West Street Neighbourhood Nursery

West Street Neighbourhood Nursery (Bexley) 1 Maxim Road, West Street, Erith, Kent, DA8 1FA

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/09/2013 25/01/2011

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3

p.1

This provision is satisfactory

 The manager and staff work closely together to monitor the effectiveness of the service to identify areas for improvement that enhance the outcomes for children.  Children enjoy a wide range of experiences that are based on their interests and help them make good progress in relation to their starting points.  Children benefit from good support from staff and the effective key person system.  Children are happy, settled and eager to play in the stimulating and well resourced setting.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 Staff do not have a robust knowledge and understanding of the nursery's lost child policy and procedure to help keep children safe.  On occasions staff miss opportunities to extend children's learning experiences by using critical thinking and good questioning techniques.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with staff and the manager and asked them questions about their roles.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a sample of children's individual assessment records, policies and procedures and the nursery's risk assessment.  The inspector spoke to some parents about their views of the nursery.  The inspector made observations of children playing inside and outdoors.

p.2

Information about the setting

West Street Neighbourhood Nursery registered in 2005 and is run by the Pre-school Learning Alliance. It operates from part of the purpose-built West Street Children's Centre in the London Borough of Bexley. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm, for 51 weeks of the year. All children have access to enclosed outdoor play areas directly from their rooms. There are currently 86 children in the early years age group on roll. The nursery support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning English as an additional language. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery employs 30 staff. Of these, 21 staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff holds Early Years Professional status and a

p.3

Information about the setting

further two are working towards this qualification.

p.3

must:

 ensure all staff are fully aware of, and implement, the nursery's procedures to follow in the event of a child being lost or going missing.

p.3

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

 strengthen ways to extend children's critical thinking and learning opportunities, for example, by staff using good questioning techniques.

p.3

who attend

Children are happy and eager to play in the nursery. They enjoy a good range of activities that meet their individual needs and promote their learning and development well. An effective key person system means parents and children benefit from consistent support. The key person discusses children's individual needs with the parents when they start. Consequently, staff have good information to plan activities that will help children to move forward in their development at a good pace in relation to their starting points. The key person undertakes ongoing observations of the children to assess how they are developing. Staff evaluate these and use the information to track children's development to ensure they are making progress expected for their age and stage of development. Any child who has additional needs receives good support. The staff have experience of working with other agencies to support children's specific needs effectively. As a result,

p.3

who attend

they are working hard to close any gaps in their achievements. This means that all children make good progress, at their own pace. Parents are encouraged to attend parents' evenings, where the key person shares details of their child's progress with them. Parents have good opportunities to contribute to the children's observations regularly and staff discuss with them ways they can support children to develop further at home. This means parents are effectively involved in their children's care, learning and development.

p.4

who attend

Staff focus on providing activities that ensure children develop the skills and attitudes required for school or the next stage in their learning. There are good opportunities for them to play inside and outdoors because free flow works very well. Children thoroughly enjoy outside play and gain strong physical skills as they ride on bicycles and climb on an apparatus that helps them to learn how their bodies move. They enjoy digging in the mud looking for bugs and worms. They plant, look after, and grow a good range of fruit and vegetables such as potatoes, cucumbers and strawberries. This helps them to learn about how things grow and where food comes from as they eat their produce. Children learn about the different seasons through well-planned activities. They collect leaves and paint them to make patterns on paper. The staff talk to them about the reason leaves fall off the trees. The staff are adaptable and when they see the activity is taking a different turn

p.4

who attend

they follow the children's lead to extend their learning. For example, while painting, the children mix the colours up, so the staff talk about what happens when the paint mixes. They encourage the children to put their brushes in the opposite paint and mix them together. Staff ask the children questions about the outcome and what colour they have made. As a result, the children develop a good understanding of the how things change and of the natural world.

p.4

who attend

Teaching methods are generally good. Children have good opportunities to explore a stimulating and interesting environment. Overall, staff support learning by asking some open questions, such as 'what colour?.?' and 'how many...?' to challenge the children as they play. However, they miss opportunities to extend these experiences by asking children questions and interacting in a way that shows they do not always know and are curious about a subject to make to children think further.

p.4

who attend

Children develop strong physical skills as they play with large soft play shapes. They climb on the shapes, balance on them and jump off. The staff supervising the soft play ask good questions to challenge the children's thinking while they play. For example, they ask them what they are going to do, children reply and then staff ask them 'where to and how are you going to get there?' The children reply 'jump' and the staff then ask, 'where to?' the children say 'this way' pointing to a space and proceeding to jump safely. The staff explain to the children that the activity is good for them as it helps to develop their muscles, which makes them big and strong. Therefore, children learn that exercise is good for them and what effect it has on their bodies.

p.4

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

Children form close attachments with the staff and particularly with their key person. They seek staff out to play with and call them to look at things they are proud of. Babies demonstrate secure attachments as they approach staff for cuddles and reassurance. They enjoy interaction with the staff as they sing and dance with them to music. This helps the very young children learn to control their bodies as they move to the rhythms in the songs. These secure bonds promote all children's emotional and physical well-being effectively.

p.5

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

Children play and learn in a friendly and stimulating environment. Staff set up play areas well, which enables children to make independent choices. The effective deployment of staff gives children maximum support as they learn through a good balance of adult- directed and child-initiated play. Generally, children are safe and secure in the nursery. There is a suitable range of equipment in place to ensure children's safety. For example, there are finger guards on all doors to prevent accidents and gates are in place to prevent very young children accessing areas where there may be hazards. Risk assessments and daily check of all areas children use help staff to ensure that the environment is safe.

p.5

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

Staff promote children's understanding of healthy practices well. Children learn good hygiene routines as they wash their hands before they eat. Staff are vigilant in reducing the risk of cross-infection as they wipe children's noses and help them to dispose of the tissue in the bin. Children's behaviour shows that they feel safe in the nursery. They move around with confidence, make choices about what they play with, and demonstrate good self-esteem. Staff reinforce good behaviour with lots of praise and encouragement. This makes children feel valued and as a result, they gain a strong sense of belonging.

p.5

provision

The inspection took place following a notification from the nursery that a child had left the premises unsupervised, for a few minutes and was returned by a parent. The provider informed Ofsted immediately and began an investigation into how this had happened. The inspection has found that the investigation was still ongoing. However, the manager has taken prompt action to strengthen security systems to keep children safe. Risk assessments have been reviewed to confirm that they consider all aspects of safety. A staff meeting has been held to reinforce the staff's understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures. However, the inspection has found that the staff did not follow the nursery's procedures for a lost child clearly enough to minimise the risk to children. This is a breach of requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Existing security systems, such as the recording of children's attendance, twice-

p.5

provision

hourly head counts and electronic entry systems have been reviewed and improved to safeguard children's welfare. The inspection found that staff supervision and deployment meets the children's needs and the adult to child ratios are well maintained. The nursery has implemented an action plan to show that suitable steps are taken to maintain children's safety in the nursery. There are solid arrangements in place to safeguard children because staff attend regular training in child protection. They demonstrate a secure understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concern about a child they are caring for, to help protect their well-being. Staff discuss safeguarding during staff meetings and senior staff devise a quiz about safeguarding to help reinforce staff's knowledge of their responsibilities. As a result they have a good understanding of the steps to take should they have a concern about the welfare of a child.

p.5

provision

There is a clear focus on staff suitability and their personal development. A well developed induction, recruitment and vetting system ensures staff are well qualified and appropriately vetted to ensure they are suitable to work with children. The manager carries out regular appraisals with staff to indentify their training needs to help develop their knowledge and skills. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the learning and development requirements as they make observations of children's progress and development. The manager monitors children's assessment records on a regular basis to ensure they reflect an accurate understanding of each child's skills, abilities and progress. All staff, parents and children are involved in the evaluation process to help drive improvement in the quality of the nursery provision. The nursery uses a self-evaluation tool, devised by the local authority, which aids their reflection of all areas of practice well.

p.6

provision

They are realistic and identify their strengths and areas for development clearly. This means they work closely to maintain continuous improvement to enhance the outcomes for children.

p.6

provision

The staff and manager foster a positive relationship with parents and other agencies. They have strong links with the local authority agencies to seek help and advice about children who have additional needs. They work in partnership with the children's centre and run parent groups to support them in their child's development. There is an effective two-way communication between parents and staff. This means they get good feedback about their child's well-being each day. Parents report they were happy with the care and education their children receive; they can see their children are making good progress and feel suitably involved in their learning and development.

p.6

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

p.6

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.

p.7

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.

p.7

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.

p.8

Setting details

Unique reference number EY287827 Local authority Bexley Inspection number 936205 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 70 Number of children on roll 86 Name of provider Pre-School Learning Alliance Date of previous inspection 25/01/2011 Telephone number 01322 446845

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

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,

p.9

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’.

p.10

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10