Abertots Play

Abertots Play Aberfeldy Neighbourhood Centre, Aberfeldy Street, London, E14 0NU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/07/2013 20/05/2009

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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

 Children have positive relationships with practitioners who care for them, which results in them feeling secure, safe and happy.  Children have daily opportunities to enjoy the outdoor play, which benefits their health and physical development.  Staff provide children with a wide variety of resources to extend their learning.

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It is not yet good because

 There are inconsistencies in practitioners understanding and knowledge of learning and development and requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, which have led to breaches of legal requirements.  Staff do not provide sufficient opportunities for all children who are learning English as an additional language to use their home language in play.  When outside staff are not always well deployed to ensure that the needs of all children are sufficiently met.

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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 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 examined documentation including a sample of children's records and policies and procedures.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed practice, including snack time and spoke to a selection of parents about their child's progress.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to staff in the provision, and held discussions with the manager and deputy about their roles and responsibilities.  The inspector observed children's play and staff interaction, indoors and outdoors.

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Information about the setting

Abertots Playgroup registered in 2005 and is managed by a voluntary management committee, made up of parents of children at the playgroup and members of the local community. The playgroup operates from the Aberfeldy Neighbourhood Centre on the Aberfeldy estate in the Poplar area of the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area that is in two sections that provide opportunities for children to explore gardens and growing area. The playgroup is open each weekday from 9am to 12pm during school term times.

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Information about the setting

The playgroup is registered on the Early Years Register as well as the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 18 children on roll between the ages of two to five years who attend a variety of sessions. The setting is in receipt of funding for free early years educational for three-and four-year children. The playgroup supports children who speak English as an additional language. The playgroup employs six members of staff who work directly with the children including the manager; of these five hold appropriate early years professional qualifications at levels 2 to 4. The playgroup has one volunteer and one student placement.

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Information about the setting

The playgroup receives support from the Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (HARCA), the Early Years Network -Tower Hamlets, and the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

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must:

 ensure that staff are suitably deployed so that children are adequately supervised and their needs are met; particularly when playing outside

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must:

 ensure that staff consider the different ways children learn and are consistent in their teaching and when they interact with them, so that the support and challenge they provide helps children make progress in their learning and development

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must:

 take reasonable steps to provide opportunities for all children who are learning English as an additional language to develop and use their home language in play and learning.

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

 encourage staff to engage in open ended questioning with children to extend and challenge their learning.

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who attend

The spacious uncluttered room enables children to choose from a wide selection of resources that help to encourage children's learning. Staff have an appropriate understanding of how children learn and develop, which support children in making satisfactory progress towards their early learning goals. For example, children engage in messy spaghetti play, and enthusiastically offer words to describe what they are making that promote some of children's language development. Children learn through play as staff support them in their ongoing achievements. For example, staff involve children in a planting activity outdoors giving children instructions about how the seed is grown in the soil. This helps children's understanding of plant growth and exploration, however opportunities for questioning children's understanding to extend their thinking are not always offered. This inconsistent approach to children's learning demonstrates a lack of

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who attend

understanding by staff in igniting children's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.

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who attend

Children have daily access to an extensive outdoor play area. It is divided into two areas. A soft matted area contains sand and water play and floor mats displaying musical instruments and construction toys that support younger children's exploration. There is also a larger garden with paved areas, through a wooden gate. Here they experience a wide variety of learning opportunities that include growing and maintenance of plants, which offers scientific exploration, den building and ride on toys that develop physical awareness and independence.

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who attend

Staff inform parents of their child's progress on a daily basis. Monthly progress reports offer parents a more formal update of children's learning that identifies children's next steps. Staff record observations and use them to identify and track children's learning. Staff carry out detailed two-year checks that provide parents with a clear picture of their child's development and needs, offering support where progress is less than expected.

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who attend

Children progress adequately overall, but staff do not use clear teaching methods with open-ended questions to support and extend children's thinking and language development. Some children who speak English as an additional language are provided with opportunities to use their home language, but this does not happen for all children. This hinders their language and communication development as they are unable to express themselves and this impacts on their learning.

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who attend

The key person system is effective in building good relationships with children and parents. Families understand about the role of the key person and are confident in sharing information during home visits were completion of induction forms establish children's starting points. They are provided with a home visit bag that includes stories and activities, a booklet showing photos of the provision and a photograph of the key person that helps children settle into nursery and form good relationships with practitioners. Completion of the 'all about me' provides valuable information about children's learning styles and development and helps the key person to provide for their individual needs.

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

Children freely access the outdoor play area, which supports children's health and wellbeing. However, staff are not always well deployed in the outdoor area, which impacts on their abilities to meet children's needs adequately as they play outside. The indoor learning space offers accessible low-level storage containers and open plan layout so that children can choose what they want to play with. However, staff have not ensured that all resources are suitable for use by the younger children. Access to the nursery is by keypad only; monitored by the centre receptionist that offers security and safety of children, staff and parents. Parents give authorisation for administration of medicines that ensure children's care needs are met. First aid boxes are positioned around the nursery to support easy access by staff when accidents occur.

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

The key person system enables children to form secure attachments with staff resulting in children feeling secure in the nursery. Systems are in place to help new children settle quickly, resulting in children separating from their main carer with ease. Families benefit from the flexible settling in process that responds to the needs of the individual child and family.

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

Children are provided with a freshly prepared healthy snack each morning. Children display good self-help skills, by serving their own foods and pouring their own drinks. They understand the importance of washing their hands before meals and after using the toilet and need few reminders. Behaviour is well managed with staff offering reminders to children about care of the resources and kindness towards one another. Children are heard saying 'please' and 'thank you' towards staff when engaging in play. Staff offer praise and to promote children's self-esteem and independence. Children learn about keeping safe when they practise the fire drills each term. Children learn about healthy eating through tending and growing vegetables in the garden. They learn about growing plants to promote their understanding of the world. They enjoy eating the beetroot they have grown, at snack time. Children visit local idea stores for story telling sessions and the

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

involvement of a local theatre involvement promotes children's understanding of the wider community.

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

Children are encouraged to develop their personal independence in readiness for school. For example, accessible children's clothes trolley helps children hand their coats with little help.

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provision

Overall, arrangements for safeguarding children's welfare are established and effective. The provider works with the committee, using adequate vetting procedures to appoint suitable staff. The manager and committee have developed a plan that ensures staff have regular safeguarding and first aid training. They fully understand their responsibilities and the need to provide a safe play environment for children.

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provision

The manager works in partnership with the support staff from the local authorities, actively seeking guidance and acting upon improvements for the nursery and children's learning. The management are working in partnership with staff, committee and families to implement the identified targets for improvement. This reflects the nursery is following good practices for working in partnership with other agencies to promote children's outcomes. However, they have failed to identify the weaknesses found at inspection.

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provision

The management assess what they offer children and their families through parent and staff meetings so they can accurately identify areas for improvement. The management understand the importance of offering children more opportunities for learning outdoors and has organised the involvement of the 'community garden project' to help develop the outdoor area to support children's understanding of growing and tending plants. As a result, the outdoor area has a selection of plants in easily accessible raised beds that stimulate children's interest in living things. Further developments involve parents to help tend the area and share their expertise and skills with children.

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provision

The manager provides a positive role model for professional development since completing her foundation degree. As a result, she shares her vision for improvement with staff during annual appraisals and supervision.

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provision

Since the previous inspection, the management has worked hard to address weaknesses, leading to much improved assessment arrangements for tracking children's progress. The self-evaluation process takes into account the views of parents and/or carers in discussion with staff and with assistance from the Early Years Consultant. As a result the manager has identified several areas of improvement. These include developing a self-registration system to help support children's independence and name recognition; forging links with the school to aid transition; and purchasing water bottles for children's use outdoors.

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provision

In preparation for school, the management provides the school with a profile document that identifies the children's achieved levels of development. The family has the learning folder to share with the schoolteacher to help support children's move onto school.

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The Childcare Register

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 EY307208 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 843810 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 18 Name of provider Abertots Play Committee Date of previous inspection 20/05/2009 Telephone number 07931 800 547

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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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