Melrose on the Hill

Melrose on the Hill St. Andrews Church, Harrow Road, WEMBLEY, Middlesex, HA0 2QA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/07/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children make outstanding progress in their learning and development because they are excited and motivated by the wide range of fun and highly stimulating activities. There are excellent resources available for them to play with.  Children behave exceptionally well, due to the outstanding support they receive from staff. This enables children to learn to play and share together and creates an extremely positive atmosphere throughout the nursery.  The management team share a strong commitment to the continuous development of the nursery's practice. They are inspirational and have high expectations of staff and children, which helps to drive improvement.  Children are looked after exceptionally well through the successful implementation of the excellent key person system.  Partnerships with parents are outstanding. Staff implement highly successful strategies to fully involved parents in their children's learning in the nursery and at home.

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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 compulsory 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 observed staff in all rooms and held discussions with them. The inspector spoke to children as they played indoors and outside.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of children's assessment records and planning documentation.  The inspector took account of views of parents spoken to during the inspection.  The inspector looked at a sample of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Information about the setting

Melrose on the Hill registered in 2012. It operates from St. Andrew's church hall in the London Borough of Brent. Children have access to two play rooms and toilets on the ground floor. There is an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open from Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, 43 weeks of the year. Children may attend a morning session, afternoon session or a full day. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 50 children on roll in the early years age group. The provision supports children learning English as an additional language. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early years education for children aged two, three and four years. There are six members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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

 develop the practice of peer-on-peer observations to contribute to maintaining the excellent standards and exceptional educational programmes across the nursery.

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who attend

Children are well cared for in this exceptionally welcoming and children-centred nursery that is highly inclusive and reflects children's backgrounds, communities and family lifestyles. Children thoroughly enjoy themselves exploring the highly stimulating resources and activities provided by staff. Children make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development in relation to their starting points. Staff carry out precise observation, assessment and planning to plan very effectively for all children based on their individual interests and needs. As a result, the educational programmes are highly enriching and enable all children to flourish at the nursery. Parents are fully encouraged to contribute towards their children's ongoing assessments. They share information and photographs of their children's activities at home and discuss children's progress with their child's key person. Staff carefully evaluate each activity to help identify and narrow any

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who attend

gaps in the children's learning. For example, children who speak English as an additional language are supported extremely well and their home language and culture is valued in the nursery. Staff use pictures, gestures and key words in children's home languages to support their communication. As a result, children flourish and make the maximum progress possible. Staff follow children's changing interests skilfully and support children exceptionally well throughout their activities. Staff use highly effective teaching strategies to motivate children to learn and they skilfully join in children's play, fitting in with children's ideas. As a result, the quality of the teaching is very high and consistent across the whole nursery. Staff support children's language and communication very capably through small group activities and using visual prompts during everyday routines. Children participate exceptionally well at story time and during music sessions and circle times, which helps to

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who attend

encourage and extend their communication skills. Staff engage children's interests in books further, as they use an expressive voice to read the story. They encourage children to recall their favourite stories through the use of puppets and props, while they skilfully question children to extend children's thoughts and ideas.

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who attend

Children play in an inspirational, exceptionally well-resourced outdoor area where they can be adventurous and develop their physical skills. Children excel in their learning as they explore outside at any time during the session, all year round. For example, they tend the flowers and crops they have planted in tubs and tyres. Children's enthusiasm for outdoors is expertly supported by staff who engage children through practical experiences. For example, children observe insects in the insect area using magnifiers and cameras as they explore. Staff encourage children to find different sizes of snails in the garden and to pick small, medium and large leaves to feed the snails. Children count the amount of leaves they have picked. Staff ask children questions to promote their critical thinking and understanding of numbers during all activities. As a result, children's mathematical learning is fostered extremely well and they show a keen interest in shape, pattern, size

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who attend

and numbers during their play. Consequently, children gain the skills they will need for the move onto school.

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who attend

Children show great interest and concentration when taking part in messy play activities. They explore different natural textures such as cornflower and play dough that they make. Children explore the mixture as they squeeze and watch it trickle through their fingers. Children choose from the rich selection of materials in the craft trays to draw, write and develop their own highly impressive projects. Staff encourage children by joining in and offering lots of praise. Children develop an excellent awareness of others as they participate in a variety of religious and cultural festivals. In addition, there are excellent resources to reflect the wider community and help children understand about difference in a positive way.

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

The key person system is highly effective and results in children forming secure emotional attachments with their key person. A major contribution to establishing these positive attachments are the home visits that take place before each child starts at the nursery. The key person and a senior member of staff visit the child and family in their home environment. This provides staff with a valuable opportunity to begin close partnership working, discuss the needs of the child and make observations to inform planning from the start. This excellent practice of partnership working also supports children's move from home to the nursery. Children form positive relationships with staff and show exemplary behaviour and respect towards other children and adults. They play extremely well with other children, share, take turns and are considerate of each other, using words such as 'please' and 'thank you'. Staff remind children of the 'golden rules' during circle time so that children know what is

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

expected of them. Staff read books to children about being safe and kind to one another. In addition, children learn how to stay safe as they practise regular evacuation drills, so that they learn to leave the premises quickly and in a safe manner. Children learn about people who help themfrom visitors such as dentists, nurses, fire officers and the police service. Children manage their personal needs exceptionally well, such as using the toilet, washing their hands afterwards and brushing their teeth after meals. Being competent in these skills helps children make the move to school more easily as they become independent.

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

Children develop a superb understanding about living healthy lifestyles as staff have valuable discussions with them during mealtimes and other relevant activities. As a result, children clearly understand the importance of a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise. They rapidly become independent owing to staff expectations, for example, through serving their own snacks and pouring their own drinks. Children thoroughly enjoy the variety of fresh fruit at snack time along with a selection of nutritional vegetarian meals served at lunch, such as asparagus and pasta in pesto sauce. Children are physically active in all weathers and they move safely andclimb and balance with confidence. They learn to move their bodies imaginatively as they enjoy dancing and moving to music, playing musical instruments and joining in with action rhymes.

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provision

Leadership and management are outstanding because the nursery is exceptionally well organised. Management have an excellent idea of each child's progress and how staff plan for their learning. The manager and her deputy monitor the levels of planning and assessment in each group and makes sure that records are accurate and up to date. The staff team are well qualified and work together very efficiently. The manager implements robust recruitment and vetting procedures to appoint staff. She has an excellent understanding of her responsibility in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Staff have undertaken the relevant safeguarding training and have a firm understanding of the thorough safeguarding policy and where to find relevant information should they need it. Staff conduct daily checks on the premises and robust written risk assessments further help to ensure the safety of the children. This enables children to play and explore safely.

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provision

Management implement comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the setting and all policies are shared with parents.

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provision

Management supervise staff regularly and this helps them to spot any issues related to performance. They have excellent systems in place to provide targeted support to staff to improve performance. The manager ensures that highly effective appraisal systems are in place. This helps to maintain the excellent standards and exceptional educational programmes across the nursery. Staff have started to use peer-on-peer observations to identify training needs, however, this is not yet fully developed. The extremely effective self-evaluation procedures include the views of staff, parents, children and other interested partners, such as advisory early years development workers. They all work as an effective team to drive improvement and there are clear plans for further improvements.

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provision

Partnerships between parents and staff are exceptional and very well established. Staff keep parents extremely well informed and talk to them every day. They gather information from home as they arrive and provide verbal feedback at the end of the session. Parents comment on how they value the high levels of support and encouragement they receive from the caring staff team. Staff have exemplary partnerships with other professionals and agencies. They are vigilant in their approach to seeking early interventions for children they have identified with additional needs. For example, staff work with specialists, such as speech therapists, to develop and implement strategies to support children who require additional help. This outstanding approach means that children receive high levels of support when needed.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY448685 Local authority Brent Inspection number 900050 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 50 Name of provider Melrose on the Hill Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 020 8904 6092

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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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