The Old School House Day Nursery

The Old School House Day Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2597717 Address: Church Lane, Middleton, Tamworth, B78 2AW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 25/08/2020 Registers: EYR Registered person: Middleton Daycare Group 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

Staff consistently follow effective procedures to promote children's health and welfare. For example, staff implement effective hygiene procedures. Children wash their hands after playing and before eating. After lunch, staff encourage children with their self-care skills, such as wiping their faces with individual facecloths. Staff promote healthy lifestyles and serve nutritious meals. They talk to children about the different-coloured food. Children talk confidently about which food groups are good for their bodies and why. For example, children say that purple food works like magic to keep their brain healthy. They know that blueberries are purple.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children show warm, respectful and caring relationships with their peers and staff. Families have positive relationships with the key person for their child. Leaders and staff know the children who attend exceedingly well. Regular opportunities to share information with parents and carers allow them to celebrate their child's achievements. Staff are respectful towards children and their personal care needs. They ask and encourage children to have their nappy changed. Staff work closely with parents to ensure consistency with toilet training, and this is started in the younger children's rooms. Leaders work hard to take steps to ensure children's safety. Recent changes to the premises and environment ensure children's safety and wellbeing are consistently maintained.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff strive to continually ensure that every child is fully included at the setting. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who may have barriers to their learning are exceedingly well supported. All children and staff learn British Sign Language. This is fully embedded into staff's interactions with children. This helps children to communicate with their friends who have a hearing impairment. It also supports staff to communicate effectively with children who may be delayed with their speech and language. Leaders ensure that adaptations that are made to the environment are fully inclusive for all children. For example, they are introducing physical acoustic ceiling panels that reduce background noise to help support children who may struggle with hearing.

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Inclusion Strong standard

All children undergo regular and rigorous observations and assessments. Those children who staff identify as requiring more help receive support by the implementation of an 8 week specific target plan of support. This early intervention enables rapid progress in children's learning and development. These timely observations help staff to gather early evidence to support any referrals that may be required to obtain specialist support for children who may need it. Highly effective working partnerships with various local authorities and agencies from those staff responsible for children with SEND ensure that expert knowledge and support is always available. This means all children make noticeable progress from their starting points.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children thrive within this fully inclusive setting. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who may have barriers in their learning, acquire the skills and knowledge across all areas of learning. This prepares children well for school and future learning. Children enjoy singing action songs with their friends or listening to familiar stories with staff. They develop their understanding of the wider world. For example, children enjoy finding pictures of the real animals to match with the illustrated animals of a favourite book. Children's emotional needs and sense of belonging are supported well. Babies enjoy looking at pictures of themselves and their families, which have been hidden in sand.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children learn to listen and follow instructions. They line up when asked to and help staff to tidy up and put their toys away. Children develop their mathematical knowledge, such as they learn about colours, shapes and counting. For example, they count while playing hide and seek or look at numbers while playing hopscotch. Overall, all children make progress from their starting points and become confident learners. However, the curriculum is not consistently embedded in the rooms for younger children. Occasionally, they lose engagement with the activities and their learning is not fully extended.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children have a positive attitude to their learning. They are eager to try new things and make firm friendships with others. Staff are positive role models. They have high expectations for children and their behaviour. Staff help children to develop sense of right and wrong. They encourage children to take turns and share with their friends. On the whole, children behave well. Staff support children to manage any conflicts that may arise. Some work is still needed within the younger rooms on the implementation of the curriculum. There are times when children lose interest in their chosen activity because it does not meet their needs. This leads to children walking from one place to another. This disrupts other children in their learning as they take or want the same toy.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Well-established routines help children to become familiar about what is going to happen. Staff have a consistent approach to inclusion, supporting all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to follow the routines alongside their peers. They have picture boards that depict what is happening now and what is going to happen next. This helps children to have smooth transitions from one activity to another.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders promote and monitor children's attendance. Families understand the importance of establishing positive habits in preparation for school. Strategic leadership and oversight of routines allow staff to raise issues that impact on children and their behaviour. Recently, staff raised lunchtime for the older children, such a large group, impacting on noise levels and behaviour. Leaders worked with staff, and lunchtime is now in more than one sitting. This has reduced the noise levels and unwanted behaviour. It has had a positive impact on children.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. It is sequenced to provide children with the skills they need to succeed and be ready for their eventual move to school. The curriculum aims are for children to be resilient, independent and confident. Staff deliver the curriculum through planned activities following the interest of individual children. It continually enhances and extends children's knowledge and learning. For example, younger children show an interest in colours staff provide them with different-coloured paper for children to make marks with crayons. Older children learn how to make different colours by mixing different coloured paints with water. They use pipettes to squeeze and squirt the new colours they have made.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

There are times, however, during some activities where the learning intention is not fully achieved. This is because activities are not entirely age-appropriate and children have not yet learned some of the skills they require to participate. For example, children are provided with crayons to draw with before they have learned how to hold them. This means children do not consistently understand the purpose behind the activity and their current learning is not being built on effectively.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff fully support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to access the curriculum alongside their friends through high-quality interactions with staff. Staff make adaptations to activities, so they are inclusive for all children. They sign some of the instructions to help children know what is expected of them.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Following a difficult period for the provider, leaders and staff have taken appropriate action to ensure that all the requirements of the early years foundation stage are fully met. Newly fitted gates and locking systems ensure that the premises and outdoor space remains secure. Documentation is readily available. Staff have received further training and support for the consistent implementation of the policies and procedures to ensure children's wellbeing. Staff deployment is effective in ensuring that children are always within sight and/or hearing and both at mealtimes and sleep times. The management of children's dietary requirements for allergens has been strengthened. Further monitoring and oversight from senior room leads have been introduced. This ensures that children's safety is maintained.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Recent recruitment ensures that staffing levels are maintained. Staff report good morale with an open and positive culture. They are listened to by leaders, and training for continued professional development is available. Leaders recognise that with a new cohort of staff the curriculum needs further embedding within the younger rooms. They acknowledge that sometimes activities are not always age or stage appropriate, which means children can lose interest quite quickly. Effective partnerships mean that parents and carers are happy with the care their children receive. They especially value the outdoor space and learning opportunities within this. Staff share information through an online app. They provide opportunities for parents to come into the setting for various celebration days. The setting also offers a 'help yourself takeaway service' for parents. There are free drinks and sometimes food available for busy parents on the go.

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

Children separate with ease from their parents and carers. Those children who are unsure receive lots of positive encouragement from staff. They receive support within the rooms as staff complete familiar routines, such as looking at their favourite story to support children's emotional wellbeing. Staff offer children reassurance and cuddles in abundance. This helps children to settle and feel safe and secure.

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

Older children have free access to the vast outdoors area all day no matter what the weather. There is a hive of activity as staff provide learning experiences for children in line with their interests, which ignite a curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Children eagerly take part in a treasure hunt. They work cooperatively together as they find hidden pictures of insects around the garden and cross them off their lists. Children practise their physical skills and manage taking age-appropriate risks safely as they balance on beams laid across tyres. All children benefit from being outdoors as each age group of children has their own dedicated garden space.

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

Younger children enjoy sensory play as they melt ice cubes in their hands and let the water drip into cornflour to make gloop. Children recall past knowledge they have learned as they remember ice is made from water. Staff support children to explore the materials and talk about how it feels. Children squish cornflour together to make 'snowballs'. This helps to strengthen their small muscles.

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

Young babies are supported to explore their environment and build on their developing physical skills. Staff encourage babies to explore bubble wrap stuck to the floor with paint underneath. Children pop the bubbles with their hands and squish the paint making patterns. Those children who are more mobile receive encouragement to walk across the bubble wrap supported by staff holding their hands. Staff are positive role models. They praise children for their achievements and when they have worked hard. Children benefit from support to manage and understand their own feelings and those of their friends. Staff support children to manage conflict by talking to them calmly and explaining why we need to share. This builds and supports children's self-esteem.

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Next steps

Leaders should review the learning intentions behind activities to ensure that they are age and stage appropriate to continually engage children in purposeful play to extend their

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Middleton Daycare Group Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:15 - 18:00

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Address:

Local authority: Warwickshire learning even further. Leaders should continue to support staff to fully embed the curriculum in the younger children's rooms to ensure that it meets their individual needs.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator, parents and children 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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About this inspection

A quality assurance visit by an additional inspector was carried out at this inspection.

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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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