Croft Day Nursery

Croft Day Nursery 75 Woolwich Road, LONDON, SE2 0DY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/10/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Staff have strong, warm relationships with children that enable children to feel secure and confident.  Staff help to keep children protected from harm because they have good knowledge of procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child.  Children are supported well as they prepare to move on to school; this helps them to settle well at school.  Children develop healthy habits because they eat nutritious meals and snacks and take daily physical exercise in the fresh air.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not always use assessment information and children's interests to inform planning for all children to meet their individual needs successfully.  Monitoring systems fail to identify the inconsistencies in staff practice and in particular the weaknesses in the provision for the learning and development of children with special educational needs, and/or disabilities.  There are few opportunities for children to practise their early writing skills in meaningful situations, such as pretend 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager of an adult-led group activity.  The inspector observed interaction between staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a discussion with management and sampled a range of documentation.  The inspector tracked the progress of several children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with parents, staff and children and took their views into consideration during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Croft Day Nursery registered in 2013. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It is privately owned by Oakhurst Guardian Limited, and is a re-registration of 115324 due to a change in owners. It operates from a converted house in Bexley, Kent. The nursery has use of the ground floor of the premises and an enclosed outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open Monday to Friday, all year round from 8.00 am until 6pm. It is closed for one week at Christmas and at public bank holidays. The nursery receives funding for free early education to children aged two-, three- and four- years. The nursery supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are nine members of staff who work directly with the children. Of these, eight staff hold appropriate early years qualifications, including five staff who hold National Vocational Qualifications to level 3; three staff who hold National Vocational Qualifications to level 2 and one staff member who is unqualified. There are currently 27 children in the early years range on roll.

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must:

 integrate assessment information and children's interests more fully with planning in order to meet all children's individual needs more specifically, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 develop monitoring systems further in order to ensure high quality practice.

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

 maximise opportunities for children to practise their early writing skills in pretend play situations

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who attend

Overall, children make steady progress in this bright and happy nursery. In general, staff meet the needs of children sufficiently because they provide a sound range of interesting activities covering areas of learning. However, assessment information is not always used to inform planning well and children's interests are not consistently reflected in planning. Staff enable children to create their own play from a range of resources and this is balanced by structured activities led by adults to support their learning adequately.

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who attend

Staff sing action songs with children, which encourage them to learn names of different body parts. Staff read stories to children and respond to children's spontaneous comments, which supports their understanding and development of language. Children are beginning to learn to recognise their names and some letter sounds. This helps their early reading skills. Children enjoy dressing up and taking on different roles in pretend play, during which they practise their language skills well. However, writing tools and materials for children are not consistently available to use in pretend play, which means that opportunities for children to practise their early writing skills are missed. Children are beginning to learn to solve problems as they complete puzzles. Staff support children's recognition of letters and numbers by pointing these out on puzzles that children complete. Children learn about texture as they explore foam in creative activities to create

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who attend

their own interesting designs. Staff support children's early mathematics skills by helping them to match items correctly while they use a computer game. Staff assist children to operate simple computer programs and this supports their understanding of technology soundly. Overall, these experiences help children to develop a sound range of skills for later use in school.

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who attend

Younger children are beginning to learn how to operate simple technology by pressing buttons on electronic toys to see the effect. They explore the effect of wheel printing and learn about colours and patterns as they make creative designs. Staff talk to the children, using some descriptive language related to their designs. This helps children to learn new words. Children enjoy looking through books and seeing their favourite characters. Staff read stories to the children in lively tones which engages babies' interest and supports their early understanding of stories.

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who attend

Children develop a sound range of physical skills as they climb across frames, balance on scooters and use a variety of small and large equipment. Children use tools and materials to draw and use construction sets to build models outdoors. However, outdoor learning opportunities are not maximised to support children's development. Management has identified this as a key priority for development in their plans.

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who attend

Although staff know the areas requiring support for children with special educational needs, they do not always fully use this information to develop individual education plans for children. This affects how well children progress from their different starting points and does not successfully make sure that any gaps in their learning are closed.

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who attend

Staff keep regular observations of children's skills and evaluate this along with other evidence of children's abilities, such as photographs and artwork. Although staff determine children's next steps from this information, they do not use this information consistently to plan to meet children's needs fully. Staff carry out progress checks for children aged between two and three years and written summaries are provided to parents.

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who attend

Parents are kept informed of their children's development because staff talk to parents each day to feed back on their well-being and progress. Children under three years of age have daily books containing this written information, which helps to keep parents up to date with their children's progress and care activities. Parents contribute to their children's learning by sharing observations of their children with staff, which staff use to inform plans, generally.

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

Children are confident and content in this caring nursery. Staff readily adapt routines to cater for the needs of babies which helps them to settle well. Children have strong relationships with staff who know them well because staff find out about children's likes and dislikes when they first arrive at the nursery. Generally, they build this knowledge into plans to help children settle well.

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

The nursery is well organised and resources are accessible to children enabling them to make independent play choices. Children have very good safety awareness, for instance, they remind each other of why it is important to sit down when eating or drinking. Staff teach children to behave in safe ways, such as by walking indoors to avoid accidents. Children take good care of their personal needs independently. For instance, they use the bathroom independently by washing their hands at appropriate times and brush their teeth after meals. Staff change nappies in comfortable, private and clean areas.

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

Children are very independent at mealtimes. For example, they pour and serve their own drinks and scrape and tidy away their plates. A nursery cook provides balanced, healthy meals and snacks, which cater for special dietary needs. Children develop healthy habits because they practise a wide variety of physical skills on a range of outdoor apparatus and benefit from daily fresh air.

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

Children behave well because staff have very clear expectations of children's behaviour. Staff use a gentle approach with the children and make good use of praise to motivate children to behave well. Staff encourage children to think about the consequences of their actions and to consider possible suitable alternatives, as necessary. Children are prepared effectively for school because local teachers visit the nursery to get to know children before they start. This helps them to settle readily. Staff ensure that children who move group rooms at the nursery spend time getting to know staff, routines and the environment before they start. This supports their move into new group rooms well.

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

Staff help children to understand and value difference by talking with them and celebrating special cultural or religious events. For instance, children make craft items to celebrate Diwali.

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provision

Staff help to keep children protected from harm. For example, they carry out daily health and safety checks on all aspects of the environment and perform regular fire drills. Over half the staff team are trained in paediatric first aid and this helps to promote their welfare. Staff are vetted soundly to assess suitability for their roles and this protects children further. All staff have received safeguarding training and have good knowledge of signs and symptoms to be aware of and procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child.

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provision

Management has recently introduced staff appraisals and staff supervision is in place to identify underperformance and offer training and support to staff. For instance, staff attended training on ways to manage challenging behaviour which means that staff are able to use a greater range of effective strategies.

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provision

Management is beginning to introduce systems to monitor the quality of the provision. For instance, it carries out 'learning walks' to observe staff practice. Management is beginning to use this information to check if there are any gaps in learning so that appropriate remedies can be sought. However, systems to monitor quality of planning and assessment are not suitably robust because they do not highlight the issues identified with planning and assessment during this inspection.

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provision

There are sound partnerships with others involved in children's care and learning. For example, good links with local schools support children who move to school. Partnership with parents is effective and staff keep parents informed of their children's progress and provide opportunities for parents to contribute to their children's learning.

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provision

Management has sufficient knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the nursery and have some clear priorities for improvement. For instance, there are plans to develop further the outdoor area to provide wider learning opportunities for children. The nursery is operating effectively, overall and shows sound ability to maintain this in the future.

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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 EY461638 Local authority Bexley Inspection number 915736 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 27 Name of provider Oakhurst Guardian Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01322 431045

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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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