Cavendish Lodge Nursery School

Cavendish Lodge Nursery School Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY338408 Inspection date 10/08/2011 Inspector Christopher MacKinnon

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Setting address 52 Lewin Road, London, SW16 6JT

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Telephone number 0208 835 8500 Email info@cavendishlodgenursery.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. 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

Cavendish Lodge Nursery School is privately owned and was opened in 2007. It operates within a converted house in Streatham Common, London. The owners also run another childcare setting located nearby. Childcare is provided on three floors within the premises, and children also have access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm throughout the year.

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Description of the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. It is registered to provide care for no more than 83 children under eight year at any one time, with no more than 23 children aged under one at any one time. There are currently 111 early years children on roll who attend a variety of different sessions. The nursery receives nursery education funding for children aged three years and older. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and also children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery has a staff team of 25 and most have level three early years qualifications or above, with one early years professional status practitioner.

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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

The nursery is a very well organised childcare setting, and staff provide highly consistent support for individual children's development. Children have access to an extremey stimulating and richly resourced play environment, with excellent opportunities for outdoor play and learning. A comprehensive programme of activities ensures children achieve well and make excellent progress with their learning. The quality of the staff skills and the promotion of children's 'next steps' in learning is exemplary. Staff work effectively in partnership with parents and other carers, and very consistent self-evaluation procedures are in place to promote improvement. The nursery is currently considering the further development of observation and assessment systems

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further?

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

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further?

 consider the further development of assessment systems and the recording of individual children's progress within the six areas of learning This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The nursery is a well established provision, with an experienced and well trained staff team. Senior management staff are highly confident in their leadership, and take care to ensure the wider staff team deliver an exceptionally effective programme of play and learning for children. A strong and very consistent aspect of the nursery's organisation is the provision of a particularly well maintained key worker system which operates with a particularly low child adult ratio. This has significant benefit to the quality of individual children's care and is instrumental in the successful promotion of children's learning and achievement. Safeguarding is well organised and consistently supported within the provision. A detailed range of security procedures and policy guidance is in place, and staff members fully understand the procedures to follow should they have any concerns regarding the welfare of a child in their care.

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the early years provision

The nursery is very successful in its approach to maintaining continuous improvement. Through a range of internal appraisals and action plans, several improvements are currently under way. There is an ongoing programme in place to gradually replace and develop the rage of toys and resources. There are also plans to reorganise how some of the rooms are used within the setting to provide more discovery based play, and opportunities for children to build and create their own play spaces. The staff team also show considerable confidence and clarity in their approach to self-evaluation, and make extremely effective use of well written self- evaluation documents and procedures to identify areas for improvement.

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the early years provision

The nursery has the benefit of a well managed and excellently prepared play environment. The overall success of how the building is organised for child care shows a high level of understanding of children's needs and is an outstanding feature of the provision. Children access all three floors of the premises; there are a wide range of different play areas which are successfully presented to support care to the different ages attending. There are excellent opportunities provided for free flow play, i.e. on the lower ground floor out to the garden and on the first floor children have the use of covered all weather terrace. This promotes the children's sense of independence as they can move around the different areas as their play develops.

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the early years provision

All of the playrooms present a very stimulating and challenging variety of toys and play materials. There is an abundance of opportunities provided for role play, dressing-up and creative play, thereby providing the children with exceptional opportunities to develop their imaginations. The children are able to involve themselves in painting, playing with 'gloop' and other 'messy play'.

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the early years provision

The setting also provides children with an exceptionally good range of resources to support their more formal learning. There are extensive opportunities for mark making and reading, to play with small world figures and manipulative toys; and children also make excellent use of the available information technology. The most notable and stimulating aspect of the nursery's play environment is the outdoor play and learning area. This is a truly outstanding feature, and provides many This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 excellent opportunities, every day, for children to use larger play equipment and to explore and invent play. Overall, the highly considered and generous way the garden has been resourced and constructed, provides children with many excellent adventures outdoors and is highly beneficial to their learning and to their development of physical skills.

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the early years provision

The provision and support provided for inclusive practice within the nursery is highly organised and another notable feature. Children's individual developmental progress is excellently fostered by the provision of a comprehensive key worker system, where staff are highly organised to provide close and consistent support for individual children. Staff also show a consistent knowledge of the children they care for, and take care to plan and indentify individual development opportunities and provide focused learning.

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the early years provision

The setting also has a strong multi-cultural ethos, and staff take care to ensure that the diversity of people within the local community is positively reflected and promoted within the play environment and in the planned activities. Toys, books and other resources contain appropriate images. All children are welcomed at the setting regardless of background or ability, and parents whose first language isn't English are well supported.

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the early years provision

Staff successfully maintain close partnerships with other settings. The nursery has recently made links with the local children's centre, and staff are also in contact with other nearby day care settings. The nursery also enjoys close links with one particular junior school, where many of their children move to. Staff also take care to ensure that close and beneficial relationships are effectively established with parents. Once again, the nursery's very effective 'key person' working provides the mainstay of support and contact with parents. Staff encourage a 'stay and play' policy for parents, and parents are invited to contribute to their children's play projects. Parents also benefit from access to clear and exceptionally well maintained information about the nursery's play programme and planned parent events.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery's planning for learning is exemplary. Senior staff and key persons work together successfully to provide an outstanding level of support for children's learning through play. A series of themed play and learning plans are provided throughout the year, and these are excellently prepared and developed for each of the age ranges attending. In addition, continual week-by-week planning allows room leaders and key staff to successfully produce their own prepared activities, that include detailed elements of individual children's 'next steps' and this has a particularly beneficial impact on children's ability to make progress with their learning.

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and outcomes for children

Consistently high quality teaching is provided within the nursery, and staff show excellent skills with helping and supporting children's development. Staff show a This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 high level of confidence with challenging children's thinking and extending their learning. For example, children learn how things change by experiencing ice cubes melting, and seeing how different colours are made by mixing paint. Staff also talk knowledgeably about their use of the six areas of learning, and how they are explored by the children during their play. Overall, a high level of close and very considerate staff input is provided throughout the nursery, which greatly benefits children and successfully supports their learning and quality of play.

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and outcomes for children

The nursery has established a comprehensive observation process which is overseen by senior staff; in which all key persons take the responsibility for assessing the achievements of their allocated children. To compliment this, detailed and very thorough individual learning records are compiled for each child. These provide staff and parents with clear information on how children progress through their learning stages. The setting is currently reviewing its organisation of observation and assessment. The existing system of recording children's achievement is being revised to provide more evidence of children's progress in each of the six learning areas and this is noted as an area where further improvement may be considered.

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and outcomes for children

Staff are aware of need to help children feel safe within the setting. This is particularly evident in the younger children's section, where the 'under ones' have a range of specifically prepared soft areas and opportunities for crawling and exploring. Children within this age range also experience a high level of close staff contact. Well prepared and generous play space is also provided for the intermediate age group children, where staff are able to work with small groups to help children gain confidence to explore wider play, safely and securely.

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and outcomes for children

The promotion of social learning is a strong element within nursery. A wide range of activities are presented to promote children's personal and social development; with group activities, turn taking and many opportunities for shared learning during play. Children have incentives and are given encouragement with sharing and working with each other. For example, the older pre school children have a visual display chart of their achievements in 'helping' and 'listening to others'.

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and outcomes for children

A wide range of detailed records are made to support children's daily care. For example, staff use well prepared health report forms to record any care or health concerns for parents. The nursery has the added benefit of having its own kitchen, with food learning opportunities built into the curriculum. A trained cook is on site who joins with staff to deliver learning activities for children based around food preparation, and learning about healthy eating. A high level of physical activities and challenges are provided within the play programme. Children also have the benefit of a resident sports coach, who is a physical development specialist. He attends each day, and organises a wide range of physical games and activities specifically planned to promote children's balance, running and physical confidence.

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and outcomes for children

The rich play environment, well planned activities and high quality teaching, all combine to ensure children's skills for future learning are excellently promoted. To support communication language and literacy, staff frequently engage in singing with children, and many opportunities are provided to explore to develop their This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 early literacy skills. Children also have an excellent range of well resourced book areas, and set reading times. Staff are particularly aware of the need to promote literacy and encourage the children's interest in books. Children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills are also well supported with many puzzles and challenging play opportunities provided for children to learn about shapes, sizes and numbers.

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and outcomes for children

Overall, this is an exceptionally well run and well resourced nursery where committed and skilled staff support children to successfully learn through play using a wide range of very imaginative activities. 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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