Springfield Nursery - Osfted Reports
We take the Ofsted inspection procedures and feedback very seriously and use it as part of our policy of continuing improvement.
The report below is our inspection from 24th July 2008
Inspection report for early years provision
| Unique Reference Number | EY229837 |
|---|---|
| Inspection date | 24 July 2008 |
| Inspector | Judith Harris |
| Setting Address | Springfield Farm, Marwood, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4DT |
|---|---|
| Telephone number | 01271 329028 |
| rmay@ukf.net | |
| Registered person | Springfield Nursery |
| Type of inspection | Integrated |
| Type of care | Full day care |
About this inspection
The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage.
The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.
The key inspection judgements and what they mean
Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality
Good: this aspect of the provision is strong
Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound
Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough
For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.
THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION
On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:
The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.
The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.
WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?
Springfield Nursery opened in 2002. It is a privately owned nursery. It operates from Springfield Farm in Marwood near Barnstaple, Devon. The nursery operates from a purpose built building with an annex for the pre-school and out of school facility. The nursery serves the local community and feeds into several schools. A maximum of 70 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 07:45 to 18.15 for 51 weeks of the year. All children share access to a extensive and secure outdoor play areas.
There are currently 213 children on roll aged from birth to eight years. Of these, 34 children receive funding for early education.
The nursery employs 21 members of staff. Of these, 18 hold appropriate early years qualifications.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROVISION
Helping children to be healthy
The provision is good. Children are learning good skills for personal health and hygiene through the very effective daily routines used throughout the nursery. For the younger children, staff use good nappy changing routines and children's hands and faces are washed and wiped. Staff and children wash hands together at the sink to encourage children to begin learning about good hygiene. Children are learning about preventing the spread of infection and there is an effective exclusion policy. Older children all go to wash hands at appropriate times and each room has their own toilet area. Children are able to access soap and paper towels for hand washing and there is an appropriate system for the disposal for nappies.
Children are provided with a very good balance of healthy snacks, meals and drinks. Information is taken about children's diets and any dietary restrictions are effectively shared with all the staff. At snack time children have milk or water to drink and a variety of snacks that includes lots of fresh fruit. Children clearly enjoy the snack which they eat with relish. Children in all three rooms have access to drinks throughout the session in their own cups which are clearly labelled. At lunch time children all eat in their rooms and packed lunches are supplied by parents and the nursery work closely with parents to ensure children have balanced and healthy options at each meal.
Children all have access to garden areas where they have a very wide range of fixed equipment and ride-on or push-along toys appropriate to their ages and stages of development. The outdoor play is effectively planned to provide children with a variety of activities and experiences. Children have outdoor play in all weathers and staff ensure they have appropriate footwear when they play out in the garden and walk across the field to the pets corner. Pre-school children have access to a large field for out door play. The younger children have an enclosed outdoor area that is partly covered. Children have a very effective range of outdoor play that is clearly supporting them to develop good physical skills.
Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe
The provision is good. Children play in well organised play space that is safe and set up to meet the needs of children in each age group. The nursery is housed in a purpose built building that provides an exceptional play space which provides children of all ages with safe access to a wide range of areas for play, rest and sleep. The nursery has a safe and secure entrance for each room and all children are signed in and out. Visitors are asked to show identification to an member of staff and to sign in. The nursery has three group rooms, two in the main building; one for the under two year olds and one for the two to three year olds. Pre-school children are housed in the annex where they have three rooms and two bathrooms. In the babies area, there is a large play room a sensory room, a sleep room and nappy changing area. In the toddler room, children have one large room with areas for different types of play, a quiet area and an adjacent bathroom. All rooms are kept clean and tidy by staff during the day and they wipe surfaces and sweep floor at regular intervals. The nursery have good systems for ensuring a good adult:child ratios are maintained in all room at all times. This allows children to be well supported and safe. Sleeping children are checked every ten minutes by a member of staff and a timer is used to alert staff and a record is made of the check. Information about children's sleep patterns is shared daily with parents. There is an effective and comprehensive system for carrying out risk assessments. There are risk assessment forms for each room. The nursery have regular fire drills which are carried in a calm and effective manner and fire safety equipment is in place and checked annually.
Toys and equipment are safe and safely stored giving children suitable access to age appropriate play materials and resources. The toys and equipment are kept clean and safe and staff in each room have systems for checking. Staff carefully monitor the children's choices and how they use the toys and materials to ensure there is a good balance between children being safe and their ability to explore and learn and develop new skills.
Staff have a good understanding of child protection issues and know how to proceed if they have concerns about a child in their care. This supports children’s wellbeing.
Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do
The provision is good. Children are confident and settled in the nursery where they are provided with a wide range of stimulating activities and experiences. Children in all groups are animated and excited at play. Adults engage enthusiastically with children making very good use of all planned and naturally occurring situations to support children's learning and development. Children play in their group rooms which are set up to effectively meet the needs of the children in each room. In the under two's room children play at a small sand tray digging and pouring, they draw at the table or play with trains and bricks on the floor. There are puzzles on another table, a book corner and doll house and treasure baskets. Children are exceptionally well supported by the levels of interaction they have with staff. A good range of spoken language provide a running commentary on what the children are doing describing and explaining with lots and lots of praise. In the two to three room the children have free flow access to the garden where they play in the sand pit and with ride on toys. There is a tent made from cardboard tubes and a sheet and the children's imagination is clearly inspired by this. Children's language development is supported by the adults who encourage them by repeating the words and phrases and showering praise on the children's achievements. Inside the children have access to a very wide range of activities and experiences. The water tray has coloured water and lots of shells and sea creatures for children to investigate. On the mat the children are using imagination to develop play with animals and natural objects. In the creative play area children have access to a wide range of resources and they are painting with sponges. The adult talks to children about the colour and feel of the sponges and paint and the activity is clearly about the process rather than an end product. Here children's art work is shown and valued by being carefully displayed. Planning for both younger children's rooms is simple and clear with an exceptionally good balance of child led and adult directed activities. Children have daily diaries which record in a short narrative what children have done each day and give space for parents to add comments. The 'all about me' books are very well used with the younger children with observations and shorts narratives about what children have done. These present a good foundation to build on for developing the assessment process
Nursery Education
Pre-school children have a large play space with rooms and areas for different types of play. They are provided with a wide range of interesting and exciting activities that are clearly supporting their learning and development. The activities are planned using the Foundation Stage and cover each area of learning. All planning is linked to the children's own interests and allows time and space for child led activities. Children are using a good range of spoken language adults engage with them helping them to develop good language skills. Children are practising handwriting at different activities and many are able to write their names with confidence. Children count with adults and alone at different activities. They are beginning to use maths language talking about taller and shorter and more and less. Children care for the nursery pets which include ponies, chickens, ducks, a goat and a pig. The nursery is a working farm and the children have an abundance of opportunities to learn about the natural world. Children are learning about the wider world through a range of planned activities. Children took part in a Diwali celebration and they are learning about food from different countries. Children have opportunities for creative play and have a creative room where they have ongoing access to play equipment and resources for art work and exploring and experimenting with natural materials. Children use their imagination to develop their play in the role play area, in the garden and with the small world toys.
The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a clear understanding of the Foundation Stage. They are committed to providing activities and experiences that meet the children's individual needs. The staff engage enthusiastically with the children using the flexible planning to ensure that children have time and space to develop play. Assessment and observations are carried out spontaneously, each child has an individual file which contains a series of photos of children at an activity with a description of the learning and key worker comments. The nursery are also using learning journeys which are well used and give a clear picture of what a child did at a particular activity. These provide a secure foundation, however, it is not always clear what the next steps will be or the children's learning will be progressed.
Helping children make a positive contribution
The provision is good. Children are happy and at home in the nursery where children in all rooms have genuine warm caring relationships with the adults. The way relationships are built clearly supports children's welfare and helps them to have a secure sense of belonging. All children are treated with equal concern and good information taken from parents and exchanged regularly to ensure adults know children well and are able to meet individual needs. In the pre-school room the comprehensive range of observations ensures that staff can identify children's individual interests and plan activities to stimulate them. Children have very appropriate levels of independence and can freely choose their activities. The daily routines allow a good amount of time and space for children to develop their play. There is a calm relaxed atmosphere in the nursery where children are comfortable and able to lead the play with adult support.
Children are very well occupied and they play well together and the pre-school children organise their own play. Children are learning to share and take turns and the adults are very good role models for polite and positive behaviour. Children are all well behaved and as the adults know them so well they are able to recognise what may cause a child to become upset or frustrated. Adults ensure that children are quickly are distracted and re-directed. The positive behaviour management strategies are supporting children to develop good skills for self control.
The nursery have comprehensive policies and procedures for inclusion of all children in their setting. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities are welcomed and fully supported by the nursery. There is a nominated Special Educational Needs Coordinator and all staff work closely with the parents to ensure that there is a high level of information being exchanged to effectively meet children's individual needs.
Partnerships with parents is good. The nursery have very good systems for keeping parents informed and involved. At admission a good amount of information is taken to provide staff with details of children's individual needs. The ongoing system of observations provides a wide range of information for parents about children's learning and development. The nursery holds regular parent's evenings to formally share this information with parents. There is a parents notice board in the main entrance of the nursery where policies and procedures are displayed and the nursery complaints procedure is posted. Each room has it own display of information about their daily routines and events and activities. The nursery also provide a parents questionnaire; the outcomes of this are used to plan actions to be taken for any improvements. The information gathered from parents about children's starting points and learning at home are not currently extensive.
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.
Organisation
The organisation is good. Children play in well organised play space and the daily routines ensure children have quiet and active times throughout the day. Staff show a very clear understanding of how children's learning and development is supported by the organisation of the play space. Children are grouped by age and each room has a key worker system to support children's individual needs effectively. Each child has an individual record; these contain good detailed information about the child with details of children's medical and dietary needs. The records are stored confidentially. The nursery have a very comprehensive range of policies and procedures which are effectively shared with parents. All records required for the children's care and development are present and well organised. There are daily registers for each group room and effective medication and accident records are kept. All staff have professional childcare qualifications and the management are committed to continuing professional development. There is training programme for all staff and members of staff including the nursery manager are in the process of completing NVQ level 4. The nursery have systems for maintaining appropriate staff ratios at all times.
Leadership and management are good. The nursery is one of a small chain operated by a management team who work with the nursery manager to effectively deliver the Foundation Stage. The pre-school staff team work together to plan and provide activities for each area of learning. The planning is well written with information about learning intentions and evaluations of activities to ensure that children's learning is effectively supported. The planning provides a wide range and balance of activities and experience for all children. The effective management ensures that there is a clear vision and good systems to provide ongoing appraisals of staff that clearly identify any training needs. Children's learning and development is successfully supported by the unmistakable commitment of the staff teams. The highly successfully management team works to ensure that all staff are valued and their skills are identified and utilised to support the children.
The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom they provide care and education.
Improvements since the last inspection
The nursery have successfully addressed the actions set at the last inspection. They have a made changes to the way registers are kept to ensure children are signed in and out in all rooms. The manager has set up a system of tracing Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks using the CRB site to see where checks are in the process and ensure that any member of staff who has not received their clear check is not left alone with children at any time.
Complaints since the last inspection
Since 1 April 2004 there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.
The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints records may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.
THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION
On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:
The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.
The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.
WHAT MUST BE DONE TO SECURE FUTURE IMPROVEMENT?
The quality and standards of the care
To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):
- in line with nursery education recommendations continue to develop systems of observations and assessment for younger children
The quality and standards of the nursery education
To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):
- further develop the systems of observations and assessment to ensure that a clear picture of each individual child is provided and link these to individual planning for next steps
- continue to develop the systems for gathering information from parents about each individual child's starting points and ongoing information about children's learning at home