Teddies Nurseries

Teddies Nurseries Inspection report for early years provision

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EY253975 Unique Reference Number 27 September 2007 Inspection date Anahita Aderianwalla Inspector

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60 Beaconsfield Road, London, N11 3AE Setting Address

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E-mail

BUPA Insurance Services Ltd 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 good. 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 good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Teddies Nursery in New Southgate is one of thirty four nurseries managed by Teddies Nurseries which is a subsidiary company of BUPA. The nursery opened in 2003. It is situated in a single storey newly refurbished building close to schools, transport and parks. There is access to an outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery is registered to provide full day care for 56 children up to five years of age. Children can attend on a full or part time basis. It is open between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday all year except for Bank holidays.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are 17 staff who work with the children all of whom hold an early years qualification. The setting is in receipt of funding for 11 three and four year olds. They receive support from an education advisor from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. Children learn through very good experiences the importance of good personal hygiene, staff remind them to blow their noses and children independently access the washing area after messy play or before and after snacks. The low table with bowl and jug of water is inviting for the children, encouraging them to develop good hygiene practices for themselves, as they pour the water in child sized cups, developing their independence skills. The children are protected from infection because the children play in a very clean and well-maintained environment and the staff have information about children's health care matters. A very comprehensive range of documentation is in place and the majority of practitioners hold current first-aid certificates.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from a healthy diet. They enjoy a variety of very healthy snacks and drinks, like fruit, crackers and cheese, which is served in individual dishes, so children can freely choose what they would like to eat and serve themselves. Children have good opportunities to learn about their own needs and to recognise for themselves what foods are good for them. Regular events such as, lunch times and topics include discussions and opportunities for children to taste and find out about a variety of foods such as risottos, and Bolognese, and noodles. The staff take account of the wishes of parents and have a clear record of any allergies or medical conditions as well as any dietary requirements to ensure all the children have appropriate and suitable meals.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a very broad range of equipment to develop their coordination skills as well as a very good range of activities to promote their physical development through games, movement to music, and the "Stretch and Grow" lessons that promote children to develop their bodies and coordination through a series of fun exercises, that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. They have opportunities to develop their finer manipulative skills through using small equipment such as pencils, pegs and puzzles. Babies develop their physical skills as they use low level furniture to pull themselves up and practise walking with push along walkers. Staff know children's individual needs well and are supportive as children crawl, climb and walk as they explore their environment.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children have daily opportunities to play in a secure garden where they can practise their physical skills of using the climbing frames, balancing beams and riding tri-cycles. The children move with confidence and imagination spontaneously hopping or balancing, on the large beams, or using the climbing frame; and riding scooters and bikes, shouting: 'you can't catch me' outside in the garden. All children in the setting develop bodily awareness as they learn the benefits of physical activity and can name parts of the body, like "biceps", and they learn about the reasons we perspire, and the need to drink after physical play. The children discover the effects of exercise, as they all participate in "Stretch and Grow" lessons packed with bundles of fun!

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. Children are extremely well cared for in a safe and well-maintained environment. The organisation of age-appropriate toys and equipment means children can move around safely and freely to independently access available resources from tables and shelves at child height.

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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 benefit from a very broad range of safety measures, for example, fire blanket and extinguishers and the use of safety surfaces in the outdoor play area, and guards to protect the radiators. Detailed risk assessments are completed on all areas of the setting and prior to outings; information documented clearly reflects potential risks and the steps taken highlight how they are reduced. They develop a good awareness of safety through practising emergency evacuations. Staff deployment is very good and guarantees children are well supervised and safe at all times. Sensitive reminders, such as requests to remember to use equipment appropriately or not running in the rooms, are reinforced through praising positive behaviour 'what lovely walking children, well done', this increases children’s awareness of everyday safety

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is given high priority as they are protected from possible abuse or neglect. Staff show a very good understanding of the procedure to follow with any concerns. They are fully aware of the types of abuse and signs to look for and how to handle any concerns. There is comprehensive information for staff and parents on child protection issues to help staff protect the children in their care. Staff access safeguarding children training and update child protection procedures and policies as required, thereby helping to keep children safe.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Activities and opportunities provided for children are excellent. A varied, challenging, stimulating and interesting range of age appropriate resources and activities are available, such as dance and French lessons. Children also enjoy experiences away from the setting. All of which provides interest, stimulation and challenge to help children make outstanding progress and thoroughly enjoy their time at the setting.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are very confident, settle quickly and select for themselves a favourite activity from an excellent range available. The children explore and investigate in a child led environment where staff promote children to relish every moment of play and give them the time they need to discover learning. Children are very interested and active in their own learning, spending time concentrating on the resources and activities, such as children playing in the water and sand, using different funnels, cups, spades and small world play dinosaurs. Another child is concentrating very hard on doing up the buttons on a dressing up coat. They are curious and want to play with the resources, watch the spiders, and bugs in the garden or explore many of the excellent resources available to support children's learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing strong relationships and get on well with peers and adults. Caring relationships between staff and children are evident, supported by a robust key worker system in place. They are greeted warmly by staff as they arrive enabling them to settle and participate eagerly in the play and activities on offer. They play imaginary games together, cooking in the role-play corner. The children co-operate, working extremely well together, they organise their own games, two boys, playing with cars on a mat, help each other get equipment out and put it away again. They naturally share and readily take turns, with staff rarely having to help mediate disputes.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff have developed a very good understanding of the 'Birth to three matters' framework, which is shared with parents through the many displays around the setting. They benefit from the good balance of adult-led and child-initiated experiences made available. The staff promote children’s development, they join in the children's play, building on the children's own interests

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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 and supporting their learning through the use of rich language and appropriate questions and challenges to arouse their curiosity in learning through play.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children use their imagination in a wide range of situations such as the role play ‘in the kitchen’ or ‘restaurants’ as they play with play food and cooking utensils and other resources with their key workers. Children use number names in their play and count groups of items reliably. They talk about ‘big, big water’ and ‘little bits’ of paint, using the language of mathematics expertly. They use number names and recognise numbers when they press the buttons on the telephone in the role play area. Children communicate effectively and use a wide range of vocabulary to express their ideas and talk about what they know. They use language effectively to respond to their sensory experiences, telling adults that the tea is ‘hot’ and ‘to be careful’. Children talk with understanding about what they do at home and they notice patterns and changes in the natural environment when

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

they discuss the day and weather at circle time each morning, and grow cress seeds and herbs in the sensory garden. The children play together and co-operate well with each other showing care and concern for one another.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's ability to manipulate small tools is well developed, they successfully use brushes, glue sticks and hold pencils correctly to paint, colour and make glitter pictures. Children are not offered mark- making in all areas of the setting, and as a result this limits children's understanding of writing for a purpose. The walls show a wide range of colourful displays of work created by the children. Confidence in technology is developing as the children skilfully use a mouse to complete simple matching games on the computer. Opportunities for children to develop knowledge and understanding of the world are successfully incorporated into planning. Visits to the shops and post office provide children with the opportunity to extend their learning about the local community.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children benefit well from the staff's sound knowledge of the Foundation Stage, and effective teaching helps children make good progress towards the early learning goals. Effective plans are in place covering all areas of learning and showing differentiation for children's abilities. Children's achievements are well recorded in individual files and identify next steps. Children are skilfully questioned and challenged by the staff, who ask richly phrased questions to help children to think and to learn at their own pace. For example, they ask questions in rich mathematical terms, such as 'how many' and 'is it empty or full', thereby using every day activities to help children develop their understanding of numbers and number concepts.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Staff show a clear commitment to equal opportunities and this is evident through practice at the nursery, ensuring that all children have equal access to resources and activities. Children have good opportunities to learn about their local community and culture through a variety of planned activities, such as walks to the local post office and around the town and celebrating well known festivals such as Christmas and Easter. A wide range of resources and activities such as, celebrating the Chinese New Year and Diwali encourage children's understanding of diversity. Staff are continually devising fun and interesting ways for children to learn about the wider world, through a wide range of resources, such as, reference books, jigsaws, dressing up clothes and writing in different languages all around the nursery.

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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 Children thrive in an atmosphere where staff support children making them feel valued as individuals. The children and the staff show respect, consideration and care for themselves and each other. Staff value children’s input, listen to them and respond showing interest and concern. Children’s work is displayed and children learn to value themselves and others through planned topics and activities such as 'Multicultural week'. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. The setting benefits from a Special Educational Needs Coordinator who demonstrates a good understanding of the needs of children with learning difficulties and disabilities and is committed to working with parents and other organisations to ensure that individual needs are met. However, there are very limited resources to promote

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Helping children make a positive contribution

children with disabilities. Children's behaviour is very good, they share and take turns and have a developing sense of right and wrong. The children have a good level of independence, freely selecting equipment for themselves and taking responsibility for their personal care.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents and carers is good. Parents speak highly of the group and appreciate the care and attention given to their children. Children benefit from parents' involvement in their learning and staff liaise very well with the parents and arrange social events, like evening Barbeques. Parents have a comprehensive range of information on the children's activities through notice boards, newsletters, parents evenings and good daily dialogues. This helps staff and parents work closely together to promote children's progress and ensure consistency of care.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The environment is effectively organised and space is used very well to maximise play opportunities for the children. High and consistently maintained ratios enable the staff to get to know the children very well and spend time talking and playing with them. Robust staff vetting, induction training and comprehensive policies and procedures are in place and work well in practice to keep children healthy and safeguard their welfare.

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Organisation

The key worker system is effective and staff get to know the children extremely well. The staff are skilled at interacting with the children, responding well to them and listening to their ideas. Time is effectively organised to cater for structured, free play, rest and meal times, therefore, meeting children's individual needs very well.

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Organisation

Effective procedures are in place for the recruitment of staff, who are trained mainly to Levels 2 and 3 in childcare. Systems are well developed to evaluate and monitor staff performance and development, this ensures the nursery fulfils its vision to provide a high quality standard of education for children and provides maximum learning opportunities for the children who attend.

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Organisation

Documentation is maintained in line with the National Standards and therefore helps in promoting the safe and excellent management of the setting. There is a full and comprehensive range of policies and procedures including complaints, which are regularly updated and shared with parents, which all staff understand and are involved in reviewing on an annual basis.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good with the highly motivated and committed staff team working well together. There is a shared commitment to early years, which is supported by management and staff who attend regular training to extend their understanding in early years' education. The staff have a sound knowledge of the National Standards, the Birth to three framework and the Foundation Stage curriculum, as well as having Montessori teaching

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 qualifications. The leadership and management have a clear commitment to improving the quality of care and education for the all the children that attend the setting.

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Organisation

The provision meets the needs of the range of the children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the provider was asked to consider the organisation of lunch and to implement a system to monitor sleeping children. They were also asked to make available to parents a written statement that provides details of how to contact Ofsted if they have a complaint, provide evidence of vetting for all staff, and suitable cover arrangements for staff breaks. The setting were also advised to plan a range of activities and play opportunities for children's overall development and provide a suitable range of toys and activities, in order to meet the developmental needs of the older children and the toddlers.

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Improvements since the last inspection

All of these have been positively addressed which has a positive impact on the children's well-being.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The setting has developed opportunities for planning a highly motivated curriculum, with a wide range of activities that fully promotes the learning and development for all children in the setting. Staff have a robust system for record keeping and monitor the sleep times for children and sit with children during lunch making it a sociable occasion for children. Parents have full access to a written statement that provides the correct contact details for Ofsted if they have a complaint. The setting have a very high ratio maintained to cover all staff breaks, and the setting have extremely robust vetting procedures. The setting have addressed all the previous recommendations and meet all the needs for the children for whom it provides.

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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 good. 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 good.

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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):

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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 • ensure staff plan and incorporate the promotion of disabilities, in daily routines throughout the setting

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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): • ensure children have access to mark making in all areas to increase awareness of writing for a purpose

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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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