The Co-operative Childcare Hounslow

Places For Children Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY282433 Inspection date 25/11/2010 Inspector Susan May

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Setting address Chinchilla Drive, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW4 7NS

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Telephone number 0208 570 5308 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 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. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as

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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

Places for Children Nursery on the Meadows Estate is one of five nurseries run by Places for Children Company.

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Description of the setting

The nursery opened in 2005 and operates from a purpose built building on the Meadows Estate, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The nursery serves children from the local area. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. A maximum of 90 children may attend the nursery at any one time. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery is open each weekday from 8.00am to 6.00pm 51 weeks of the year.

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Description of the setting

There are currently 85 children on roll, most of whom receive funding for nursery education. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or learning difficulties and children for whom English is an additional language. The nursery employs 13 staff who hold appropriate early years of qualifications. The nursery also employ a cook.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children make good progress as the staff recognise the uniqueness of every child. Secure, trusting relationships are established that help children develop confidence and a strong sense of belonging within the setting. Children's ideas and interests are taken into account by staff as they plan a variety of activities and experiences that support individual children's welfare, learning and development. Children have good access to a range of toys and equipment both indoors and out to help extend their learning however, these are not always maintained appropriately to be attractive to children. Parents receive information about the nursery's policies, they have good access to the children's learning and development folders and are kept informed of their children's progress; less robust are procedures to inform them if children have accidents. Children are kept safe as senior staff carry out risk assessments on the premises, however, this does not extend to daily assessments

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

of individual areas to ensure all possible hazards are identified and risks minimised. The manager and staff demonstrate commitment to improving practice as they recognise the value of monitoring and evaluating the provision and have begun to implement changes that will support the development of children's care and learning effectively.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 review and expand risk assessments to include daily checks of each area of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 the nursery to identify possible hazards and minimize risks  Improve procedures for recording accidents including obtaining parental signatures to ensure parents are fully informed of accidents  ensure that toys, furniture and equipment is clean and suitable for purpose in order to provide for the needs of the children  develop systems of self-evaluation to identify the setting strengths and priorities for development that would improve the quality of provision for children.

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the early years provision

Children play in a warm and welcoming environment, with a wide range of age- appropriate resources from which to self-select. The outdoor area has been effectively utilised and the extension of the six areas of learning outdoors ensures children are provided with a wide range of opportunities to progress their learning. All children and families are valued and respected and the uniqueness of each child is recognised. Staff effectively deploy themselves to be on hand to support children, and are sensitive to each child's needs to help them achieve and continually develop. Systems to record children's abilities and achievements have been effectively put into practice and include observations and assessments along with information from parents to enable staff to form a basis for identifying children's next steps. The child's key person highlights each child's next steps during planning sessions ensuring children are provided with activities and

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the early years provision

opportunities that will enable them to move their learning forward. Most of the toys and resources are in satisfactory condition and appropriate storage ensures it can easily be accessed by the children, however, in some areas equipment is not always attractively set out or clean, nor is it always suitable for purpose, for example, a meagre quantity of sand in the sand pit does not provide children with opportunities to effectively explore its properties. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding children with policies and procedures clearly understood, all staff have the appropriate clearances, visitors procedures are in place and any person not suitably vetted is never left unsupervised with the children. All required policies and procedures are in place, are reviewed regularly and shared with parents. However, while policies and procedures provide a clear framework for documenting the details if a child has a minor accident, staff do not always follow

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the early years provision

the procedure to effectively ensure that parents are fully informed.

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the early years provision

Written risk assessments are in place for the premises and staff carry out opening and closing checks each morning and evening, however, these do not currently extend to daily checks within each area of the nursery to ensure that all possible hazards are identified and risks minimized. Systems to begin to share relevant information with other early years settings children may attend are in progress, and links with other childcare practitioners and health professionals help ensure that all children receive opportunities to reach their full potential in each area of learning according to their needs. Knowledge about the children is shared with all staff to ensure that children's individual education plans (IEPs) are implemented extremely effectively to support children. The manager has begun to evaluate the provision informally with input from staff and feedback from parents, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

demonstrating commitment to driving improvement through clearly outlining future progress and aims. For example, she has begun to implement changes; such as further training and regular team meetings in order to raise standards to support children's welfare and learning, and the introduction of one-to-one meetings with staff alongside the six monthly review helps ensure that the needs of the provision and staff's training needs are met. Local Authority training is regularly completed by staff, and in-house training is ongoing. Parents express confidence in staff and highly praise the care and learning experiences the children receive, stating that they feel well informed of nursery practice and events as they have access to a notice board that is updated daily and receive information about the setting from a variety of sources, such as newsletters and daily verbal exchanges.

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and outcomes for children

Children are confident, inquisitive, eager to learn and provided with good opportunities to help them make progress across all areas of learning and development both indoors and outdoors. The planning for children is flexible as the children's key person's know the children well and respond to their individual needs. There are good systems in place for observation and assessment that with information supplied from parents and other persons involved with the children form the basis for identifying children's next steps. This information is used to highlight each child's next steps during planning, thereby ensuring children are provided with activities and opportunities that will enable them to successfully move their learning forward. Parents are actively involved in all aspects of their child's development. The children's learning and development folders are accessible to the parents, discussed at parents evening and contributions from

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and outcomes for children

parents encouraged. Parents are encouraged to speak to staff at anytime to discuss children's progress. Children's well-being is promoted by staff as children begin to learn how to keep themselves safe and begin to understand the possible consequences of their actions. For example, staff remind children to sit at the table with scissors because they are sharp.

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and outcomes for children

Children develop close relationships with staff and each other, inviting adults into their games and playing alongside each other well. Children are lively, but at times when they are required, for example, at circle time and mealtimes behave extremely well, listening to the adults and each other without interrupting, taking turns to speak, show respect and care for each other and the equipment and clearly enjoy the social occasion. Children's independence is encouraged as they self-select what they wish to play with, serve their own meals and drinks and are able to use the bathroom independently. Children have ample opportunities to mark make as they access pens, paper, paint and brushes both indoors and out, choose from a huge range of books in identified book areas, that are appropriate to their age and begin to recognise simple words as they identify and use phonics to sound out their names at circle time. Staff are proactive in helping develop

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and outcomes for children

children's language skills as they constantly ask open-ended questions, repeat words and sentences back to you babies and young children to help them This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 recognize that words have meaning, and have individual sessions with children to help promote communication skills. Opportunities for children to develop their mathematical understanding is promoted, with opportunities available to help them recognise number, explore shapes, sizes and volume and extend the vocabulary through the use of mathematical terms in everyday play. Children have access to small and large construction equipment, for example, a selection of planks and wooden blocks outdoors provide them with opportunities to build structures on which they can walk and balance. A further range of equipment allows them to ride, scoot and climb to develop their physical skills. Examples of children's work

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and outcomes for children

throughout the provision demonstrate the opportunities children have to use a range of media with which to explore their imagination and creativity. Children's work is clearly valued, displayed attractively and shows how they have used paint, collage materials and tools to make patterns and pictures.

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and outcomes for children

Inclusion is threaded through all of the settings practices from the initial planning stage to the toys and resources that promote positive images and posters that include several languages, they also celebrate a range of festivals and events that are important to the children and their families. Children for whom English is an additional language are helped to communicate as staff find out some key words in the home language, use sign, gesture and drawings or photos of everyday objects to ensure children participate fully in the setting. Children find out about the natural world as they grow plants in the garden, have a digging area where they can search for mini beasts and play out each day as they wear the all-weather oversuits the nursery provides. Children begin to find out about the local community as they are beginning to have links with other provisions in the area such as a nearby children's centre. Staff are knowledgeable about the Early

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and outcomes for children

Learning Goals and steps towards them, demonstrating through their planning that they have a clear understanding that children learn through play and providing a positive environment that helps children progress well. 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 3 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 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 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 2 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 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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