Meadows Day Nursery
Inspection report for early years provision
Unique reference number	101601
Inspection date	18/08/2011
Inspector	Jan Moutter
Setting address	White Lands Lane, Little Shurdington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL51 4TX
Telephone number	01242 862040
Email	www.Meadows Day Nursery.co.uk
Type of setting	Childcare on non-domestic premises

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) 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 Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.
T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk
© Crown copyright 2011

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable.  The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration.

Description of the   setting    

 
 
Meadows Day Nursery is privately owned and operates from the ground floor of a large, detached house in the Shurdington area of Cheltenham. The nursery opened in 1996 and serves families from nearby towns and villages and is registered on the Early Year Register only.
The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8am until 5.50pm, closing only for public holidays. It is registered to care for 48 children from birth to five years at any one time. There are currently 72 children on roll, 25 of whom receive early years funding.
Children are cared for in four separate age groups, each with their own playroom. There is a large, enclosed garden which incorporates an adventure playground, hard surfacing for wheeled toys and a large grassed area.
 A team of 20 staff work in the nursery, this includes a secretary, kitchen staff and lunch time supervision and a gardener. All staff working directly with the children have a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 3 in Childcare and Education or higher equivalent such as a NVQ at level 5 in Management and Teaching Status. A high percentage of staff have attended first aid and child protection training. The pre-school group is supported by the local authority Early Years Advisor and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator. The nursery is a member of the Parent and Toddler Association.

The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

 Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

  
 Meadows Day Nursery offers an inclusive environment where children flourish and are treated with warmth and respect. Overall, they enjoy activities inside and out, and achieve very well in the stimulating environment. Staff are excellent at promoting the children's welfare and ensure all children are fully included in most activities. Partnerships with parents are excellent and information is shared effectively to support children's learning and development. Other partnerships are extremely good. Staff accurately identify strengths and areas for development and demonstrate an excellent commitment to continuous improvement.

What steps need to be taken to improve provision further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider: promoting children's health awareness outdoors through activities such as stretching, climbing and rolling, digging and planting (to grow and eat) and talking to children about the effect on their bodies and the positive contribution it can make to their health.

The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early years provision

 
Safeguarding procedures are excellent. Comprehensive policies are implemented to ensure children's welfare is always effectively promoted. Staff have an excellent understanding of their safeguarding duties. Access to the building is secure with a safe key-fob entry system. Comprehensive risk assessments are carried out regularly and meticulously to ensure risks are minimised, so children play in safety. Children benefit from close supervision during play which helps them feel extremely safe and secure. Robust recruitment and vetting procedures are implemented to ensure all who work on the premises are suitable to do so. Outdoor areas are fully enclosed and kept safe and secure. Fire drills are practised regularly.
 
Partnerships with parents are outstanding. Information is shared and exchanged regularly by newsletters, questionnaires and daily conversations as well as through an informative website. Parents are encouraged to become fully involved in their children's learning by contributing to the daily system of diaries and informal handovers. Here, achievements or changes in routine are discussed and recorded. Parents are invited to 'family days' to share and gain valuable information about what their child is learning. Parents demonstrate their secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and many contribute to their children's learning journeys. They say that staff are friendly and caring, and that the environment is bright, positive and stimulating. The setting has strong links with the many schools children will attend, and liaise closely with other professionals to effectively support children's learning and development.
 
The setting is extremely well managed and staff have a very clear understanding of strengths and areas for development. Staff are very well deployed and most resources are used highly effectively to meet the needs of the children and support their development. The stimulating environment is rich in visual displays, pictures, posters, photographs and displays of topics and children's artwork. The premises are attractively set out with an extensive range of good quality play resources and activities that cover all areas of children' s learning and encourage them to be active and independent learners, both indoors and outdoors. Staff actively promote equality and diversity. They support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, extremely well. For example, they continue the support offered by parents and other professionals to help ensure continuity of care. The enthusiastic and committed staff team work very effectively together and are committed to continuous professional development. They demonstrate a high level of ambition to provide good quality care and to continually improve outcomes for children. This helps ensure a good balance of indoor and outdoor exploration and play, and consequently there is an excellent capacity for future improvement.

The quality and standards of the early years provision and outcomes for children

 
Children are cared for in a stimulating, inclusive environment. They enjoy learning through interesting purposeful play and practical activities, such as 'mini-beast' hunts in the garden, painting for babies, and puddle splashing. A highly effective key person system ensures that adults are always on hand to support and extend the children's learning. All staff sit with children to join in the activities and help extend ideas. From an early age all children recognise pictures of themselves with their key person. This is one of many things that help children and their families to settle well into this nursery. Interaction is extremely good. All explanations are at an appropriate level and within practical play to make them meaningful. Children concentrate well as they listen to stories on the laptop, stories told by adults and stories they tell each other through reading the pictures. They thoroughly enjoy joining in action songs and choruses which can be heard throughout the nursery. Their personal, social and emotional development is promoted extremely well. Children enjoy talking to staff, and to each other, and establish caring relationships with one another, for example, children readily share resources to dress up and act out stories of their choice.
 
Skills for life develop naturally in this setting. There are regular opportunities for children to visit the local community. For example, they walk to the farm next door. Here they check on the three little pigs, who had previously escaped into the nursery car park causing great interest amongst the children. Nearly all children have opportunities to play outside at any time throughout the day. This encourages them to participate in some healthy exercise. Children understand good hygiene routines. They talk about washing their hands to reduce the spread of germs and infections. All meals are prepared from fresh ingredients, and all allergies, cultural and parents' preferences are fully considered in the menus. Children have an excellent understanding about safety and keeping themselves safe. They practise the emergency evacuation procedure to ensure it works well and children can clearly demonstrate where they have to go. Rules for behaviour are re-enforced with children to ensure they behave in ways that are safe for themselves and others. Children start learning to tidy up activities as soon as they can walk, with all the children making a positive contribution towards sweeping, or putting toys away. Staff place a high emphasis on good manners and encourage children to respect one another.
 
Children make excellent progress in their learning and development in relation to their starting points. The key person system means that each child's progress is methodically observed and noted in their individual folders and learning journals. Staff share planning and assessments for the children's learning journeys as they move throughout the nursery, so children's learning is progressive. Staff plan stimulating and challenging activities for all children ensuring all areas of learning are covered. The manager and her staff have an enthusiastic understanding of how children learn, and skilfully deliver a high quality service to cater for children's individual needs and help them reach their full potential.

Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

How well does the setting meet the needs of the children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?	1
The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement	1

The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early years provision

The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage	1
The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement	1
The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources	1
The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity	1
The effectiveness of safeguarding	1
The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement	1
The effectiveness of partnerships	1
The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers	1

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage

1

Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage

Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage	1
The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning	1
The extent to which children feel safe	1
The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles	2
The extent to which children make a positive contribution	1
The extent to which children develop skills for the future	1

Any complaints about the inspection or report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk