Quarrydale Academy

Windermere Nursery

Inspection report for early years provision

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Windermere Nursery

137857 Unique Reference Number 19 September 2006 Inspection date Jennifer Devine Inspector

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Windermere Nursery

Church of The Annunciation, Windermere Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8QT

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E-mail

M. Loizou Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of 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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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?

Windermere Nursery is run by a private provider. It opened in 1987 and operates from a church hall in South Kenton, in the London borough of Harrow. A maximum of 33 children may attend at any one time. The nursery is open each weekday from 08:00 to 16:00 all year round, except for Bank Holidays. All children share access to a secure, enclosed outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 21 children aged from two to under five years on roll. Of these nine children receive funding for nursery education. The setting supports children who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs four staff. Of these, three of the staff, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children's health is promoted well within the setting as staff implement effective hygiene procedures to minimise the risk of infection. Children recognise the need to follow good personal hygiene routines and know why they need to wash their hands regularly. Staff are aware of the importance of accident recording, medication administration and three staff are first aid trained, which all ensures the children's well-being.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children learn about the importance of healthy eating and are offered various fruits each day. They can help them selves to their own drinks when required. Children are provided with a packed lunch from home which staff ensure the contents are refrigerated to ensure they are kept fresh. Staff provide helpful advice to parents to ensure lunches are a healthy option. Children's individual dietary needs are well known by staff.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children understand the benefits of vigorous exercise and enjoy daily opportunities to participate in activities which develop their coordination and skills such as when playing with balls, hoops and bean bags. There are many worthwhile opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills such as when drawing, using scissors or when using hammer and peg sets.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. The staff provide a warm welcome to the children and parents who bring their children into the nursery and settle them in. The setting is generally clean and attractively decorated with displays of children's artwork.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children move freely and safely around the environment, both inside and out, because staff pay particular attention to ensuring risks and hazards are minimised. Risk assessments are carried out daily on all areas used by the children. The main entrance door is securely locked and only opened by a member of staff when the doorbell is rung. Attendance registers are maintained but staff do not always ensure the numbers are correct. This compromises children's safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The nursery is generally well equipped with appropriate furniture and resources that are safe, clean and well maintained. Children move confidently around the nursery, making their own choices from the toys available. Space is well organised and used effectively to allow children opportunities to be active, engage in floor or table activities and enjoy time to relax and share books in a comfortable area.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's safety is well protected because staff have a thorough knowledge of child abuse and the reporting procedures to follow for child protection.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

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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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is satisfactory. Children enjoy their time at the nursery. They arrive happy and confident and quickly settle into the routine making choices about their play. Staff know children generally well and have built up secure relationships with them and their families. Children play well independently choosing from a range of activities. Staff are close by to offer support and encourage learning further.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Younger children are satisfactorily supported in their play and development. Staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of the Birth to three matters framework and use it to guide their planning for the under three's. However, observation and assessment methods are weak and inconsistently maintained. This means that staff do not have a clear picture of a child's abilities on starting the nursery and cannot identify the next steps of learning easily.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Children benefit from a generally well planned curriculum where learning intentions are clearly identified each week. Staff have a sound understanding of the Foundation Stage but they have not attended any further training workshops to keep updated or bring in new ideas for the nursery. Staff spend time working directly with children and provide opportunities for them to develop and extend vocabulary. Staff observe children's development and record on post it notes which are transferred to children's individual files. However, staff lack understanding of how to use these observations to record progress and identify the next steps for learning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have developed good relationships with each other and familiar adults. They show kindness and consideration to each other when they play together. For example, children thoroughly enjoy playing a lotto game where they are learning about turn taking. They are able to concentrate for lengthy periods of time during these organised activities.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are becoming confident, articulate speakers who readily engage in conversations with each other and adults. They enjoy listening to stories as a group or independently where they understand how to look after books, turning pages one at a time. Although paper and pencils or crayons are available this area is uninspiring to capture the children's interest in developing their pre writing or mark making skills.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children show an interest in counting and are beginning to use numbers confidently when singing. For example, children enjoy singing 'five little leaves' where they are beginning to understand simple addition and subtraction. There are generally good practical opportunities for children to solve problems such as when building with bricks and have various games or puzzles where they learn to match or sort objects into size, shape or type.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are involved in some exploratory play and look closely at living things such as studying the wood lice in the garden using magnifiers. There are some opportunities for children to learn about information and communication technology whilst playing with cash tills, pretend key

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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 boards or calculators. Children have very limited opportunities to learn about the local environment which they live in as no outings are planned to local places of interest.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children have generally good opportunities to develop their creativity and imagination when they play in the well equipped home corner, take part in various painting or sticking activities and enjoy music or dance sessions.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children benefit from being cared for in an emotionally warm, child friendly environment where staff are aware of individual needs. Children's confidence develops through having the opportunities to make choices and through the respect and care shown to them by staff who treat them fairly and with equal concern.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The staff give children clear, consistent boundaries, they praise them and celebrate their achievements which helps build up their self esteem. Children work cooperatively together, sharing and taking turns. Children are learning to respect toys and equipment by staff teaching them to help tidy up at the end of activities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children learn about themselves and the wider world through planned activities and discussions such as talking about and acknowledging the festival of Diwali. This positive approach fosters children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. The nursery currently does not support any children with learning difficulties. Satisfactory procedures are in place to provide support to children but there is no designated special needs coordinator (SENCO) within the setting to take overall responsibility.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The partnership with parents whose children receive nursery education is satisfactory. Staff are friendly, approachable and are available daily to keep parents informed on their child's day and progress. Reports of children's achievements are shared annually. There is limited information given to parents on the Foundation Stage curriculum and topics that are being covered. This impacts on parents not being able to fully participate in their child's learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The leadership and management is satisfactory. The staff team work well together and are aware of their roles and responsibilities. They meet regularly to discuss the curriculum planned and informally discuss children's progress. The manager is committed to her own professional development and cascades new information and ideas from courses attended. However, no other staff have attended further training on the Foundation Stage. The manager has satisfactory methods in place for monitoring the education offered but does not have a clear view of effective assessments of children's development and therefore records are inconsistently maintained.

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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 Children share good relationships with staff that have been thoroughly vetted for their suitability to work with children. The policies and procedures are all in place, as required, which means that the health and welfare of the children attending the nursery is satisfactorily promoted.

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Organisation

The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection the nursery has made some improvements of the care and education children receive. Children enjoy more planned outdoor play and participate in regular music and dance sessions. However, children still do not learn enough about the local community. Parents receive a progress report at the end of each academic year about their child's achievements, which keeps them informed. The manager has developed systems for monitoring the teaching offered but staff training needs have not been identified. This means that staff are not kept up to date with new ideas for nursery development. The child protection procedure and complaints procedure have both been updated to contain required information.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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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): • improve the system of recording children's daily attendance • appoint a member of staff as the SENCO coordinator • improve systems for keeping parents well informed about the nursery curriculum and children's progress (applies to nursery education also)

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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

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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): • improve opportunities available for children to develop their pre writing /mark making skills. • improve the systems used for the recording of children's developmental progress (also applies to care) • improve the opportunities for children to develop their experiences of the local environment and the natural world

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) 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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