Griffon Day Nursery

Griffon Day Nursery Latton Bush Centre, Southern Way, HARLOW, Essex, CM18 7BL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/01/2013 29/01/2009

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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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Staff have warm close relationships with children that help them to feel safe and secure.  Children are prepared well for school because they demonstrate good self-care skills, concentration and independence.  There is a good balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities that enables children to select resources freely and independently.  Managers are aware of key areas for development of the provision and have the commitment to ensure improved outcomes for children.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not have appraisals, which means that their training needs cannot be clearly identified.  Planning and observation methods are inconsistent in quality and this means that children's needs are not met precisely.  Staff do not maximise the potential of role play situations to promote children's mathematical and early writing skills. They also do not maximise opportunities for parents to contribute to their child's learning.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector observed interaction between staff and children.  The inspector examined planning and assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents and took their views into consideration during the inspection.  The inspector had a meeting with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Griffon Day Nursery was registered in 1990 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a self contained unit in Latton Business Centre, Harlow and is privately owned. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, four staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two staff at level 2. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 34 children attending, who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children with special needs and/or disabilities. The nursery is a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.

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must:

 ensure that regular staff appraisals are carried out to identify any training needs and secure opportunities for professional development  improve planning, observation and assessment, so that children's needs are met fully and consistently. For example, by carrying out regular observations that are evaluated and used to inform planning.

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

 maximise the potential of the role play areas to promote children's numeracy and early writing skills

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

 improve ways for parents to contribute to their child's learning, so that they can support their development.

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who attend

Overall, staff provide a variety of interesting activities that cover most areas of learning. They base their ideas for activities on children's interests. However, planning lacks sufficient information to meet children's needs fully. This is because next steps for children's learning do not always inform plans, so some of their needs are not met precisely. In general, children make satisfactory progress.

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who attend

Methods to assess children's progress are inconsistent. Some staff carry out regular observations of children and evaluate these to feed into plans for children. However, not all staff do this. This means that staff have limited information on how to meet children's needs fully. Staff carry out effective progress checks for two- to three-year-olds to identify strengths and areas of development.

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who attend

Staff allow children to initiate their own activities and provide some adult-led activities, which offers a suitable balance for children. Staff engage children well as they sit on the carpet for group time. They use story props to encourage participation and interest in books. Children listen attentively, make comments and enjoy the unfolding events. They have access to a range of books and select stories independently to browse through. There is a range of dressing-up clothes in the role play area that the children use to dress- up as different characters and explore their imagination. Children practise their language skills as they talk to each other at the role play 'shop' and decide to take on different roles. They ask questions, make statements and create imaginary stories together. However, there are missed opportunities for children's mathematical and early writing skills to be promoted in role play.

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who attend

Children learn skills that prepare them for school sufficiently. For example, as children use their creative skills to decorate biscuits, they take turns and concentrate well. Staff encourage children by praising them for their work and this results in children being motivated to learn. Children make hand prints on paper and staff extend their learning by discussing the different paint colours. Staff encourage children's mathematics skills by asking them to count the number of fingers they have on one hand. Children use a range of resources to learn effectively about shape and size, such as shape sorters and construction sets. Some of the older children are beginning to recognise their names. Staff use nursery rhymes and encourage children to listen to similarities in sounds. Musical instruments are used to develop listening skills. Children's learning is enriched by visits from reptile handlers, who bring exotic creatures for them to observe and learn about.

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who attend

Babies operate cause and effect toys effectively. They enjoy playing with treasure baskets and exploring the texture of different natural materials. Babies use a range of small climbing equipment, tunnels and cushions to develop their physical skills well. Older children practise a range of physical skills and make steady progress as they explore the outdoor environment by using ride on wheeled toys, scooters, climbing frames, slides, bats and balls.

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who attend

Staff work closely with other professionals involved in children's care and learning to support their needs effectively. For example, educational psychologists, physiotherapists visit the setting to offer advice and information to support children's development and learning. Staff keep parents informed of their child's development. They have daily interaction with parents to share information on children's interests and skills. However, there is little opportunity for parents to be involved in their child's learning.

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

Children show that they are happy and settled by approaching staff for cuddles and smiling freely. They have secure, warm relationships with staff. Children settle well because staff find out about their routines, likes and dislikes and use this information to provide suitable activities. A visual timetable of key events in the nursery routine provides reassurance to children.

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

Children behave safely. They show awareness of the need to walk indoors, and line up sensibly to use the bathroom. Staff reinforce safe behaviour by, for example, reminding children how to sit safely on wooden apparatus. Older children wash their hands independently when appropriate and show good self-care skills. Younger children are assisted by staff to use the bathroom. Babies are changed in private, clean nappy changing areas.

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

Staff encourage children to develop healthy lifestyles by taking the children outdoors for fresh air and physical exercise. Children use a good range of large and small equipment in the enclosed garden area to develop their physical skills well. They help themselves to fresh drinking water and older children help to prepare healthy snacks. Meals are nutritious and appetizing and any special dietary needs are catered for.

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

Staff have good links with the local school. Teachers and other staff visit pre-school children to get to know them, share information and build up relationships. This provides effective support to children, who move to school. Children within the nursery spend time in new group rooms before they transfer, so that they get used to new environments and staff. Staff manage children's behaviour effectively. They praise the children specifically and give explanations to those, whose behaviour is unacceptable. Staff use appropriate strategies for younger children, such as distraction techniques.

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

Through creative, fun activities, children learn about special cultural or religious events, such as Chinese New Year and Diwali. For example, they make paper lanterns to celebrate Diwali and eat a range of Chinese snack foods during Chinese New Year. Children's understanding and acceptance of difference is reinforced through discussion with staff and multi-cultural books.

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provision

Staff keep children protected from harm. All staff have received overall training on the requirements of the revised framework and have put this into practice to some effect. Staff are appropriately vetted and assessed as being suitable for their roles. Management are aware of the proprietor's responsibility to ensure compliance with requirements of the revised framework.

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provision

Overall, management have sufficient insight into the quality of planning and assessment because they work in the group rooms with staff and observe plans and assessment. Planning and assessment are looked at more fully during staff supervision. These arrangements indicate ways to identify any form of underachievement by children.

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provision

Supervision has been recently implemented and helps to identify areas of under- performance. It also provides staff with support and mentoring, if needed. Managers have good insight into the quality of practice. Staff do not have appraisals and therefore, their individual training needs cannot be identified clearly. For example, this lack of identification has led to inconsistent approaches in planning and assessment, which means that children's needs are not fully met. However, some staff have attended workshops on heuristic play for children under two years of age. This led to the provision of 'treasure baskets' containing a wide variety of textures and materials for babies to handle and explore.

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provision

Parents have few opportunities to contribute to their child's learning. However, they are kept informed of their child's progress mainly through daily interaction with staff. There are good partnerships with community health professionals and others involved in children's care and learning. For instance, links with educational psychologists and physiotherapists provide advice and support to promote children's development. The nursery also works effectively with the early years department of the local authority, who provide in-house workshops on a range of early years matters.

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provision

The nursery reflects on its provision and identifies areas for development. For instance, it plans to complete the refurbishment of group rooms and confirm dates for parents' evenings. The nursery has met previous recommendations, such as the implementation of full risk assessments to enhance children's safety. The nursery has sufficient capacity to improve the provision and future outcomes for children.

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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 204135 Local authority Essex Inspection number 817988

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 44 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Griffon Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 29/01/2009 Telephone number 01279 454179

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Type of provision

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

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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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