Tadpoles Nursery School

Tadpoles Nursery School Park Walk Play Centre, Park Walk, London, SW10 0AY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/09/2013 16/06/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff provide rich, varied and imaginative experiences for children and have a very good understanding of how children learn. Planning is highly effective in supporting individual children's learning and development. This enables children to make the best possible progress towards the early learning goals, ensuring they are exceptionally well prepared for school.  A well-established key person system helps children to form secure attachments and this promotes their well-being.  Children have fabulous opportunities to explore the natural environment outside in the mature garden, where they enjoy pond dipping and take part in planting vegetables.  The staff establish very good relationships with parents, keeping them well informed about their children's progress and welcoming their comments and suggestions.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some children show slightly less of a sense of belonging than others and staff do not always actively explore different ways to make sure that every child knows they are valued.

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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 spent the majority of inspection time observing the children in the nursery as they played.  The inspector sampled children's information and development records.  The inspector held discussions with the manager and registered provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and manager completed a short joint observation together in the younger age room.  The inspector discussed the nursery with a representative sample of parents

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Information about the setting

Tadpoles Nursery School registered in 1993. The nursery is based in a school building in Chelsea in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It operates from a hall and three rooms. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday during school term times from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Thursday and 9.30am to 12.30pm on a Friday. There are currently 106 children in the early years age range on roll. The nursery supports children who are learning English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery is funded to provide free early education for three and four-year-old children. The nursery employs 24 staff, of whom 21 staff hold appropriate early years qualifications. Three of these staff hold Early Years Professional Status and two with Qualified Teachers Status. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary

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

 develop further children's sense of belonging by, for example, sharing family photographs and photographs of other significant people in children's lives.

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who attend

The staff team have an excellent understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and have great knowledge of how children learn. As a result they provide a highly stimulating and exciting environment which they are aware helps children to make excellent progress. Staff have developed effective planning methods which take full account of each child's learning needs and interests exceptionally well. Observation and assessment methods are rigorous and clearly identify children's achievements and their next steps of learning. Staff have a very clear understanding of where each child is in their learning and share this information frequently with their parents. Staff also provide information and ideas to help parents to further promote their children's learning at home. Staff set up the play rooms in the morning and ensure there is a broad range of interesting activities which promote all areas of learning. Children arrive and after saying

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who attend

goodbye to their parent or carer explore the environment and settle down with their choice of play. They can also choose other activities, as many resources are easily accessible and this supports children's emerging independence. Inspirational and innovative teaching motivates children. This is particularly evident in staff's passion to use the outdoor natural environment in their learning. Children thoroughly enjoy being outside and take part in small group activities through-out the morning. One group of children excitedly take part in pond dipping. Children use their nets to search for pond life and when they have found something of interest they look closely at the features counting and describing the insects or plant life. Another group of children go on a bug hunt around the mature garden and find insects under some wooden logs. Staff support children's communication and language exceptionally well, asking open-

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who attend

ended questions to make the children think and extend their vocabulary. Children's enthusiasm to learn is enhanced by the staff who have an excellent understanding of how to engage and motivate the children's imaginations. Older children take part in a free painting activity and are supported to develop their creativity as staff talk and show the children the autumn leaves and display these for the children to develop their interpretations as they paint. The younger children also enjoy a planned painting activity appropriate for their age and this supports them in their exploration of the paint as they feel it squish through their fingers and also helps in their early recognition of colour.

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who attend

Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well as staff obtain key words to help children settle. They are gaining a good grasp of English and use it confidently alongside their home languages in their play. There are effective systems to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator organises additional support for children and makes good use of small group sessions to encourage particular skills for individual children. As a result all children make great strides in their learning and development from their different starting points.

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who attend

The nursery school has developed positive links with a number of schools to ensure the children's move to school goes smoothly. Staff effectively promote the children's readiness for school, developing their self-care and listening skills highly successfully. As a result, children are gaining all the skills and attitudes they need to be ready for school or their next stage of learning.

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

Children share warm relationships with each other and the approachable and friendly staff. They receive lots of reassurance as they separate from their main carers and settle in. This helps most of them to feel confident and secure. All children are valued and included. However during the morning some children begin to get unsettled and seek additional comfort. Staff know that when children see photographs of their families or friends they gain reassurance and learn that they are valued. Staff are not always proactive in encouraging all parents to provide photographs as part of the settling in process and have not fully explored different ways to further support less confident children to gain a strong sense of belonging. Children's personal social and emotional development is fostered well overall; children have formed some good friendships and play well together. Children show kindness and understand about taking turns. Staff manage children's behaviour well;

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

they use positive strategies to deal with any minor issues and encourage children to sort out disagreements by talking to each other about their feelings. Children's specific health, dietary needs and allergies are recorded and understood by staff. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and follow good hygiene practices as they take responsibility for washing their hands appropriately throughout the day. Children's independence with their self-help skills is flourishing as they choose when they would like their snack and actively take part in preparing their snacks and pouring their drinks. In addition to the play in the mature garden area children also have daily opportunities for physical play. Staff make good use of equipment, setting up an obstacle course for children to develop their climbing, jumping, balancing and crawling skills. Extra curricular activities during the week also include swimming, dance and football, all of which

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

enhances children's understanding of healthy lifestyles.

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

Children's safety and well-being is given high priority as they play in a safe and secure environment. Staff are vigilant and supervise the children very well. Gentle reminders from staff help children to understand about keeping themselves safe as they play and use a variety of equipment. This is particularly reinforced by the staff before the children visit the pond where children are reminded about the importance of not running in this area. The nursery has effective security systems in place and any visitors need to ring the doorbell and show their identification before entering the nursery. The nursery entrance is securely staffed during drop off and picking up times to ensure no child leaves unnoticed.

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provision

The registered provider, manager and staff fully understand the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Clear policies and procedures are understood by all staff and implemented consistently. Following an investigation carried out by Ofsted, actions were raised requiring the provider to implement effective systems to ensure the suitability of staff and to maintain records of all checks carried out, and to ensure staff are aware of the need to disclose anything that may affect their suitability to work with children.The provider has strengthened the recruitment procedures to ensure processes are fully robust to check the suitability of all adults employed by the setting. This includes making sure that staff know to share any information that may affect their ongoing suitability. Staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities with regard to safeguarding children and understand the procedures to

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provision

follow if they are concerned about a child. Furthermore staff have a secure knowledge of the procedures to follow if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Staff are deployed appropriately within the setting to ensure children's safety is paramount and that the required ratio of adults to children is always met. All required documentation is in place to support the efficient running of the setting.

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provision

The registered provider and manager have high expectations for maintaining quality and this supports all aspects of care and education in the setting. Self-evaluation is used highly effectively to review practice and target areas for improvements. The staff team are well supported by good systems for supervision and appraisals. Furthermore the staff team meet every morning so they know everyone's plans and regular inset training days support staff development.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are embedded in to the nursery ethos. The setting places value in ensuring that parents develop a sense of belonging to the setting and can contribute to the well-being of their children. Parents are provided with a good range of information to ensure they are well informed about how the provision operates and they are kept informed about their child's progress, achievements and daily experiences. Parents are welcomed into the nursery when they drop off their children in the morning and when they collect them later on. Comments from parents indicate they are very happy with the service provided.

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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 105738 Local authority Kensington & Chelsea Inspection number 932792

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 106 Number of children on roll 58 Name of provider Claire Dimpfl Date of previous inspection 16/06/2009 Telephone number 0207 3529757 daytime

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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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