The Little Red Hen Nursery School

The Little Red Hen Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY403121 Inspection date 10/06/2010 Inspector Lorna Lorraine Hall

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Setting address Christ Church Battersea, Cabul Road, London, London, SW11 2PN Telephone number 0208 7784832 Email thelittleredhen@ntlworld.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

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

The Little Red Hen Nursery School was registered in 2009. It is located in church premises located in a residential road in Battersea. The setting provides 36 places for children aged two years to under five years. The nursery is open during school term time and holiday clubs are offered during school holidays for children. Sessions take place from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 1pm to 3.30pm.

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Description of the setting

The premises consist of a large hall, a store room, a wide corridor, a kitchen and toilet facilities. Children have access to a partly covered courtyard which is enclosed on all sides and a garden area outside which is accessed directly from the main hall. The manager is qualified to level 3. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 20 children on roll all of whom are in the early years age group.

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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

Children are broadly content, settled and willingly take part in activities. Areas of learning are well resourced and organised so that all the children can access the activities. Although, staff have a sound understanding of safeguarding issues, daily practices compromises the children's safety. Staff does not support children's welfare. Parents are not fully involved in their children's learning.

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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?

 ensure children have access to fresh drinking water at all times (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 14/06/2010

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further?

 obtain appropriate fire detection equipment such as a fire alarm ( Suitable premises, environment and equipment) 18/06/2010

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further?

 ensure staff are fully supported to obtain a recognised childcare qualification and provide an action plan of how you will achieve this (Suitable people) 18/06/2010

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further?

 maintain the correct staff ratio at all times to ensure that children are effectively supervised and their individual needs are being met (Suitable people) (also applies to the compulsory part of the Childcare Register) 18/06/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  ensure there is at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate on the premises at all times (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) (also applies to the compulsory part of the Childcare Register) 02/07/2010

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further?

 review the written safe guarding policy to include procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation against adults. ( Safeguarding and Welfare) (also applies to the compulsory part of the Childcare register) 10/06/2010

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further?

 maintain a record of the risk assessment clearly stating when it was carried out, by whom, date of review and any action taken following a review or incident ( Documentation) 02/07/2010

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further?

To improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 ensure the arrangements for changing nappies is hygenic and that children's privacy is maintained when receiving personal care  ensure policies and procedures are avaialble for inspection  obtain necessary information such as dietary and medical requirements of children in advance of a child being admitted  develop systems for parents to contribute their children's learning and to receive information about their children's acheivements  develop systems to seek the views of parents to evaluate the service to identify areas for improvement and set target to address these  develop systems to observe and assess what children are doing in their day to day activities to plan for their learning under the early learning goals

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the early years provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children are inadequate. The setting fails to meet the staff: children requirements. It consistently operates on a ratio of one staff member to 10 children, and at times, during the session one staff member is left alone with all the children while the other staff prepare snacks or complete other duties. This compromises the children's safety. Staff have a secure understanding of how to recognise and report safeguarding issues. Lots of written information and poster are displayed to remind staff and parents who to report concerns to. However, the written policy lacks important information such as procedures to be followed in the event of an allegation against adults the children come in contact with.

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the early years provision

Only the leader has a recognised childcare qualification and there is no action plan to support the other staff member to obtain an appropriate childcare qualification. As part of the induction process new staff shadow more experienced staff to become familiar with the children's routines. Suitable recruitment procedures are in place to ensure staff are suitable to work with young children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The arrangements to obtain necessary information such as dietary and health requirements is not consistent and so compromises the children's welfare. Records required for the safe and effective management of the provision are generally well maintained; however, not all records were available at inspection. A risk assessment has been carried out but there is no record of when it was carried out and does not identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a

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the early years provision

Partnership with parents is ongoing, staff greet them at the door before and after the session. Some parents receive a copy of the policies and procedures but these are not always available for them to look at. They can access information from the notice board, news letters and through emails. Parents give permission for their children to attend outings and other activities. The Ofsted, leaflet is displayed on the notice board should parents need to make contact. Parents commented how happy they are with the service they receive. There are no formal systems to seek their views or to involve them in the self-evaluation process.

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the early years provision

Procedures are in place to ensure children receive the correct treatment if they are ill. The arrangements to administer first aid do not meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage as no staff hold appropriate first aid certificate. However, the leader is booked on a course due to start shortly.

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the early years provision

Linguistic diversity is valued and staff learn familiar words so they can communicate with the children. During group activities staff use words and symbols to communicate with the children who have English as a additional language. This is beneficial to all the other children as they learn to count and name colours in French. Staff have attended training so they can support children and families who have additional learning needs. Resources are easily accessible and all the children have equal access. However, poor staff deployment means that the children do not always receive adequate support in order to meet their individual needs.

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the early years provision

The leader is motivated and passionate about her service and has identified some areas for improvements. However, a lack of knowledge about the expectations set out in the Early Years Foundation stage and ineffective systems to engage with others such as the Early Years team means that there are no targets set to address the areas for improvement to secure better outcomes for children. Although the leader has communicated her ambition to the other staff member, little is done to set appropriate time scales to ensure and sustain improvements.

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the early years provision

Links with others such as schools are in the developmental stage as the manager is new to the area. However, she does provide a written report for the children at the end of the placement. The manager is a member of the local Independent Nursery Association and regularly attends meetings. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Staff have a sound understanding of how children learn, consequently, the six areas of learning are easily identified and well resourced. Children are broadly content, settled and willingly take part in activities. They make choices about the activities they engage in and happily play with the other children or on their own. Children work well together during a cooking activity and take turns to name the different ingredients as they put them in a bowl. This activity provides opportunities for the children to explore numbers, capacity and weight. They smell the lemon and talk about the different features such as the shape.

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and outcomes for children

Children and staff relate well together; children regularly approach staff to show their work and receive lots of praise and encouragement from staff. Children know how to behave and how to use and care for their environment and resources. They help to put resources away at the end of the session and happily carry out tasks for staff. Children act as helpers; they help to set the table at snack time. Staff are sensitive to the needs of the children and know how they wish to spend their time. Children show persistence as they complete picture and number lotto and use plastic blocks to make models. Some children build firm relationships with each other and request to sit with their friends during the sessions, the same children are also seen talking and taking turns to act out different roles in the home corner. This promotes their self esteem and helps them to settle.

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and outcomes for children

As there are no written activity plans, the manager discussed where the children are in their learning under the Early Learning Goals. However, the system to obtain information from parents about their children's capabilities is inconsistent as only some parents have been asked to provide such information. Staff do not make systematic written observations and assessments of each child's achievements to identify learning priorities to the expectations of the Early Learning Goals. So it is unclear whether the progress children make is attributed to the learning experiences they receive at the setting. The only written information parents receive about the learning activities is about the letter of the week and they are asked to bring in items to reinforce the children's learning. Staff complete written reports under the six areas of learning at the end of the first and last term. The information is passed on to parents or to the school the children will attend.

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and outcomes for children

Children listen to instructions as staff explain to them that the grater is for adults' use only. Space is organised to enable them to walk around safely to access resources. Staff supervise the children in the toilets , children know they must not run around in the class room unless are engaged in structured physical play. They skilfully handle scissors to cut a range of textured materials. Within the class room they sit at tables and it is evident that the children are secure in the environment and show a sound understanding of the boundaries as they line up at the door and wait for a member of staff to lead them outside. However, a lack of staff compromises the children's safety as children sometimes spend a long time, especially during snack time and before they go outside to play, waiting for the next activity whilst staff tidy up and get items from the cupboard situated away from the class room. Children learn about safety as they participate in regular fire

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and outcomes for children

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 drills. However, the lack of smoke alarms compromises the children's safety.

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and outcomes for children

Children learn about other cultures as they celebrate festivals such as Diwali and Chinese New Year. Lots of beautiful pictures of children from around the world dressed in traditional dress and a map of the world to show where they are from also promotes their understanding of diversity.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy healthy snacks of fresh fruit and drinks at snack time and parents provide a packed lunch for the children who stay for the morning and afternoon session. The lack of water during the session compromises the children's health. Also the arrangements for nappy changing are not always effective as staff do not consistently wipe the changing mat after use and children are changed in the main room. Children show a sound awareness of cross infection as they help themselves to a tissue and discard of it appropriately after use. They wash their hands before and after cooking activities. Lots of posters from the Department of Health are displayed around the nursery to remind the children to wash their hands. Everyday the children have opportunity to enjoy the fresh air as they play on the grass or ride their bikes on a concrete surface.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop skills for the future as they choose books from the cosy book corner and use a variety of implements to practice their writing skills. They relate well with each other and adults. Children are polite they sit at the table at meal times and wait for Staff to tell them to start. 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 4 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 4 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: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The registered provider does not meet the requirements of the compulsory and or voluntary part/s of the Childcare Register.

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 take action as specified in the early years section of the report (Welfare of the children being cared for, arrangements for safeguarding children) 02/07/2010

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