Leo's Den Nursery

Leo's Den Nursery 37 Law Street, LONDON, SE1 4DZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/01/2013 03/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The provider does not ensure all persons working on the nursery premises have undergone suitability checks or that they do not have unsupervised access to children. This puts children at risk.  Safeguarding practice is insufficient. Staff are not fully aware of how to take action in a child protection emergency and how to implement the nursery's safeguarding policy. They do not carry out regular risk assessments to ensure the outside area is safe for children and that the premises are safe and secure.  The arrangements for assessing children's progress are weak. Some children have had no assessments, while the assessments of others are so out of date they offer no meaningful information to plan for children's individual needs.  The management are not effective in providing induction and supervision to staff and this results in staff not having their training and support needs appropriately identified.

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This provision is inadequate

 The staff have a limited knowledge of how to support the children's personal, social and emotional development through the key person system. As a result strategies to support children's personal, social and emotional development are not fully in place. In addition, staff do not encourage children's use of mathematical language during play.

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It has the following strengths

 The nursery staff are kind to the children and enthusiastic in their aim to make sure the children are happy.  Children are supervised well and staff ensure that suitable hygiene practices are maintained throughout the day.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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 children at play in both rooms, in the garden and at meal times.  The inspector met with the deputy manager and had discussions with some staff.  The inspector spoke to three parents.  The inspector sampled children's progress files.  The inspector examined the cleanliness of the nursery rooms.

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Information about the setting

Leo's Den Nursery has been registered since 2009 and is privately owned. It operates from the ground floor of a converted building. It is located on a residential road in the Tower Bridge Road area of the London Borough of Southwark. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. Children are cared for in an open-plan style setting with two group areas and a secure garden for outside play. There are also suitable toilet, office and kitchen facilities. There are currently 43 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery supports children who learn English as an additional language. The nursery employs a total of 16 staff members who work with the children either full-time or part-time. Of these, 10 staff members hold recognised childcare qualifications. The nursery receives funding for the

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Information about the setting

provision of free nursery education for children aged three and four years.

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must:

 ensure effective systems are in place to ensure that practitioners, and any other person who is likely to have regular contact with children (including living and working on the premises) are suitable

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must:

 ensure that the premises including outdoor spaces are fit for purpose, that furniture, equipment and toys are safe for children to use and that the premises are secure

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must:

 improve the key person system to ensure that every child's learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs, particularly their personal, social and emotional development

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must:

 improve assessments by observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and to then shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations

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must:

 ensure the safeguarding policy and procedure includes the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting

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must:

 train all staff to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and ensure that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues. Training made available by the provider must enable staff to identify signs of possible abuse and neglect at the earliest opportunity, and to respond in a timely and appropriate way

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must:

 ensure that all staff receive induction training to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Induction training must include information about emergency evacuation procedures, safeguarding, child protection, the provider's equality policy, and health and safety issues

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must:

 put appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff to identify any training needs, and secure opportunities for continued professional development

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

 improve children's understanding of mathematical language by demonstrating the language for shape, position and measures through discussions and during play.

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who attend

The activities planned for by the staff help children make satisfactory progress in some areas of learning. However, how well individual children make progress as a result of their participation is not measured effectively and not at all in some cases. This results in a lack of information for staff about how they should be supporting individual children and means that planning is not tailored for individual children. For example, although staff sit with children at activities and play alongside them they do not adapt their input to extend that particular child's learning needs.

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who attend

The educational programme implements some of the seven areas of learning of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, some areas of learning are offered more effectively than others and staff have not fully developed the programme for developing children's mathematical understanding by identifying the opportunities for learning during activities. For example, staff do not use mathematical language to encourage children's understanding of shape, position and measures during their play. In addition, staff do not support children's personal, social and emotional development effectively. This means at times children are upset and staff do not support them appropriately. For example, when children cry staff ask them 'what's wrong?' even when children have limited language skills and are not able to express themselves. At times staff place too high expectations on the children, expecting them to play in a small room with no toys and activities set out, while

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who attend

other children sleep in the main playroom. Children become bored and staff do not intervene to engage them in worthwhile play at this time. This does not support children in developing a positive attitude to their learning, or help them develop the skills they will need when they move to school.

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who attend

Staff set up a range of age-appropriate activities that offer children varied learning opportunities although these are not tailored to children's individual learning needs. For example children act out experiences they have outside the nursery with building blocks, vehicles and play figures on carpeted areas. A group of children attempt to build a train track and work cooperatively together to achieve this. In the home corner children can be seen making a meal with breakfast cereal. A range of books are positioned in cosy areas so that children can have a quiet place to look at picture books by themselves or simply have some quiet time away from the group. Children's literacy development is supported through story time led by adults. Throughout the day staff in the pre-school set out a range of activities on tables, such as play dough and puzzles. Staff encourage children to make a 'blow the football' game in which the children blow through straws to get the ball

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who attend

to move. This supports children's concentration skills. In addition staff use this opportunity to engage children whose language and communication skills are less well developed. Activities in the baby room are less structured but instead there are a wide range of toys laid out for them to explore and play with throughout the day. The staff encourage children to get involved and offer them praise when they succeed at what they are doing.

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who attend

Children's physical development is supported through a well-planned inside environment providing space to move around and access the activities on offer. Babies enjoy climbing in and out of the ball pool and those who are toddling actively practise climbing the slide to get into it. There are trips to the local park and opportunities to climb and use bikes in the garden. Babies develop their finger muscles as they push and press buttons using the many activity centres and squeeze and knead dough. Older children use tools, pencils, scissors, glue sticks and the computer keyboard. These experiences help develop their hand to eye coordination.

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who attend

Children take up opportunities to participate in activities that stimulate their senses. Babies enjoy splashing, tipping and emptying water while the older children are offered a tray of earth, building bricks and tools. Some children play and explore the textures while some pretend to build a wall by combining all the equipment. Activities such as these arouse the interests of older children and help to develop their knowledge about the world around them.

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

The staff are kind to the children and eager to make their day a happy one and parents' feedback supports this. Staff in the baby room sit on the floor with babies and there are playful exchanges and smiles. Staff in the pre-school room show that they enjoy being with the children and want them to have fun. Mealtimes are relaxed, well organised and an enjoyable experience for all concerned.

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

Children are supervised at all times and staff are deployed satisfactorily, for example adult to child ratios are maintained well and staff demonstrate that they have a full understanding of how to carry out daily tasks. As a result the daily routine runs smoothly and overall children demonstrate that they feel safe. In addition a number of the staff have completed paediatric first aid training in order to respond to accidents and children's health issues effectively. However, children's safety is compromised due to the negligence of management in carrying out suitable vetting procedures and the failure of management to carry out a risk assessment of entry to the building. In addition staff do not carry out effective health and safety checks in the outside area and this means it is not always safe. For example, staff do not dry equipment when it is wet and slippery, or move toys and equipment out of the way when engaging the children in running games. This does not

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

encourage the children's safety or help them learn about how to keep themselves safe.

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

The building and aspects of the decor are old and in some areas worn out but the nursery rooms are cleaned daily and children's toys are clean and fit for purpose. The staff uphold suitable hygiene practices, for example protective gloves are used for nappy changing and serving up of food. In addition children regularly wash their hands, their personal items are labelled well and each child has their own bedding which is laundered at the nursery.

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

The nursery meets its statutory requirements by implementing a key person system in order for each child and family to have a known person they can build a good relationship with. However, the staff have a limited knowledge about the role of the key person in supporting all aspects of children's personal, social and emotional development. For example, babies need their key person to be available to them throughout the day and especially when they are feeling insecure and this does not always happen. Likewise older children need help to build friendships with their peers as well as learn how to manage and resolve conflict. As a result of the weakness in key person practice some children in need of such support do not always receive it. Consequently some children are crying and upset at various times throughout the day and do not receive adequate adult support to help them feel settled.

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provision

The deputy manager demonstrates that she understands her duties and can work well under pressure. However, overall the management of the nursery provision is inadequate. The manager has repeated previous areas of non-compliance and failed to fulfil her safeguarding duties by not carrying out appropriate vetting procedures on all persons working in the nursery. Staff who carry out domestic duties on the premises when children are present have not undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks and are not supervised when entering the nursery. As a result children's safety is at risk. The safeguarding policy is not up to date to reflect current guidelines including the use of mobile telephones and cameras in the nursery. Staff are not supported in knowing how to implement the nursery's safeguarding policy. As a result staff are not confident in knowing what to do in the absence of a manager or deputy should an emergency of a safeguarding nature arise.

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provision

Other aspects of monitoring the safety of the children are weak because not enough attention is given to the security and safety of the building overall. For example, the system for entering and leaving the building is open to human error and the door to the street could be left open. In addition, parents are not informed of the importance of not allowing strangers into the nursery and therefore on the day of the inspection the inspector was allowed to walk into the nursery without any security checks. In addition standards for ensuring the safety of staff are low because the walkways to the kitchen, staff room and office are littered with obstacles which seriously compromise the safety of the cook bringing food to the children.

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provision

Monitoring systems have deteriorated since the last inspection and as a result children's progress records are no longer current resulting in a lack of information about individual children. It is reported that there are currently no children with special education needs or in need of early intervention however the lack of assessment means that children's needs are possibly not effectively identified. This lack of monitoring coupled with no parent surveys or self-evaluation means that the effectiveness of the provision in promoting equality of opportunities for all children to make progress is not known by the manager. The monitoring of staff development is weak and although it is reported that staff have appraisals there are no of records of staff training or their continuous professional development to back this up. In addition the system for staff induction is no longer effective because the process is not being completed and as a result trainee staff are not

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provision

given a good basis on which to build their knowledge and skills.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 put in place effective systems to ensure that the registered person and any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children which must include obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check (Suitability of persons to care for, or be in regular contact, with children)  put in place effective systems to ensure that the registered person and any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children which must include obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check (Suitability of persons to care for, or be in regular contact, with children)  ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare and ensure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of a person who is caring for children on the premises (Suitability and safety of premises and equipment) (Also applies to the voluntary

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with children is suitable to work with children which must include obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (Suitability of persons to care for, or be in regular contact with, children)  implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (Arrangements for safeguarding children)  ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare and ensure that no one can enter the premises without the knowledge of a person who is caring for children on the premises (Suitability and safety of premises and equipment)  ensure that any person caring for, or in regular contact with children is suitable to work with children which must include obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

Bureau (Suitability of persons to care for, or be in regular contact with, children)  implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (Arrangements for safeguarding 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 action. 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 EY382828 Local authority Southwark Inspection number 896126

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 43 Name of provider Success Associates Ltd Date of previous inspection 03/05/2011 Telephone number 02076200950

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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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