Little Gems Day Nursery

Little Gems Day Nursery Clare Hall, Malpas Road, London, SE14 6PX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/03/2013 02/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children feel safe and secure within the nursery because there is a well-organised key worker system in place that promotes children's well being.  The needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are particularly well supported. Focused language development is strength of the nursery's provision.  Staff work in a supportive team and provide positive role models to the benefit of all children.  Management have a good understanding of responsibilities to ensure the nursery meets the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation stage.  The nursery's management encourages strong links with parents and involves them in their child's learning.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 children who learn best outside, have fewer opportunities to do so.

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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's play and staff interaction both indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a range of policies and documentation including children's records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to the managers and other staff in each of the nursery rooms as well as asking the views of several parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and deputy manager undertook joint observation of a teaching activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed the evaluation of the nursery and what improvement plans it had for the future.

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Information about the setting

Little Gems Day Nursery opened in 1996 and is run by Little Gems Day Nurseries Limited. It is located in the New Cross/ Brockley borders, within a residential area in the London Borough of Lewisham. It operates from two buildings. The first is a single storey community hall for children aged between three months to 18 months. Children have use of a playroom, sleep area and changing area and toilets, there is also a small milk kitchen. The second part of the nursery is in the ground floor of Aldham House, which is opposite the hall. In this part of the nursery children are cared for in two groups; one for children aged between 18 months and three years and the other for children aged between three and five years. Each age group has access to two playrooms, a book room and toilets. There is also a music and sensory room available for small group activities. Children in both buildings have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open Monday

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Information about the setting

to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year round, although it is closed for the Christmas and Easter period. There are currently 12 qualified staff plus a cook on roll. The manager has an early years degree, eight members of staff hold relevant qualifications at level 3 and two others hold relevant qualifications at level 2. All are suitably experienced and qualified or working towards a higher qualification in child care. Currently, the 65 children on roll attend for various sessions. The nursery is funded to provide free early education for children aged three and four years The nursery supports children learning English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register.

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

 extend opportunities for children to explore all areas of learning during outdoor play.

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who attend

Children's enthusiasm for learning is promoted by staff who have a good understanding of how to capture the children's interests through play. Rooms in the nursery are well organised, attractive and full of appropriate resources to suit the needs of all children. The children are able to choose freely and learn through use of a range of safe and stimulating activities. For example, in the toddler room, there are two large trays, one with wet sand that can be moulded and one with dry sand with glitter added that can be poured. This variety gives the children the experience of how different materials feel and can be used.

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who attend

There are large building blocks for construction, an area for art and craft activities, all of which help develop children's creative and physical skills. A quiet book area entices a child to settle down to browse through books with their friends. Two smaller rooms provide a music area and a sensory area that are used for particular group activities led by staff.

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who attend

Older, pre-school children have their own room with further resources for them to continue their learning. They become more independent and are able to help themselves from a range of creative materials in order to build models and make pictures to go on display or take home. Staff organise more structured teaching sessions twice a day in order to introduce the children to, for instance, phonics and show them how to write letters of the alphabet correctly. They use these skills to make cards and little books to share with friends and family. Many are able to write their own names and use these to label their drawings. These activities help children gain useful skills for when they move on to school. The nursery is involved with a national project 'Every Child a Talker' which has enhanced the children's language skills and this has involved parents being given support at home through being able to borrow a range of resources.

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who attend

Babies are developing good physical skills as they hold crayons and make marks on large pieces of paper. Staff encourage them to bang on real drums with drum sticks. They listen to the noise they make and watch the vibrations of feathers being placed on top. Staff talk and sing to them, encouraging them to join in with clapping and nodding their heads. They praise their efforts, which results in children growing in confidence and fosters good learning attitudes.

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who attend

All children benefit from opportunities to play outside on a daily basis within a safe fenced area close to the nursery entrances. This does not allow for free access to the outdoor space at any time but does give the opportunity for physical play including riding trikes and bikes as well as climbing and jumping. This restriction means that children, who learn best outside, have fewer opportunities to do so. Children also have access to a local community garden nearby at set time and they are able to plant seeds, watch them grow and pick the fruit and vegetables. This enables them to have a greater knowledge of the wider world.

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who attend

The nursery staff are particularly good at supporting children who have a range of special educational needs and/ or disabilities. An experienced member of staff acts as the co- ordinator for these children and individual educational plans support them. These break down their learning into smaller, achievable steps. Staff seek specialist advice from a range of outside agencies including speech therapists and physiotherapists.

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

Children enjoy a warm and close relationship with their key worker who gets to know them well. Children feel secure and safe as they make trusting relationships and as a result they become confident and enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff have very good relationships with parents and collect important information about their child's likes and dislikes as well as their routines. Staff take time throughout each day to listen and watch the children individually so they feel special and valued. Children display high levels of self-esteem and confidence. Babies respond well and soon make good progress. They feel safe and soon settle down to sleep when they feel tired. Older children learn to play amicably alongside others and the majority co-operate well with others. They learn to share and take turns. For instance at lunchtimes pre-school children help the staff to lay the tables and help themselves to food and pass around the serving dishes to the others

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

on their table, saying please and thank you.

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

Children are encouraged to develop self-help skills by washing their hands before touching food and after using the toilet. They know they have to wear a coat when going out on a cold day. They develop healthy life styles by running, skipping and jumping outside in their time there They know what foods are healthier, saying that fruit and vegetables are good for you as they make you stronger. Behaviour is mainly good throughout the nursery. Staff help children understand about expected behaviour by giving them clear messages. Children who are more boisterous and noisy are given time to calm down.

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

Planning is adapted to respond to children's individual interests. Staff encourage them to think and ask questions, providing a range of materials for them to extend their learning. Staff model language for the younger children as they play with them and extend their vocabularies. Staff record children's achievements through taking photographs and talking about them as well as sharing these with parents. Parents receive reports regularly on their children's progress and are given ideas for how to extend learning at home. Regular workshops are held at the nursery for parents to join in activities with their children and learn new skills; for example, a recent Mother's Day activity showed them how to make cards and watch their children try their early writing skills.

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

Children have opportunities to go out in the local community, for instance by visiting parks and trips to a farm. These help them to gain confidence and independence in situations away from the nursery, and to learn more about the wider world. There are good procedures in place to help children when they move to school.

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provision

Staff show a good awareness of safeguarding the children in their care. They attend relevant training in order for them to take swift action if they have concerns that a child is at risk of harm. There is a robust recruitment policy in place to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children, including up to date criminal record checks. There are several first aiders trained who specialise in treating injuries.

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provision

Entry to the nursery buildings is through doors that are kept locked. Visitors sign in and have proof of identity. A register is kept of all children and only known parents and their carers are allowed to pick them up. Risk assessments are detailed and updated regularly to cover every area of the nursery rooms and the resources in order to minimise any hazards. Staff use professional risk assessments when they visit, for instance, a farm and adapt these to ensure they are tailored for their children's needs. The nursery staff carry out timed fire drills to make sure children are safely evacuated in case of fire.

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provision

Systems to assess children's starting points on entry and as they move through the nursery are good. Observations are made on what the children can do and planning ensures that the next steps of learning are established. Key persons have systems in place to implement the progress check at the age of two. Useful tracking sheets keep a record of progress across all areas of learning and identify those children needs greater support.

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provision

Leadership of the nursery is strong. The manager has three supportive deputies who provide cover for absences and at lunchtimes. This ensures continuity of care and appropriate supervision of children that meets required ratios, showing that staff are deployed well. There is a commitment to improving their service. Regular staff meetings provide valuable opportunities for staff to plan together and share good ideas to the benefit of the children's education. A strong appraisal system looks at the personal effectiveness of all members of staff and identifies further training. Managers continually strive to make sure that the nursery provides and inclusive system where children of all abilities and their parents are supported. Parents and provided with information about the provision through newsletters and parents notice boards. The wide range of workshops encourages families to participate in both fund raising activities for charities and to learn

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provision

new skills, for instance, how to support their child's language development. Self-evaluation of the nursery seeks the views of parents, children and staff. Key staff have made good links with local schools. The special educational needs co-ordinator accompanies parents to meet staff at the receiving school, if required, to ensure continuity of care.

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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 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 129035 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 907594 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 93 Number of children on roll 65 Name of provider Little Gems Day Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 02/02/2011 Telephone number 020 8692 0071

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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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