Sunny Days Nursery
38-40 Lickhill Road, CALNE, Wiltshire, SN11 9DF
Inspection date
Previous inspection date
The quality and standards of the
early years provision
22/09/2014
17/08/2011
This inspection:
3
Previous inspection:
3
How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who
attend
3
The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children
3
The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision
3
The quality and standards of the early years provision
This provision requires improvement
 Staff are warm and affectionate with the children; they help them to settle quickly and
prepare them well for the next stage in their learning, as they move rooms within the
nursery or move on to other settings.
 Children enjoy their time at nursery; they take part in range of interesting activities and
especially benefit from exploring the stimulating outdoor areas.
 Staff have a good understanding of child protection and their role in helping to keep
children safe.
 Staff help children learn to be independent, to keep themselves healthy and manage
their personal needs.
It is not yet good because
 Although arrangements for managing staff performance have enhanced practice, and
much teaching is good, the quality is still variable which means that children may not
progress as well as they can.
 Staff in the baby room do not always make good enough use of resources to promote
children's learning and development.
 On occasions, children are not supported by the member of staff who knows them best.
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Information about this inspection
Inspections of registered early years provision are:
 scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July
2016
 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example
where provision was previously judged inadequate
 brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that
suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years
Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early
inspection
 prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the
requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may
not be safe
 scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the
requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The provision is also registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. This report
includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.
Inspection activities

The inspector observed staff interacting with children engaged in range of indoor
and outdoor activities.
 The inspector held discussions with the owners, manager and staff.

The inspector looked at documentation including records of staff suitability checks,
children's developmental records, a sample of policies and procedures.

The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of
inspection.
 The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.
Inspector
Rachel Edwards
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Full report
Information about the setting
Sunny Days Nursery registered in 2007. It is one of four early years settings run by Sunny
Days Nursery Company Ltd. It operates from converted domestic premises and has five
rooms used by the children, a kitchen, office and toilet facilities. There are two secure
outdoor play areas. It is situated on an estate close to the centre of Calne, Wiltshire.
There are currently 45 children on roll. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to
5.45pm for 50 weeks of the year. Children come from a wide catchment area, as most
parents travel to work in the local area. The nursery supports children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs seven full-time members of
staff to work with the children. Of these, six hold appropriate qualifications at level 3 and
one at level 2. In addition, the area manager and one of the owners hold Early Years
Professional Status. There is a nursery cook. The nursery shares staff between the
settings to provide cover for staff absences. The nursery is registered on the Early Years
Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery
receives funding for the provision of free early years education for children aged two,
three and four years.
What the setting needs to do to improve further
To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider
must:
 raise the quality of teaching to consistently good by ensuring that all staff engage
well with children to provide good levels of challenge in their activities, and that
adult led group times are small enough to ensure all children are engaged
 ensure that staff in the baby room make best use of resources to engage children
and provide good quality learning experiences.
To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:
 help children build even stronger emotional attachments by pairing key persons with
a 'buddy' who can cover for them when necessary.
Inspection judgements
How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children
who attend
Staff plan and provide a wide range of activities and experiences that support all areas of
children's development. However, although staff engage in some good interactions with
children, the quality of teaching, and therefore learning, is not consistent and requires
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some improvements to be good.
Staff provide an appropriate balance between activities that children choose themselves
and activities that they plan and lead. This encourages children to explore and develop
their own ideas, such as experimenting with different tools to dig in the vegetable bed.
Each day staff take small groups of children for short periods of planned activities. This
gives them time to focus on developing children's skills, such as learning new words or
matching objects. However, staff sometimes plan activities with too large a group of
children. This means that, on occasions, they fail to engage children's interest so that
children become distracted and do not benefit from the activity.
Most staff demonstrate that they understand the importance of following children's
interests in promoting the learning and development of young children. For instance, a
group of children engage in water play. A member of staff supports their play effectively
and children are highly motivated. She helps them link ideas. They enjoy making a splash
and the member of staff encourages them to slide boats down a gutter to see if the big
boat will make a bigger splash. However, in some instances staff do not engage children
well enough. On one occasion, the inspector observed staff in the baby room sitting with
very young children for periods of time without giving them their full attention or
responding to a child's interests. As a result, the member of staff missed opportunities to
introduce new words, encourage the child to investigate and deepen their understanding.
In recent months, the nursery staff have worked hard to create a stimulating outdoor
classroom, where children can choose to play for much of the day. Children now enjoy
many worthwhile experiences that support their all-round development. Staff have
planned carefully, for example, growing herbs and flowers near the mud kitchen so
children can 'cook' with them in their pretend play. They enable the children to play and
investigate in an effective way.
In recent months, management have focussed strongly on developing staff's knowledge
and understanding of how to observe and monitor children's progress and plan for their
next steps in learning. Staff gather useful information from parents so they can monitor
children's progress from the start. Staff routinely observe children and note their interests
and plan learning experiences for each child based on their observations. However, on
occasions, due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, staff interactions with children
do not support children's planned next steps. Most children are developing in line with
expectations for their age. Where children's starting points are lower than expected, staff
are helping to close the gap so that children acquire the skills they need for their future
learning.
Staff welcome parents into the nursery. They have provided comfortable seating in the
entrance area and books so that parents can read to their children. Staff form good
relationships with parents of the key children who they are responsible for. They keep
parents well informed of their children's progress, including through sharing the progress
report for two-year-olds. Staff encourage parents to be involved in their children's
learning. Parents may borrow story sacks to share with children at home. Staff encourage
parents to share any special interests, to broaden children's experiences, for instance one
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parent came in to speak to the children about bee keeping.
The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children
Staff operate a generally effective key-person system, which ensures that children are
mainly cared for by adults who know them well. Parents and children may make as many
visits to the nursery as they need to help their child settle. The same key person gathers
children's individual details, including care routines and specific interests. This helps
children to develop a close bond so they feel secure within the nursery. However, staff do
not carry out all personal care routines for their key children, such as changing nappies.
They do not have a 'buddy' member of staff to cover for them if they are absent or
unavailable. This means that on occasions, children are not supported by the member of
staff who knows them best.
Staff have created a safe and welcoming environment in the nursery. Displays of children's
work and photographs help children feel valued. The rooms and outdoor spaces are set
out well with different activities to interest the children. Cosy spaces, with overhead
canopies, make quiet places to chat to others or exciting places to hide. There is a suitable
range of learning materials, most of which are stored within easy reach and staff
encourage children to choose what they would like to play with. However, staff do not
always make best use of the space and resources available. For instance, the home roleplay area in the baby room has limited equipment to encourage children to imitate familiar
routines, such as making cups of tea. Staff do not always encourage the youngest children
to explore and discover things about resources they are interested in. For example, when
a child showed an interest in a fire engine, staff did not talk to the child or make eye
contact to engage them to follow their interest. Consequently, children were not
encouraged to explore and become motivated and they moved off to another activity.
Staff effectively help children learn about how to be healthy and how to take care of their
personal needs. The nursery employs an on-site cook who prepares healthy, nutritious and
appetising meals. She provides for any dietary requirements and allergies children may
have. Children help to grow and harvest fruit and vegetables, which the cook prepares.
This encourages them to eat well and teaches them where food comes from. Children
have plenty of opportunities to be physically active as they spend much of the day playing
outside. Staff help children to decide if they need to put on warmer clothes and encourage
them to have a go at managing these themselves. Children learn to wash their hands and
develop independence in using the toilet. These skills prepare them well for moving on to
pre-school and eventually school. Staff supervise children well during their play and while
they sleep. Staff demonstrate they have an adequate understanding of how to assess risk
and they take steps to keep children safe. Staff teach children how to manage risks for
themselves, such as when they use outdoor play equipment. They learn how to use small
tools, such as scissors and cutlery, safely. Children behave well because staff consistently
explain the consequences of unwanted behaviour. They praise children's achievements
and help children to play kindly and cooperatively with others.
Staff prepare children well when they move rooms within the nursery. Their key person
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supports them as they visit the new room and become familiar with different staff and
routines. All children in the nursery eat together and those who need to sleep use the
same room. This means children get to see all the nursery staff and to mix with children of
different ages beforehand. Parents comment positively about the warm support offered by
staff as their children settle in or move rooms. Staff liaise very closely with staff from the
pre-school that most children move on to. The pre-school is under the same ownership as
the nursery and staff frequently visit each setting so they get to know the children.
The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years
provision
The leaders and managers have a suitable knowledge and understanding of the
safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements. They have
established a robust recruitment and vetting procedure, which complies with statutory
requirements. They have recently reviewed this to check more thoroughly staff's ongoing
suitability to work with children. All staff have received safeguarding training and
demonstrate that they know what to do if they have a concern about a child. Managers
ensure that staff feel confident to raise concerns with them about the nursery, or with
external agencies, if they prefer. Induction for new staff includes essential policies and
procedures so that they fully understand their roles and responsibilities for keeping
children safe. For example, managers explain the policy for the use of mobile phones and
cameras.
The acting manager has introduced new systems for assessments and planning, and staff
are receiving ongoing training to develop their skills in this area. The manager has
recently introduced a tracking system to help her monitor individual children, and the
whole group, across all areas of learning. The manager uses this system to pinpoint areas
of development for the staff as well as raising early awareness of any child that may be
falling behind. The nursery works effectively in partnership with a variety of different
agencies and the children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make suitable
progress.
The acting manager and leaders have developed a plan to drive improvement, which they
share with the wider staff team. They have welcomed support from the local authority
early years advisory team to help them establish priorities to inform the improvement
plan. They have also just started working towards a recognised accreditation scheme. The
acting manager and leaders have identified staff supervision and performance
management as a priority for development and have focussed on this in recent months.
Staff have attended training and have ongoing coaching and supervision from the
manager. However, systems are not sufficiently robust to guarantee consistency in some
of the staff's teaching skills. Staff do not yet undertake peer observations as part of
reflective practice, which means they miss opportunities to identify and share good
practice regarding teaching and learning.
The nursery has addressed recommendations from the previous inspection. Safeguarding
procedures are now robust and children have good access to craft and early writing
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materials. The outside area now provides a rich learning environment, although
occasionally children do not have good enough access to some resources, which restricts
their play.
Partnerships with parents are strong and help staff meet children's needs well overall.
They share information about their children and staff keep them well informed about their
children's achievements at nursery. Parents know they have the opportunity to contribute
to their child's assessments and some take up this opportunity. The manager understands
where to seek support for children who are not meeting their expected targets, so they
can secure additional support.
The Childcare Register
The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are
Met
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What inspection judgements mean
Registered early years provision
Grade
Judgement
Description
Grade 1
Outstanding
Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs
of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are
very well prepared for the next stage of their learning.
Grade 2
Good
Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets
the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready
for the next stage of their learning.
Grade 3
Requires
improvement
The provision is not giving children a good standard of early
years education and/or there are minor breaches of the
safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years
Foundation Stage. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools
judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date
of inspection.
Grade 4
Inadequate
Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement
and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give
children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or
is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of
the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and
inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection.
Met
There were no children present at the time of the inspection.
The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to
meet the requirements for registration.
Not met
There were no children present at the time of the inspection.
The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet
the requirements for registration.
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Inspection
This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act
2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years
Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the
statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early
Years Foundation Stage.
Setting details
Unique reference number
EY363779
Local authority
Wiltshire
Inspection number
987769
Type of provision
Full-time provision
Registration category
Childcare - Non-Domestic
Age range of children
0-3
Total number of places
42
Number of children on roll
45
Name of provider
Village Child Care Company (Boothstown) Ltd
Date of previous inspection
17/08/2011
Telephone number
01249 815 307
Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures
set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints
about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would
like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email
[email protected].
Type of provision
For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:
Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually
known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years
Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee
for registration.
Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in
any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools
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and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years
Register and pay the lower fee for registration.
Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of
more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are
usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and
must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or
after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years
Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their
Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning
and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children
receive in school.
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The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to
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