Fox House Day Nursery

Fox House Day Nursery 56 Erith Road, Belvedere, Kent, DA17 6HR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/10/2013 03/02/2010

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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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Observations and assessments are used well to keep track of children's progress.  Staff supervise children well to keep them safe and minimise accidents.  Partnerships with parents and other professionals are well established to make sure children receive appropriate support.

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It is not yet good because

 Managers have not developed an effective system for monitoring staff performance to enable them to develop and improve outcomes for children.  Planning is weak. This means that some activities fail to challenge children's abilities and plans for baby activities are not age appropriate.

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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 observed activities involving children and staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's records, staff records and the setting's self- evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation if an activity involving babies with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the manager and the director of the nursery to discuss management issues.  The inspector spoke to parents and key staff during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Fox House Day Nursery opened in 1993 and is one of two owned by the ABC Nursery Group. It is open five days a week, 51 weeks of the year from 8am to 6pm. The nursery is situated in Upper Belvedere in the London Borough of Bexley and operates from a prefabricated building, set back from the main road, on the edge of a school playing field. Children attend on a full-time and part-time basis. There are currently 30 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. The nursery is in receipt of funding to provide free early education to children aged two-, three- and four-years-old. The nursery currently supports children who are learning English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs six staff including the nursery manager. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications.

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must:

 foster a culture of mutual support teamwork and coaching to provide activities to inspire and challenge learning, particularly in regard to older and more able children

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must:

 Improve the programme for literacy by helping staff understand how to help children learn the sounds that letters make.

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

 further develop opportunities for all children to develop their understanding of number through the use of fun, inspiring daily activities

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

 develop staff's use of questioning to give children time to think and respond in order to make learning more effective.

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who attend

The staff team adequately meets the needs of children. There are appropriate systems to assess children's learning because staff record observations of their progress in their individual files and match their abilities to developmental milestones. This means that staff know children well and are able to plan for their individual next steps. In contrast, the activities offered are not always inspiring enough to encourage younger children to explore, or older children to ask questions and develop their own ideas. Even so, most children co-operate well with activities on offer, which helps them all to make at least satisfactory progress in their development. They arrive happily at nursery and enjoy the company of their friends. Children talk about projects they have done, such as the firefighters who visit from the fire station next door. They enjoy imitating the sounds of the fire engines and dressing up as 'people who help us.' These fun projects help them

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who attend

Older children are acquiring many skills to help them prepare for school. They respond well to the kind support of staff and are developing their independence. For example, they know the well-established routines for meals and snacks and they serve themselves and pour their own drinks. They sit in small groups to eat their meals and show concern for one another 'is that tasty?' one boys says to another. All children respond well to staff and are taught to say 'please' and thank you' during mealtimes. The emerging independence and concern for others shows that children make progress in their social skills. Some staff have recently attended training to help children develop language skills and they actively encourage speech and language during activities. However, many staff lack confidence in teaching children the sounds that letters make. This means that children are not learning to link sounds to letters in preparation for school. Older children are writing their names

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who attend

using recognisable letters, they know their numbers and are learning to count. However, staff often miss opportunities to help children practice mathematics in every-day activities which means they are not learning to use numbers in different ways. Children use computers with confidence and increasing skill. They enjoy the computer programmes as staff sit with them and help them develop their problem solving skills.

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

Staff know children well and build positive relationships with parents. Staff warmly welcome all children when they arrive and they quickly settle and leave parents happily. Younger children are cared for in their own group and a 'key person', who takes special interest in their care, cares for them. This means that babies are generally settled and comfortable. However, planned activities for babies tend to be structured which limits their ability to explore and does not help them develop their confidence. Older children are encouraged to develop their independence when using the bathroom. They are encouraged to wash their hands to keep germs away. They enjoy circle times for singing and take turns to choose a friend to dance with. Staff remind them of how to behave and take care of their friends as children help to tidy up the toys. This means they are developing their self-help and social skills.

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

Staff value the range of languages children speak at home and they make sure that they are aware of key words to use with children during their play. They also use labelling in the different languages spoken, which shows that children's home language is valued. Staff encourage fathers to become involved in nursery activities in order to be a positive role model for the children. There are nursery displays of the play and activities fathers do with the children. Other families, including mothers with boys comment on how positive this is for their sons. This inclusive approach helps all families feel welcomed and valued.

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

Children behave well because staff show respect and gently remind them of behaviour rules, such as not to run in the nursery. Older children enjoy praise given during activities helps children learn to feel confident about themselves and enjoy their day. This contributes significantly to their sense of well-being.

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provision

The managers of the nursery fully understand their role in meeting the welfare requirements and those for learning and development. They ensure that all staff effectively keep children safe and support their welfare. They have robust vetting and recruitment procedures to ensure that staff working with children are appropriately vetted. Safeguarding training in is place to make sure that staff update their knowledge. This means that staff have sufficient understanding of issues relating to safeguarding and the nursery's child protection procedures.

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provision

The nursery manager is trained in health and safety and there are good procedures in place to make sure that the building, toys and equipment are safe and all hazards are minimised. All staff are trained in first-aid which means that staff are able to respond appropriately to any accidents that children may have and records are kept to ensure that parents are informed. The manager has implemented a system for self-evaluation, which includes the views of the staff to reflect on what they do well and what needs to improve. She monitors their performance using an appraisal system for individual staff members. This has brought about some improvements in staff practice and the provider has the ability to plan for further improvements.

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provision

The manager monitors the system for nursery education and this works generally well. However, the planning of activities is not detailed enough to identify what children to learn. Consequently, some activities that lack challenge for older children and do not inspire their natural curiosity. There is a consistent system to record evidence of child progress and this is shared with parents. This includes the progress check for children aged two and termly progress review meetings. This means that there are effective partnerships with parents to identify the needs of individual children. The nursery have partnerships with professionals and are able to seek their help to support individual children. This closes the gaps for children who may otherwise have been disadvantage by the time their move onto school.

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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 115325 Local authority Bexley Inspection number 939111

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 36 Name of provider ABC Nursery Group Partnership Date of previous inspection 03/02/2010 Telephone number 01322441292

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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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