Harmony Nursery

Harmony Nursery 275 Kings Road, HARROW, Middlesex, HA2 9LG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/06/2013 05/10/2011

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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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 There is a good programme for children's personal, social and emotional development. An established key person system helps children to form secure attachments and these positive relationships promote their well-being.  Children have some exciting opportunities to learn about the outdoor environment and the world around them because staff organise a number of trips to places of interest.  The staff establish good relationships with parents, keeping them well informed about their children's progress and welcoming their comments and suggestions.  Staff have secure recording systems in place for observing and assessing children's development.

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It is not yet good because

 Planning does not fully take account of the stages of development of each child. This means that children do not always benefit from challenging experiences in all areas of learning and development to maximise progress.  Children's communication and language development is not promoted with full effect by staff. They do not consistently ask good questioning techniques that encourage children to think and extend their vocabulary.  Staff do not ensure the books are kept in good condition and do not encourage and support children to spend time looking at books

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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 spent the majority of inspection time observing the children in the nursery and garden as they played.  The inspector sampled children's information and development records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the provider/manager throughout the visit. Safeguarding was discussed and a sample of the policies viewed.  The inspector discussed the nursery with a sample of parents  The inspector and manager completed a joint observation together.

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Information about the setting

Harmony Nursery registered in 2010. The nursery operates from a converted house in Rayners Lane, in the London Borough of Harrow. Children have use of a play area on the ground floor, a smaller room on the first floor and a garden for outdoor play. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm, all year around except bank holidays. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 50 children in the early years age range on roll. The nursery is funded to provide free early education for two-, three- and four-year- old children The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children learning English as an additional language. The nursery employs seven staff, of whom six hold relevant childcare qualifications.

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must:

 ensure all staff have good knowledge of how to help children develop their communication and language well by increasing children's vocabularies and developing listening skills through providing more encouragement for children to talk through and comment on their play activities

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must:

 improve the planning and management of activities to meet the individual needs, interests and stages of development of each child more effectively.

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

 promote the importance of books more effectively in the programme for literacy, for example, by checking that books are of good quality and in good condition, so children can enjoy them.

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who attend

Staff know children well due to the small size of the nursery and because all children are cared for mainly in one large playroom. Children's learning records are well maintained and contain valuable information, such as children's starting points. Staff make regular observations of what children do, like and enjoy and overall plan well for their interests and enjoyment. However, they do not consistently use information about children's achievements to focus planning, particularly, to further extend learning for the older or more able children. A system for assessing the progress of two-year-olds in the three prime areas of learning has been introduced.

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who attend

Staff ensure there is a broad range of interesting activities set out which promote all areas of learning. In addition, resources are easily accessible to children because there is plenty of low-level storage from which children choose toys. Therefore, children gain skills in becoming independent learners as they readily help themselves to what they would like to play with.

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who attend

Children arrive happily and after saying good bye to their parent or carer decide what they want to do and settle down with their choice of play activity. Children thoroughly enjoy the creative area, in which the staff set out enticing activities. They enjoy mixing paints together and feeling the texture of the paint, as they squeeze it through their fingers. Overall, staff support children soundly in developing their language and communication skills because most staff listen to children and ask questions to encourage thinking during play. However, not all staff are confident in encouraging children to talk or in extending children's vocabularies and conversation skills well during activities, so that children progress more quickly in gaining such skills. Children thoroughly enjoy group singing times and excitedly join in with their favourite songs, which helps them learn about rhyming words. This is useful for underpinning their early skills in reading when they move on to

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who attend

Children choose whether to play indoors or outside for most of the day and they thoroughly enjoy the outdoors. The garden is well resourced. Children enjoy riding the tricycles or scooters, and using the climbing frame and slide, gaining new physical skills as they do so. Staff make good use of the neighbourhood to support children's understanding of the wider world. They plan a number of trips to places of interest. A group of children spend some time exploring what happens when they mix glitter into the sand and another group enjoy washing the dolls in the water. However the water play activity is not planned or managed well, Staff do not think about limiting the equipment available, so too many toys fill the water which inhibits other play, such as when children being unable to extend their interest with the dolls.

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who attend

Pre-school children enjoy pretending to be a 'teacher' and are interested in 'reading' to a small group. They know how to turn the pages of a book and follow a story using the pictures. Staff do not make sure the books are in a good condition, however, as a number of books are ripped or have pages missing. Furthermore staff do not promote books as an important feature of the nursery, so most children show little interest in them. This stops children from enjoying books to be well prepared for school.

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who attend

Children who learn English as an additional language are supported soundly because staff obtain key words to help children settle. The environment contains print to reflect some other languages. There are effective systems to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents have regular opportunities to meet with staff to discuss their children's achievements and progress.

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

Children display a sense of belonging and security within the nursery. A key person system is in place that helps children to build relationships with their special member of staff, in order to promote their emotional security. Staff are affectionate and caring towards the children. They spend time gathering information from all parents when children first start at the nursery, enabling them to understand children's individual needs.

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

Children's personal social and emotional development is fostered well; children have formed some good friendships and play well together. Children are developing a good understanding of sharing and taking turns. For example the children thoroughly enjoy using the computer where they follow simple programmes and gain mouse control and all children wait patiently for their turn. Staff manage children's behaviour well and use positive strategies to deal with any minor issues that may occur. Staff do not make sure that all available resources are kept in a good state of repair. Some resources are not used well to promote learning.

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

Children's specific health, dietary needs and allergies are recorded and known by staff. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and follow good hygiene practices of using disposable hand towels or the hand dryer when drying their hands before meals or after toileting. Children's independence with their self-help skills is developing as they help themselves to water and choose when they would like their snack. The nursery staff provide breakfast for children who arrive early in the morning and packed lunches are provided by parents for children's lunch time meal. The nursery staff provide parents with guidance about healthy options for packed lunches.

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

Children's safety and well-being are given high priority as they play in a safe and secure environment. Staff are vigilant and supervise the children well. Gentle reminders from staff help children to understand about keeping themselves safe while they play and use a variety of equipment. The management has effective security systems in place and any visitors need to ring the doorbell and show their identification before entering the nursery. The nursery entrance is securely staffed during drop off and picking up times to ensure no child leaves unnoticed and CCTV is installed for added security.

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provision

The manager and staff understand the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Clear policies and procedures are understood by all staff and implemented consistently. This includes adhering to regulations set by other agencies, such as the local authority's Food Safety and Hygiene Agency, including keeping relevant records. Staff know and understand their responsibilities for safeguarding and have received safeguarding training. A number of staff have a first aid qualification which means that they are able to respond to children in the event of any accident occurring. One member of staff has attended food safety and hygiene training. She has overall responsibility of this area and ensures that she cascades her knowledge to the staff team, so all know their responsibilities for the safe preparation and storage of food.

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provision

The manager and staff team demonstrate a sound commitment to the development of the provision and they identify some areas for improvement. The manager understands the importance of having a supervision system in place to monitor and support staff; however, this has not fully addressed weaknesses in staff knowledge of planning and in promoting children's communication skills well across activities. All recommendations from the last inspection have been successfully addressed. Staff are keen to continually up-date their professional development and this demonstrates the staff team are willing to continually develop the service.

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provision

Strong communication links with staff enable the parents to have input into their children's development. They are kept regularly informed of their children's progress through verbal feedback. More formal parents' meetings are held twice a year to ensure parents receive information about their children's progress. The views of parents and carers are sought in the form of parental questionnaires and any suggestions are considered. Parental comments at inspection indicate they are very happy with the service provided. The nursery staff have developed links with the local schools to support children's transfer to school.

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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 EY418127 Local authority Harrow Inspection number 923454

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 22 Number of children on roll 50 Name of provider Marwaha Enterprises UK Limited Date of previous inspection 05/10/2011 Telephone number 07932234895 or 02084295801

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Type of provision

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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