Little Ellies

Little Ellies Ellen Wilkinson Primary School & Children's Centre, Tollgate Road, LONDON, E6 5UP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/07/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children have suitable relationships with their key persons, which mean that they are settled and happy.  Children have access to fresh air every day, which supports their good health and well- being.  Children are provided with healthy, balanced and nutritious meals and snacks, which are cooked on site.  Children enjoy sharing books with staff or looking at them alone, which helps children develop a positive interest in stories and reading.

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It is not yet good because

 Children are not always encouraged to explore and develop their own ideas by using and combining different resources and materials in order to make connections for themselves.  Children are not consistently supported to learn why certain actions are not acceptable.  Children are not always fully encouraged to learn about their own safety or to develop their self-care skills.  At times staff do not make the best use of questioning to extend children's language skills.

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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 held discussions with staff, the management and the children.  The inspector observed activities in the indoor and outdoor play environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector sampled a range of children's learning journals and planning.

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Information about the setting

Little Ellie's Nursery registered in December 2012, although did not start operating until March 2013. It is registered on the Early Years Register. It operates from one main room from the Ellen Wilkinson primary School and Children's Centre in Becton, in the London Borough of Newham. There is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level 3, including one with Early Years Professional Status and one with Qualified Teacher Status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. There are currently 25 children attending who are in the early years age range. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 when planning and guiding activities, reflect on the different ways children learn so that they are able to actively develop and explore their own ideas and make connections as they play.

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

 enhance further children's self-care skills by encouraging children to learn how to keep safe when eating their snacks and helping younger children in their self-care skills at mealtimes

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

 develop further children's language skills using questioning techniques that allow them time to think through and express their own ideas

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

 help children to learn that some behaviour is unacceptable through being consistent and using age appropriate techniques.

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who attend

The staff offer children a wide range of activities and resources in the indoor and outdoor learning environments. However, not all staff actively encourage children to move and combine resources. Therefore, children are unable to develop their own ideas and make connections between different parts of their experiences. For example, children who try to investigate what happens when they combine soapy gloop and water in the water tray, are told 'no' and have their hands washed. This does not provide children with rich learning opportunities through play or support them to take risks and explore their immediate environment.

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who attend

The management are working hard to support staff to develop their understanding of the importance of observing children to see what they can do. These observations and photographs are placed in children's learning journals. However, not all staff are secure in assessing children's current stages of learning. The management are addressing this weakness through monitoring the staff and regular appraisals and checking of the learning journals. Therefore, systems to show the progress children are making are improving, and as a result most children are making progress in relation to their starting points.

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who attend

Some staff use suitable questioning techniques to enable children to think their ideas through and make connections between different parts of their life experiences as they play. Staff join in with children's conversations about how their parents get to work. A display depicting buses encourages the children to think and talk about where they go on the buses. However, at times not all staff extend children's thoughts and ideas as they play. For example, some staff state what the children are doing, rather than ask them what they are doing. This does not fully promote children's language development as they are not always encouraged to express their own thoughts and ideas. This is area which has been identified by the management, who are spending time in the room with the staff, modelling how to encourage children's language through appropriate questioning techniques. This is helping staff to learn how to extend children's learning through making

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who attend

connections about different parts of their life experiences. Staff make numbers relevant to the children using posters featuring the children. Children enjoy looking at themselves and their friends, noticing and counting whether there is one, two, three, four or five of them in the picture. This supports children's awareness of counting, understanding that one person represents one number. Children enjoy sharing books, either with staff or on their own in the book corner. There is a suitable range of books for the children, which encourages them to look at books independently and develop a love of stories and reading.

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who attend

Children enjoy free access to the nursery's outdoor play area, which provides them with plenty of fresh air. The Children's Centre play area is available to children on a regular basis, which provides children with opportunities to ride bicycles, climb on the climbing frame or run through tunnels under a large grassy mound. This supports children to develop their physical skills, which enhances their well-being.

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

Children are happy, settled and show that they are secure in the nursery. Flexible settling- in arrangements enable parents to spend time with their children supporting them to settle into their new environment. The babies have suitable relationships with their key persons, as they put their arms up for cuddles, and respond with smiles to the staff's cuddles. This demonstrates they feel secure with their familiar adult.

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

Children have fresh fruit at snack times, and cooked meals at lunchtime. These are cooked fresh daily in the school's kitchen and brought over to the nursery. Snack time arrangements are sometimes chaotic and do not always support children to sit with their friends or enjoy chatting to each other. Furthermore, some staff do not ensure that the youngest children are sitting down prior to eating their snack. This does not fully encourage children to learn how to keep themselves safe as part of their physical development. Children have access to fresh drinking water at all times, as staff ensure that the water jug is constantly topped up with fresh water. Children all sit together for mealtimes. Older children enjoy serving themselves and chatting to their friends about what they have done during the morning. However, there are inconsistencies with the support given to the youngest children. Some children are supported one-to-one and are

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

fed by staff. However, other young children are not encouraged to learn how to feed themselves. This means that they miss out on opportunities to develop their physical skills through feeding themselves.

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

Overall, most children behave suitably in the setting. They understand that they need to walk when indoors and that they need to share resources. Staff model good social manners and the use of 'please' and 'thank you', which supports children to be polite to their friends and staff. However, some staff do not always provide explanations as to why certain actions are not accepted. For example, children play with their drinking cups at lunchtime; this causes them to tip over and spill the water inside. Staff deal with this by telling the children 'no', but do not provide an explanation as to why children should not do this. Consequently, children carry on tipping over their drinks. This does not fully support children in learning about the consequences of their actions. Children learn how to protect themselves in the event of an emergency as they practise the fire drill regularly.

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

The nursery is on the same site as the primary school, children's centre and nursery class, which takes children aged between three and five years old. Children from the nursery feed directly into the school's nursery class, which means that they have a gradual move into the school. This close proximity to each other enables staff from the nursery to share information with the school's nursery class staff. This supports children as they move into the nursery class within the main school building. The nursery works closely with the children's centre, which means that staff can access a range of specialist services. This provides advice or guidance if there are children attending with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This helps to ensure that all children are supported to make progress and be ready for the next stages in their learning.

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provision

The management show a suitable understanding of meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements. A recent training day covered safeguarding, policies and procedures, which means that the staff were able to refresh their understanding of what to do should they have a concern about a child. Clear risk assessments and daily checks are carried out to ensure that the indoor and outdoor learning environments are safe for the children who attend. Further checks are carried out before the children access the children's centre outdoor play area, which helps to ensure that they can explore and enjoy playing in safety. The secure entrance buzzer system is an effective security measure, as are the keypad entry system where the children play.

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provision

The management took on the staff from the existing nursery, when they took over. All staff have been rechecked, which means their suitability to work with children has been verified. Staff are well qualified and adult to child ratios are maintained over the minimum legal requirements. Rigorous recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that any new staff complete all necessary checks prior to working with the children.

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provision

The management team have a clear action plan for the continuous improvement of the nursery in place. They have identified key areas for improvement and are working towards meeting those areas of weakness. For example, they are currently supporting the staff to ensure that they fully understand how to meet the learning and development requirements. While staff show a suitable understanding of why they observe children; staff are not secure in their knowledge of what children can do as clear assessment procedures are in their infancy. Consequently, developmental records which show the progress individual children are making in relation to their starting points is a 'work in progress'. The management are addressing this through regular staff supervisions, monitoring of the learning journals and providing extra support to improve staff practice where required. This demonstrates the management team are proactive in driving

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provision

improvements to the quality of the provision.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are positive. Parents are able to see their children's learning journal when they would like to. This enables parents to add any comments about any learning or development they have seen at home. This helps to promote continuity of care routines and learning between the nursery and home. For example, parents comment on children's interest in buses, which the staff then use to support children's mathematical development using numbers found in the environment.

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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 EY456411 Local authority Newham Inspection number 899183 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 25 Number of children on roll 25 Name of provider Ellen Wilkinson Primary School & Children's Centre Governing Body Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02084306290

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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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