Pimlico Nursery

Pimlico Creche Westminster Adult Education Service, Lupus Street, Pimlico, London, SW1V 3AT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/11/2013 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff provide some engaging activities that they match to children's interests and their overall learning needs.  Staff place high priority on children's safety. They carry out regular risk assessments on all aspects of the nursery.  Children are happy and settled because they have warm relationships with staff.  Staff manage children's behaviour effectively and use praise to motivate positive behaviour.

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It is not yet good because

 The programme for physical development does not provide many opportunities for children to learn to move in a range of ways, including climbing and balancing. Also, staff do not thoroughly promote opportunities for children to investigate nature and learn how things grow.  Staff do not provide children with fresh drinking water throughout the day. This is a breach of the requirements of The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Although staff share child development information with schools, there are no other links with schools to support children who move to school. The evaluation of the nursery does not accurately identify all key priorities for development.  There are not many opportunities for children to practise early writing skills in meaningful situations, such as role 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 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 sampled a range of documentation and held a discussion with management.  The inspector tracked the progress of several children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to parents, staff and children and took their views into consideration.

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Information about the setting

Pimlico Creche registered in 2013 and is operated by Westminster Adult Education Service. The creche is located in a room within the adult education centre and provides care for children whose parents are attending classes at the adult education centre, and from the local community. The premises is located in Pimlico, in the London Borough of Westminster, near to local transport links, shops schools and parks. There is access to an enclosed outdoor space for children's outdoor play. The crche is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, during term time. Children can attend a variety of sessions. The creche is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The crche employs a manager and a team of seven staff all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. Of these, three staff members, including the manager, hold early years degrees and three staff members have National Vocational

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Information about the setting

Qualifications to level 3. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who learn English as an additional language.

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must:

 develop the programme for physical development to enable children to move confidently in a range of ways, such as climbing and balancing.

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must:

 make fresh drinking water available and accessible to children at all times throughout the day.

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

 develop further opportunities for children to investigate nature and learn how things grow.

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

 promote children's early writing skills further by providing early writing opportunities for children in role play.

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

 develop effective links with schools to support children who move to school.

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

 develop more robust evaluation of the nursery to identify key priorities for development.

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who attend

Staff plan a variety of engaging activities that cover most areas of learning in this cosy nursery. Children take part happily in tasks because they match their interests. Children move freely between indoor and outdoor play, which supports their different learning styles. They are able to create their own play through independent access to resources. This is balanced by structured learning provided by staff in adult-led group activities. Overall, children make steady progress in their learning.

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who attend

Children explore the texture and shapes of pasta and learn about size and quantity while they pour the pasta into different sized containers.. Staff follow children's lead when they decide to put strips of tape on the floor to create their own train tracks. This helps children to learn about the features of the world around them and to explore patterns and size. However, staff provide few opportunities for children to investigate nature or to understand how things grow to support their understanding of the world. Children enjoy taking on different roles as they create stories in role play. However, there are few opportunities for children to practise their early writing skills while engaged in meaningful play. This means that children do not consistently learn to write for a purpose. Children make their own dough from flour and water and learn how to make food. They observe the changing texture of the mixture as they knead the dough, using small muscle

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who attend

movements. Staff help children's language development by teaching children new words to describe how the dough feels. Children practise recognising numbers as they make numbers from moulds. Generally, children learn some useful skills for when they move to school.

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who attend

The outdoor area provides some opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. Children practise their riding skills on tricycles, and other wheeled toys. However, babies and children do not have many chances to move in different ways, such as learning to climb and balance which means that their physical development is not as good as possible. Staff encourage children's aiming and throwing skills as they practise hitting numbered targets with bean bags. This also supports children's recognition of numbers. Staff support other areas of learning in the outdoor area, such as early literacy by reading stories in lively tones to children. Children use the garden in all weather conditions because there is a shelter and an all-weather surface and this ensures regular access to physical exercise.

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who attend

Babies learn about simple technology as they press buttons to make sounds on electronic toys. They explore different types of materials in baskets and learn about texture. Staff support their growing language skills by teaching babies words to describe the different textures. They enjoy making marks in corn flour and water mixtures and this encourages their early drawing skills. Staff respond happily to babies' vocalisations, which encourages their communication and language skills.

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who attend

Staff give sound support to children who learn English as an additional language. For instance, some staff speak several languages and this helps children's ability to communicate. Staff work closely with community health professionals to form individual education plans to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This enables these children to make steady progress in their development.

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who attend

Staff hold regular parents' evenings to keep parents informed of their children's progress. They talk with parents each day when they arrive at the nursery and exchange observations of their children, which enables parents to be involved their children's learning. Parents also contribute by talking to children about their work roles. For instance, parents who study hairdressing come in to talk about how to care for hair.

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

Children settle readily because staff find out about children's personalities and cater for their needs. Children have warm relationships with staff, which helps them to feel secure. Staff find out about babies' routines and happily adapt nursery routines to meet their individual needs. This results in babies settling well and being content.

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

Overall, the nursery is organised effectively. Children choose resources independently because resources are accessible in clearly labelled units. Staff teach children to take turns as they play with hoops and to give each other sufficient space to avoid accidents and this helps children to learn to behave in safe ways. They talk to the children about road safety so that children develop awareness of how to cross the road safely. Staff change nappies in comfortable, clean areas.

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

Children eat varied, healthy meals and snacks and have a growing awareness of the benefits of eating well. Staff cater for special dietary needs. Children serve and feed themselves with growing independence, and pour their drinks at meal times. However, children do not have free access to drinks at other times of the day which means that they are not always able to have a drink when they wish to. This is a breach of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Generally, children get an adequate level of physical exercise and fresh air in the outdoor area each day and this supports children to develop healthy habits.

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

Staff manage children's behaviour by talking with them about why certain behaviour is not acceptable. They encourage children to behave in positive ways by praising them and this results in good behaviour. Staff use distraction techniques for younger children to manage any challenging behaviour. Children spend time in group rooms at the nursery before moving up and this helps them to settle well. Although staff share children's assessment records with schools, there are no other links with schools to further support children who move to school. This means that children are not always fully familiar with the school they are moving to.

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

Staff teach children about difference by celebrating and discussing special events, such as Hanukah and Jewish New Year where children make craft items. Children's understanding and awareness is increased through use of multicultural books and toys in the nursery.

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provision

Staff have a suitable understanding of how to protect children from harm. Staff have all undertaken safeguarding training and know procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child. Over half of the team are qualified in paediatric first aid and this protects children further. Staff carry out regular risk assessments covering all aspects of the provision and this supports children's safety. Management vets staff by carrying out required checks and this helps to ensure staff suitability for their roles.

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provision

Management carry out yearly appraisals to review staff performance and assess training needs. Staff have attended a variety of courses, such as 'working with boys in the early years.' This has led to increased awareness of how boys like to have their own spaces, such as dens which staff now provide. In turn, this has led to improved language development among the boys. Management supervises staff regularly and offers support for any areas of underperformance.

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provision

Partnership working with parents is effective. Staff keep parents up-to-date on their children's development and parents contribute usefully to their children's learning. Staff work closely with community health professionals to support children who learn English as an additional language.

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provision

Management monitors the provision adequately. It meets up with staff and reviews planning and children's assessment records to check for quality and consistency. This also highlights any gaps in learning so that appropriate steps are taken to remedy this. Management spends time in group rooms to observe practice and this gives some insight into the quality of staff practice. Overall, management has insight into some of the nursery's strengths and areas for development. For instance, it plans to include more outdoor trips to places of interest to enrich children's learning. However, evaluation of the nursery is not fully effective because it does not identify all key areas for development. However, there are some plans for future development.

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY463123 Local authority Westminster Inspection number 919400 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 40 Name of provider Westminster Adult Education Service Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02076418164

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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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