Little Pioneers Nursery & Pre-School, Sutton

Buffer Bear Nursery @ Sutton Buffer Bear Nursery, 21b Cheam Road, SUTTON, Surrey, SM1 1SN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/02/2013 16/11/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 2 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

 Support, supervision and training for staff is not consistent.  The key person system does not consistently support younger children.  Planning and assessment systems are not yet robust enough to ensure that all children make good and steady progress in their learning, and that gaps in learning are clearly identified and planned for.  Temporary staff are not deployed effectively to meet the needs of younger children, and parents are not informed about staff deployment.  Staff do not provide a consistent and positive approach to behaviour management.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff provide a safe, child friendly environment and this enables children to move around freely and explore the activities set up for them.  Children enjoy the friendships they are making as they eat together, enjoy activities with adults and initiate their own play games.  Staff support children with additional needs effectively through effective partnership working between parents and professionals.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children and staff in every nursery room.  The inspector had discussion with permanent and bank staff.  The inspector spoke to parents.  The inspector looked at children's progress files.  The inspector look at a sample of policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

The Sutton Nursery is one of a large chain of nurseries run by The Co-operative Childcare group. It opened in 2000 and re-launched under Mid Counties Co-operative in July 2011. It operates from five rooms within the site of Sutton Baptist Church. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is within the heart of a busy commercial and residential area and is open each weekday from 7.15am to 6.30pm for 52 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. A maximum of 66 children may attend the nursery at any one time. There are currently 92 children aged from 3 months to under five years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are 14 members of staff, 13 of whom hold early years qualifications to at least level 2. Two members of staff are working towards achieving Early Years Professional Status.

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Information about the setting

The setting provides funded education for two, three and four-year-old children.

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must:

 ensure observations and assessments are carried out and kept up to date, to enable staff to understand children's level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and to then effectively plan challenging learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations

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must:

 develop the key person system to effectively meet the needs of new children settling into the nursery, and inform parents and/or carers of the name of the key person, and explain their role, when a child starts attending the setting

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must:

 ensure staffing arrangements meet the needs of all children and inform parents and/or carers about staff deployment, and, when relevant and practical, aim to involve them in these decisions

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must:

 ensure all staff have the necessary skills to manage children's behaviour positively and consistently.

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

 develop the current systems for monitoring the educational programme to improve planning

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

 improve systems to monitor, coach, mentor and support practitioners, bank staff and any trainees or students to ensure under-performance is tackled

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who attend

Staff suitably organise their nursery rooms and plan activities that offer children a broad range of learning experiences, but there are inconsistencies in the quality of the educational programme in the different rooms in the nursery. For example, in the Caterpillar's room, for one- to two-year-olds, some children look bored. The children enjoy each other's company around the table; however, staff do not interact with them. The room is dull with very little interaction between staff. They do not work as a team to ensure that children's needs are appropriately met.

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who attend

Children in the pre-school room are busy and engaged in a number of different ways. For example, a group work on a computer-painting programme, skilfully using the mouse to move the paintbrush on the screen. Some children are operating shop tills and counting out money, while others use the computer keyboard and alphabet chart to find the letters in their name. The children show pride in their knowledge and are supported to learn in playful and enjoyable ways by staff, who listen to them and engage in lively conversation. Another group of older children are decorating pictures in preparation for a celebration and concentrate hard on trying to cut with scissors and operate the glue sticks. A skilled member of staff enables them to think about what they are doing and provides the right level of support to each child. These learning experiences support the development of their language, literacy and physical skills. In addition, positive interactions with staff help

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who attend

them to learn from adults, helping them to prepare well for their move to school.

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who attend

Overall, staff understand the needs of younger children and rooms are set up safely in order for young children to crawl, take first steps and toddle around. Staff arrange toys and equipment so that children can make independent choices, enabling them to follow their interests. In the baby room, children explore in the sensory corners and staff encourage social interaction as they talk to babies throughout the day. In addition, the rapid communication development of many two-year-olds is promoted through imaginative activities both inside and out as children act out favourite stories. However, not all groups in this age range are equally supported. For example, day-to-day opportunities to enjoy conversations are not taken up during meal times. At times, staff put more emphasis on carrying out routine duties and providing general supervision, rather than engaging children in one to one interactions.

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who attend

Staff observe children as they play and take part in activities and this is recorded for parents to see. There are new systems in place for assessing children's progress to share with parents and carers throughout the year. In this way, parents and carers see how their children are making progress in their personal, social, and emotional development, and language and physical skills. However, this system is not yet working effectively and some children are not being assessed. Inconsistent assessment means children's goals for learning are not fully identified and planned for effectively.

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

Staff have appropriate expectations of children's behaviour and make clear what is expected of them, although bank staff used do not have the same understanding of how to promote good behaviour. Daily health and safety checks are carried out on the premises and nursery rooms and adults promote good hygiene practise. Staff work together to ensure that the nursery routine runs smoothly and children gain a sense of security in being able to predict what will happen next. This combination of sound practice provides a safe environment for children. Should accidents occur there are staff who are trained in paediatric first aid and able to respond appropriately to children's needs.

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

Children are encouraged by staff to gain independence and cooperate with one another. At meal times, older children are encouraged to use their knife and fork. They show their developing skills as they attempt to cut their food, talk and enjoy one another's company. Staff support this independence by acknowledging children's efforts and giving praise. However, in other groups staff do not promote the social aspect of meal times so well. The effectiveness of the key person system is variable within the nursery. In some groups, key people take a proactive role in ensuring that they spend time with their children and support their colleagues in doing the same. In this way, children experience continuity of care and build close relationships with adults. However, where key person practice is weaker some children do not get the same level of personal care, for example, children new to the nursery are not being helped effectively to build relationships with their key

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

person from the beginning of their time at nursery to fully support their emotional security and well-being

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provision

The manager has a good understanding of her role to keep children safe. She ensures that the premises are safe and secure. Daily health and safety checks are carried out and staff are deployed efficiently to cover all aspects of the day, and supervise children at all times. There are effective systems to cover management absence. Safeguarding is promoted appropriately and staff have a sound understanding of the safeguarding policy and procedure. There are effective systems in place to ensure staff working with children, are suitable to do so.

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provision

The manager operates an 'open door' policy for staff to ask for support or raise concerns. There are formal systems in place to review and record matters about staff conduct, and the staff appraisals are conducted annually. Overall, these systems are generally effective in raising the professional practice of staff. Training needs are also identified and the effectiveness of recent training on working with babies, teaching phonics and making observations can be seen in some parts of the provision. However, systems to monitor bank staff are less effective and this results in a variation in standards of practice in different rooms particularly where rooms lack a strong room leader.

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provision

In general, the manager has a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the educational programme and identifies areas for improvement accurately. However, due to weaknesses in the monitoring of the assessment system there is no clear information about children's progress in different areas of learning.

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provision

Partnerships are effective and there are well-established links with health visitors and other professionals. As a result children with identified additional needs are supported well. One parent reports that he could not have asked for more in the way that staff have supported his child, and in the way they work with outside agencies. Parents have regular information about their children and there are information boards and online systems to share information. However, they are not consistently informed of how staff deployment promotes their children's safety.

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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 139904 Local authority Sutton Inspection number 901731 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 66 Number of children on roll 95 Name of provider Buffer Bear Ltd Date of previous inspection 16/11/2009 Telephone number 020 86435278

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Setting details

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

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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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