Linden House Nursery

Linden House Nursery 83 West Street, DUNSTABLE, Bedfordshire, LU6 1SE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/08/2013 08/11/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Children make insufficient progress because there is too little understanding of the learning development requirements, resulting in poor monitoring of children's progress.  Inconsistent key person systems and ineffective staff deployment do not meet the needs of all the children or provide suitable challenges.  Involvement of parents in their child's learning and development is not effective in ensuring that children consistently make good progress in all areas of learning.  Children are not provided with a cosy book area, where they can relax and develop a love of books. Babies are given limited opportunities to crawl, pull themselves up and explore to enable them to develop their self-confidence and self-awareness.  Monitoring and evaluating is ineffective in identifying issues to foster a culture of continuous improvement, in order to benefit children's learning.

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It has the following strengths

 Children's sensory development is promoted as they engage in activities such as foam play.  Children's health needs are suitably promoted because they use a range of outdoor resources and are offered a variety of healthy meals and snacks.  Children are effectively safeguarded because staff have a sound understanding of keeping them safe.

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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 looked around the nursery and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to children and observed activities in the three rooms and the outside learning environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of children's assessments records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector conducted a joint observation of a group of children with the manager and held a meeting with her and the administration assistant.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff working with the children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan along with their policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents and carers from information included in the setting's own parent survey.

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Information about the setting

Linden House Nursery was registered in 2002 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from three rooms and a conservatory in an Edwardian house close to the centre of Dunstable, Bedfordshire. There are ten steps to reach the entrance door. Children have shared access to an enclosed area for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above and, two are working towards a qualification at level 3. The setting is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, for 51 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery also offers a drop off/pick up service to nursery children attending Dunstable Icknield Lower School.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 57 children attending, who are aged from birth to four years. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 use observations consistently to identify the next steps in children's learning and use the information to plan activities to help children make good progress towards the early learning goals in preparation for school

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must:

 improve the use of the key person to meet children's individual needs and consistently offer a settled relationship for each child

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must:

 involve parents in their child's learning and development, for example by providing information about how they can further support their children's learning at home, to help ensure that children consistently make good progress

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must:

 ensure that staff are consistently and suitably deployed to enable children to enjoy learning and develop their self-help skills

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must:

 provide resources and organise rooms to provide opportunities for children to relax and extend their love of books, and to enable babies to move around, pull themselves up and explore their environment to develop their self-awareness and self-confidence

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must:

 foster a culture of continuous improvement which benefits children's learning, for example by using effective monitoring to accurately evaluate how children learn.

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who attend

Children are not consistently making good progress in their learning and development because planning and assessments are weak in identifying children's next steps in their learning. Observations and assessments are not consistent and not accurate enough to build on children's progress. Most staff hold an early years qualification at level 3. However, they do not use their knowledge to help children make good progress. Planning and the organisation of activities do not consistently sustain children's interest. For example, children were offered a hand-printing activity to develop their sensory experiences, but the area was chaotic and noisy, with other children standing around asking questions. This resulted in children losing interest and lacking enthusiasm for learning. Parental engagement in promoting children's learning is not fully promoted because staff do not discuss how the summary of their child's development can be used to

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who attend

support learning at home. Children with English as an additional language are adequately supported by staff and are making suitable progress in their communication and language skills. Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of providing support for children who require additional help, but they are inconsistent in continuing with the support and do not routinely continue to help children with speech and language delay. This results in their progress not being as good as it should be given their starting points. Therefore, children are not effectively prepared for school or their next stage of learning.

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who attend

Some teaching is effective. For example, staff ask open-ended questions as children play with foam and introduce new words, such as 'squidgy'. Children enjoy being read to and are developing an understanding of how stories have a beginning and an ending. Staff involve children in story time as they count the animals on the farm. However, children's love of books is not fully fostered as they are not provided with a cosy area where they can sit, relax and enjoy looking at a broad range of fiction and non-fiction books. Children are developing some mathematical concepts as they complete jigsaw puzzles and build with small cubes. They learn to count as they make hand-prints and are beginning to understand that they have four fingers and one thumb. Children enjoy mixing the two colours but opportunities to extend their knowledge of changes are not explored. Their manipulative skills are developing as they use paint brushes, pencils and glue sticks.

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who attend

Children freely use computers to develop their technical skills.

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who attend

Opportunities for babies to develop and make good progress in the three prime areas are limited. For example, they are not provided with a variety of soft play resources and low- level soft furniture to encourage them to move around, pull themselves up and explore so that they develop self-confidence and self-awareness in a caring environment. Staff are often unaware of their needs and miss opportunities to develop their language skills when babies babble.

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

The care practices are variable and do not consistently support all children's emotional well-being and welfare. For example, owing to shift changes, key persons do not work in the same room as their key children. This results in some children failing to form secure attachments with their key person. Therefore, some babies feel insecure and are unable to make good progress in their development. Parents provide some valuable information to enable staff to meet babies' care routines, such as sleep patterns. This, on occasions, enables babies to feel secure. Activities are not always organised effectively to ensure that children are purposefully engaged. This results in a disorderly and chaotic environment that hinders learning. Staff are at times inconsistent in observing negative behaviour and are, therefore, unable to use distraction to promote positive behaviour. For example, when an upset toddler interrupted construction play, staff removed the child without calmly

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

Children's health needs are suitably promoted. They are provided with healthy, well- balanced meals and snacks and have regular fresh air and exercise as they use ride-on toys in the garden. Children learn to manage their hygiene as they wash hands in mobile sinks. They develop an understanding of safety as gates, highchairs and locks are used to set boundaries.

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

The environment is suitably organised to enable children to make independent choices as storage baskets are clearly labelled with pictures and words. However, their self-help skills are not fully promoted; for instance, children are not encouraged to serve their own lunches. Some children are beginning to form friendships and are learning to negotiate between themselves as they ride around on their bikes. Children enjoy using role play to develop their knowledge and understanding of the wider world. Some proudly wear a police officer's outfit, while others enjoy dressing-up as princesses. Children are offered praise and encouragement to help develop their self-confidence.

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

Children are given opportunities to visit their next setting and engage in activities which prepare them for school. For example, they are introduced to school routines through books and make picture collages of school uniforms.

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provision

The monitoring of the educational programme is weak because there is too little understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage, including overseeing the educational programmes. There are systems in place for staff to have regular supervision and annual appraisals, and professional development is promoted. However, management takes does not ensure that staff use their knowledge effectively to promote children's learning and development. This results in individuals or groups of children underachieving.

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provision

Staff have a sound understanding of safeguarding children and their role in protecting them. The children are suitably supervised both indoors and outdoors. The nursery has appropriate policies in place to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Risk assessments are carried out on a daily basis before the children arrive. Emergency evacuation procedures are regularly practised with the children so they know what to do should the need arise.

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provision

Parents are invited to participate in self-evaluation and questionnaires are sent out annually; the forms include children's views. However, targets for improvement are not being clearly identified and prioritised. There is limited input from other professionals to help improve practice. Actions from the previous inspection, such as safeguarding procedures to ensure staff know what to do in the case of allegations being made against them, have been addressed. However, the recommendation to involve parents in their child's learning and development has not been fully implemented. Therefore self- evaluation is weak and has too little impact on improving practice. Links with parents in supporting children's care and education are not strong enough to ensure that individual needs are identified and met. Staff have an adequate understanding of working with other agencies to support children requiring additional support in their learning and

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provision

development. For example, they seek support from other agencies, such as a speech therapist, to support children's communication and language skills.

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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 EY103054 Local authority Central Bedfordshire Inspection number 872420

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 57 Name of provider Dora Marie De Leonardis Date of previous inspection 08/11/2010 Telephone number 01582 662575

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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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