Merry Days

Merry Days The Bourne Methodist Church Southgate, The Bourne, LONDON, N14 6RS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/06/2013 11/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Strong partnerships with parents and good links with other professionals support children's needs effectively.  Children happily come into the pre-school nursery and enjoy positive relationships with staff. As a result, they feel confident and secure.  Staff make effective use of the assessment and planning process and they take good account of children's interests. Consequently, children are making good progress.  The pre-school nursery makes good use of the outdoor area to promote children's learning and well-being successfully.

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It is not yet good because

 The risk assessment process is not fully effective in ensuring that the environment is completely safe at all times.  Self-evaluation is not robust enough to fully monitor all areas of the provision and does not include the views of all staff, children and their parents. It is therefore not fully effective in driving forward improvement..  Staff do not always make the best use of open-ended questions to extend children's thinking effectively.  Staff do not consistently help children to become aware of the effect of physical activity on their bodies.

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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 followed the progress of two children.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector looked at a selection of policies.  The inspector talked to three parents and staff.  The inspector observed snack time, indoor play and outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

Merry Days pre-school nursery first opened in 1985 and re-registered under the current provider in 2010. The pre-school nursery is situated in a residential area in Southgate in the London Borough of Enfield. It is open from Monday to Friday from 9am to 3pm during term times. Children may attend various sessions throughout the week and a lunch club is available. Children have access to a large hall and there is a small secure enclosed outdoor play area. The pre-school nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children learning English as an additional language. The pre-school nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 37 children aged from two to under five years on roll. The pre-school nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children ages three and four years. The pre-school nursery employs five staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. It receives

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must:

 determine where written risk assessments are helpful to inform practice so that staff consistently identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis, when and by whom.

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

 develop the process of self-evaluation to promote further improvement by fully monitoring all areas of practice and including the views of staff, parents and children

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

 extend children's thinking and language skills by making better use of open ended questions

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

 help children to become more aware of the effect of physical activity on their bodies through discussion and relevant activities.

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who attend

Children are happy and settled at the pre-school nursery. Staff are confident in their approach to children's learning and provide interesting experiences that meet the needs of all children. As a result, children make good progress in their learning and development. Staff have a good awareness of Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They use the age bands in this document successfully as guidance when assessing progress and planning next steps for children. They take good account of children's interests, such as encouraging children with an interest in vehicles to take part in new experiences. For example, they put cars in paint trays for the children to make tracks to promote their early writing skills. Staff provide a good range of resources for children to play with.

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who attend

Children have a good awareness of the resources available and move happily around the room choosing what they want to play with, indoors and outdoors. Children are happy with any member of staff, not just their key person, demonstrating positive relationships. Staff have a good knowledge of each child, such as what they like to do. They make sure there are activities and equipment for all children to access that interest them. For example, staff get the bubbles out for children to play with when they ask for them outdoors. Other children enjoy playing in the sand. This means the children have interesting experiences that encourage their engagement and motivation. The staff team's knowledge of child development means that staff are able to provide resources and activities that meets the needs of all children and help them learn. They know their key children well and ensure activities focus on areas of development for particular children.

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who attend

For example, a well resourced early writing area encourages children to draw pictures and practise their writing. This encourages children's creativity and helps develop their coordination. Staff are aware of when they need to support younger children, such as at whole group story time when staff either sit with the younger children or allow them to play with quiet activities. Cause and effect toys help develop children's listening and thinking skills. However, staff do not always make the best use of asking children open ended questions to extend their thinking and language skills. Staff use opportunities such as blowing bubbles and singing number rhymes to make children aware of mathematical concepts, such as quantity and counting. Overall, staff are preparing children well for their next steps in learning and their future move to school.

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who attend

Staff show good awareness of when to leave children to play alone and when to intervene in the play to extend the learning experience. Children's imagination is encouraged through staff picking up on what interests each child. For example, to reflect children's experiences of ice skating, staff provide ice in a tray and add play people. This helps develop children's positive self-esteem, confidence and creativity as they talk to friends during play, along with making links to life outside the nursery.

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who attend

Parents are kept informed of their children's progress and achievement through both informal and formal discussions. Parents are encouraged to be engaged in their children's learning by sharing with staff what the children have been doing at home. Consequently, children's learning is effectively promoted in partnership with parents.

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

Children are helped to feel secure by kind and helpful staff. Staff find out about children's backgrounds through discussions with parents when children first start. Staff have a good awareness of what children need when they first come into the pre-school nursery and they help children settle at an activity. Positive relationships between staff, children and parents enable children to develop a strong sense of security and to be confident in the pre-school nursery.

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

Children develop good behaviour skills. They are learning to share and take turns, which supports their personal, social and emotional development well. For example, children use timers when waiting for a turn in a favourite car. Praise is offered throughout the session when children willingly share or calmly wait for their turn. This promotes their self-esteem effectively. Children develop an understanding of how to behave kindly to each other because staff teach them to be thoughtful and considerate. Good opportunities are available to promote children's independence skills, such as pouring their own drinks and putting on their coats to go outdoors. Staff are well deployed and have a good awareness of what is happening around the room. Consequently, they are attentive to the needs of all children.

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

Outdoors, children enjoy playing with large equipment, such as cars and rockers. Children are encouraged to wear their coats to keep warm. This ensures children's needs are met and allows them to enjoy their time playing outdoors in the fresh air. However, staff do not take opportunities to make children aware of the effects of physical exercise on their bodies. Children have access to drinking water and a healthy snack throughout the session. This helps them become aware of their own needs. Staff offer children reassuring support if children hurt themselves.

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provision

Parents spoken to at the inspection were happy with their children's care and expressed how friendly and helpful staff are. They state their children enjoy coming to the pre-school nursery and are progressing well. There is good partnership with other professionals, such as advisory teachers and the local library. The manager invites teachers from the local schools to visit the pre-school nursery when children are due to move on. They also share a written report of the children's learning and development. This promotes good levels of continuity for the children when moving on to school.

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provision

Staff performance is monitored through informal appraisal and regular supervision. The manager oversees the key persons' records of how children are developing through regular discussions with staff. This process ensures consistency in staff observations and assessments of children's progress. There are sufficient systems in place for storing documentation.

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provision

The pre-school nursery management has a suitable understanding of its responsibility in meeting the legal requirements. There is an effective procedure for safeguarding children and staff are aware of what to do if they have a concern about children's welfare. Staff are familiar with and follow safeguarding procedures. All staff hold suitable background checks. Staff carry out visual safety checks of the areas where children play to reduce the risk of accidents. However, the pre-school nursery has not considered the use of written risk assessments to ensure consistency in this process. As a result, procedures are not fully robust in ensuring that the environment is completely safe at all times.

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provision

The manger demonstrates a commitment to the continual development of the whole provision and is identifying priorities for improvement. However, the system of self- evaluation is not fully developed to ensure that children benefit from continued and improved practice in all areas. For example, it does not include the views of staff, children and parents and therefore does not reflect everyone's ideas. There is evidence that previous recommendations and actions have been addressed showing positive improvement in some areas.

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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 EY421193 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 816532 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 37 Name of provider Julie Denise Brook Walker Date of previous inspection 11/05/2011 Telephone number 0208 3639983

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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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