Summary

About the service

Childsplay Nursery was registered at the current premises, a large, converted chapel in the town of Llanelli, in 2010. The service is registered to provide care for up to ninety one children under the age of eight years at any one time. The nursery is open between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Friday. The main language used at the setting is English and basic Welsh is introduced and used with the children throughout the day. At the time of the inspection the Registered Person for the setting was Debra Jones and the Persons in Charge were Michelle Carpenter and Rebecca Davies.  The setting is a member of a recognised provider organisation.

What type of inspection was carried out?

This was a scheduled, unannounced, focussed inspection that looked at the quality of life for children attending the nursery. The visit took place on 5 September 2014. This report is based on the following:

 One unannounced visit to the setting

 Discussions with the Registered Person and the Person in Charge

 Direct observations of care practices and the interactions between staff and children

 Observation of the children within the environment

 A brief inspection of the premises

 Observation of one child using the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) tool. The SOFI tool enables inspectors to observe and record life from a child’s perspective; how they spend their time, activities, interactions with others and the type of support received.

Further information was also taken from:

 The most recent Self Assessment of Service document (SASS)

 The Statement of Purpose

 The history of the service held by CSSIW.

What does the service do well?

The setting is part of the Designed to Smile initiative.

The setting has been awarded a Level 5 food hygiene certificate by the Food Standards Agency.

Adult to child ratios are exceeded, as the nursery employs two supernumerary persons in charge.

What has improved since the last inspection?

The nursery has introduced a system of grouping children into smaller groups to deliver focussed activities, allowing the children more adult attention.

Children are given opportunities to become more independent during meal times; they are encouraged to help themselves to the foods of their choice where they are able.

The system of reporting to parents has been updated to include a section for parents to provide comments and feedback.

The setting is working on increasing the ways that parents can contact them, for example by encouraging email contact. They are also looking into allowing text message contact for parents wishing to leave a message.

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What needs to be done to improve the service?

This inspection identified no areas of non compliance with The Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010.

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Quality of life

Overall we (CSSIW) found that children are cared for in a welcoming, friendly and stimulating environment where they benefit from a range of activities and experiences that contribute to their all round development.

Children attending Childsplay Nursery are able to exercise choice. Throughout our visit we saw children independently choosing the toys they wanted to play with and we heard adults frequently asking ‘What do you want to do now?’ We saw that requests for toys and games were accommodated where possible and that the staff responded positively to children’s requests. We noted that the rooms had been arranged so that resources were accessible to children, allowing them to make their choices as independently as possible. The atmosphere in the Nursery was calm and relaxed, and the children were seen to be enjoying chatting to each other and to the staff.

Children are encouraged and supported to be independent. We saw that in the baby room, all of the children were confident to explore their surroundings, and that the adults caring for them were skilled at allowing them to do so without interfering. However, we noted that the staff were close at hand to provide support and guidance at all times. For example, one baby was exploring the room in a baby walker. The member of staff looking after her was encouraging her with a gentle voice and warm smiles.  The delight on the baby’s face was evident and she was rewarded by the adult who said ‘you clever girl!’ In the toddler room we saw children actively joining in with a movement to music session; jumping, skipping, walking on their tip toes and crawling. The adults with them were also doing all of the movements, and were encouraging the children, without forcing them to join in. We again saw that children were encouraged to do as much for themselves as possible, and we heard them being rewarded with warm and genuine praise from the staff supporting them.

Children are active, positively occupied and stimulated. We saw that in all areas of the setting, careful consideration had been given to the choice of toys, games and resources available, and that the activities planned were suitable for the ages and stages of development of the children. We viewed the activity planning in the baby room and noted that it mirrored the activities that we witnessed. We also noted that throughout the setting the activities were exciting and captured the children’s imaginations, and were of a suitable length to maintain their interest.

Children benefit from a healthy diet and attention to nutrition and hydration. We saw that a menu was displayed within the reception area that showed a range of healthy and nutritious meals were available to the children. We saw that there was fresh drinking water available to the children throughout the day and noted that during the lunchtime, children’s requests for more water were acted upon. There was a jug of water on each table and the children were able to pour more for themselves if  they wished.

Children experience warmth, attachment and belonging. Throughout the visit we witnessed staff showing genuine care and affection for the children, offering hugs, stroking children’s hair and promoting a sense of fun and enjoyment. We also noted that each child had their own coat peg, and that the setting was decorated with the children’s work and creations.

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Quality of staffing

This inspection focussed on the quality of life for children attending the nursery. CSSIW did not consider it necessary to look at the quality of staffing in detail on this occasion because:

 All staff files were examined at the previous inspection and found to be compliant with the Regulations

 There is a low turnover of staff at the setting

 The setting has a compliant history in terms of recruitment of staff.

However, the nursery had employed three new members of staff since the previous inspection. We viewed the files held for these members of staff and found them to be compliant with the Regulations in terms of the information contained within them and the recruitment processes followed.

During the inspection we observed that staff employed at the setting were enthusiastic, competent and caring, and we noted that they fostered a welcoming, stimulating and exciting environment for the children. We noted that staff members appeared to understand their roles and responsibilities well and carried out their duties professionally.

This theme will be considered in more detail during future inspections.

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Quality of leadership and management

This inspection focussed on the quality of life for children attending the nursery. CSSIW did not consider it necessary to look at the quality of leadership and management in detail on this occasion because:

 The record keeping of the setting was examined during the last inspection and deemed to be compliant with the Regulations

 The setting has a compliant history in respect of leadership and management  There has been a consistent management team within the setting.

During the inspection we spoke with both the Registered Person and one of the Persons in Charge. We noted that they worked well together and that there were good systems in place for managing the numbers of children attending the nursery and the staffing arrangements for these children. We learned that there were suitable contingency arrangements in place to ensure that staffing ratios were always met in the event of staff sickness and that staff were offered regular training that was relevant to their role. The setting held valid Public Liability Insurance, and was in the process of compiling the most recent Quality of Care Review report.

This theme will be considered in more detail during future inspections.

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Quality of environment

This inspection focussed on the quality of life for children attending the nursery. CSSIW did not consider it necessary to look at the quality of environment in detail on this occasion because:

 There had been no structural changes to the premises since the last inspection

 The environment had been thoroughly inspected during the last inspection and no issues were found.

We carried out a brief inspection of the nursery premises and found that the environment is safe, secure and welcoming for children.

There is a system in place for managing access to the building. CCTV has been installed to allow the person answering the door to see who is outside. Parents are asked to leave and collect their children from the main reception area of the nursery and key codes are required to access areas where children are cared for.

Children have access to a large, secure outdoor play area, and are always supervised whilst playing outside.

We saw that each of the rooms had been carefully laid out to allow children independent access to toys, games and resources and we noted that children were confident to choose activities that were of interest to them.

This theme will be considered in more detail during future inspections.

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How we inspect and report on services We conduct two types of inspection; baseline and focussed. Both consider the experience of people using services.

 Baseline inspections assess whether the registration of a service is justified and whether the conditions of registration are appropriate. For most services, we carry out these inspections every three years. Exceptions are registered child minders, out of school care, sessional care, crèches and open access provision, which are every four years. 

At these inspections we check whether the service has a clear, effective Statement of Purpose and whether the service delivers on the commitments set out in its Statement of Purpose. In assessing whether registration is justified inspectors check that the service can demonstrate a history of compliance with regulations. 

 Focussed inspections consider the experience of people using services and we will look at compliance with regulations when poor outcomes for people using services are identified. We carry out these inspections in between baseline inspections. Focussed inspections will always consider the quality of life of people using services and may look at other areas. 

Baseline and focussed inspections may be scheduled or carried out in response to concerns.

Inspectors use a variety of methods to gather information during inspections. These may include;

 Talking with people who use services and their representatives

 Talking to staff and the manager

 Looking at documentation

 Observation of staff interactions with people and of the environment

 Comments made within questionnaires returned from people who use services, staff and health and social care professionals

We inspect and report our findings under ‘Quality Themes’. Those relevant to each type of service are referred to within our inspection reports. 

Further information about what we do can be found in our leaflet ‘Improving Care and

Social Services in Wales’. You can download this from our website, Improving Care and Social Services in Wales  or ask us to send you a copy by telephoning your local CSSIW