Your Co-op Little Pioneers Nursery and Pre-School, Charlton

Places for Children Sherington Children's Centre, 14 Sherington Road, LONDON, SE7 7JW

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/10/2012 03/07/2009

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

p.1

This provision is satisfactory

 Staff develop positive relationships with parents and carers through an effective key person system.  Children are happy and settled because they are supported by caring staff who know them well. Overall, there are suitable systems to promote children's safety and well- being.  The manager has identified areas for development to support children's learning and development.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 Hygiene routines, such as hand washing, are not consistently implemented across the nursery day.  The resources and arrangement of the indoor environment do not always encourage children to become creative and independent learners.  The nursery has yet to fully develop partnerships with other local early years provision to ensure continuity of learning and development.

p.1

Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.2

Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the two play rooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager during snack time.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and the area manager.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

p.2

Information about the setting

Places for Children Nursery at Sherrington registered in 2008 and is now part of the Co- operative Childcare Group. It operates from Sherrington Children's Centre in Charlton, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It serves families from the local area and works closely with the children's centre and adjacent school to provide wrap-around care. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm throughout the year, with the exception of bank holidays.

p.2

Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 62 children on roll. Children attend a variety of full and part-time sessions. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery supports children learning English as an additional language. There are currently 13 members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery also employs a chef.

p.3

must:

 develop the educational programme by providing stimulating and easily accessible resources to help children make good progress in all areas of their learning and development

p.3

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 ensure that routines to promote independence and a healthy lifestyle, such as hand washing, are fully embedded throughout the nursery

p.3

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 develop further partnerships with other providers to support children's well-being and learning and development.

p.3

who attend

Children come into nursery happily and settle quickly because they are supported by staff who genuinely care for them and take time to get to know them well. Staff build good relationships with parents and carers and find out as much as they can about their children when they first start at the nursery. They use this information to plan activities to support children and help them to settle quickly into the nursery. An effective settling in procedure also allows parents to spend time in the nursery with their children to help them to become familiar with the environment and routines.

p.3

who attend

Children have access to a limited range of resources within the developing indoor environment. Not all the resources are easily accessible and the learning environment does not always encourage them to fully explore the resources available. For example, the wooden dolls' house lacks a variety of resources and small world figures to support children's play and resources in drawers are not clearly labelled to help children identify what they want to play with. This does not fully encourage children to play and explore. However, children enjoy visiting the book area with their friends where they freely access books from a low display unit. This helps them to develop their independence and literacy skills. They also enjoy joining in with familiar songs and rhymes during music sessions, led by enthusiastic staff. Older children have free access to the covered outdoor balcony area in all weathers. They particularly enjoy playing in the role-play area, developing their

p.3

who attend

imagination and creativity skills. Staff support children to develop their counting and number skills as they play with ducks in the water tray.

p.4

who attend

Babies and younger children play in an environment which gives them appropriate space and resources to support their learning and development. For example, babies are able to use the low-level furnishings to pull themselves up as they start learning to walk. They enjoy using paints to explore making marks on large sheets of paper and they explore different types of musical instruments.

p.4

who attend

Staff help children to make suitable progress in their learning and development by making observations of the children whilst they play. They record their achievements in individual learning journeys and use these observations to plan further activities to extend their learning and development across all areas. This helps to prepare children for the next stage of their learning. Staff actively involve parents in their children's learning by encouraging them to share their children's interests and achievements at home. Staff effectively use this information to promote continuity of care and learning to meet children's individual needs. Staff appropriately support children learning English as an additional language. For example, they find out key words in children's home language to support them in meeting their needs within the nursery.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children play in a safe and secure environment. All visitors to the nursery have to use a buzzer entry system and identify themselves to staff. Staff carry out daily checks to identify potential hazards within the indoor and outdoor environments and carry out separate risk assessments before taking children on outings.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

An effective key person system supports the good partnership the nursery has with parents and carers. Each child is allocated a key person who spends time building relationships with the child and their family, in order to meet their individual needs. This helps children to develop secure attachments and facilitates the daily sharing of information between parents and the key person. Babies actively seek out their key person and enjoy cuddles and individual attention that they share with their key person. High staff ratios ensure that children are suitably supervised at all times of the day.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

All staff act as good role models for the children and positively promote their self-esteem. They acknowledge children's achievements and praise their efforts. Children's behaviour is good as staff support them to learn to play co-operatively with their peers. They learn to share the resources and to take turns, developing their negotiation skills.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Generally children learn about the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles through routines and activities. Older children know that they need to wash their hands after using the toilet to 'wash the germs away'. Staff gently check that the children have washed their hands before they eat their snack and lunch. However, these routines are not consistent throughout the day, as children who attend the breakfast club do not wash their hands before they eat. This does not help children establish good hygiene routines. All children are offered healthy meals and snacks to promote their understanding of healthy eating. Older children develop their independence as they make choices about what they eat and are encouraged to serve themselves and pour their own drinks at lunchtime. Staff support and encourage babies and younger children to begin to feed themselves. All staff place a high priority on making sure that they fully meet children's individual dietary needs.

p.5

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children have individual colour coded placemats and plates so that staff are able to easily identify their requirements.

p.5

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff carefully plan to support children as they move from one room to another. The key person spends time with the child in the new room to help them to become familiar with their new environment and routines. This positively supports children's well-being. Staff communicate with other settings when they deliver and collect children during the day. However, effective partnerships with other providers to support the continuity of children's learning and development in all areas have yet to be fully developed. For example, while there are basic partnerships in place, staff from other settings are not invited to visit the nursery to share relevant information about children and to discuss good practice.

p.5

provision

The manager has a sound understanding of her role and responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All the required policies and procedures are regularly updated to meet current guidelines. These are shared with staff as part of their induction process so that all staff know what to do and who to contact should they have any concerns about a child in their care. They are aware of their responsibilities for keeping children safe. Clear recruitment procedures include taking up references and carrying out suitability checks on all staff.

p.5

provision

The manager and her staff work well as a team. She supports them to deliver the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage through regular observation, monitoring and individual supervisions. They also meet as a whole staff team to evaluate their practice and identify areas for development. As a result, all staff contribute to the nursery's self-evaluation process. This process also includes the feedback from parents through questionnaires and daily verbal communications. On the day of inspection, parents commented favourably on the friendly and approachable staff and the good relationships they have built up with them. They also commented that the nursery has recently gone through a period of instability with the change of ownership but look forward to seeing positive improvements. The nursery also seeks support and advice from other external partner agencies. Staff work closely with the local authority and the children's centre teacher to identify the

p.5

provision

nursery's strengths and areas for improvement. Following the recent change in ownership, the nursery has drawn up an improvement plan in order to identify their priorities for improvement. This includes improving the quality and organisation of resources to allow children to explore and develop their ideas across the seven areas of learning and development.

p.6

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

p.6

Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.7

Setting details

Unique reference number EY370006 Local authority Greenwich Inspection number 815591 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 62 Number of children on roll 62 Name of provider Places For Children Ltd Date of previous inspection 03/07/2009 Telephone number 0208 305 2900

p.7

Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

p.7

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.7

Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

p.7

Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

p.7

Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.8

Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. 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,

p.8

Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.9

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.9