Tiny Tots Day Nursery

Tiny Tots Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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155080 Unique Reference Number 31 March 2008 Inspection date Jane Davenport Inspector

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101 Higham Station Avenue, London, E4 9AY Setting Address

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020 8523 5046 Telephone number www.tinytotsdaynursery.co.uk E-mail Debra Phillips Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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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?

Tiny Tots Day Nursery was registered in 1998 and is owned and run by a private individual. It operates from a converted nursery building, which is situated in a residential area of Chingford in the London borough of Waltham Forest.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

A maximum of 35 children under five years may attend the nursery at any one time. The provision operates each weekday from 08:00 to 18:00 all year round. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 40 children on roll, 11 of whom receive funding for nursery education. The nursery is able to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The provision employs 11 staff, including the manager, eight of whom hold recognised early years qualifications.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery participates in the QUILT quality assurance scheme and staff receive support from the local early years department.

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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 good. Children are cared for in a clean and hygienic environment, where they are encouraged to develop an understanding of good hygiene practices. Effective daily routines promote children's health and well-being, for example, hand cleaning and toilet routines help to prevent the spread of infection. Children talk about using soap and warm water when they wash their hands 'to kill all the germs after playing in the garden'. They have their own labelled flannels, which are changed after every use, and labelled toothbrushes and toothpaste. They brush their teeth after each meal and this effectively helps them to understand the importance of looking after their teeth. The under twos are very well protected in terms of health and hygiene. For example, anyone entering their room is required to remove their outdoor shoes and to wash their hands with antiseptic hand wash, which is placed outside the room. Children who sleep have their

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Helping children to be healthy

own numbered beds and individual bedding and this is kept scrupulously clean.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are well protected as several members of staff hold current first aid certificates and have a sound knowledge of first aid techniques, this means that they are able to provide appropriate care and attention in the event of an accident. Parents are required to give written consent for emergency medical treatment, which means that children receive the optimum treatment according to their specific needs. Accident records are appropriately maintained. First aid supplies are easily accessible and well stocked. Children who are infectious are excluded from the setting to reduce the risk of cross-infection. There are effective procedures in place to record medication, which includes written parental consent.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's special dietary requirements are recorded and displayed, and all staff are made aware of them. Very young babies are held whilst being fed their bottles, whilst older ones are encouraged to become independent as they begin to learn to feed themselves. Food for babies who are being weaned is blended or chopped up according to their needs and parents of all children under two receive written daily reports about what their child has eaten and what nappy changes and sleeps they have had during the day. Children's snacks and main meals are generally well balanced and they receive many healthy options, such as raisins, fresh fruit, vegetables, rice and pasta. However, desserts included in the menus currently feature too many options that contain lots of sugar. Water jugs and cups are placed in the rooms for older children to help themselves to a drink whenever they need one. This, together with the well-stocked

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Helping children to be healthy

fruit bowls that are easily accessible to the children, is an excellent way of encouraging the children to be independent and aware of their own needs. It also promotes a very homely environment at the setting. Children and staff talk about how fruit and water make them healthy and about how milk is good for growing bones.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a varied range of activities, which contribute to their good health, this is as a result of regular access to outdoor play, where they are gaining increasing confidence riding bikes, balancing and climbing.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. Children learn to keep themselves safe in a welcoming and stimulating facility, where they are able to freely move around the learning environment. Staff members are vigilant about children’s safety and ensure this by the highly effective implementation of thorough, daily risk assessments

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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 and exceptionally detailed health and safety policies and procedures across the provision. Sleeping children's safety is very effectively monitored with a chart completed every ten minutes, each time they are checked. Children talk with animation about safe practice, for example, they discuss road safety and safety around animals as part of their lunch time conversation.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children benefit enormously from the well organised and vibrant learning environment and an extensive range of equipment and resources is available, which is suitable for the ages and developmental stages of children attending.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are well protected because practitioners have a very good knowledge of child protection issues, recognise their role and responsibilities and know how to implement nursery and local safeguarding children procedures. The recording of all staff, children and visitors to and from the nursery, detailed policies for the collection and non-collection of children and arrangements for recording pre-existing injuries, contribute to ensuring children are safeguarded from harm.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children enjoy their time at the setting and arrive happy and eager to participate. All children are purposefully engaged as they explore and experiment through an excellent range of well-planned activities, which are very appropriate for their stage of development. Children's creative and imaginative development is fostered well, through activities such as art and craft, painting, music, role-play and dressing up. Free expression is positively encouraged.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Babies and young children are able to explore different textures and sensory activities as they climb in and out of large cardboard boxes, use cardboard tubes as looking glasses and roll bottles containing different coloured water and glitter along the floor. Effective stimulation is provided for all their senses, as they touch, smell and taste a range of natural materials and listen with delight to the sounds they make with their musical instruments.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are making extremely good progress, because the highly motivated staff team recognise the individuality of each child and good quality adult-child interactions support the children's sense of self. Staff use the Birth to three matters framework effectively in their planning for younger children; Foundation Stage planning sheets used are evaluative and cover all of the early learning goals.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Planning is very well implemented and evaluated, and staff have developed effective systems in recording individual children's achievements and using these to inform planning for children's next steps in learning. They observe children during free and focused activities and use their notes to assess their achievements. Children are making good progress towards the early learning goals.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are developing good relationships and get on well with peers and adults. They understand the need to share and take turns when playing together and concentrate for extended periods of time at their chosen activities. They are given responsibilities, for example, at lunch time when the lunch time helpers lay the table and put out the placemats. This effectively promotes children's self-esteem. They talk happily and confidently in small groups about their home life, discussing their pets and things they have done with their families.

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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 Children's language and thought processes are very well promoted. For example, when discussing pets, they consider why a cat is called 'Jet' and reason that it is 'because it's black'. All children recognise their written name and are able to self register using their name cards; they are also learning to write their own names and are afforded many opportunities for mark making, such as writing out their shopping lists and menus. Children enjoy books and listen enthusiastically to stories. The use of open ended questions encourages them to think about what might happen next and there is an excellent range of reference books available so that children can research topics that they are interested in.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn about size, shape and using appropriate mathematical language through practical worthwhile activities, linked to the stepping-stones. For example, they talk about who is sitting on the member of staff's 'right' and 'left' in their lunch time conversation. They also park numbered cars and bikes in their corresponding numbered parking bays in the garden and sort and match written numerals up to 10, putting them in the correct order with support from staff. Children have opportunities to learn the concept of simple addition through effective procedures at routine times of the day. For example, when they are putting out the placemats at lunch time, they count how many children are having lunch, how many placemats have been put out and calculate how many more are needed so that there is one for each child.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are able to increase their knowledge and understanding of the world as they access programmable toys, such as play telephones and the computer, on a daily basis. Children are beginning to learn about the environment and how to take care of it and this is extended well by thoughtful staff interaction. For example, they all participate in the nursery re-cycling scheme, bringing in items that can be re-cycled from home. They also learn how to take care of living things by planting and nurturing the flowers and vegetables they have grown in the nursery garden and by feeding and caring for the nursery's pet guinea pigs.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children move confidently, imaginatively and safely and use good coordination as they use the indoor equipment. They demonstrate good spatial awareness and are able to use a range of large and small equipment to develop their large and fine motor skills. There are opportunities in place for promoting health and bodily awareness, as they participate in healthy indoor and outdoor exercise. One of the themes the children are currently working on is 'Skeletons'; this was prompted by the children's own interest in skeletons and how their bones work.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children's creative and imaginative development is encouraged through a very good range of well-planned activities. It is effectively extended during role play in the home corner, where children have real fruit and vegetables as their play props and use real coins when paying for items in their play shop.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children are valued and respected as individuals. Children are from various backgrounds, which helps them to recognise difference and similarity within society; this is supported by the use of resources such as a book entitled 'Me and my family'. The staff show care and consideration and treat all children with dignity and respect. Children are provided with a range of resources and activities, which help them to develop their knowledge and understanding of the wider community. For example, there are displays, posters and books within the setting that depict differing levels of ability, diverse cultures and backgrounds. Although there are no children currently on roll with identified needs, the setting is proactive in supporting the inclusion of

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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 with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children's behaviour is very good and they are beginning to show care and consideration for one another. This is as a result of the staff giving clear and concise explanations to children as to the effect their behaviour may have on others, whilst taking into account their age, level of understanding and maturity. Good behaviour is positively reinforced and rewarded with praise and affirmation. Sharing and taking turns is actively promoted and children are encouraged to help tidy up and to respect the toys and resources as well as one another.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents and carers is good and they have access to the setting's policies and procedures. Staff actively seek parents' views about their child's interests and needs to enable them to provide appropriate care. Parents are given daily information regarding their child's progress. Children's development and welfare have been further supported with the introduction of daily report books. This provides an additional means of communication between the nursery and parents/carers and allows for suggestions from both sides to support children's learning objectives. There are also opportunities for parents to discuss their child's progress on a one to one basis with their child's key worker and at Foundation Stage meetings.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The setting meets the needs of the children for whom it provides. Daily routines help children to feel secure and confident. However, these are flexible and allow for spontaneity. The staff work well as a team, are deployed effectively and understand their roles and responsibilities. There is a key worker system in place, which provides parents with a link person and ensures continuity of care for the children. There is a commitment to ongoing training and development, for example, training for staff in relation to the new Early Years Foundation Stage and safeguarding training. There are effective recruitment procedures in place. Documentation for the safe and effective management of the nursery is in place. This promotes children's welfare and contributes to the smooth running of the provision.

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Organisation

Leadership and Management is good, both the owner and manager lead by good example and utilise the strengths of individual staff members well by delegating different areas of responsibility. Regular team meetings and individual supervision supports staff development as areas of weakness are identified and further training and support is made available.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, two recommendations were set. These were to increase the opportunities for children to access the garden for outdoor play and to improve the range of resources which are reflective of the nursery's equal opportunities policy.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The outdoor play area has been extensively refurbished and all nursery children have opportunities to play outside every day and to access outdoor toys, the climbing frame, grass area and planting area. Resources that reflect diversity in society, such as books, posters, welcome notices, dressing up, dolls and puzzles are available in all areas of the nursery and part of the children's everyday experiences. These improvements have had a positive effect on the level of care and education provided for children.

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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

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since 1 April 2004, 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): • review the planning of children's menus to provide more healthy dessert options

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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): • continue to develop the provision in accordance with the requirements of appropriate frameworks

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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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