Alpha Kids Day Nursery

Alpha Kids Day Nursery 39 Lea Bridge Road, LONDON, E5 9QB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Children are happy and well settled at the nursery and form positive relationships with adults and other children. They show willingness to have a go, take risks and engage in new experiences available to them.  The manager monitors the nursery provision effectively and encourages the staff's professional development, which benefits the children.  Staff provide interesting and stimulating activities that engage children and build on their interests.  Expectations for children's behaviour are clear. Children do what is asked of them, behaving well and developing their ability to share and take turns.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Partnerships with parents are good however staff do not suggest ways in which parents can support their children's learning at home.  Children's independence is not promoted at mealtimes as they are not given opportunities to serve their own food.

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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 activities in the main play room and the outside learning environment.  The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation including a representative sample of children's records, development plans and staff suitability records.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Alpha Kids Day Nursery was registered in 2012. The setting operates from a purpose built building and is situated in Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. The nursery serves the needs of the local families. All children share open plan play rooms and a secure enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 12 children from two years to under five years on roll. The nursery receives nursery education funding for children aged two, three and four years. Staff care for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who are learning English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group opens for five days a week, for 50 weeks of the year. The nursery is open from 7.30am to 6.00pm. There are 3 members of staff, all staff hold suitable childcare qualifications. The manager holds Early Years Professional Status and qualified teacher status.

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

 further develop children's independence at mealtimes by allowing them to serve their own food

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

 develop further the partnership with parents by suggesting ways in which they can support their child's learning and development at home.

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who attend

The nursery atmosphere is calm and stimulating. The deployment of staff is well organised to enable children to move freely and choose from the different activities provided both indoors and out. Caring and enthusiastic staff use good teaching techniques. These have a positive impact on the children's learning and development, so that all children make good progress. Children have plenty of resources to choose from on a daily basis including a wide range of tools to support imaginative play such as keyboards and telephones and mechanical toys to promote technology skills. Children clearly enjoy learning through play. All the children enter the nursery happily, eagerly choosing what they wish to do from the interesting activities offered. The staff talk to children clearly, making good eye contact and giving the children time to think before they answer questions. Staff extend children's vocabulary by describing what the children do. Children playing with hair gel on a table

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who attend

are encouraged to 'draw circles' when swirling the gel in their hands, with staff demonstrating precisely what this means so everyone including the youngest child can understand and copy. Children hear words such as 'squidgy' and 'squishy', and exclaim in wonder when they create patterns in the gel, showing their enthusiasm for learning. Staff use correct grammar when speaking to the children, providing good role models for the children's developing speech. Staff promote early mathematical development as they use skilful teaching strategies in their daily routines. For example, children learn to recognise numerals during stories and songs. Staff are alert to promoting early mathematical language throughout the sessions and encourage children to count whenever possible, such as counting their sandcastles in the garden or the number of bowls needed for lunch.

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who attend

Children enjoy exploring and using a range of media and materials as they sing a selection of familiar songs. They are learning to dance and carry out actions to the songs and moving their bodies in a range of ways helping them to explore how their bodies work. The outside area is well organised and enhances the children's development of their large and small muscle movements, as they use the range of well maintained play equipment. The children particularly enjoy building castles in the sand and running around the garden.

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who attend

Staff plan children's experiences, to cover the seven required areas of learning, by using planning documents detailing a broad programme of activities both indoors and outside. The learning environments offer a wide range of materials and resources that add depth to children's experiences. Planning is adapted to respond to children's individual interests, determined by both discussions with parents and useful observations of children's play. Staff establish what children can do when they first start by talking with parents and completing observations whilst the child plays as they settle into the nursery. Staff record children's achievements frequently, often through photographs and written observations, in the children's 'learning folders'.

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who attend

Children delight in using the outdoor area, which helps them extend their physical skills well, such as running, jumping and ball control. Children who prefer to learn outdoors do so daily and benefit from a free flow system allowing them to decide for themselves when they wish to play outside.

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

All children move around the nursery happily, including those who only started recently, owing to the trusting relationships established with staff through the 'key person' system. The nursery is still growing as they only opened in April 2013 and therefore all staff have formed particularly close bonds with the children and families whom they take special responsibility for. Establishing secure emotional attachments, helps children feel safe so they quickly develop confidence and independence, readily exploring their new surroundings. Staff adapt settling in procedures to respond to the needs of the individual child. Staff help children learn to understand their emotions through daily discussions about whether they feel 'happy' or 'sad' Children with lunch boxes learn, from the staff, that sandwiches should be eaten first. Staff provide parents with useful information about lunchbox content as part of the

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

nursery's healthy eating policy, so that children get into the habit of eating fruit and raw vegetables, and not too many sweet things. Children who have a cooked meal are aware of healthy eating and know about eating the vegetables with their meals. Children chat about their health with staff, discussing what they ate for breakfast and what they might be having for dinner. Although, children receive a healthy meal, their independence is not promoted as they are not given opportunities to serve their own food or pour their own drinks.

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

Deployment of staff is effective within the nursery so someone is always available to provide support for children's care needs, for example if a child wants a cuddle or if a nappy needs changing. Older children become independent in their personal care, competently drying their hands and putting paper towels in the bin. Children are well mannered and caring of others, for example; older children praising the younger ones for feeding themselves at lunch time, which reflect the good examples of behaviour, set by staff. Children enjoy a good balance of adult-led and child initiated play with planning taking account of children's individual interests. For example, children are enthusiastic as they wash and dry the tables before and after lunch and enjoy sharing the cloths and spray making sure not to miss any bits. Staff interaction with the children is enthusiastic. Complying with expectations, making friends, learning self-care skills and being interested

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

in their activities, means all children enjoy their nursery experiences and gain good skills and attitudes to underpin their eventual move to school.

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provision

Safeguarding arrangements for children's well-being are in place and effective. The staff team demonstrate a high level of commitment to promoting children's safety and undertake regular safeguarding and first aid training. They understand their individual responsibilities and the need to provide safe play environments for children, which they do. Robust risk assessments are undertaken. Fire Drills are regularly practiced making sure all children have an understanding of what to do in an emergency. Children are taught to be safety conscious without being fearful. The children show a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe for example; they know they can run around more freely in the garden than they can indoors as this can cause accidents.

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provision

The manager works closely with several support staff from the local authority, actively seeking advice and acting on it to improve the provision. The manager works in particular with the welfare consultant and the early year's consultant to continually look at ways to improve the service being provided. They understand the importance of good partnership working with parents; although at present they do not provide parents with information or ideas on how to support their child's learning at home. Parents express appreciation of the staff's work, finding everyone approachable and friendly. Parents receive a pack of useful information about the nursery before their children starts, including information on the settling in visits. The staff team work closely with parents, not only helping them settle their children, but also assisting in such things as potty training, so everyone takes a consistent approach. Partnership with other agencies, such as the local schools, supports

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provision

the care of older children. Transition plans are in place to support children's movement throughout the nursery and for movement to school. The manager and staff are aware of the importance of partnership working with external agencies to secure appropriate interventions; however they have not yet had reason to try to establish these partnerships.

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provision

Good attention to staff development results from regular appraisals and an expectation that staff both attend courses regularly and gain additional qualifications. Staff use their new skills and understanding well. They feedback to other staff the training information they have attended and share ideas so that all training is valuable and put into practise by all staff. The manager also provides a positive model for professional development by regularly studying for qualifications. The drive for improvement is demonstrated by a clear action plan that supports children's achievements over time. This is the nursery's first inspection and the manager is working hard to evaluate the service provided and will use the action plans to produce targets for the nursery to work towards.

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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 EY443998 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 893492 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 15 Name of provider Alpha Kids Day Nursery Partnership Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02079989411

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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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