Greenfields Nursery School and Children's Centre

Greenfields Children Centre Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY280837 Inspection date 07/07/2011 Inspector Caren Carpenter

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Setting address Recreation Ground, Southall, Middlesex, UB2 5PF

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Telephone number 0208 813 8079 Email head@greenfieldschildren.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 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

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

Greenfields Children's Centre registered in November 2004. It is situated in a corner of the recreation park in Southall, within the London borough of Ealing. The centre operates from a purpose built building and children have access to three group rooms. The centre also has access to meeting and training rooms and a sensory room. There is an enclosed outdoor play area. The centre serves the local diverse community.

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Description of the setting

The centre is registered on the Early Years Register. They may provide care for a maximum of 126 children in the early years age range; of these, no more than eight may be under two years. There are currently 174 children in the early years age group on roll. The centre opens each week day from 8am to 6pm for 48 weeks of the year. It provides education, care and learning opportunities for children and families.

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Description of the setting

The centre supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language. The centre employs 28 members of staff to work with the children; of these, 23 hold early years qualifications and of these: five are teacher qualified, two are working towards an early years degree and one is working towards Early Years Professional Status. The centre has achieved the investors in People award and the Quality Assurance in Effective Early Learning.

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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

Staff have an excellent knowledge of each child's individual needs and they promote all aspects of their welfare and learning with great success. Children are making excellent progress given their age, ability and starting points. Highly effective partnerships between providers, parents and other agencies ensure individual children's needs are met and their protection assured. Successful steps are taken to self-evaluate the provision for children. The centre demonstrates an excellent capacity to make continuous improvement and sustain its existing very high standards.

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further?

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

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further?

 supporting children with their growing independence during mealtimes. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are very well protected. Staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and know when to take action to safeguard children in their care. The manager has successfully contributed to reviewing, developing and implementing a written safeguarding policy for all children's centres within the local authority. Highly effective and robust systems are in place to ensure the suitability of staff. Very effective induction arrangements are in place for new staff. Staff are vigilant in supervising children to ensure they remain safe. Written risk assessments are comprehensive across the provision.

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the early years provision

Staff are highly qualified and well trained, with a strong commitment to making the centre even better for children. Staffing arrangements ensure children have continuity, with a key person monitoring their progress and a high ratio of staff to children. Documentation relating to children's individual needs and care routines are meticulous and reflect a high level of confidentiality. The centre is well run and is improving the outcomes for its families exceptionally well. Robust self-evaluation is used exceptionally well to monitor and review all areas of the provision, so that their capacity to maintain high standards and plan for further improvement is outstanding. All staff contribute to the ongoing evaluation of the centre's effectiveness. This is further aided by valued suggestions and support from parents and outside agencies, identifying areas for improvements and implementing the necessary changes. This open self-reflecting approach ensures children are happy

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the early years provision

and thrive in an inspiring and exciting environment. Excellent improvements have been made since the previous inspection, with the manager fully addressing the recommendations that were raised; for example, an effective registration system is in place to record children's arrival and departure times and a clearly defined procedure has been implemented in the event of a child being lost.

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the early years provision

The centre is highly inclusive with equality of access and diversity central to the ethos of the centre. Children are taught to value and respect each other and their differences and similarities. Cultural festivals and international evenings are celebrated to enable children to affirm and acknowledge their sense of belonging. Staff work exceptionally well with a wide range of professional agencies; such as: speech and language therapist, occupational therapist and clinical psychologist. They develop and monitor individual educational plans to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from a very positive and rewarding experience. Children's individual needs are met remarkably well from using the excellent range of equipment and resources in the wonderful sensory room. They receive superb on going one to one support from staff that have appropriate experience and skills to ensure children's individual needs are

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the early years provision

exceptionally met. Staff have attended training and implemented a range of ways to support children's communication skills such using Makaton, signing, visual time tables and picture symbols to communicate effectively with the children.

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the early years provision

Partnership with parents and carers is outstanding. Home visits and sensitive settling in procedures lay the foundations for this strong partnership. Staff highly value the regular exchange of information, which enables them to take account of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children's learning at home when planning future activities. Parents have access to an abundance of information displayed around the centre. Consequently, the centre is making a very significant contribution to community cohesion as well as the emotional, social and educational well-being of the families it serves. The outreach to different families is excellent and constantly improving, due to the leaders' incisive evaluation of services provided. For many families the centre is an oasis of calm; the exemplary high quality care and range of activities leads to outstanding learning, fun and enjoyment for children and their families. Ultimately

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the early years provision

the centre helps parents to feel more confident and successful. One parent explained, 'I would feel isolated without the centre'. Staff make a real difference to families in times of crisis, by taking action and being a willing listener. Parents speak most highly of all staff. They say that all staff know the children extremely well, are very supportive, they trust the staff immensely. Staff complete detailed transition files for children that are leaving to attend school; this ensures teachers are aware of the stage of development children have reached when they start at school.

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and outcomes for children

Children receive an excellent level of care because the qualified staff work closely with individual children and their families. The uniqueness of every child is highly valued by the staff. Through working with parents and close observation they are able to provide challenging activities to support each child's individual learning and development needs. During the settling in process parents provide initial information on their child's achievements so far and a continued exchange of information is used to inform planning. A combination of photographs, examples of children's work and written observations provide a lively assessment of children's development. Through interaction with the children staff draw out learning and ensure appropriate levels of challenge are available for all the children. Staff adapt all activities to meet the individual developmental needs of children. This ensures children of all abilities have their needs fully meet in planning. Each child has their

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and outcomes for children

next step highlighted and the staff plan focus activities around these, in order for the children to be able to progress with their learning.

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and outcomes for children

Staff provide a well-balanced day that contains suitable periods of time for children to mainly follow their own initiated ideas, as well as some adult-led activities. From the time they arrive the children are eager to explore whatever is available to them, meeting every new challenge with a real enthusiasm. Children's levels of concentration are excellent, as they are allowed to spend time at their own chosen activity. Children benefit tremendously from the organisation of the sessions that include plenty of time for free exploration and time to work in small groups with a key person. These times are used to focus on discussions or specific activities led by the children. Children's efforts and achievements are highly valued and proudly displayed around the nursery, promoting their developing confidence and motivation to continue with their interest.

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and outcomes for children

Children are making excellent progress in their communication, language and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 literacy development. Children absolutely enjoy participating and contributing in story sessions. They have excellent access to a wide range of quality books, which they choose independently for pleasure in the comfortable book areas. Staff use strategies they gained through the 'Every child a talker project' superbly well. They create cosy dens during indoor and outdoor play to extend, engage and support children's communication skills. Staff use exciting resources to plan wonderful opportunities to develop children's attention, speaking and listening skills. During group activities they encourage children to respond to what they see and hear. For example using a bowl of rice, a tray, a tube and small cups staff encourage children to count the number of cups of rice needed to fill up the tube, describe

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and outcomes for children

the pattern created in the tray and sound of the rice pouring on the tray.

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and outcomes for children

Children have fantastic opportunities to develop their problem solving skills through the excellent range of many first hand practical experiences. For example, children's interest in a story encouraged them to work out how to build a house of bricks by investigating and experimenting with a range of materials. Children have excellent access to information and communication technology, to support their learning and help them develop skills that contribute to their future economic well- being. Children make sense of the world around them while learning about the effects of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and storms. Children benefit from having the use of a fantastic and superbly designed outside play area, where they participate in an exciting range of interesting and stimulating activities; for example, they have excellent opportunities to learn about how plants grow and take great pleasure in planting and watering their vegetables.

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and outcomes for children

Babies settle very well and demonstrate they feel safe and secure with the staff. Staff ensure that the daily routine is planned according to their individual needs and at their own pace. Babies play with a quality range of toys and experiences that promote the development of their senses. They thoroughly enjoy exploring water, paint, jelly, rice and investigate the sounds and textures of various objects in treasure baskets. Babies enjoy stimulating activities and are sensitively supported throughout their play experiences.

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and outcomes for children

Staff have established effective systems to help children stay healthy, for example, by explaining the importance of hand washing and good personal hygiene. Excellent consideration is given to children's dietary needs to ensure these are met sensitively. Children are exceptionally well supported to develop a healthy life style through the provision of healthy and nutritious snacks and delicious cooked meals. However, not all children's growing independence is fully supported during mealtimes. Children take part in an excellent range of activities to enhance their physical development. They have an amazing time in the superb garden where they confidently use a brilliant range of outdoor play equipment to practise their large physical skills.

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and outcomes for children

Children have excellent awareness of their own safety. They move around the nursery with care, manage the transition between indoors and outdoors with ease and take part in regular fire drills. Children are supported to use equipment, such as real woodwork tools safely. Children's social skills and ability to communicate with others are rapidly enhanced, so they develop the underpinning skills needed for their future success Staff use appropriate strategies to encourage children's This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 good behaviour, for example, distraction or positive praise. Children have a lovely warm relationship with staff and have lots of fun. Overall, the children are very well prepared for their next stage in learning in this excellent and inclusive centre. 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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