Preston Multicultural Nursery School: First Steps to Learning

First Steps

Inspection report for early years provision

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First Steps

Unique Reference Number EY294864 Inspection date 28 June 2005 Inspector Malini Parmar

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First Steps

Setting Address 114 Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8NB

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First Steps

Telephone number 02079070028 or 07932410431

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E-mail

Registered person Neharika Khagram Type of inspection Integrated Type of care Full day 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 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?

Preston Multicultural Nursery School: First Steps to Learning originally opened in 2002 and moved at the present address in 2004. The building is shared with the church hall committee. The nursery is located in a residential area in Wembley. It is situated within walking distance of Preston Road tube station, local bus routes, shops and a library. Children from the local and surrounding community attend. A maximum of 36 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is open each

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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 weekday 08:30 to 17:00 for 50 weeks of the year. Children attend a variety of full and part time sessions. Children have access to two playrooms and, toilets and a fully enclosed outdoor play area. Staff have access to the church kitchen. There are currently 36 children aged 2 to under 5 years on roll. Of these 16 receive funding for nursery education. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs, and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs seven staff of these five have suitable early years qualifications and two staff are working towards appropriate child care qualifications. As well as English one staff speaks Tagalog. Two other staff members speak Urdu and Gujarati.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children learn about healthy hygiene practice through the daily routine. They are, for example encouraged to wash their hands at appropriate times and staff support older children to understand that washing their hands helps to wash germs away. In this way children are encouraged to learn the connection between participating in regular hygiene routines and maintaining good health. However, children are exposed to increased risks of cross infection because procedures to help prevent the spread of illnesses are unreliable. While, staff sterilise tables before serving food and use disposable gloves when changing nappies, they do not methodically ensure the nappy changing mat is cleaned after each change. Children also share bedding and sleeping mats and these are washed once a week. Systems to ensure toys and equipment are clean and of a suitable condition are not securely in place.

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Helping children to be healthy

Consequently, children sometimes have access to grubby furniture and at times play with dirty toys, as a result their health is not fully safeguarded. Children clearly enjoy the sound range of healthy and nutritious snacks, which comply with all special dietary requirements and parental wishes. They particularly relish the fresh fruit at snack times. Children benefit from helping themselves to a drink whenever they need both indoors and whilst playing in the garden. Perishable foods supplied in packed lunches are stored appropriately to minimise any risks caused by food to children's health in hot weather. Children receive useful chances to learn the importance of healthy eating as they, for example, prepare a salad for their snack. They eagerly select between a range of healthy foods and respond in a variety of ways as they express their delight and disgust for some of the available options. Children clearly enjoy regular opportunities for vigorous exercise. Older children

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Helping children to be healthy

benefit from weekly opportunities to strengthen and refine their gross motor movements and learn new physical skills, as they take part in organised classes from a visiting dance teacher. They carefully control their movements as they run, roll, jump, hop and skip in time with the tempo of the beats. Children respond

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 enthusiastically as they hear the changes in the music. For example, they speedily quicken their pace coordinating their movements to match the new rhythm. Outdoors, children practice newly learnt skills for example, with hoops, they eagerly rotate their tummies to make the hoops spin. Younger children receive sufficient staff support to learn to pedal bikes and delight as they manage to propel forwards. However, children's opportunities to refine an awareness of space is hindered by a lack of effective organisation of space and resources both indoors and outdoors. Outdoor play is insufficiently planned, consequently, children often collide because space is not clearly demarcated. Indoors, children do not always have enough room to fully express themselves as they wish.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children arrive happily and settle quickly in a warm and friendly environment. They have access to a satisfactory range of developmentally appropriate toys and resources and select these freely using the space available. Occasionally, the layout of toys and resources protrudes on the actual play space available for older children. Consequently, children do not have enough room to utilize all available opportunities and this restricts their choices. Children's risk to accidental injury is minimised by generally effective procedures, staff make regular risk assessments to ensure all fundamental safety measures are securely in place. Children are supervised closely by staff, they are familiar with the routine and wait patiently for staff to escort them outside. Older children know and understand how certain actions may injure them. For example, they know it is unsafe to run indoors or sit on high tables. However, children sometimes play with broken

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

toys because procedures to check them for breakages and damages are not yet fully reliable. The entrance is monitored by staff who use an intercom system to enable children to feel secure. While this helps staff to monitor the entrance for persons unknown to the premises, the building is shared and systems to ensure other persons using the building do not gain access are unreliable. Some children receive fewer chances to develop an effective awareness of how to respond in the event of an emergency evacuation. Although, fire safety procedures are in place, and drills are practiced, these do not take account of the patterns of attendance of all children. This means that children attending, for example, in the afternoon would have less chance to cope in an emergency because drills are only practiced during the morning sessions. Children's welfare is not fully safeguarded because staff are not fully secure in their

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

knowledge of issues surrounding child protection. Staff are particularly unsure of what procedures to follow if an allegation is made against them.

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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 aged between two to three clearly enjoy using a range of malleable resources such as, sand, water and playdoh to promote their senses. They benefit from the positive interaction they receive during story and song times to stimulate their language and encourage their communication skills. Children respond with excitement as they play with imaginative toys and “go shopping” in the role play area. However, staff have not yet begun to use the Birth to three matters framework. Consequently, activities are inappropriately planned using the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. This means that children sometimes become bored and begin to wander in search of other possibilities because activities are not planned specifically to support their individual needs. Children are not always able to use toys

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and resources offered to them in an appropriate way because they are poorly organised and their purpose is not always clear to either the children or staff. Nursery Education. The overall quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory and in the main, children are successfully engaged in a range of interesting practical activities. They are making satisfactory progress through the stepping stones towards the Early Learning Goals. Children are confident and try new activities with enthusiasm. Firm relationships are established as they learn to share and take turns. Children develop sound levels of concentration and preserve in their chosen tasks, such as when completing puzzles or chopping a summer salad. Occasionally, children’s learning is not extended by a lack of independence. Many opportunities to strengthen self help skills and foster children’s independence effectively are missed. Consequently, children receive

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

limited opportunities to, for example, pour their own drinks. Children happily select from the range of activities offered, but there is little emphasis placed on helping them to make choices outside of those offered by staff. The environment is not carefully prepared to facilitate this and there is a strong focus on adult directed activities. Consequently children do not always initiate their own play successfully. Children speak clearly and confidently as they engage both adults and their friends in conversation. They receive regular opportunities for songs and rhymes and eagerly participate in the drama sessions. Children listen and respond well and many are able to successfully sequence the events in a story. Children enjoy books but the limited space and poor organisation of the book area results in them prematurely abandoning books. Children clearly enjoy making marks but they receive few chances to, for example, label their own work to establish writing for a purpose.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children receive useful chances to engage in mathematical play, they particularly enjoy building towers, comparing sizes and sequencing colours. They develop strong self esteem as they successfully repeat mathematical language to identify, size, shape and quantity. Children frequently engage in creative play, they eagerly paint, cut, stick and play with sand and water to communicate their thoughts, ideas and feelings. Children freely play with water and strengthen their fine motor movements as they, for example, push and squeeze syringes. Others, delight as they successfully transfer water using different sized containers. However, opportunities to clearly learn about space and measure are missed by staff who do not fully support children's enquiry at these times. Children enthusiastically examine plastic bugs using magnifying glasses and compare their findings. They delight as they notice the

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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 “spots” on ladybirds and “skinny legs” on the “black spiders” and learn about living things. They have weekly chances to strengthen their computer skills as they participate in formal computer classes from a visiting teacher. They successfully control the mouse as they identify the correct “letters” and make circular patterns to display. However, outside of these lessons, children have limited chances to use other programmable toys and find out how things work. Children frequently engage in imaginative play to mimic their observations of the world around them, for example, they enter the “garden centre”. However, much of this play is unsupported by staff, who do not always successfully engage the children to extend their imaginations by exploring their experiences further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children benefit from the firm knowledge of the Foundation Stage Curriculum that the core staff have. Planning and assessments are beginning to develop. Staff meet weekly to discuss and evaluate a programme of activities based around a theme. They make regular observations on the children's progress. The process of using these to identify children's individual learning priorities and use these to plan activities is not yet securely in place. Children develop confidence and benefit as staff interact positively with them and they generally ask useful questions to support and extend learning. However, children sometimes become restless and do not successfully retain their motivation because the pace and routine of the session does not successfully account for their individual needs. Consequently, they often spend too long waiting in extended whole group situations.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children receive useful chances to learn about differences and develop a positive view of the wider world. A range of festivities are celebrated throughout the year and children regularly use a sufficient range of toys and resources which promote positive images. Children with English as an additional language receive helpful support from staff. This enables all children to feel valued and consequently children receive greater chances of strengthening their self worth. Strategies to support children with special educational needs are developing. Children receive sound levels of praise and encouragement for their achievements to boost their confidence and enhance self esteem. In general children are well behaved. However, too few explanations are consistently offered to children this often leads to repeated instances of unwanted behaviour. Consequently children receive fewer chances to learn how to manage their own behaviour.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from the sound procedures in place to promote healthy partnership's with parents to ensure their well being, development and progress. Partnership’s with parents is satisfactory and children’s individual needs are documented. Children are, for example, able to rest and eat according to their individual routine. Newsletter’s, notice boards and the use of contact diaries for younger children, ensure parents are made aware of how children spend their time at nursery. Children's developmental records are available for parents to view upon request, parents are provided with two reports a year in addition a parent's day is programmed. Although, children receiving

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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 funding benefit from these systems, opportunities to ensure parents can participate fully in their learning is limited because the system to share children's individual learning priorities is not yet secure. Overall children's Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development is fostered appropriately.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children settle quickly in an calm environment. Staff work closely and have a clear knowledge of their roles for the smooth operation of the routine on a daily basis. However, children's progress is sometimes hindered due to a lack of effective organisation. Children spend to long waiting for their turn in whole group activities and sometimes participate in activities that do not fully meet their individual needs, such as collective television times, to support the organisational needs. Children enjoy participating in many practical activities to promote their learning. However, the strong emphasis on adult led activities results in many missed opportunities for children to increase their independence. The organisation of care is developing to enable children to gain a secure understanding of how to keep safe, healthy and manage their own behaviour. While, children learn the importance of healthy hygiene

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Organisation

through the routine. Systems to prevent the spread of infection are unreliable. While, there are useful mechanisms to safeguard children, their welfare is compromised by the lack of effective procedures to ensure all persons with access to the building are suitably vetted. Children develop in their confidence and self esteem because staff regularly praise and encourage them but they are not offered with consistent explanations for unwanted behaviour and receive fewer chances to learn to manage their own behaviour successfully. Children benefit from the developing systems to ensure the required records to meet their needs are fully in place. There a set of appropriate polices and procedures. Induction training and regular individual support meetings are developing to ensure staff are familiar with them. However, in practice, children's welfare is not fully safe guarded because staff are not fully secure in their knowledge of some of the settings

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Organisation

procedures, in particular child protection. Leadership and Management of the setting is satisfactory. Children benefit from a strong staff team that work closely together. There are clear support structures in place to ensure the ideas of all staff are valued to meet the needs of the children. Children’s experiences are promoted because there is a strong commitment to improvement within the staff team instigated by both managers. Although, the registered person and manager has some knowledge of weaknesses within the provision and has identified a programme for improvement. Children do not benefit from a clear assessment of how fully their needs are met within the programme because systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of the provision are not yet rigorous. Overall, the setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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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

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Complaints since the last inspection

A concern was reported to Ofsted related to National Standard 12 working in partnership with parents. The provider was asked to investigate this matter and a full report was received alongside papers relating to the complaint. The provider has followed all the correct procedures and the papers show how this has been achieved. The provider has since strengthened working in partnership with parents and parents are now also able to contribute their thoughts and views and ideas in a suggestions book.

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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): • Provide evidence to show adults providing day care, looking after children or having unsupervised access to them, including all persons sharing the building are suitable to do so. • Promote the good health of children and take positive steps to prevent the spread of infection. • Provide furniture, equipment and toys, which are appropriate, their purpose is clear to children and adults supporting them, and which are of suitable design and condition, well maintained and conform to safety standards. • Ensure all adults working and looking after children are secure in their knowledge of local child protection procedures and are bale to put them into practice if they need to. Ensure all adults working with children are secure in their knowledge of what would happen in the event an allegation is made

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The quality and standards of the care

against them. • Improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the needs of children under 3, for example through the use of the Birth to three framework to enable them

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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 to plan and provide a suitable range of activities for the younger children.

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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 staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage to ensure the use of assessments in order to identify children's individual learning priorities and use these to inform future plans, ensure these are shared with parents. Provide children with greater opportunities to develop their self help skills and increase their independence • Develop a rigorous system to monitor and review the groups' strengths and weaknesses and that of the educational programme.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements 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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