Nursery On The Hill (Enfield) Ltd

Stepstones Day Nursery Ltd Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY341028 Inspection date 02/09/2010 Inspector Rebecca Hurst

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Setting address St. Lukes Church Hall (Rear), 37 Morley Hill, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 0BL Telephone number 0208 292 0212 Email info@stepstonesdaynursey.co.uk 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 assesses 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.

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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

Stepstones Day Nursery is run by Stepstones Day Nursery Limited. It opened in 2006 and operates from a purpose-built building, of a large community hall. It is situated in a residential area in North Enfield within the London Borough of Enfield. A maximum of 24 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are 45 children on roll, who are in the Early years age range. The nursery is open each weekday from 08.00 to 18.00, 50 weeks in the year. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. Children come from a wide catchment area, as well as the local community. The nursery employs six staff. Five of the staff, including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are very happy, settled and thriving, because the staff at the nursery create a safe and secure environment, where children are valued and supported to make the most of their abilities. Staff help the children to feel comfortable whilst they attend the setting. Warm, positive and trusting relationships enable children to feel safe and secure. Staff continually evaluate the activities and experiences that are on offer to the children, always seeking to improve their learning opportunities, working towards the best possible outcomes for children. The nursery has a high capacity to maintain continuous improvement, because all staff seek to improve their knowledge and understanding of children's early years through further education opportunities.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 enhancing the amount of information that is recorded regarding the learning intentions for children.

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the early years provision

Children are thoroughly protected from harm and neglect as the staff have excellent knowledge and understanding of child protection issues and how to safeguard children. Excellent procedures are in place to ensure all staff have up to date Criminal Records Bureau checks in place. The provider ensures she records the numbers for the checks and the dates they were carried out, this ensures she This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 is fully aware of when they need to be updated. Children are kept safe and secure, due to clear, concise and comprehensive risk assessments for both the setting and for outings. Clear, accurate records are kept; including attendance registers which ensures the safeguarding of children. Children's safety is further enhanced as children participate in regular fire drills. This allows everyone to be fully aware of what to do in an emergency. The setting's concise policies and procedures ensure

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the early years provision

parents are fully informed about all aspects of the provision. This enhances greatly the children's safety, health and welfare. The children have access to a varied amount of resources which promotes equality and diversity. Children learn about festivals and celebrations from around the world at an age appropriate level. The staff ensure all topics are handled sensitively, and that both children and parents learn about the topics. Parents are invited into the nursery to teach the children about what they do at home during their festivals. Consequently, children are able to have fun and progress with their development.

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the early years provision

Resources are effectively arranged and organised, creating an enabling environment for children to play and learn. Children are confident and independent learners because they have easy access to low level furniture and a wide range and variety of exciting toys and play materials, strongly supporting their enjoyment and achievement. Children learn early word recognition through the excellent use of labels on the resources and furniture. All staff constantly seek to improve their childcare practice so that children have enjoyable and challenging play and learning experiences. Staff have a natural affinity with the children, responding well to their welfare and development needs. The provider is driving improvement through her ambition to train and improve both her knowledge and that of the staff through attendance on ongoing training courses. Staff have excellent communications with both parents and outside agencies. Parents and staff have

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the early years provision

built excellent relationships which greatly benefits the care of the children. Parents run fund raising events to raise funds so the nursery can up date its resources, which greatly benefits the care of the children. Parents attend parents evenings were they can discuss the development and progress of the children's learning. Staff keep the parents up to date with their child's progress through informative developmental reports. Staff have built an excellent rapport with the local early years team and those agencies that support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Consequently, children are being supported in all areas of their development. Staff have evaluated the setting extremely well and they have clear priorities and targets for improvements. Staff consult both parents and children in their self-evaluation. This ensures they get a clear picture from all users as to what they like and to what needs to be improved. The provider uses an

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the early years provision

online site that allows the parents to submit anonymous questionnaires. This allows the parents to be completely honest with there answers. The provider and managers works with the answers to improve upon the practice of the nursery. As a result, the service is more than responsive to the needs of its users. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children happily explore and experiment, using an excellent range of different materials and resources, in a safe, supportive and caring environment, helping them to confidently practise and acquire new skills. Children receive plenty of attention, through the staff listening and responding to them throughout their activities. Children show they feel safe through confident and independent learning, making choices, helping themselves to toys and readily approaching the staff if they need help or a cuddle. Steps taken to safeguard children include effective child protection and fire evacuation procedures, close and supportive supervision, for example, when playing in the garden. Written observations of the children's attainments, interests and learning styles are supported well with photographic evidence, so parents and carers enjoy very clear, visual images of their children's experiences. Children are clearly making excellent progress from

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and outcomes for children

their starting points. Staff consult parents before they start at the nursery to ensure they are fully aware of the children's abilities. These are then used to inform planning. All planning is adapted to suit the individual needs of the children that are participating in the activities. Staff are highly skilled in using open ended questions to enhance the children's learning. Staff adapt the language they use depending on the age and ability of the children that are accessing the activities. As a result all children are attaining very well. Staff use the children's next steps to plan focus activities, which ensures the children are able to progress well with their development. Children play and move around in a hygienically clean, tidy and well organised nursery, promoting their health and welfare. They enjoy healthy snacks and plenty of drinks. Children are offered and enjoy a good variety of fresh fruit

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and outcomes for children

and vegetables. Children also participate in their own cooking activities to provide snacks for them to eat. Children are developing excellent independence skills especially at snack times. Children butter their own pieces of fruit loaf, and cut their won apples and bananas. At meal times all children serve themselves their meals and staff are at hand to encourage the children to try different vegetables.

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and outcomes for children

Well developed routines encourage social skills and consideration for others. Children are developing excellent skills for the future through support in using a wide range of learning resources. Children of all ages are highly skilled in using the nursery's laptops. Staff sit with the children to talk them through the words on the screen and the games. The children are adept in moving the cursor around the screen by using the touch pad. Children enjoy participating in activities from external companies such as Tumble Tots and Monkey music. This further enhances the children?s learning in these areas. Children throughout the day are reminded and are taught the importance of sharing. All of the children are very good at explaining to each other why they need to share and they will use an egg timer to show when they need to swap over. Staff explain to the children at a level they can understand the importance of being kind to each other. Staff are highly skilled

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and outcomes for children

in talking to the children about how to behave within the setting. As a result, children are all very well behaved. Children have their learning extended through the free flow system to the outside area. The staff use this as an extension of the learning experiences they have inside. This greatly enhances the children's learning as they are able to adapt the learning to meet the individual learning styles of the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children. Staff adapt an activity were the children were talking about tropical drinks on the friendship island, into getting different types of fruit to make these drinks. The children talked with the staff about the tastes of the fruit, what they smelt like and aided the staff in cutting up the fruit to go into the mixer. This shows the excellent mix of adult led and child initiated activities, and how staff change

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and outcomes for children

activities to meet the request from the children. This enhances the children's learning as it is meaningful for them. Children thoroughly enjoy learning about the environment and the world around, through well thought out and meaningful activities. Children learn about the seasons and how food is grown through trips to the local woods and the vegetables they grow in their own garden. Children plant seeds in their garden and they water the plants with the aid of the staff and watch them grow. When they are ready the children pick the vegetables and will eat them with their meals at the nursery. This greatly enhances their learning and their understanding about where food comes from. Children also care for their own rabbit and pet tree frog. This allows the children to be aware of how to care for a living object. 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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Early Years Foundation Stage

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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