Cocospreschool

Coco's Pre-School Centre Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY340767 Inspection date 16/02/2010 Inspector Carolyn Mary Hasler

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Setting address Cocos Nursery, Blindmans Lane, Cheshunt, WALTHAM CROSS, Hertfordshire, EN8 9DW Telephone number 01992 626 123 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 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

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.

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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

Co-Co's Pre-School Nursery is privately owned and was originally established in 1991 and relocated to its current premises in central Cheshunt in 1994. The nursery has five separate areas, these are defined as; the main classroom, quiet room, physical education room, art room and an outdoor area comprising of a lawn and paved garden to the rear.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered to provide care for a maximum of 50 children. They are registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Currently they have 83 children on roll in the early years age group who attend on a part-time or full-time basis. Children attend from the local and wider geographical areas. The setting supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and welcomes children with English as a second language.

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Description of the setting

The setting opens between the hours of 8:00am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday, all year round, with the exception of bank holidays.

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Description of the setting

There are 12 staff members in total including the manager and cook. There are 10 staff members who work directly with the children, over half have early years qualifications. The manager and one member of staff are working towards Early Years Professional status.

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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

The inspection shows 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 as required to support the welfare of individual children within the early years age group. The setting has addressed a number of recommendations set at the last inspection. There is significant improvement in supporting and monitoring children's development, and providing healthy and nutritious snacks and meals throughout their day.

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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?

 keep a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises, their hours of attendance and the names of the children’s key 17/03/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 workers (Documentation)  provide and implement an effective safeguarding children's policy and procedure and ensure that all members of staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedure (Safeguarding and welfare) 17/03/2010

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further?

 provide effective systems to ensure that practitioners and other people aged 16 or over likely to have regular contact with children are suitable to do so (Suitable people) 17/03/2010

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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 or learning difficulties this is with particular reference to exploring alternative forms of communication for children with communication challenges (Organisation) 17/03/2010

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the early years provision

There are significant weaknesses in the identification of safeguarding concerns. For example, neither staff or the management are confident in their identification of the different areas of abuse and their signs and symptoms. Consequently, signs are likely to be missed in the event that a child is being abused. In addition there are significant weaknesses within recruitment procedures. The management are unable to demonstrate that each one of their members of staff have been appropriately vetted and are suitable people to have contact with children. This means that there is insufficient attention given to safeguarding.

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the early years provision

The manager is qualified to a National Vocational Qualification Level 3 and is working towards Early Years Professional status. One member of staff has a teaching qualification at Level 6 and is working towards Early Years Professional status. Nine members of staff have a Level 3 and two members of staff have a Level 2 qualification in childcare. There are opportunities for on going training and staff are appraised regularly to support development. There is a clear vision for the future of the service, this includes improvement in supporting children's learning and development and partnerships with parents. In general there is sound understanding of the learning and development requirements and the setting are meeting these ensuring that outcomes for children are at a satisfactory level.

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the early years provision

The environment is safe, well organised and planned out to ensure there are separate areas for different activities. Children have a home room which is allocated according to age and ability. During the course of the day they move as a group from one area to another ensuring that all have equal access to areas of play. When weather permits there is good use of the outside space for physical activities. Play resources and nursery furniture are of good quality and well maintained, designed for comfortable use by small children. Themes are shared by each room but planned according to the age group and individual abilities to contribute. Although most areas are set out the staff ensure that children have This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 opportunities to choose activities for themselves. Staff are supportive of each other and work well as a team sharing information where relevant. Children are allocated

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the early years provision

two key workers and there is a sound understanding of their roles and responsibilities to provide a safe and caring environment and build relationships with both children and their parents. Focused activities are planned for each day, staff are deployed to support children in their own choices, they effectively engage and enhance learning because they share their enthusiasm, use useful language and understand when to allow children to play on their own. Targets are generally realistic and challenging. Although most documentation is available, systems to record daily attendance does not sufficiently record times of arrival or departure, this means that an accurate record of who is on the premises is not available.

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the early years provision

The setting works with children who have additional needs or who have English as an additional language. In general they are able to identify and assess when a child needs additional support and they work well with external agencies to support families and improve outcomes for some children. However, they are particularly challenged by engaging and supporting families from minority communities. In particular those who speak English as an additional language. Whilst the setting is well meaning, they have not yet found strategies for helping some children fit in or communicate their needs. Toys and play resources are well represented with positive images of diversity and the children are learning about other people's cultural traditions and celebrations from around the world. However, children's own cultures are often less represented. For example, through dual language books, music and cultural celebrations. The management team have not

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the early years provision

yet found successful strategies for engaging parents in sharing their knowledge in this area.

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the early years provision

Whilst the management team has not yet formalised self-evaluation. There is evidence to suggest that in part this is taking place. For example, the setting completes comprehensive risk assessments, reviews patterns of accidents which have happened on site and also appraises staff and reviews training priorities. The setting is able to, to some extent, identify areas of strength and weakness. They have identified that parents' views are a valuable contribution to the setting but have not yet formulated a system to collect these.

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the early years provision

The setting works effectively with other early years professionals. They liaise with the Area Special Needs Coordinator where there are developmental concerns and have some links with local schools, Children's Centres and other professional bodies where necessary. Information on individual children is shared on a regular basis and used to promote their achievement and well-being. The setting understands the importance of building these links to promote positive experiences.

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the early years provision

Parents and carers receive lots of detailed information about the service in the form of policies and procedures and general information about the nursery and what it can offer them. Their permission is sought on a number of different issues which supports the care arrangements. There is information available to parents on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and children are encouraged to talk to parents about their day and newsletters inform parents about themes and projects. The setting also has a scheme where children can take home books to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 encourage story reading in the home. Children's progress is reviewed with parents periodically through both verbal discussion and documented evidence.

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and outcomes for children

There are effective systems in place to collect unique information about each child, this includes initial assessments of children's development on entry recorded under the different areas of learning. This information is then used as a base line and continuously updated through observations. Activities are planned based on the learning needs of both groups of children and individual needs. The staff team are aware that activities need to be adapted for some children and for others extended and generally this is successfully achieved.

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and outcomes for children

Children are making good use of their time at the setting; they are active learners, eager to explore their environment using all of their senses within their play. Their increasing independence skills allow them to try new experiences and take part in focus activities. They show good attitudes towards learning new skills and engage each other or members of staff and are able to share learning experiences.

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and outcomes for children

Children are increasingly learning about their own safety, learning not to run indoors, to be careful of others and to take care not to burn themselves when food is too hot. Their safety has been considered through risk assessments of the premises. There are notices to parents warning of contagious diseases and regular hygiene routines such as making sure toys and play equipment are cleaned on a regular basis to keep children safe from cross-infections. Children separate from their parents well at the beginning of the day and are happy to stay and play in an environment that is child friendly and where staff are warm and welcoming. They build trusting relationships with their key worker and with other familiar members of staff. Although children feel secure, their trust potentially could be misplaced because arrangements for safeguarding are inadequate, regulations and duties are not met which impacts on children feeling and being safe.

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and outcomes for children

Children are learning to adopt healthy lifestyles. Positive messages of healthy habits are displayed around the environment. For example, there are visual pictorial aids helping children learn about the sequence of washing hands and others reminding them to use tissues for coughs and sneezes. They are generally cared for in an environment where good hygiene procedures ensure they are healthy and they are encouraged to practise personal hygiene through their time at the setting. For example, they all take part in the routine activity of washing their hands before sitting down to eat. Children have access to fresh drinking water throughout the day. In addition snacks and meals are healthy and nutritious, they are learning that fresh fruit makes them big and strong and has lots of healthy vitamins. Weather permitting children make use of the outside play place where children are able to run and let off steam. They have opportunities to climb,

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and outcomes for children

ride push and ride toys and pedal trikes. In addition they make good use of space indoors to move to music, enjoy active exercise DVDs and enjoy action rhymes and ring games. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children are confident about their place within the setting and this helps them seek support or manage independently according to the situation they find themselves in. They increasingly understand the concept of friendships and are building socially acceptable behaviour because staff make a point of grouping children into small groups for some activities. They are learning about sharing and taking turns and show consideration for others by respecting each other's choices, and being kind and polite towards others.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy a range of activities and experiences which support their language development. For example, they have a range of books to look at and engage in group activities such as story time and songs and rhyme activities. There is lots of language all around them from staff who engage them and support their play. They make links between stories and their pets at home and are comfortable exchanging information on topics they are familiar with. Children see their name written down on their coat pegs and on their pictures and some associate phonic sounds with objects such as 'a' for apples and 'b' for bananas. They have opportunities to practise mark-making skills with a range of drawing and painting tools. Children are increasingly becoming more familiar with numbers and colours by using them in everyday situations such as at snack times. Numbers feature in children's songs where they are learning how to add and subtract numbers under

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and outcomes for children

five. A range of different graded puzzles and construction help them to work out how shapes fit together and compare size and colour. Cooking activities support their understanding of measurement, volume and what happens when ingredients are mixed together and also teaches them important lessons about safety. A range of programmable equipment is available to support their knowledge and understanding of communication for technology. They are curious and actively seek to use the available environment to explore learning for themselves. 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 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 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 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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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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