OFSTED REPORT 8th December 2003

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality and standard of day care in accordance with the National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding; and that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents.If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

Southernwood Nursery was registered in 1998 and occupies part of a large detached Victorian property which is situated in a residential area on the outskirts of Torquay. The nursery is registered for 32 children between the
ages of two to five, no more than eight of whom may be aged under three. The nursery is open from 8.30 to 17:30 for 50 weeks of the year. Children have access to three play areas and toilet facilities, as well as enclosed lawn and paved garden areas, and a 'secret garden' where gardening activities take place. The nursery is privately owned, and six staff are employed. The proprietor and deputy are qualified teachers, three staff have NVQ3 child care qualifications, and two are unqualified. Staff have considerable experience in caring for
children who have special needs or English as an additional language. The nursery provides education for three and four year old children who are funded by the Early Years Childcare and Development Partnership, and staff
have helpful links with the partnership. There are currently 60 children enrolled, of whom 42 aged three to four are funded to receive early years education.

Southernwood Nursery provides good quality care for children.Children are happy, secure and well cared for, and enthusiastically enjoy a varied, interesting and well planned day. Staff have considerable understanding of the individual needs and stages of development of the children, and care for them with friendly, warm good humour. All children are clearly included.The nursery is effectively organised and good use is made of the available space both indoors and out. The nursery is well equipped with a varied range of appropriate resources. Appropriate staff ratios are maintained and all areas are well supervised at all times. There are many interesting and artistic displays of children's work and topic activities, the nursery looks inviting and interesting and children's work is clearly valued. Staff have good safety awareness and generally most procedures ensure that children are safe and their good health is maintained. Children are provided with a varied and healthy diet, and staff carefully comply with all dietary requirements. Staff are aware of their responsibility to protect children in their care, and have a good understanding of appropriate child protection procedures.
Good standards of behaviour are evident and are clearly valued and encouraged by staff in a clear and consistent way. Children are encouraged to be considerate and thoughtful. Staff communicate clearly and sensitively with parents, and frequent opportunities are taken for discussion with parents. Information is also shared in the regular newsletters. However parents have limited access to or knowledge of the nursery policies.

Good progress has been made. At the last inspection the nursery was asked to ensure that children could not access the rear of the house whilst in the garden. They were also asked to request a visit from the Environmental Health Department regarding the provision of cooked meals.The Environmental Health Department now makes annual visits, and a gate has been installed in the garden. This has resulted in the overall improvement of the health and safety of the children.

Children are happy, confident and securely familiar with the nursery routine, and enthusiastically participate in both structured and free play activities. Staff are sensitive regarding the individual needs of the children and opportunities are taken for both planned and impromptu conversations or small group play with the children. Staff are interested in what children say and their ideas are valued and respected. The environment is friendly, homely and welcoming. The nursery looks interesting and inviting to children who can freely access their toys and resources. The secret garden is a traditional vegetable garden area where children enjoy gardening, growing and harvesting vegetables and potting up plants. They are also able to observe tadpoles and frogs
by the secure pond.The nursery is well equipped with a wide variety of appropriate resources, games, materials and books to meet the needs of all the children present. Resources are well maintained and very easily
selected by children throughout the day, many reflect interesting and positive images of diversity.Children enjoy a nutritious diet. Food is prepared on the premises and meals are varied, healthy and enjoyable for children. Children have opportunities to grow, prepare and eat veqetables grown in the garden. Staff are sensitive and supportive regarding the individual needs of children, and liaise helpfully and very fully with parents if there are
concerns.

The nursery proprietor is a drama teacher and is responsible for planning and providing a weekly drama activity for the children. Children have the opportunity to explore their imaginations and enthusiastically participate in
creative and most enjoyable improvisations. Staff take the opportunity to introduce certain themes or issues, for example healthy eating, which are presented in a relevant but light hearted way. (Standard 3)

certain policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with the National Standards and easily accessible
to parents.

All registered persons must comply with all conditions of registration included on his/her certificate of registration.As a result of this inspection conditions of registration have been imposed / varied / removed and a new certificate of registration will be issued.

The Registered Person should have regard to the following recommendations by the time of the next inspection
Std Recommendation 14 Review and update all policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with the National Standards and easily accessible to parents.

INSPECTION OF THE NURSERY EDUCATION PROVISION FOR FUNDED THREE AND FOUR YEAR OLDS.

How effective is the nursery education?

Southernwood Nursery offers very good quality nursery education where children enjoy learning through a wide range of interesting activities. Effective teaching helps children make very good progress towards the early learning goals in all areas of learning. Children are confident, well behaved and show great independence and enthusiasm. Particularly strong emphasis is given to personal and social development, communication, language and literacy and creative development.Teaching is very good. The staff use clear explanations and take every opportunity to encourage children to think and work things out. They are a consistent, thoughtful and responsive team who manage behaviour very well and plan methods matched to children's individual needs. Staffs very secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage enables them to plan an interesting and appropriate range of practical activities. The nursery has children attending who have special educational needs and there is an effective system in place to provide good support. The assessment of children's learning is highly effective and is very well used to inform planning, grouping and individual attention. This ensures that children are enabled to progress at an appropriate pace and receive sufficient support and challenge in their learning. The setting
has a good range of equipment to cover all areas of learning and these are used well. Leadership and management are very good. The staff are well supported in their professional development. The setting is committed to improvement which is identified by an informal method of ongoing discussion amongst the
staff group. A useful quality assurance method has not yet been identified. There is a very good partnership with parents. Helpful information is provided regarding the educational programme and they are informed of forthcoming themes and events. Regular communication is welcomed.

Children are polite, well behaved and are enthusiastic and confident learners.Consistent emphasis is given to the sounds that letters make and children are enabled to have a secure understanding of sounds within words.
Imaginative role-play and drama are skilfully used to develop children's thinking and learning. Effective and careful grouping ensures that children are enabled to progress at an appropriate pace.

What needs to be improved?

Progress since the last inspection has been very good and has had a positive impact on the nursery. Children's awareness of social and cultural diversity is effectively promoted through day-to-day activities such as music and the use of resources. Simple technology has been augmented with more challenging devices which are used regularly.

Children are confident and have very good relationships with staff who welcome them warmly to the setting. They greet their playmates enthusiastically. They are keen to help each other, for example helping
younger children to dress for role-play and they work well in groups as well as on their own. They are able to concentrate for substantial amounts of time at their chosen tasks and become happily absorbed in their play. They are consistently polite and well behaved.

Children use and enjoy books and handle them appropriately. They are enthralled by whole group story time and also enjoy choosing a book to share with a friend. They are effectively enabled to explore rhyme, sounds within
words and to recognise letters by shape and sound. Interesting games are created by staff to ensure that children's understanding in this area is secure. Good opportunities are provided for children to write and make marks for a purpose, for example, letter writing.

Children are encouraged to order, sort and consolidate their mathematical understanding throughout their play. They enjoy singing number rhymes, counting down as the characters in the songs are reduced. Staff ensure that
children are secure in their understanding of the concept of quantity before leading them on to recognising and recording the corresponding numeral. Children are confident at naming shapes and enjoy solving problems such as how many bricks will fit into a toy truck.

Children are keen to share their experiences, such as travel and visits to local places of interest, and lively discussions with staff support this. Regular visitors to the nursery increase children's awareness of the world about them. The nursery grounds are effectively used to help the children observe growth,
living things and seasonal change and provide opportunities for the children to grow some of the nursery's food. Simple technology is used to support learning.

Children move with confidence and control and are skilled in their use of wheeled toys. They show a good awareness of space as they move about the setting and there are no collisions. Children effectively develop their small muscles by using scissors, construction games and manipulating satisfyingly large amounts of play dough. Staff help the children to be aware of the effects of activity on their bodies such as their faster heartbeat after the drama, thereby developing their learning.

Role-play and drama are effectively used to encourage children to think things through and to use their imagination. They become totally absorbed in their dramatic work which staff use to support other areas of learning, such as making marks, counting and healthy eating. Children enjoy exploring colour and texture in their artwork and have regular opportunities to be freely creative as well as creating prescribed items such as Christmas angels. Music is effectively used to inspire learning.

Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered Appropriately: Yes

The provision is acceptable and is of high quality. Children are making very good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

Establish an effective method of ensuring that quality provision is maintained.The registered person must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents, and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next combined inspection.

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as
inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

Top of Page | How good is the Day Care | An aspect of outstanding practice | Conditions Of Registration
How effective is the nursery education | Summary of Judgements

Home | Ofsted Report 1999 | Site Map