Little Leo's Nursery

Little Leo's Nursery Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY337077 Inspection date 01/08/2011 Inspector Caren Carpenter

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Setting address North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London, N11 1GN Telephone number 0208 2113119 Email d.johnson@kingsborough-uk.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.

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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

Little Leo's Nursery was registered in 2006. It is privately owned and is run by Little Leo's Nursery Limited. The nursery operates from a building in North London Business Park, in the Brunswick Park area within the London borough of Barnet. The nursery has three main play rooms and all children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area.

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Description of the setting

A maximum of 55 children in the early years age group may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 52 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year round. Children come from a wide catchment area.

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Description of the setting

The nursery supports children with special educational and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register, the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the setting

The nursery employs 15 members of staff. All staff hold an appropriate early years qualification. Two staff are currently undertaking an early years Foundation degree.

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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 thrive in this outstanding nursery and make excellent progress in their learning and development. Each child is valued, their interests and enthusiasms are sought out and nurtured. The highly effective partnership with parents, outside agencies and other settings delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage, ensures that children's individual needs are met, and any additional support provided. Excellent reflected practice clearly identifies areas for continued progression, which results in well targeted and sustained improvement to the early years provision.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop ways in which parents are supported and encouraged to share, contribute and update information, to become fully involved in their child's continuous learning and assessment records. 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 safeguarded through excellent supervision and robust policies and procedures. All staff are rigorously checked for their suitability, and attend relevant training to support them in safeguarding children in their care. Staff are very aware of the possible signs of abuse and know what to do if they have concerns about a child. The nursery has excellent recruitment procedures in place. Detailed risk assessments are carried out to provide a very safe environment.

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the early years provision

There is an excellent and supportive management structure in place. This results in very effective teamwork. Staffing arrangements ensure children have continuity with a key person monitoring their progress, as well as benefiting from a high ratio of staff to children. This successfully allows children to move safely around the nursery and to play in areas of their choice, in the spacious rooms and the outside play area. All policies and procedures are clearly written, and are an effective aid to staff in their daily practice to support children's welfare. Children's learning of independent skills are successfully supported, through the careful deployment of quality resources and activities around the nursery, to allow for self-selection.

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the early years provision

The manager has high aspirations and employs efficient, ongoing self-evaluation procedures that celebrate the setting's strengths. Areas identified for continued development are met in the best possible way. In addition, questionnaires are regularly given to parents to ensure the nursery can be responsive to the needs of their users. Excellent improvements have been made since the last inspection. For example, the nursery have reorganised part of the daily routine, so that all children benefit from a high-quality sociable meal time experience. In addition, staff make accurate observations and assessments of children's achievements, so that activities are very well matched to individual children. The nursery is highly inclusive. Children are taught to value and respect each other's differences and similarities. Cultural festivals are celebrated to enable children to affirm and acknowledge their sense of belonging. The manger has established fantastic links

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the early years provision

with local nursery schools and with other providers, to share good practice and to ensure continued progression of children's care, learning and development.

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the early years provision

The nursery works tremendously well with parents. Parents have access to an abundance of information, which is displayed around the nursery. Parents are provided with regular newsletters. These keep them exceptionally well informed about events and projects the nursery is involved in, including staff changes. Parents have excellent opportunities to meet with staff to discuss their children's achievements. However, they are not yet supported to become fully involved in their children's continuous learning and assessment records. The nursery values parents' comments, and seeks their views on what they are doing well and what they could do better. This is an effective way of developing and maintaining excellent communication between staff and parents. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive. Many commented on how much their children enjoy coming to the nursery every day and on the welcoming, caring and supportive attitudes of all the

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the early years provision

staff. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children make excellent progress towards the early learning goals. Through working with parents and close observation, staff are able to provide challenging activities to support each child's individual learning and development needs exceptionally well. During the settling in process, parents provide initial information on their child's achievements and the continued exchange of information is used to inform planning. Teaching is highly engaging and the staff have an excellent understanding of the children's next steps in learning. As a result, they are flexible and build well on the children's interests. Each child has a learning journey folder that is always accessible to their parents, which is sensitively written in a way which gives complete ownerships to the child. This includes attractive photographic evidence of their work, and clearly shows their progression during their time at the nursery. Staff make very accurate observations and assessments of children's

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and outcomes for children

achievements, so that activities are very well matched to individual needs. High- quality support is provided quickly and effectively, so that all children make outstanding progress in all aspects of their learning and development.

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and outcomes for children

Babies and toddlers play with a quality range of toys and experiences that promote the development of their senses. For example, they respond enthusiastically to the excellent range of equipment and resources, and have a fantastic time exploring various textures, such as shaving foam and corn flour. They absolutely enjoy making and playing their 'bottle shakers', which helps them develop their awareness of different sounds. In addition, the highly creative areas greatly enhance children's experiences for example; babies and toddlers are calm and relaxed in the attractive black and white areas. Staff ensure that the daily routine is planned exceptionally well according to their individual needs, and at their own pace. As a result, babies are content and feel secure.

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and outcomes for children

Children are making excellent progress in their communication, language and literacy development. The nursery is involved in the 'Every child a talker' project. Staff create friendly spaces both in and outdoors, to encourage and promote children's communication skills during their spontaneous play experiences. This ensures that every child receives tremendous support and individual time by staff, to develop their confidence in communicating with adults and each other. Children are developing their early writing skills; they have excellent opportunities to write for different purposes and have access to a wide range of writing resources, which they select independently. For example, children practise their early writing skills during outdoor play, using the large wall chalk boards. Children have excellent opportunities to learn about how plants grow and take great pleasure in planting and watering their strawberries, carrots, tomatoes and bean plants. Children are

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and outcomes for children

developing an extremely good understanding of the importance of taking care of their environment. For example, by recycling various materials in the nursery, as well as learning the value and the significance of using rain water to water their vegetable plants.

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and outcomes for children

Children follow very good hygiene practices, as they take increasing responsibility This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 for washing their hands appropriately throughout the day. Children are exceptionally well supported to develop a healthy lifestyle, through the provision of healthy and nutritious snacks and freshly cooked meals. Excellent considerations are given to children's dietary needs to ensure these are met sensitively. Children recognise when they are thirsty and help themselves to fresh drinking water from the water fountains. Children take part in a wonderful range of activities that enhance their physical development for example, they have an amazing time in the in the garden as they confidently use an excellent range of outdoor play equipment, where they practise their large physical skills. Children are learning extremely well about keeping themselves safe, through the discussions and

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and outcomes for children

activities provided. For example, during outdoor play, they use a range of equipment such as traffic lights and wheeled toys to develop their understanding about road safety. All staff are very consistent in their approach to behaviour management for example, they encourage the children to listen to each other and help children to share and take turns. Consequently, children are developing excellent habits and behaviours required to become good learners. 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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