Toddlers at the Bridge

Toddlers at the Bridge Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY401993 Inspection date 15/03/2010 Inspector Carolyn Mary Hasler

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Setting address Enfield Rangers Boys Club, Carterhatch Lane, ENFIELD, Middlesex, EN1 4LA Telephone number 07956 601592 Email rlduk@hotmail.com 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 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as 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: 0300 123 1231 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

Toddlers at the Bridge pre-school is one of two nurseries run by Toddlers. It opened in 2009 and operates from two rooms in a scout hut. It is situated in the Caterhatch area of the London Borough of Enfield. A maximum of 52 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 84 children on roll who attend on a sessional basis. There are a high number of children who speak English as an additional language and come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The setting also supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children come from a wide catchment area.

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Description of the setting

The pre school is open each weekday from 9.15 am to 11.45 am and 12.30 pm until 3.00 pm, 38 weeks of the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs eight members of staff on a part time basis, with the manager in post full time. The manager has a level 5 early years qualification and all staff hold a minimum of a level 2 qualification in early years.

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Description of the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is inadequate.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

There are a number of welfare requirements that are not currently being met. This means that the setting is not fully implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are significant weaknesses in the management of safeguarding and meeting children's individual needs which impacts on outcomes for children and the overall effectiveness of the setting. This is their first inspection since registration and the setting have adequate capacity to improve their practice to address identified issues.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the early years provision requires significant improvement. The registered person is given a Notice to Improve that sets out actions to be carried out.

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further?

To comply with the requirements of the EYFS the registered person must take the following action by the specified date:

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further?

 promote equality of opportunity and anti- discriminatory practice and ensure that every child is included and not disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties or disabilities, gender or ability (Organisation) 19/04/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  implement an effective safeguarding children policy and ensure all members of staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedure (Safeguarding and welfare) 19/04/2010

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further?

 establish effective systems to ensure that the individual needs of all children are met (Organisation) 19/04/2010

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further?

 undertake sensitive observational assessment in order to plan to meet young children's individual needs (Organisation) 19/05/2010

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further?

To improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 develop further the recruitment policy to ensure that parents and staff understand how suitability decisions are made  verify the identity of any visitors, record their names, the purpose of the visit, and details of arrival and departure times

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the early years provision

There are significant weaknesses with the identification of safeguarding concerns. For example, knowledge and understanding of signs and symptoms are not consistent throughout the staff team. This means that signs may be missed in the event of a child being abused. Although there is evidence to suggest that the provider understands and practises safe recruitment the procedure is not robust and lacks information about how the setting assesses suitability, this means that members of staff and parents are not sufficiently informed. The system to verify the identity of visitors is not consistently used, this means that there is no clear record of who has been on the premises and the purpose of their visit.

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the early years provision

The manager holds a level 5 qualification and ensures that all the staff team hold a level 2 or 3 qualification in childcare. Most members of staff hold a current paediatric first aid certificate. Whilst there has been limited training on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum all members of staff questioned were able to talk through why they set out the resources and how resources help children develop skills in the six areas of learning. The leaders and managers show a clear vision for the future of this setting and have began to share and implement these. However, they have not effectively set targets to improve outcomes for children and whilst some children are making satisfactory progress this is inconsistent for all children.

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the early years provision

Some staff are unclear of their role as key people and what this means in terms of supporting individual children through building secure attachments and identifying learning and development objectives. There is little understanding of working effectively with parents to understand children's development at the point of entry. Whilst the staff undertake observations and link these to the different areas of learning and evaluate, they are not effectively identifying next steps and using this information within planning to build an effective learning journey. Goals in learning and development are not being achieved consistently enough. Whilst staff are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 generally well meaning and show caring attitudes towards children, insufficient knowledge of key children means that some children do not receive adequate support in order to meet their individual needs. The quality and availability of

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the early years provision

resources is variable, there are few examples of resources which support diversity, there are no programmable toys or technical equipment and the setting lacks a variety of natural resources to explore.

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the early years provision

The practice at this setting is not sufficiently inclusive. Some groups of children, such as those who speak English as an additional language, are not fully supported. There are insufficient attempts to engage with children and to overcome barriers, such as communication difficulties, which prevent their involvement. Some examples of this are; children building friendships, engaging in play and accessing resources to support their learning in each of the different areas. Key people lack basic knowledge of children's unique characteristics, the languages spoken at home or their cultural background. As a result some children are unable to communicate their needs effectively and under achieve, also they do not enjoy their time at the setting.

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the early years provision

There are tentative steps taken to evaluate the service and introduce systems to monitor progress. This includes introducing a staff rota, a structure to the sessions and learning journeys to support monitoring and evaluation of children's progress. The leadership and management team recognise the strengths of the setting and show good intentions to improve standards where there are weaknesses. These include updating resources and accessing training.

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the early years provision

The setting has access to, and communicates with, additional support resources such as speech and language therapists, area special educational needs co- ordinator and the educational psychologist who they consult with for support in the care of individual children. There is good liaison with local schools to support the transition of rising four and five-year-olds entering the next phase of learning.

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the early years provision

Parents and carers have access to information through the policy and procedure files, notice boards, regular news letters and through discussion at the end of each day. Their permission is sought on a number of different issues which supports the care arrangements. There is some information about the Early Years Foundation Stage displayed on the walls and parents are able to take home children's learning journeys so that they can see what children are able to do while at the setting. Children take books home to encourage story reading in the home environment and the parent rota encourages parents to stay and be involved in children's learning at the setting. There are systems in place to keep parents who speak English as an additional language informed. For example, the setting can access the local authorities translation and interpreting facilities. However, these are not effectively used to support the needs of individual children. Parents share their

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the early years provision

views of the setting through suggestion boxes place at the entrance to the setting. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Most children enjoy their time at the setting and are active learners, eager to explore their environment using all of their senses within their play. They have good attitudes towards learning new skills and are able to tell staff when they have enjoyed an activity using both verbal and non verbal language. However, whilst some children make satisfactory progress, this is variable amongst some individuals who fail to make sufficient progress in relation to their starting points.

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and outcomes for children

Most children build a sense of belonging within the setting. They understand the routines, are responsive to boundary setting and access play resources independently. They relate well to familiar adults and to other children. However some groups of children, in particular those who have limited language skills in English, do not settle easily and show signs of distress. For example they show watchful, un-communicative behaviour and are unable to engage in play or relate to others successfully. The arrangements for safeguarding children are inadequate, regulations and duties are not met which impacts on children's feelings of being safe.

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and outcomes for children

Children are learning to adopt healthy lifestyles. They are cared for in an environment where hygiene procedures ensure their health and they are encouraged to practise personal hygiene throughout the session, for example, through hand washing after using the toilet and before sitting down to eat snacks. Snacks are healthy and nutritious and children are able to access drinks through the session. Weather permitting, the setting makes use of their outside area where children can run around and enjoy fresh air and exercise. At these times children have access to hoops, balls, buggies and tents. Children help move furniture and equipment to organise space. They are beginning to understand the effects that physical activity has on their bodies. Physical development is encouraged in other ways through the safe use of tools such as scissors, paint brushes and pencils and a range of construction toys to help children build hand eye co-ordination.

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and outcomes for children

Most children relate well to adults and are beginning to form friendships with others. They are able to play along side or engage in shared games and take part in large group activities. They are well behaved and respectful of others. However some groups of children remain unsettled and spend much of their time with little purpose. They show little confidence and self esteem.

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and outcomes for children

Children are offered a range of activities to support their communication skills; this includes a variety of role play situations both in the home corner and with small world equipment. They have a book corner where they can look at books and story time where they can listen to and engage in books with a larger group of children. The setting recognises the importance of encouraging language in all that children do and there are lots of conversations to help them to understand and explore resources. There is a range of problem solving, reasoning and numeracy activities which take place such as measuring of ingredients to make play dough, exploring construction equipment and working out how to put together a range of puzzles. They work with numbers, colours and shapes. They have little opportunity to build This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 skills relating to information and communication technology as there are no

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and outcomes for children

resources available to support this. Where children are unable to communicate effectively they miss out on the range of opportunities provided. These children make insufficient progress in communication, literacy, numeracy and skills relating to information and communication technology. They fail to work together with their peers, show little ability to negotiate and solve problems and do not play an active role in their learning. These children's understanding of the wider world is limited and they fail to secure the skills they require in order to move to the next phase in their learning. 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 4 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 4 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 3 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 4

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 4 The extent to which children feel safe 4 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 4 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 4

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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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