Dicky Birds Pre School Nurseries Ltd – Claremont Hall

Claremont Hall Claremont Hall, Claremont Road, SURBITON, Surrey, KT6 4RL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/09/2013 20/03/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 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

 Leaders and managers are inspirational, and staff are well supported to maintain the high standards set.  Staff create and adapt the exemplary learning environments to facilitate children's play in all areas of learning.  Managers and staff create an exceptional range of opportunities to work with parents and meet the families needs as a whole.  Children are highly independent, confident learners who gain excellent skills for their present and future learning.  Staff are expertly skilled at following children's interests and facilitating their ideas. As a result children are continually absorbed in purposeful play.

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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 and babies at play indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a range of documentation with particular focus on safety and how parents' concerns are handled.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with a senior member of staff.  The inspector met with senior managers.

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Information about the setting

Claremont Hall was registered in January 2009 and operates from a two storey purpose- converted church hall in Surbiton, London Borough of Kingston. It is registered on the Early Years Register and both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. The premises, which have a ramp to support easy access, are located close to Surbiton station. The nursery is one of six privately owned by a single provider. The nursery is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday throughout the year, apart from one week at Christmas. The nursery curriculum is influenced by Steiner and Montessori philosophy. Children are grouped according to their ages, although they have opportunities to mix with other children within the nursery. There are two outdoor areas, one of which is a roof terrace. Meals are prepared and cooked on the premises. Children may attend from age three months to the end of the early years age range. There are

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Information about the setting

currently 201 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or learning difficulties, and children who speak English as an additional language. Children aged three and four years receive the early education funding. A total of 49 staff work directly with children, of whom 31 hold relevant childcare qualifications, including two qualified teachers. The nominated person of the nurseries has Early Years Professional status.

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

 enhance the roof terrace learning environment by providing cosy areas for children to enjoy communication friendly spaces.

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who attend

Staff have an excellent understanding of how to foster children's learning and development. They use highly effective methods to plan exemplary learning environments where children can be independent, active learners. The learning programmes are very strong in all areas of learning which helps children to make excellent progress given their starting points and capabilities. Staff know each child's personality and learning style very well, which enables them to expertly shape children's play and make learning an enjoyable and fascinating enterprise.

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who attend

Babies have a wide range of high quality resources enabling them to play and explore at their own pace. The emphasis on natural materials and safe household objects mean babies are exploring a full variety of sensory experiences in touch, sound and sight. As a result they are confident explorers, happy to take on challenges such as pulling themselves to standing, in order to carry on exploring. Staff are highly skilled at fostering children's language and communication and are attentive to toddler's interests, so that they can make conversation relevant and informative. In this way, a younger child fascinated by a spider in the garden picks up a wide vocabulary about the spider and what it is doing, which she then shares with her friends. This helps children to be excellent communicators. Children relish opportunities to listen to stories and look at books. Staff thoughtfully provide puppets and objects from the stories that children can use in their

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who attend

play and consolidate their learning. Older children devise, write and illustrate their own books, which staff copy for them to take home. This not only gives children exceptional writing skills but gives them a lasting reminder of their time in the nursery. Children of all ages shape their learning by showing their interest in different activities. For example, children who enjoyed camping on holiday, share their new skills with friends by creating a tent with a pretend fire pit and story circle. Others who enjoyed a visit to a carpenter went on to design, make and decorate their own wooden structures. This facilitated them to learn about measurement, design and the properties of different materials. The richness and depth of activities provided gives children an excellent insight into the world around them.

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who attend

Staff expertly track children's learning through the Early Years Foundation Stage. They make frequent observations of children's learning and plan for their next steps with care and precision. Staff work closely with parents to share the learning journals, which are freely available in the children's playrooms. Staff carry out a check when children are two years old to track children's early development. Staff invite parents to continue the children's learning at home and share resources so that children have a very consistent experience.

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

Staff have an excellent understanding of how babies and children form attachments, which means that their key person system is rooted in expert practice. New children and parents are given open-ended support to get to know the nursery and feel settled prior to starting which means that children are confident and secure in the nursery's care. Staff get to know children's individual needs in order to follow their home routine and closely monitor their care. Staff consistently spend their time playing with the children and giving them high levels of attention and support. This gives children great confidence. Staff have created exemplary learning environments throughout the nursery. Each room is thoughtfully arranged to maximise children's independent access to the play resources and materials and staff adapt the space in response to children's ideas. For example, children enjoyed creating dens under a worktop space, so staff facilitated this by changing the

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

room layout. The outdoor learning environments include a high proportion of loose parts and adaptable equipment so that children can be creative in how they play. Staff expertly ensure that the whole curriculum is present in each of the outdoor environments, though the roof terrace does not provide the same high standard of communication-friendly spaces as the main garden. This has a minor impact on the opportunities for children to find cosy places to talk.

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

Children benefit from exemplary opportunities to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. All meals and snacks are prepared fresh each day and provide a balanced, nutritious diet. Children with allergies or dietary preferences are well known to staff who are vigilant about how food is prepared and served. Children serve themselves and enjoy taking responsibility for helping lay the tables and clearing their things. This gives them greater independence and makes mealtimes a very sociable and enjoyable occasion. Children have excellent opportunities to play in the fresh air every day, which suits active learners. Children enjoy climbing, riding bikes, crawling and exploring a wide range of physical play equipment. This keeps them challenged and they gain in strength and skill as they play. Children have excellent skills in maintaining their personal hygiene and staff are careful to check and change nappies frequently where appropriate.

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

Children are extremely well-behaved and form strong friendships with their peers. Children enjoy helping others and are eager to share their discoveries, such as a spider's web in the herb garden. Children are very cooperative in their play and are confident to share their ideas and experiences in group times. Staff are very sensitive to children when they move on to the next stages of development, and as a result children make the changes with confidence. For example, staff consider children's friendships as well as their stage of development when working with parents to judge the right time to move on to the next age group room. Children also make the transition to school confidently because staff pay particular attention to them as a group, and give them special responsibilities and activities. This includes devising and performing a show for other children. Children have exceptional skills for the future as a result.

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provision

The leaders and managers of the nursery provide inspirational leadership. The exemplary pursuit of excellence is demonstrated in the thoughtful, compassionate and principled approach to all matters related to children and their families. This inspection took place following concerns raised to Ofsted regarding nappy changing procedures. Ofsted visited the nursery and an action was set to ensure staff meet children's needs in relation to the frequency of nappy changing in one of the rooms. The nursery has thoroughly reviewed nappy changing procedures and detailed records are kept of when children's nappies are changed to ensure children's individual needs are well met. Staff have an excellent understanding of how to manage risk so that children enjoy well-planned, interesting and exciting activities in safe ways. All staff undergo a strict and robust recruitment process which includes checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service. The safeguarding policies

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provision

are extremely thorough and all staff have frequent training and updates on child protection issues. This supports them to take action should they have any concerns about a child and staff are fully aware of reporting procedures. All records related to children's health and safety such as accident reports and nappy change records are systematically completed by staff and checked by room leaders and managers. This underpins children's well-being. Staff show great vigilance in maintaining the correct staff-child ratios in order to give children excellent support and supervision.

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provision

Leaders and managers have an exemplary understanding of how to meet the learning and development requirements. They monitor the curriculum with expertise and staff are frequently inspired to develop new and interesting play activities for children, such as the 'mud kitchen'. Staff have excellent support to make room improvement plans as they observe how children use the space and adapt it to meet the children's needs. Staff commend the leaders and managers for their immediate and thoughtful responses to any queries and requests, which helps them to maintain a very high standard. New ideas in the nursery improvement plans are piloted and evaluated before being rolled out so that the impact on children and families is known and measurably positive. For example, new ways of involving parents in the children's learning are tested with a small group, which means that any changes made are known to have a positive impact for everyone. Parents

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provision

are very appreciative of the care and consideration they receive in settling their children. The nursery has a wide range of methods to inform and involve parents including newsletters, play dates and informative social evenings and open days. Staff take care to explain how they work and the underpinning principles of new initiatives so that parents understand how procedures support children's attachment, for example. Parents' views are frequently gathered via questionnaires and requests for comments so that the nursery management can tailor their service for the whole family. Any concerns from parents are dealt with rigorously and any action identified for improvement is taken swiftly. A visit from an Ofsted inspector following a concern earlier this year led to an action being raised in relation to nappy changing arrangements. The management were highly proactive in making sure that staff practice, procedures and information shared with parents was

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provision

reviewed. As a result, the provision now maintains its exceptional standards of child care.

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provision

The nursery staff have excellent relationships with the schools that children go on to attend. This supports children extremely well as they make the transition to school. The nursery staff get regular feedback about the children's attainments at the end of the Foundation Stage, which helps them to monitor the curriculum and make enhancements. The nursery works in close partnership with children's services and the local authority to secure any professional support that children may need. This enables them to give children a coherent and consistent experience.

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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 EY382955 Local authority Kingston upon Thames Inspection number 930480 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 120 Number of children on roll 201 Name of provider Dicky Birds Pre School Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 20/03/2013 Telephone number 020 8942 5779

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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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