Humphrey Perkins School

Happy Child Day Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 137799 Inspection date 03/11/2009 Inspector Helen Maria Steven

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Setting address 2 Victoria Road, Kilburn, London, NW6 6QG

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Telephone number 020 7328 8791 (HQ 020 8579 8558) Email Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Happy Child Day Nursery is one of 13 nurseries and four prep schools that are privately owned. It opened in April 1999 and operates from seven rooms in a purpose built nursery in Kilburn in the London borough of Brent. The nursery is fully accessible and is arranged on one level. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 70 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 50 children in the early years age range on roll. This includes 14 children receiving nursery education funding. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm throughout the year; this can be extended by 30 minutes at the end of each day by prior arrangement.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 15 staff members, including the manager, who work directly with the children. Of these, 10, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications. Four members of staff are working towards a childcare qualification. The majority of the staff team hold first aid certificates and have undertaken food hygiene courses. The nursery also employs a cook.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

A new management team is leading a motivated staff group. They have addressed previous recommendations and notices and are embracing a culture of reflective practice, demonstrating their capacity to improve through their commitment to develop all aspects of the nursery. Children are cared for in a bright, welcoming environment where they are provided with a suitable range of resources and activities that interest them and meet their learning needs. The staff have a secure knowledge of how to support the children's learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The setting is currently strengthening their working relationships with parents in order to fully support children's development and learning. The nursery has strong liaisons with other agencies in order to support children’s individual needs.

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further?

To fully meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 carry out and keep a record of risk assessments, clearly stating when it was carried out, by whom, date of review and any action taken following a review or incident (Suitable premises, environment and 01/12/2009 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 equipment)

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 ensure that all children receive balanced meals and provide them with suitable cutlery to fully support their independence  plan and resource a challenging environment both inside and outside where children’s play can be supported and extended across all areas of the learning, where possible link the indoor and outdoor environments so that children can move freely between them and ensure that babies have daily opportunities for outdoor play  strengthen the process of observation and evaluation in order to effectively plan for each child to support personalised learning and involve children in learning which takes them into the local community

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the early years provision

Children are protected because practitioners have a secure understanding of safeguarding procedures and know when to take action to protect children in their care. Ongoing training ensures the team keep their understanding of safeguarding updated. Robust recruitment procedures are in place and appropriate checks are taken out on all staff. Detailed risk assessments are not in place for the premises. This is a breach of requirements. Daily safety checks are in place, but a hazard has been overlooked. Security systems have been strengthened and practitioners have systems in place to ensure that children are only collected by known adults.

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the early years provision

Since the last visit by Ofsted, new managers have been appointed. They are now leading a team who are appropriately trained with up-to-date skills and qualifications. The enthusiastic managers are focusing on building a strong team to provide stability for the children in their care. At present, the nursery is undergoing a reorganisation to ensure a balance of staff skills across each of the rooms and capitalising on staff’s strengths; the aim is to benefit the children in the long term. The leadership have recently developed a guidance folder for staff, setting out their expectations for practices and routines within each base room of the nursery. There are detailed policies and procedures in place which parents can access with ease and they can also view information via the organisation’s website. The quality of recording children’s progress through observation and assessment is variable and some records are not readily accessible. Through regular staff meetings,

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the early years provision

managers are leading and encouraging a culture of reflective practice. They identify that at this present time they are satisfactory and this accurate appraisal of the setting's effectiveness and what it needs to do in order to secure further improvements is enabling them to steadily improve the quality of provision for all children. The provider has addressed the recommendations set at the last inspection and has met their notice of improvement, thus benefiting all the children.

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the early years provision

The nursery is bright and welcoming having recently undergone internal This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 redecoration and a garden refurbishment. Rooms are organised into learning areas and low level shelving and baskets enable children to self-select from a suitable range of resources. The managers are actively developing strategies to further strengthen their partnership with parents. For example, they are inviting parents to visit in order to share their expertise and home culture. A key person system is operational and new systems are in place to seek information from new parents which will contribute to practitioners developing an understanding of each child’s welfare and learning needs and starting points. Overall, parents give positive feedback about the nursery and are happy with the progress their children are making. Staff have forged strong links and relationships with a number of outside

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the early years provision

agencies and keenly work alongside them to ensure children’s individual needs are met.

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and outcomes for children

Children generally settle well in the nursery, most are confident and have a sense of belonging. New children are afforded time to feel safe; their parents visit with them and leave them gradually. Many children have been appointed a new key person as part of a recent reorganisation. The key persons are familiar faces to the children and they are in the process of developing a special bond with their group and parents. Some resting children have their bags placed beside them, however, the cords on these bags are hazardous if children put them around their necks. Children learn how to behave appropriately as practitioners explain why unwanted behaviour is unacceptable. Children are learning to take responsibility for their environment by putting their things away when activities are finished. Fundraising events to raise money for local charities encourage children to gain an awareness of the needs of others in their community.

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and outcomes for children

Children throughout the nursery make suitable progress towards the early learning goals as practitioners plan and provide interesting activities. Children are afforded time to complete activities they are undertaking and make use of labels stating 'I want to come back to this later'. Managers arrange for an outside visitor to facilitate an active session, developing children’s knowledge of healthy eating. The use of discussion, song and actions encourages the children to develop healthy lifestyles. Information from parents and practitioners' observations help to establish children’s starting points. The managers are exploring different ways of tracking and monitoring children’s progress. Children learn about different cultures as well as their own through, for example, listening to music from various countries and different genres. Currently, there are limited opportunities for children to engage in learning opportunities which take them into their local

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and outcomes for children

community. Keywords in children’s home languages are sought from parents, but some children are unable to see their home language displayed in the nursery. Children learn French each week with a specialist teacher. There are reflective resources such as books, materials and dolls available and communication systems are being developed by staff embarking on a Makaton course.

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and outcomes for children

Children have opportunities to develop their skills in Information and Communication Technologies; they work in small groups and on a one-to-one basis This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 with staff members who help them understand the processes. Children’s numeracy skills are supported by practitioners who use mathematical language in discussions. Children are introduced to the pleasure of books as they relax in the cosy book areas and read with adults. They enjoy singing their favourite songs and enthusiastically join in with the actions. Practitioners respond to babies' babbles and give them good eye contact when communicating. Children learn that words have meaning as staff highlight names on stickers used for an activity. The learning environment includes activities that support literacy and numeracy; however, it is not rich in text or numbers. Children’s creativity is enhanced by

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and outcomes for children

opportunities to explore different media, musical activities and movement. Role play areas are set out, but currently do not enhance children’s play in all areas of learning. Children develop an understanding of personal hygiene when they hand wash routinely after toileting. Older children enjoy the freedom to access fresh fruit whenever they identify they are hungry. They enthusiastically tuck in to lunch which is prepared freshly on site each day, but some children who have dietary restrictions lack protein to balance their meal. In addition, children are not given appropriate cutlery to develop their skills in feeding themselves independently. Children make use of the garden primarily for physical play, climbing, hoop rolling, kicking balls, peddling bikes, pushing buggies, negotiating corners and avoiding collisions. The large outdoor area has recently been refurbished and now has all weather flooring. Currently, resources and plans for the outside environment do

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and outcomes for children

not fully embrace all areas of learning. Although the garden is adjacent to most rooms, children do not have the opportunity to free-flow between the spaces and babies do not go out every day. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 3 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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Stage

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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