Chestnut@Earlham Grove

Chestnut Nursery School 177 Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, London, E7 9AP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/10/2012 11/01/2010

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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

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This provision is satisfactory

 An effective key person system means babies and children settle well into this nursery and form secure attachments. As a result, children develop confidence and enjoy exploring their environment. Additionally, staff skilfully manage room changes within the nursery, so children make such moves without distress  Overall, staff are sensitive and supportive when interacting with children. They recognise the importance of prioritising children's communication and language development, promoting these well together with their literacy skills. Their good support here means children progress well in these areas of learning  The manager promotes a culture of effective team working. The staff have positive relationships with each other and generally they are good role models for the children  The manager has identified appropriate areas for improvement. She demonstrates a commitment to making continuous improvement to the nursery.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not do all they might to help children to learn the skills and knowledge they need in order to make good progress in their mathematical development.  Staff do not place enough emphasis on promoting children's creative and imaginative abilities effectively through resourcing an effective programme for the expressive arts and design.  Staff do not implement effective systems to fully involve all parents in their children's learning.  The leadership and management process for mentoring and coaching staff for areas of underperformance is in its early stages and does not support staff's professional development effectively.

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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.

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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.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and child interactions in all three rooms of the nursery and outside  The inspector spoke to some parents and took account of their views of the nursery  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager  The inspector had discussions with the management team and members of staff

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of documentation, including evidence of staff suitability and qualifications, key policies to support the safety of the children and children's learning and development records

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Information about the setting

Chestnut Nursery School was registered in 2005. It is a part of a group of nurseries owned by Chestnut Nursery School Ltd. It operates from a converted semi-detached premises situated in a residential area of Forest Gate, within the London borough of Newham. The accommodation comprises of four rooms, a staff room and an office. Two of the rooms are on the first floor; in addition, the company office is situated on the third floor. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area and a large grassed area. The nursery school operates Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is also registered on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 52 children on roll in the early years age group. The nursery is funded to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four years. The nursery currently supports a number of children learning English as an additional

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Information about the setting

language. The nursery employs 10 members of staff. All staff including the manager hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff holds a level 6 qualification. The setting receives support from the local authority early years service and provides funded early years education for two- to four-year-olds. The ground floor of the building with two classrooms is fully accessible.

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must:

 develop the educational programme for mathematics by using unplanned opportunities and planned times to talk about mathematics in everyday situations, provide games and equipment that offer counting opportunities and to provide rich and varied opportunities for comparing length, weight, capacity and time.  develop the educational programme for the expressive arts and design by improving opportunities for children to represent their ideas and use their imaginations by: 1) providing a variety of familiar resources reflecting everyday life, such as magazines, real kitchen items or washing materials, and 2) providing additional resources reflecting specific interests such as tunics, cloaks and bags.  further develop supervision opportunities for staff to receive effective coaching and secure opportunities for their continued professional development in order improve their personal effectiveness  Improve the way information is provided to parents about their children's current

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must:

stage of development and their next steps in learning in order to support parents in guiding their child's development at home.

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

 create quiet areas in which children can sit and chat with friends, such as a snug den or cosy spaces.

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who attend

Children and babies enjoy learning, playing and interacting in this caring, welcoming nursery. They learn from being able to lead their own play and by being guided by supportive staff. Overall, the educational programmes and teaching techniques mean children make sound progress in their learning and development. The appropriate emphasis placed by staff on the three prime areas of learning equips children with the skills and attitudes they need when they move to the next phase in their education.

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who attend

Staff are effective in extending and promoting children's communication skills. For example, the use of non-verbal communication in the form of facial gestures and visual clues help the younger children, children with language delay or those learning English as an additional language to fully participate in activities. Staff sensitively encourage children to take part in conversations and repeat and extend their vocabulary when appropriate. The children particularly enjoy listening to stories read by an enthusiastic member of staff and join in excitedly, guessing what might happen next. Staff use nursery rhymes and songs as a part of everyday routines, such as the 'tidy up' song and during activities such as water play. The nursery has participated in a national programme and has shared resources with parents to help support their child's communication at home. Staff are in the process of collecting key words in children's home languages to use at the nursery to

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who attend

support the development of their home languages.

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who attend

Staff in the pre-school class are effective at prompting children's literacy skills. Through well thought out planning, children access an interesting variety of writing materials to apply their emergent writing skills. For example, they practise letter formation on the chalk board, use the paint sponge to attempt to write their name and find their name to register themselves when they come to nursery. All children practise gaining good hand and finger control in a number of activities provided by the staff, such as by using scissors to cut out pictures. Children eagerly gather round at 'group time' and with encouragement from staff look at and sing the letters of the alphabet. They enjoy waiting to hear from staff the initial letter sound of their name, in order to go and wash their hands before lunch.

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who attend

Staff promote active learning and water play was popular with the younger children. They played alongside each other for an extended period, pouring and filling the different size jugs with water, stating the doll enjoyed its bath. The children eagerly made marks at the easel with paintbrushes and sat on the rug playing with the train track concentrating to make it join up. Despite some strong practice, staff do not plan effectively for all areas of learning or interest, or maximise opportunities to their full potential. As a result, children do not always use these areas effectively to extend their learning. For example, the home role play area is underused due to a lack of opportunities provided by staff for imaginary play and the book area is uninviting.

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who attend

The staff teach the older children about other people's religions and one boy particularly was very pleased with himself as he said "Happy Id" when his friend left to go home. Children have access to computers at set times of the day. They learn about their community when they go for walks in the immediate area. Staff provide an appropriate range of freely available creative materials and children use the re-cycled modelling to make things from their own imaginations. There are a few numbers placed around the nursery to support number recognition and some numbers are available, but overall staff do not place enough emphasis on children's developing numeracy skills and this area requires improvement in order to help children be well prepared for moving on to school.

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who attend

Staff support children's physical develop well outside. For example, children can ride peddle bikes and trikes in the large garden area, run up and down the "telly tubby" hill and play with the large fixed wooden apparatus. The babies have access to an indoor area where they can roll, climb over and under appropriate resources and access the outside area on a daily basis.

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who attend

Staff use relevant support publications to help their growing understanding of how children learn and develop. They observe their key children's interests and capabilities, and record these in their development records. Overall, children's starting points are recoded and progress is tracked suitably, although there is some inconsistency across the staff team in understanding child development and the quality of information provided in children's records, assessments reflects this variation. Planning is not always tailored to cover the required areas of learning effectively.

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who attend

Overall, the nursery has established positive relationships with parents. A 'wow' display board in the foyer area encourages parents to provide observations from home capturing key moments in a child's learning. Children's development records are available for parents to view; however, some parents are not always aware of their child's current stage of development or the area the child's key person is focusing on in order to move their child's learning forward.

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

Downstairs, staff provide a suitable range of easily accessible resources and children have free access to an immediate outside covered area. This means children make choices about where and what they want to play with. They grow in confidence, are well motivated and enjoy exploring their surroundings to learn to be independent, as a result.

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

The emphasis staff place on the settling in process especially supports children to feel secure when they join the nursery. Information provided by parents helps the staff get to know children's interest and particular needs. For example, a favourite song to help sooth a baby. Parents are encouraged to stay until they feel happy to leave their child in the care of the nursery staff. Clearly displayed in the foyer area of the nursery are photographs of staff with their key children. This system ensures parents know who to go to in order to share important information about their child.

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

Younger children receive plenty of eye contact and feel nurtured because they have regular cuddles from the staff. Babies snuggle up to staff receiving reassurance and settle quickly to sleep peacefully, undisturbed, when they feel tired. Downstairs, however, the staff have not provided a cosy area for the children to have some quiet time with their friends or key person. This oversight is especially relevant for the younger children as they become easily distracted and distressed when the level of noise is high.

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

Staff make routines for the youngest children flexible to follow children's needs, while the older children benefit from the structured routine of the nursery. They are aware of what is expected of them at certain times of the day and, consequently, develop a sense of belonging and security. For example, children know where their belongings are stored and look for their named peg to put on their coat when it is time to go outside to the large garden area.

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

Children generally behave well in the nursery. Staff model effective behaviours, such as saying please and thank you, and children receive praise for being kind for sharing toys. Staff give children gentle reminders about how to play with equipment safely and give instructions pitched appropriately at the child's level of understanding. This support helps the older children build the knowledge they need to start assessing and managing risk for themselves; for example, they practise the safest way to climb on the outdoor apparatus.

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

Children are developing an awareness of healthy lifestyles through learning about the food cycle, as staff help them to water the vegetables growing in the garden. They enjoy eating freshly cooked nutritious midday meals. Children can help themselves to drinking water when they are thirsty and can choose when to have a healthy snack.

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provision

The leadership and management of the nursery make sure staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children and support their welfare, so children are effectively protected. Documentation is regularly reviewed and updated. The leadership implements appropriate recruitment, vetting and induction procedures, which helps check that the appointed staff are suitable to work with children. A comprehensive safeguarding policy and induction programme means staff understand their roles in identifying and reporting concerns where necessary. Security measures, risk assessment and implementation of policy documents keep children from harm. For example, children wear high visibility jackets when they go for walks and a suitably qualified fist aid member of staff is always present. Management ensures that each child is assigned a key person right from the start so that parents know who they can speak to when sharing important information about their

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provision

child. The nursery welcomes parents and staff are keen to work with them, but not all parents are made well aware of their children's progress. Nevertheless, parents are provided with other relevant information about the nursery through the prospectus, website and clear displays in the foyer. There is an 'open door' policy and some parents visit the nursery to share and read stories with the children, which benefit the children.

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provision

The relatively new manager has worked hard to improve staff relationships; as a result, staff now work well as a team, such as when implementing the key person system. Regular staff meetings are held and the manager attends a monthly network meeting in order to discuss and share best practice and to help drive further improvement, although some specific areas of learning require improvement before they are good enough. Staff report they feel better supported by the management team as they are encouraged to implement improvements for the benefit of the children.

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provision

A suitable programme of performance appraisals for staff is in place, but mentoring systems are still in the early stages of development; sometimes identified staff training needs are not put into action. This failure to access appropriate training means staff's underperformance is not always addressed effectively. For example, some staff do not have effective skills in assessing children's progress. The manager has successfully identified the main areas in the nursery that need improvement and has the drive and ambition to implement the required changes.

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provision

Partnerships with external agencies work well and benefit all children. Additionally, staff work suitably with other early years settings. Detailed information about children's interests and care needs is passed to schools when they are due to leave for the next phase in their education, thus smoothing the transition process, although more needs to be achieved to make sure children have a broad range of skills.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY300788 Local authority Newham Inspection number 814864 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 1 - 5 Total number of places 55 Number of children on roll 52 Name of provider Chestnut Nursery Schools Limited Date of previous inspection 11/01/2010 Telephone number 0208 503 0394

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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.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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’.

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Type of provision

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

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