Little Eve's Nursery

Little Eve's Nursery 7-11 Armstrong Road, Acton, London, W3 7JL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Children's health, safety and welfare are compromised because the setting is not implementing safeguarding and health and safety policies and procedures effectively.  Ratios are not met and staff are not effectively supported and deployed. This means that children do not receive the necessary support to meet their individual care and learning needs.  Children's learning is hindered as teaching is weak. Staff are not effectively promoting children's development in using English language. They also fail to monitor children's progress successfully and plan for individual children to provide challenging activities and experiences across all areas of learning.  Documents are not maintained accurately to support children's welfare and some required documents are not available for inspection.  Children's behaviour is not managed consistently. Therefore children do not understand behavioural expectations and their safety is further compromised.

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This provision is inadequate

 There is no area where staff may talk to parents and/or carers confidentially and no area for staff to take breaks away from areas being used by children

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It has the following strengths

 Children's backgrounds are represented in displays and resources in the nursery and staff are able to support some children and parents by speaking their home languages.  The learning environment is organised to give child access to a variety of resources that cover the different areas of 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

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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 compulsory part 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 activities and routines in the playroom and the outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with some staff and held discussions with the nursery manager and provider during the inspection.  The inspector and manager undertook a joint observation of a teaching activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of available documentation such as observations, progress tracking sheets, activity plans, the safeguarding policy, behaviour management policy and attendance registers.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents through sampling available documentation and discussion with them on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Little Eve's Nursery registered in December2012. It is privately owned by Two Twins and Eva Limited and operates from a church hall in Acton in the London Borough of Ealing. There is an additional room for younger children and an outdoor patio area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are 14 children on roll in the early years age range. Children can attend full-time or part-time sessions. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two, three and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who are learning English as an additional language. Little Eve's Nursery opens from 8am to 6pm weekdays throughout the year.

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Information about the setting

There is a manager and deputy in post, both of whom hold childcare qualifications at level three. In addition, there are three volunteers who attend the setting to work directly with the children.

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must:

 improve risk assessments and daily checks to remove hazards and improve practice to promote children's health and safety, with particular regard to storage of adults personal items, reducing risks of choking at meal times and improving hygiene routines

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must:

 ensure that children are adequately supervised and staff are deployed effectively to make sure ratios are maintained and children's needs are met

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must:

 improve the safeguarding of children by ensuring that all staff understand and implement the safeguarding policy and procedures

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must:

 ensure appropriate arrangements are in place for the regular supervision and appraisal of staff to help them understand their roles, responsibilities and the policies of the setting and improve the quality of teaching

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must:

 ensure that records are maintained effectively and are available, to provide evidence of a robust recruitment procedure, such as verification of qualifications, to document hours of children's attendance, details of their key person and record children's dietary needs prior to being left at the setting

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must:

 improve procedures for the behaviour management of the children and ensure consistency across the staff team

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must:

 implement effective systems for monitoring and assessing children's progress, including a progress check at age two, in order to inform and develop individualised planning and involve parents in the process

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must:

 ensure that there is an area where staff may talk to parents and/or carers confidentially, as well as an area for staff to take breaks away from areas being used by children

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must:

 Improve the educational programme for communication and language, by giving children confidence and skills to express themselves, learning to speak and listen in a range of situations; improve staff skills in supporting children's language development so they take account of how they position themselves and how they speak to and question children

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who attend

Overall the quality of teaching is weak. Although the range of resources and the available activities reflect all areas of learning, staff do not plan effectively to support children's personal learning. Children and rising two-year-olds are currently all cared for in one room as the 'baby room' is not presently in use. Subsequently toddlers are not always engaged in purposeful play. There are no strategies in place to prepare children for school or their next stage of learning.

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who attend

There are systems in place to observe, assess and monitor the children's progress. However, these are not effective enough as some adults working with the children do not demonstrate a secure understanding of the process. As a result the information is at times conflicting and does not reflect an accurate picture of the children's development. In addition, key persons have not included dates on some of the tracking records and cannot recall when these assessments were carried out. Therefore the adults do not effectively monitor children's progress and use relevant information about children's achievements, interest and learning styles to plan for their future learning. Furthermore, some information cannot be located and this means that information to help parents to see where their children are in their learning is not available. The system in place to provide parents with information of their children's progress at age two does not meet the

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who attend

statutory requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff merely record children's progress assessed against the age bands that appear in the guidance document Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The record simply states the age-bands they feel children are working in and some brief next steps in learning. They do not record a short written summary of the child's development as required which parents can share with other relevant professionals, such as their health visitor. In addition, they do not include how this can be used to support children's learning at home.

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who attend

Many children at the setting are learning English as an additional language. Parents have noticed that since being at the setting their children's communication skills have improved. Staff talk to the children in both English and Arabic throughout the day. Children enjoy singing favourite songs and most join in the actions. A staff member sits in the book corner and reads with children which introduces them to the pleasure of books. Children are encouraged to identify their names as they arrive at the setting which gives them a sense of belonging and helps their progress in literacy. Routines are not planned effectively to further support children's communication skills. For example, when the children sit all together, staff sit behind them and interaction is hindered. Staff tend to ask only simple closed questions such as 'Is that nice'' Such questions require only a yes or no answer and do not actively encourage children's language and thinking. Staff also talk

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who attend

across the children and they are not included in the adults' conversations.

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who attend

Children demonstrate that they are aware of colours as staff ask them throughout the day to show and tell them the colours of items. Staff do not however use activities such as painting to enable children to explore and mix colours. Children enjoy dancing to music and they explore rhythm with musical instruments, including shakers, that are home made. They skilfully blow a recorder in time to the music. Children begin to role play based on their own real life experiences as they place food cartons and plastic fruit into a basket as they pretend to shop. They push buggies around the playroom negotiating space. They fix train tracks together and push their vehicles along the tracks. Children build with wooden bricks and play alongside adults with small world equipment. Photographs around the room reflect the diversity of the community and resources such as dressing up clothes are from different cultures. The staff have asked parents to

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who attend

contribute to their monthly theme by providing food from their culture. Children sing favourite songs in their home language and staff support those on work placements to learn meanings of words and customs to help them understand the backgrounds of the children. In this way children also learn to value diversity.

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who attend

Toddlers and older children are interested in airplanes and point them out as they pass over the garden. There is a computer available to enable children to learn to operate simple programmes, although this was not switched on during the inspection. Toddlers enjoy pressing buttons on pop-up toys. An adult directed art activity is offered to the children, the staff report it is 'African printing', but there is no explanation of this and the activity is over very quickly. Nevertheless, as children wait to wash their hands in a bowl of water they enjoy the sensation of rubbing the paint over their hands, gaining some enjoyment from the activity.

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

Although the environment is bright and clean, the lack of well-planned activities means that some children are not engaged which hinders their learning. Staff remind children to take care during play, although some practices, such as walking around while they eat, are not discouraged consistently. In addition, weaknesses in safeguarding procedures have an impact on children's safety.

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

In general, children are encouraged to develop healthy lifestyles. There are a range of physical activities both indoors and outside. Children enjoy playing in the ball pool and giggle as staff play alongside them. They climb up and whizz down the slide, although this affords little challenge for more able children. Children are encouraged to develop appropriate personal hygiene practices when they eagerly wash their hands after toileting and before lunch. Staff at this time encourage children to wash thoroughly in between their fingers and there are visual prompts to help children learn about hygiene routines. However, this is not consistent as staff do not take the children to hand wash before eating their snack. This increases the risk of cross-infection and has the potential to compromise children's health.

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

Food is freshly cooked on the premises each day and staff are aware of the specific dietary needs of established children. However, they do not have dietary information for children settling in to the setting. Staff enable parents to leave their children at the setting without completing all written details for their child. The manager's aim of snack-time is to enable children to identify when they are hungry and help themselves to fruit and breadsticks. However, it is not well organised or monitored successfully to ensure children's safety nor is it used as an opportunity to promote children's learning. For example, at times toddlers are sitting alone while eating which can be a choking hazard. Others exploring the properties of the breadsticks by breaking them into pieces are removed from the table. Staff do not effectively use this time to explore mathematical understanding or discuss healthy eating.

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

During the inspection none of the children present slept. As a result, by mid afternoon some children are tearful and behave unwontedly because they are tired. Staff and volunteers are not consistent in how they manage children's behaviour and this has a negative impact on the children. The setting's positive behaviour management policy is not matched by practice. Children are not given explanations as to why their behaviour is not appropriate. As a result they are not supported in understanding the effect their actions have on others, for example, when they are pulling hair. Furthermore, staff and managers point their fingers when addressing the children and sharply say, for example, 'No, no, no' and 'don't'.

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provision

The nursery is not meeting a number of specific legal requirements of both the Early Years Register and the Childcare Register. Children are not sufficiently safeguarded. At the time of inspection there is a manager in place and the provider is working as a deputy. Other adults in the setting are volunteers who have been undertaking level two childcare qualifications. The provider is not maintaining the required ratios to meet the welfare needs of the children. Furthermore the deployment of staff is poor and at times puts children at risk. For example, the manager is alone with the children in the mornings until 9.30am. This means that the manager leaves the nursery room when having to answer the main door, leaving the children unaccompanied. Staff and managers do not have sufficient knowledge of safeguarding issues and how to proceed if there are concerns. Recruitment procedures do not include a check to ensure qualifications are full and

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provision

relevant as defined by the teaching agency to ensure that they are relevant.

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provision

There is no area for staff to speak in confidence with parents or visitors. In addition, the lack of a dedicated staff room as required, means that there is no area for staff to use during their breaks away from the children. Furthermore, adults store their personal handbags at the side of the room on the floor, which therefore are accessible to children. This has not been risk assessed and the bags may contain items that are hazardous. Records are not maintained accurately which means that children's safety is compromised. For example, not all children are signed out on the attendance record to provide details for emergency evacuation. In addition, there was no available evidence to demonstrate that ratios are maintained. It is not clear how many adults are present on a daily basis and who the children's key persons are because the staff attendance record is not completed on some days by the majority of the staff.

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provision

There are no systems in place for staff supervision or appraisal and staff meetings are very informal and do not include all adults working at the setting. As a result, staff lack direction and support from managers and there is no consistency in approaches to issues such as behaviour management. The manager has completed a self-evaluation of the setting and identified some areas of weaknesses that required ongoing development. The setting has received detailed guidance and regular support from the local authority who have also identified a number of weaknesses. They have agreed actions with the provider to ensure better outcomes for children and have planned further visits. Parents give positive feedback about the setting and report that they have regular information given to them via a newsletter. They like that the setting is multi-cultural and they feel staff are helpful and supportive. They feel it is a strength that they are able to communicate in

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provision

Arabic with the key persons. The manager has yet to forge strong links with local schools in order to support children in moving on to their next stage of learning. They have begun to work in partnership with other agencies to meet the needs of the children.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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

 ensure that children are kept safe from harm (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that at least two suitable persons who have attained the age of 18 are present on the premises at all times (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  implement the procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  carry out a risk assessment of the premises immediately, where the need for an assessment arises and ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks. (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  maintain a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)

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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 EY457997 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 896166 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 14 Name of provider Two Twins and Eva Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02087408110

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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

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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