Pardes House

Pardes House

Inspection report for early years provision

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Pardes House

EY222672 Unique Reference Number 18 October 2006 Inspection date Jennifer Liverpool Inspector

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Pardes House

Hendon Lane, London, N3 1SA Setting Address

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E-mail

Pardes House Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

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

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Pardes House Kindergarten is run by a private company. It has been established since the 1950s and became registered in 1980, operating from self contained premises within the grounds of Pardes House school. It is located in Finchley Central within the London borough of Barnet. A maximum of 46 children may attend the kindergarten at any one time. The kindergarten is open from 09:00 to 15:45 on Mondays to Thursdays and on Fridays until 12:15 during term time. It serves the Orthodox Jewish community.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The group has its own self contained premises and is divided into two age related classes. The youngest is integrated catering for both boys and girls and the two older parallel classes are for boys only with the girls moving to the school in Colindale.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 There are currently 34 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these 20 children receive funding for early education.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The kindergarten employs nine members of staff. Of these three hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a qualification. The group receives support from an early years Advisory Teacher.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children's health is reasonably promoted through daily cleaning routines, such as staff wearing gloves to prepare snacks and wiping table surfaces before use. Children are protected from the spread of infection because staff obtain most health details from parents and follow health guidelines for administering medication safely. Although staff members are aware of infection control, there are no written procedures for dealing with sick children. Children automatically wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before cooking activities. However, they do not learn the importance of washing hands at other times to prevent the spread of infection. Some staff hold current first aid certificates ensuring that their knowledge of first aid is kept up to date in the event of accidents to children.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are well nourished as they are provided with food appropriate for their individual dietary needs. Parents supply meals for their children. There is insufficient cold storage facility and consequently, children's packed lunch boxes are not always stored to a safe temperature. Children sit together at lunch time and they talk about the types of sandwiches they have to eat, which results in lunch time developing into a social occasion. Children receive fresh fruits daily, a choice of milk and water for drinks and on occasions they bake their own bread. All of which helps them to develop a good understanding of healthy eating.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy physical exercises and have daily access to outdoor play. They use an adequate range of equipment, such as push and pull along toys, tricycle, scooters, balls and stepping stones for balancing. Children show good coordination when running, throwing and balancing. Their fine motor skills are developing well as they handle a range of small equipment when playing with play dough and pouring and collecting sand. Pencils and paint brushes help children's mark making skills.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children are cared for in secure premises. There are systems in place to ensure children are unable to leave the premises without a suitable adult and prevent unwanted visitors gaining access. Most areas accessible to children are maintained to a reasonable standard. However, fire guards are in need of repair, the toilet cistern is not fully secure and there is a cracked window and missing ventilation wheel in the children's toilets. Staff carry out informal risk assessments daily to minimise potential hazards to children in each room and when using the outdoor play area.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children have easy and safe access to a range of toys that are age and developmentally appropriate. They are able to make choices for themselves as toys are labelled with pictures and words and stored at their level. Irregular visual checks of toys do not ensure that resources are well maintained, as torn and missing pages in books are not always discovered. Children learn to take responsibility for keeping themselves safe when using outdoor play equipment through gentle reminders and close supervision. Staff have a good understanding of child protection issues and know how to proceed if they have concerns about a child in their care. This supports children's welfare.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children separate from their parents with little support and they are settling well. Children benefit from the warm interaction with staff. This enables them to feel a sense of belonging. They are beginning to develop positive relationships with one another as they are encouraged to participate in group activities and sit together at snack times. Staff help young children to develop confidence and their self-esteem as they are escorted to the toilets, given guidance on how to use small equipment, such as rolling pins and shape cutters, and spoken to in their home language and English.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff are sensitive to individual children's needs and help them to learn at their own pace. Young children are learning about family traditions through worthwhile activities through being supported to act out real life experiences, such as the lighting of candles and baking bread, discussion and observing a range of artefacts displayed on an interest table. This enables children to learn through first hand experiences. Staff are beginning to develop their knowledge of the Birth to three matters framework when planning activities for young children. However, the purpose of these activities is not always clearly recorded, which means that staff are not always able to help children to get the most out of them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Children make sound progress towards the early learning goals because staff have satisfactory knowledge of the Foundation Stage and the different ways children learn. Staff plan a satisfactory range of activities and experiences that cover most of the different aspects in each area of learning. Although, the learning intentions on curriculum plans are not always clear. Suitable teaching methods, such as whole and small group work, help children to learn at their own pace. Staff observe children's development and progress, however, assessments are not used to inform planning and consequently, their learning is not sufficiently extended. For example, children can reliably count to 10 and some beyond yet at circle time staff count together with them. This limits children's mathematical ideas and opportunities for them to solve simple mathematical problems.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children settle quickly and readily join in a range of activities set out for them on a day to day basis. They are learning how to behave in a group as many of them listen attentively to instructions given at circle time and put their hands up if they wish to speak during group discussions. Children are developing personal independence skills as they wash and dry their hands, put their aprons on and put waste products in the bin. There are some opportunities

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 for children to express their own ideas in their drawing, however, current art work on wall display is mainly staff's own cut out shapes. Children enjoy activities, such as bread making, and they show satisfactory levels of concentration and persevere well to complete their tasks. They are developing their sensory skills as they observe what happens to flour when water is added, feel the texture of bread dough and smell baked bread. Children's physical skills are promoted through daily outdoor play, although the use of the outdoor area is not always sufficiently planned to widen children's all round learning experiences.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children confidently communicate with adults and each other and they are given support to develop both Yiddish and English language during the course of the day. Children enjoy stories and have access to a range of books. Labelling and posters around the room help children to develop healthy reading skills. Children have access to an adequate range of writing tools. Some planning documents show that children are given some opportunities to practise their writing skills. Children are learning to recognise numbers through books and posters, counting during the day, being introduced to mathematical language and singing number rhymes. However, they are not always given enough opportunities to practise problem solving. Children are learning to name the days of the week and they are becoming aware of the different seasons of the year. They learn about some of the jobs people do through discussions, role-play and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

bringing in letters from home to put in a made post box. However, there are insufficient opportunities for children to identify the features of living things and use information technology to support their learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children's individual needs are generally known and met. With the exception of the consent for urgent medical treatment, staff gather most relevant information from parents before children are admitted into the setting. Children's cultural and religious backgrounds are recognised and acknowledged by staff who come from the same background. They are helped to feel proud of their culture through celebrations, discussions and activities, such as baking bread and collage making for events. Children have limited opportunities to learn about other cultures and they learn a little about different backgrounds through the few dolls and dressing up clothes that reflect diversity.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are expected to help with tidying and children do so responsibly by putting toys away in the correct places. This helps to promote children's independence and self-esteem. Children benefit from constant praise and encouragement and they behave well. Appropriate systems are in place for looking after children with learning and physical disabilities. Children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development are appropriately fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is satisfactory. Parents receive useful information about the policies and procedures of the setting and the curriculum offered to their children. Although activity plans are displayed for parents to see, the information does not clearly give an outline about what children are to learn from the activities in order to help parents extend their child's learning at home. Staff acknowledge the importance of good working relationships with parents and are developing systems for sharing children's progress with parents and to encourage their contribution to children's learning.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

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

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The organisation of children's care and learning is satisfactory. Children benefit from a welcoming, friendly and secure environment where they are generally kept safe; reasonable systems are in place to promote their health and they receive appropriate care and support to enable them to progress in their learning. Satisfactory recruitment procedures ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Adult to child ratios are maintained throughout the session. Although children's attendance is monitored each day not all required details relating to their arrival and departure are recorded. Children are grouped in rooms according to their age and abilities and space is used well to allow children to move freely and independently. With the exception of health consents all other documentation required for the safe and effective management of the group is in place. This contributes towards the welfare of the children. The

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Organisation

setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is satisfactory. Staff work well as a team and the support they receive from communication and guidance enable them to provide an appropriate range of activities for children. There are opportunities for professional development and the management encourages staff to undertake training. This helps support children in the setting. There are basic systems in place for identifying strengths and improvements and as a result of this, the manager is developing systems for observing and assessing children's progress. However, not enough opportunities are provided to help children find out about features of living things and to know about the uses of everyday technology.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last Children Act inspection the kindergarten was asked to ensure that effective procedures are in place for checking staff suitability; develop an action plan that sets out how staff will meet qualification requirements and make all records and policies relating to day-care accessible and available for inspection. Also recommendations were made to devise and implement systems for observation and assessments of children, develop an action plan to ensure that there is at least one staff member qualified to administer first aid on the premises at any one time and review and develop the book area.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The kindergarten now has satisfactory procedures for checking staff, which include formal and informal interviews, ensuring all staff are vetted, and keeping records of references and qualifications. This means that suitable persons look after children. The manager encourages all staff to undertake professional training and attend short courses. This will help them to improve on the quality of care and learning offered to children. The manager now ensures that there is at least one staff member qualified to administer first aid on the premises at all times. The kindergarten has taken steps to ensure all records, policies and procedures are up to date, easily accessible and available for inspection. In addition to this an information pack containing policies is available to parents. The kindergarten is currently developing systems for observation and assessments of children in order to fully meet the needs of each child. The book area is

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Improvements since the last inspection

now more inviting to children, contains comfortable seating for relaxation and children are seen to make good use of this area as they help themselves to books.

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Improvements since the last 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 The previous nursery education inspection raised key issues to improve the quality of learning for children. The kindergarten was asked to provide opportunities and activities for children to learn about every day technology, develop gross motor skills and to have access to an extensive range of books. They were also asked to develop planning and assessments to ensure all learning areas are covered and identify next steps for children to incorporate into activity plans; put in place a system to inform parents of their children's progress and develop staff knowledge of the Foundation Stage curriculum.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The kindergarten encourages staff to attend training and seek advice and guidance from the Local Authority to further develop their practise in observing and assessing children, and their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. This helps to support children's learning. The kindergarten is developing systems for information sharing with parents. The quality and range of books have now been increased and children have access to an appropriate range of fictional and factual books. This helps children to develop healthy interests in books. Children have access to daily outdoor play and enjoy physical exercise that contributes to their health. Although children have some access to a tape cassette, there are insufficient opportunities to enable them to learn about the use of every day technology. As a result of this, a recommendation has been made to further develop resources so that children can explore and investigate how

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • devise a sick children policy and further develop procedures for food safety

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 • maintain radiator guards; toilet window and books to good repair, ensure the toilet cistern is securely fitted and increase provision that reflects positive images of race, gender and disability • further improve staff knowledge and understanding of what they expect children to gain from activities and clearly identify in planning (this also applies to nursery education) • obtain parents written consent for urgent medical treatment and ensure they sign accident records after each entry • maintain the written documentation for children's attendance with all required details.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • increase opportunities for children to find out and identify the features of living things and develop resources for information technology • ensure links are made between assessments and planning, and develop the use of the outdoor area to further enhance children's learning experiences.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

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

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