staff that support their wellbeing. Staff are diligent in understanding the children's care needs. They recognise when children are tired or hungry and ensure their needs are always met promptly. Children seek comfort and reassurance from staff and staff respond attentively. Children enjoy being around their peers. Even the very youngest children take turns and share toys. They share their enjoyment of activities, laughing and copying each other. Children show a willingness to learn. They copy language being modelled to them and are eager to join in with play.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

The out-of-school club provides a relaxed environment for school-age children. Children socialise and engage in a variety of activities and outdoor play, for example they play on bikes, experiment with different types of jumps on a mini trampoline and make origami models.

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Address:

Sheerness Children & Families Centre, Seashells Rose Street SHEERNESS Kent ME12 1AW

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Children and Families Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00

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Next steps

Leaders should further enhance opportunities for staff to gain more precise knowledge of targeted teaching skills to help them to support all children to learn and develop.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator, the designated safeguarding lead and parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

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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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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