Congratulations to Ashgrove Park Day Nursery!
Last July, Ashgrove Park Day Nursery had their Ofsted inspection and were judged as outstanding! This is well deserved for Sue as General Manager, Toni as Manager and the whole of the staff team at the nursery.
BAND met up with Sue to hear about the inspection and what is happening at the nursery that has contributed to their outstanding judgement.
What is happening at the setting?
Planning: Sue fedback that ‘the biggest influence on the outstanding is the move to in the moment planning; the training with Anna Ephgrave was inspirational and that the new process has revolutionised the way the team works’. Observations only are recorded and Tapestry serves now as a photo log; prior to this change, the nursery felt that all the forms and record keeping were for meeting an Ofsted need, not one for themselves or the children so this has been a positive move forward. Children have free flow all day with breaks for meal times only; rolling snack has also been introduced to minimize breaks to the children’s play. Parents have feedback every 6 weeks with a staff member; the parent also fills in a sheet about what is going on at home for the child so there is a good share of information. The teams passion for this would have been seen by the Ofsted inspector and contributed to the judgement.
Staff support: Sue fedback ‘ the staff are the most important resource we have’. To support them the nursery is signed up with a company that provides confidential telephone support to all staff and access to counselling sessions. The nursery also runs a mix of initiatives to support staff morale for example:
- A kindness bowl – this is a bowl filled with mini-sweets that is taken round to the staff team every week by an allocated staff member. The staff member gives a sweet and most importantly a compliment to each person.
- Free fruit bowl – the nursery orders extra fruit and provides a fruit bowl for staff to help themselves to.
- Employee of the month – voted on by the staff for those who have gone above and beyond. Every 6 months the names of the winners are put into a hat and the name drawn receives a voucher.
The nursery gives extra toil to staff who have not been off sick; 1 hours toil for every month that a staff member is not off sick and half a days leave for a year with no sickness. Staff can accrue the toil which gives them an extra day off when they choose. Sue said it had helped sickness levels to an extent, but also had given staff a boost with the extra time off as recognition.
Sue has been influenced by training by Shonette Basonwood in this area: https://www.spreadthehappiness.co.uk/ .
Linking with other settings:
Sue believes one of the biggest changes in the last 5 years in her area is the support and collaborative working between nurseries. She is linked in via NDNA to a local group of people who now also meet independently and have a whatsapp group for support. She goes to Bristol North meetings and is also linked in with about 3 other nurseries on a regular basis and meets with new managers to support them. Sue’s supervision is also provided by another nursery manager in one of the settings she links with.
New post: The setting has a new post as Curriculum Lead for 2 days per week, and this has created positive change within the nursery. The Curriculum Lead has written a cultural Capital Statement, a Curriculum Statement and a 3 I’s statement; these are displayed in each room of the nursery and each month at a team meeting the staff have an opportunity to discuss one. The post also included peer observations, auditing focus sheets and tracking.
What happened during the inspection:
As soon has Sue had the warning of the inspection, she checked in with staff in each of the rooms and asked ‘What are you worried about?’; giving examples such as Prevent, safeguarding etc meant she could run through any areas that staff were concerned about as a quick reminder. In team meetings, there is also always a safeguarding topic with staff explaining how they understand it first of all so staff are practiced in discussing these areas.
Sue did a ‘Learning Walk with inspector and talked about everything to do with the nursery in this time. Sue consciously used new terms that are being flagged up at the moment eg talking about cultural capital.
The Ofsted inspectors observed practice and spoke to every staff member present. Questions were on: Prevent, specific children eg ‘If you didn’t know this child, what would you do?’, supervision (how often, how supportive), safeguarding. In the baby room, the inspector asked about every child in the room (where their progress was, cohort information, a lot of detail). The inspector observed a child and checked that the staff obs were in line with what she had seen.
The leadership and management meeting took over an hour. The Inspector asked to see complaints log, asked about self-evaluation (the setting used to do Bristol Standard, then the online SEF, and now is about to put in place new self evaluation based on some recent NDNA training), and planning. The Inspector was not concerned that the setting does not keep paper records on planning, and a conversation about it was deemed suitable.
Outcome: Outstanding!! Well done to all at Ashgrove Park Day Nursery!!
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BANDNews-Back issues: Movement in Mind From MAY 2017 In recent years, we’ve heard a lot about the importance of playing outside and being able to run around for children’s development. Further neuroscience... ...
BANDNews-Back issues: Rates Boost Childcare Equality?
BANDNews back issues: Rates Boost Childcare Equality? From MAY 2017 Anew report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests that the governments’ proposal to allow local authorities to retain 100%... ...
BANDNews-Back issues: Short Changed?
BANDNews-Back issues: Short Changed? From MAY 2017 A lthough the national minimum wage and living wage levels increased in April, research by the DfE in 2016 and more recently by the Family... ...
BAND Fundraising Resources
BAND Fundraising Resources Fundraising is an important part of life for many groups. To help, BAND can provide practical advice and support to childcare providers on how to access various sources of funding. ... ...
Co-op Membership Funding – Music Workshops
BAND has been shortlisted for funding through the Co-op Membership funding programme …and we need your vote to attract as many funds as possible. Funding will be used to pay for free... ...
BAND Equalities Conference: All together now.
Equalities underpin all aspects of our work with children and young people. It’s a vital part of our ongoing professional development that can get neglected and overlooked. All Together Now March 28... ...
Safer Internet Day 2017 – 7th February
Safer Internet Day – 7th February saferinternet.org.uk Safer Internet Day 2017 will take place on Tuesday 7th February with the theme ‘Be the change: unite for a better internet’. https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2017 Quick links:... ...
Early Years Designated Safeguarding Leads Network Meetings.
Early Years Designated Safeguarding Leads Network Meetings. These meetings will take place 3 times a year and will be organised on an area basis. Download the flyer here: EY Designated lead meetings... ...
Makaton Enhancement course, February: Spaces available
Makaton Enhancement BAND still has spaces on the 6 session Makaton Enhancement course commencing on Wednesday 22nd February, 9.30am – 1pm at the BAND office. The other sessions will run on 8th,... ...
Band Annual Report 2015-16
Band Annual Report 2015-16. It’s been a very busy and productive year at BAND. During the year we’ve had applications for BAND membership from 31 organisations and individuals, including: nurseries, preschools, schools,... ...
Spaced Out!: Space activities for kids
Looking for an activity theme over the next few months? How about focusing on space to celebrate the European Space Agency’s (ESA) six month ‘Principia’ mission. The mission began in December... ...
Bristol -Time to stand up for children’s play!
The Bristol Play Network has been campaigning during 2015 to raise awareness about children’s opportunities to play. So as the autumn ends and the nights draw in it seems a good time... ...
BAND visit the Play Bus Sensory Truck
Friday, 22 May 2015 BAND visit the Play Bus Sensory Truck As part of our on-going commitment to inclusion, BAND has run a pilot session with the PlayBus Sensory Truck to see if improving... ...
Craft Skills 21st September 2012
Craft Skills 21st September 2012, a set on Flickr. Photos of the Craft Skills course held last week, thanks to all those involved for making it a great day ...
Photos of the PAWS Fire Workshop led by the Ape Project
PAWS Fire Workshop 2012, a set on Flickr. ...
Bristol Adventure Playgrounds
Bristol Adventure Playgrounds Adventure Playgrounds have been around in the UK for over 60 years, but with funding cuts affecting services across the UK, what might happen in Bristol? To set the... ...
Bristol’s drive towards inclusion
We know that families of disabled children and disabled children need support to ensure that they can access a full range of services, sometimes that support is ensuring our own services are... ...
Theme Time
Ok, it’s the summer. This means it’s up to you all to think of fab, funny and physical ideas for the summer playschemes. It’s great to have a range of starting points... ...
Get Hunting!
Looking for some active, outdoor fun? Then why not plan a scavenger hunt. This is a great way to really explore any outdoor (or even indoor) environment. You can do it anywhere... ...
Space Theme Inspiration
It’s been a few months of amazing space events: MARSONE, an initiative to place humans on Mars in 2023, attracts over 80,000 video applicants. It’s a one way trip for... ...
The Ofsted Big Conversation
The Ofsted Big Conversation On the evening of Friday 13thSeptember, despite the awful weather, we were fortunate enough to be able attend one of the National Ofsted Big Conversations that had been... ...
First Response launches its city-wide service from 16th December 2013
From 16th December 2013 First Response will be the place to call in Bristol if you are concerned about a child or young person or think they need support. When... ...
Celebrate Brazil 2014
Celebrate Brazil 2014 As Brazil hosts the World Cup from the 12thJune, we have pulled together some Brazilian themed activities and ideas that you could try out in your setting, alongside their... ...
Update on Ofsted Big Conversation
Last night saw the South West Big Conversation meeting enabling Early Years Providers and support workers and representatives from Ofsted to enter in to a dialogue. The Ofsted panel of 4 included... ...
Disqualification – Dazed and Confused?
You may be aware that there has been growing discussion, debate, contradiction and general kerfuffle over what exactly are the rules regarding disqualification of a worker due to ‘Association’. This means where... ...
Celebrate Brazil 2014
As Brazil hosts the World Cup from the 12th June, we have pulled together some Brazilian themed activities and ideas that you could try out in your setting, alongside their top sport... ...
