Melrose Nursery School

Melrose Nursery School Melrose Nursery, St. Gabriels Church, Noel Road, LONDON, W3 0JE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/07/2013 07/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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 2

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This provision is good

 A well-established key person system helps children to form secure attachments and this promotes their well-being effectively. Good care experiences have a positive impact on children's all-round development and well-being.  The setting is equipped with high quality resources that are accessible for children to choose and promote their learning both in and outdoors.  Staff have a secure understanding of planning small group circle times to enable children to benefit fully from these experiences.  Overall, the manager oversees and supports staff securely in meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and encourages staff to access further training to support their professional development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some group activities are not organised as well as they could be to focus the interest of all children involved.

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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 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

Melrose nursery school opened in 2008 and is privately owned. It operates from premises at St Gabriel's church in West Acton in the London Borough of Ealing. The premises is on two levels, with toilet facilities available on the ground floor. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday from 8.30am to 3.30pm during school term time and the half term holidays. There are currently 74 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 eight staff, of whom seven hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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

 strengthen the planning of some group activities to provide secure learning opportunities for all those participating.

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who attend

The whole staff team have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Overall they are secure in their knowledge of how to promote the learning and development of young children. In addition, the environment is very supportive to learning, it is rich in resources and complemented by varied and imaginative experiences in all areas of learning. Staff ensure there is a broad range of interesting activities set out each day and resources are easily accessible to children in low-level storage to enable them to choose toys. Therefore, children gain skills in independence as they readily help themselves to what they would like to play with.

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who attend

Staff have a good understanding of observing children's progress and have effective planning systems in place to ensure children's individual needs are provided for. Children's individual learning records are well maintained and contain information from parents on their starting points, an initial settling in assessment by the key person and tracking documents to support future plans for each child. Staff have introduced a secure system for assessing the progress of two-year-olds in the three prime areas. Children are well supported with their language and communication skills because staff listen carefully to them and skilfully ask questions during tasks to improve learning. Children show interest in reference books and staff support this well by sharing interesting books and having discussions to make children think about their experiences. Staff have been involved in projects to develop their awareness of communication and language

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who attend

development and provide many planned small group activities during the day. Circle times are planned to incorporate a small number of children at a time. This enables most children to be able to participate in the discussions and share their views with the rest of the group. Children enjoy taking part in a sounds activity where they listen to an instrument played out of their view and have to match the sound to the correct instrument. However, occasionally these group sessions are not planned as well as possible and staff miss some opportunities to promote the learning for the different ages and stages of each child.

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who attend

Children have free access to the outdoor environment for most of the day and they thoroughly enjoy the outdoors. The garden is exceptionally well resourced and children can investigate and explore the natural environment. They enjoy digging together in the large walk in sand pit and develop their thinking skills as they build an obstacle course using crates and balancing beams.

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who attend

Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well as staff obtain key words to help children settle. The environment contains print to support children's emerging reading development and reflects 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

The key person system is embedded into the staff practice and results in good relationships being established with parents from early on and supporting children to settle quickly. The nursery staff also takes part in home visits prior to children starting and this offers extra support to deepen these partnerships. As a result, this enables children to develop close relationships with their key person to receive lots of reassurance in their early days.

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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. Staff manage children's behaviour well, they use positive strategies to deal with any minor issues and encourage children to sort out disagreements by talking to each other about their feelings. Children are also encouraged to express their feelings in small group times by giving a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down'.

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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 understood by staff. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and follow good hygiene practices as they take responsibility for washing their hands appropriately throughout the day. Children are either provided with a healthy and nutritious cooked meal provided by a catering company or parents can choose to provide a packed lunch. Children's independence with their self- help skills are developing well as they choose when they would like their snack and pour their drinks.

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

Children's safety and well-being is given high priority as they play in a safe and secure environment. Children learn to take full responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others and are able to move around the nursery safely, confidently and independently. They learn the rules of the nursery, such as not running indoors. Children take part in regular fire evacuation practices which teaches them about the importance of getting out the building safely and calmly. Children's safety is further protected by the staffs' very good understanding of appropriate supervision both indoors and outside. The nursery 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.

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provision

The manager and staff fully understand the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff understand and implement the clear policies and procedures consistently. Staff know and understand their responsibilities for safeguarding and understand the procedures of reporting any concerns they have to the appropriate named person and Local Safeguarding Children Board. In addition, a clear log of any incidents or concerns is maintained. Rigorous recruitment and vetting procedures are in place to check the suitability of all adults employed by the setting, and this includes a through induction process over a number of weeks. Comprehensive risk assessments cover all aspects of the premises and outings.

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provision

The manager has a strong desire for maintaining quality in all aspects of care and education in the setting. Self-evaluation is used effectively to review practice and target areas for improvements. Staff reflect on their practice and use their knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements well to ensure the activities provided are exciting and challenging to children. Staff are well supported by generally good systems for annual appraisals and identification of training needs. Staff are keen to continually up date their professional development and this has a positive impact on the setting.

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provision

Partnerships with parents is well embedded in to the nursery ethos. The setting places value in ensuring that parents develop a sense of belonging to the setting and can contribute to the well-being of their children. Parents are provided with information to ensure they are well informed about how the provision operates and they are kept well informed about their child's progress, achievements and daily experiences. Parents are welcomed into the nursery when they drop off their child in the morning and when they collect them later on. The nursery is extremely flexible in settling in new children and allows parents to stay for as long as they feel necessary. Comments from parents indicate they are very happy with the service provided. The nursery has built up good relationships with local schools and other professionals, which supports children's continuity of care and 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 EY380078 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 902268 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 74 Name of provider Melrose Nursery School Limited Date of previous inspection 07/01/2009 Telephone number 02089920885

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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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