Academy 4 Kids

Academy 4 Kids 209 Friern Barnet Lane, Whetstone, London, N20 0NG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/09/2013 25/04/2013

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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 many opportunities to explore their stimulating outdoor environments as staff effectively plan interesting and challenging experiences outside which help to support all aspects of their learning.  Staff have established close working partnerships with parents. There are clear communication systems in place to share and encourage parents to be involved in their children's ongoing learning.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff rotas do not provide consistent opportunities for children to receive personal care from their key person to further support strong emotional attachments.  The staff's implementation of nursery care routines do not always allow children the opportunity to engage in uninterrupted play to support their learning and development.

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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 observed children's play and staff interaction, both indoors and outside in the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and manager undertook a joint observation of an outdoor play activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff and held meetings with the provider and the manager of the provision.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation including a representative sample of children's records, development plans and staff suitability records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Academy 4 Kids registered in 2003. It operates from a purpose-built building with a large outside play area including a separate woodland area. The nursery is situated in Whetstone in the London Borough of Barnet. The nursery is privately owned and is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. Currently, there are 108 children on roll who are all in the early years age group. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery receives funding for free early education for children aged, three and four years. The nursery employs 21 staff who work directly with the children. The manager holds Early Years Professional Status and the provider holds a National Vocational Qualification at level 4. The majority of all

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Information about the setting

other staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. There are currently two part-time students working in the nursery.

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

 strengthen the role of the key person system so that staff are consistently involved in meeting the care needs of their key children

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

 provide more flexible care routines for the younger children so that they have time to become deeply involved in the activities that interest them.

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who attend

Children enjoy a broad range of interesting activities and experiences both indoors and in the outside play areas. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of how to promote children's learning through play. The result is that all children are supported to make good progress across the seven areas of learning. Staff maintain regular and accurate observations and assessments of children's progress. They have successfully implemented the two-year-old progress check in partnership with parents. These secure systems help to identify any learning difficulties at an early stage so that effective support systems can be implemented. For example, staff are confident to initiate individual educational plans in partnership with outside professionals to identify clear targets to support children. Consequently all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported to enjoy and achieve in the nursery provision. Children

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who attend

who speak English as an additional language are making good progress in developing their English speaking skills. Staff value children's home languages as they work in partnership with parents to acknowledge these within the nursery setting.

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who attend

Children are happy and motivated in their play as staff acknowledge their interests with enthusiasm. For example, staff are confident to discuss with children the different super- heroes that they want to explore in their role play. They give them a variety of materials to allow them to play imaginatively and purposefully. Staff are skilful in supporting older children's interests in drawing and writing activities. For example, children who are beginning to write independently are supported to sound out letters to write their friends' names. They are delighted with the praise and recognition that they receive, which motivates them to persevere within these activities. Younger children enjoy sharing stories with adults and are beginning to develop competent speaking and listening skills. Staff effectively engage children within story time sessions because they ask them open questions to support their confidence in speaking. These high-quality interactions support

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who attend

children to make good progress in their communication and language skills.

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who attend

Children are developing valuable independence skills. They confidently initiate their own play as staff organise bright and accessible environments for them. Older children are competent at serving their own food, helping themselves to drinks and putting on their wellington boots to play outside. Babies too are becoming increasingly independent as they move around their environments freely. They are able to help themselves to good quality resources which are easily accessible and offer them challenge. For example, babies are delighted to show how they can press a variety of buttons to create music and flashing lights. They enjoy role play as they play purposefully with key boards and telephones as they mimic adult behaviour.

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who attend

Children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills as they enjoy spending time in their stimulating outdoor environments. They confidently ride bicycles, climb large apparatus and learn to move in a variety of ways. For example, in their woodland area children enjoy balancing, climbing small trees and playing on a rope swing. Children also enjoy the challenge of building with large bricks outside. They confidently build aeroplanes and trains that they can actually sit in. Staff effectively support these experiences by discussing with children their plans and asking them where they are travelling too. Children are animated in these discussions as they explain that they are off to America for the day. Overall, children are developing many important skills to support their next steps in their learning when they move on to school.

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who attend

Staff have established professional partnerships with parents and clearly value their contributions. Discussions with parents demonstrate that they receive good communication. They say that they feel well informed about their children's progress and how they can support their learning at home. Staff gather detailed information about the children prior to them attending nursery to support them in meeting their individual needs. Parents express that this is reassuring as they feel that staff really want to get to know all about their children. These valuable partnerships support a continuous approach towards children's care and learning, which further supports their ability to enjoy and achieve within the nursery setting.

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

Staff provide children with warm care and attention. It is evident that babies have established appropriate attachments with their key person. They enjoy cuddles and positive interactions, which helps them to begin to feel secure in their environment. Staff pay close attention to children's individual health and aspects of their care needs to support their safety within the nursery. However, care routines do not focus on the importance of the key person's role. For example, children's individual personal care needs are managed by the staff team rather than by their key person. These practices do not fully support the strengthening of emotional attachments which are established during these important times. The strong focus placed on implementing nursery routines at specific times also has an impact occasionally on the younger children's ability to sustain their enjoyment within their play. For example, staff interrupt children's play so that they

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

can change nappies. This is not linked to them being soiled but more to the time of the day. This results in children being unhappy to be taken away from what they are doing.

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

Children are developing many valuable self-care skills with even the youngest babies beginning to feed themselves. Children enjoy exploring their well-resourced learning environments. They confidently move between the indoor and outdoor areas. Children behave well. They are cooperative with their friends as they take turns and share resources appropriately. They are developing a positive understanding of the importance of eating healthy foods and taking exercise, as staff discuss with them why this is important to their good health. All children have ample opportunities to engage in energetic play outside. Older children know why they must visit the bathrooms to wash their hands before eating, commenting that 'we must wash away the germs.' Children behave in safe ways because they know that they must not walk around when using scissors and that running is not permitted inside. When children do accidently bump into

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

each other, staff encourage them to apologise to their friend. They also encourage children to think about the dangers of what might happen when they are not concentrating on where they are going.

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

The nursery has established some positive links with local schools that children move on to. These partnerships help to promote smooth transition arrangements for the children. Parents are also supported through the transition process as staff discuss with them how to make these experiences positive. Discussions with parents demonstrate that they are very happy with the care and attention given to their children. They feel that the nursery does prepare them well for school. Parents comments include 'my child has become more confident and independent since coming to nursery. I am able to take my child to a variety of different venues as they are able to socialise and behave appropriately. I think this will really help when they go to school.'

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provision

The provider and manager of the nursery demonstrate a commitment to promoting quality outcomes for children. The manager who has only been in post for eight months has made good inroads in lifting the quality of educational programmes for children. He has provided staff with training and regular supervision to support them in understanding how to manage and implement their planning and assessments systems effectively. The impact is that staff are confident to discuss how they monitor children's progression and how they identify steps to challenge them in their learning. Staff say that they feel more confident in their abilities to promote the learning and development requirements. This is evidenced in their planning documents and in their positive interactions with children. Discussions with parents demonstrate that they too have seen improvements in the provision since the new manager came into post.

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provision

There are satisfactory systems in place to safeguard children. All staff demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. This inspection took place following a notification to Ofsted from the provider and a complaint from a parent regarding an incident that occurred in the nursery. This involved a child leaving the nursery unsupervised and being found shortly afterwards in the nursery car park by another parent. At the inspection the manager explained that the incident had occurred because the kitchen doors had not been closed properly and an outdoor gate, which is only accessible to staff, had also been left open. This was clearly a human error as systems were not robust to ensure that all areas were secure. The provider has now placed additional security locks on the gate to prevent this from being left open again. There are also new signs and procedures in place so that

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provision

the kitchen doors remain locked and are monitored by senior staff. At inspection the doors and gates were seen to be secure and children were unable to gain access to these areas, so they remain safe. All staff and parents are aware of new safety procedures. Risk assessments of the environment have been updated and implemented to show the new procedures in place. Discussions with parents demonstrate that they are happy with the way management handled the situation and they say they feel reassured that this kind of incident will not happen again.

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provision

The provider has thorough procedures in place to promote safe recruitment of staff. All staff undergo suitability checks prior to them working with the children to make sure they are suitable to do so. The majority of staff working in the provision have early years qualifications and are experienced in their roles. Discussions with staff demonstrate that they have a sound knowledge of safeguarding procedures. They are able to discuss how they monitor children's welfare and how they would raise concerns to appropriate agencies to help keep children safe. The manager has prioritised safeguarding training so that this is accessible to all staff.

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provision

The nursery promotes positive partnerships with parents. There are secure systems in place to engage their views and to encompass these within improvement plans. Parents say that the nursery has an open door policy where they can always talk to staff, the provider or the manager. There are sound partnerships with outside professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in meeting their individual milestones. The provider and manager are working with their staff to promote improvements in the quality of the nursery provision to improve the outcomes for children.

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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 EY260044 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 928277 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 100 Number of children on roll 108 Name of provider AB Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 25/04/2013 Telephone number 020 8446 9988

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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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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