Beechwood School Nursery

Beechwood School 55 Leigham Court Road, LONDON, SW16 2NJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/11/2013 21/02/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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 have strong teaching skills. They are calm and patient with children and support children to explore and investigate things around them.  Children are settled and happy because staff have a good understanding of their individual needs.  Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop their physical skills in the well maintained garden, and indoors through lively music sessions.  Children are well protected by staff's appropriate understanding of child protection matters.

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It is not yet good because

 The staff do not keep accurate records of children's hours of attendance and do not consistently update registers with the times that children leave. This means that staff are unable to produce accurate records of children present in the case of an evacuation.  The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of a significant event involving the misconduct of a member of staff, where a child was left in the garden. This is a breach of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Self-evaluation systems have not identified all areas for improvement to drive the strongest developments of knowledge and practice.  Staff do not take all possible opportunities to promote children's literacy development.

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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 spoke to staff and children in the nursery.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documents relating to the running of the nursery, including the self evaluation form.

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Information about the setting

Beechwood School registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register and compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Court Green Investments Ltd, who is also registered with the Independent School Authority, runs the nursery. The nursery operates from a four storey detached Victorian house in Streatham Hill within the London Borough of Lambeth. Children are accommodated in six classrooms and have access to a dining room, two sleep rooms, library, art room, hall and outdoor play areas. The nursery is open each weekday from 7am to 7pm for 50 weeks of the year. There are 55 children in the early years age group on roll, some in part time places. The nursery received funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and a number of children who speak English as an additional language. A total of 20 staff work

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Information about the setting

with the children, of whom 10 hold relevant National Vocational Qualifications at level 3 and nine hold similar qualifications at level 2. One member of staff is unqualified.

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must:

 keep an accurate record of children's hours of attendance.

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

 enhance opportunities for children to see their own writing around them, for example by encouraging them to label resources and displays themselves

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

 improve systems to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in knowledge and practice, to develop more targeted plans and make identified improvements.

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who attend

Children make good progress from their starting points throughout the nursery. Staff have a strong understanding of children's individual needs and observe and assess them well. They work closely with parents to share information about children's progress and activities. Prompts, such as 'Kevin the monkey' who goes home with each child in turn, encourage parents to become involved in their children's experiences in the nursery. As a result, activities in the nursery respond to children's learning needs and assessments accurately identify their next stage of learning. This means that children make good progress across all areas of learning.

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who attend

All children have confident language and speaking skills as staff use a range of effective teaching methods to improve children's speaking and listening. Older children are particularly eager to communicate and speak to their friends and adults with confidence. Staff speak enthusiastically to children and listen to them carefully, which means that children learn to hold a conversation. They describe things that have happened in the past and share their thoughts, feelings and ideas throughout their time in the nursery. Babies babble happily with staff who leave gaps for babies to hear the sounds they make. Staff also echo sounds that babies make. This means that babies are able to learn to make recognisable sounds. Staff take time during activities, such as story time to give all children space to think about answers to questions and to ask their own questions. This supports children's developing problem solving skills in readiness for school.

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who attend

Children enjoy developing their physical skills as they play in the well-stocked garden and take part in lively activities in the large hall indoors. This means that children have good opportunities to develop their large muscles regardless of the weather. Staff encourage children to move their bodies in imaginative ways. For example, children and staff dance and move to music developing their coordination and rhythm. Staff support children when they complete a challenging task. For example, children enjoy trying to complete a forward roll on a soft mat and staff praise them warmly for their efforts. Babies have soft mats where they learn to stretch and roll their bodies as they practise their crawling and early walking skills. Older babies can push along wheeled toys as they gain confidence to take their first steps. They also play with shape sorters and pop up toys as they develop their hand coordination. This prepares babies well for their early writing development.

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who attend

Children have lots of opportunities to use pens, pencils and crayons to make marks and develop their writing skills. They draw around things and staff give them free opportunities to do so. For example, children first use pens from the pen tin, then they draw around the pen tin, using it as a stencil. They then draw pictures of biscuits in the circle, and state that this represents a 'biscuit tin!' However, staff have not fully capitalised on children's writing skills. For example, labels on resources around the nursery are all printed, rather than staff encouraging children to write their own labels. This means that children do not have all opportunities to see their own writing in meaningful ways.

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

Overall, staff understand and implement the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to promote children's safety. However, the nursery does not keep accurate records of children's hours of attendance, which compromises their well-being in the event of an emergency evacuation.

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

Areas used by children are inviting and welcoming and reflect their interests. The room where two-year-olds are cared for is particularly stimulating, for example, children have used books as prompts for their own displays. There is lots of children's own creative work on the walls and staff display this prominently, so that children know that their creations are valued. Children are confident and secure because the key person system responds to their needs. Key persons have strong relationships with parents and they hand over to them at the end of each day so that parents know what children have been doing. Staff gather information from parents about authorised collectors, individual needs, people involved in children's lives and children's likes and dislikes. This means that staff have a clear understanding of what children need throughout their time in the nursery. Children have made meaningful friendships with their key persons and other staff. Older children

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

play well together and they readily start games with their friends. They play imaginatively and cooperatively together because staff support them to share toys and set up activities that children can play in groups. Children enjoy group time, especially when they are able to play with instruments such as drums. Children bang their drums together and enjoy singing and chanting along to music. They learn to listen to each other and to enjoy taking part in cooperative group games and activities. As a result, children are learning to play cooperatively in readiness for school. Babies play 'peepo' with adults and each other, and they learn to take turns to roll a ball and to press buttons on toys. This means that babies are developing their social skills from an early age, to prepare them for their future learning.

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

Children have opportunities to develop their understanding of healthy lifestyles as they eat varied and nutritious food. All children eat as a group and staff eat with them. This means that children enjoy the social aspect of mealtimes and that they learn to have a relaxed and positive attitude towards food. Children all know to wash their hands without prompting and this supports their overall health. There are secure systems in place to protect any children with specific nutritional needs, such as allergies. For example, children with severe allergies have a food buddy. Their buddy sits with them at mealtimes to make sure that they do not come into contact with any thing they must not have. This demonstrates that staff have a responsible attitude towards managing allergies.

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provision

The inspection took place as the result of information shared with Ofsted regarding the suspension of a member of staff, ratios of staff to children and staff qualifications. At the inspection it was found that staff are suitably qualified, including all managers at the nursery. The inspection also found that staff to child ratios are consistently met. However, staff do not keep accurate records of all children's hours of attendance. This is a breach of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the associated requirements of the Childcare Register. The inspection also found that the provider has failed to notify Ofsted of a significant incident where a child was left unattended in the garden of the nursery for a short period of time. However, Ofsted do not intend to take any action at this time. It was found that the management took immediate and appropriate action to investigate the incident. The management has

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provision

improved staff training and reinstated the member of staff concerned. There are secure risk assessments in place for all areas of the building and staff all have a secure understanding of child protection matters. For example, staff are aware of the contents of the safeguarding children policy and are aware of the steps to take in the case of a concern.

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provision

There are appropriate systems in place to manage staff performance, and the manager has taken strong steps to improve staff teaching practice, and their understanding and use of observations and assessments since the last inspection. As a result, children make improved progress. The manager monitors children's progress and planning for individual rooms well. This means that the curriculum has depth and breadth and covers all areas of learning well. The manager identifies staff training needs and is able to share her knowledge with her team at staff meetings.

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provision

The manager has made some efforts to evaluate the quality in the nursery. She has identified some areas for improvement from the last inspection and has addressed weaknesses in learning and development particularly successfully. She has also tackled all actions set at the last inspection to improve the safety of the premises for children. However, the manager has not made the best use of self-evaluation to identify all areas of weakness, for example in the management of registers.

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provision

There are effective relationships in place with parents and any outside agencies and other carers involved in children's care. Parents are able to see their children's learning and development records whenever they wish so that they know their children's progress well. There are good links with outside agencies to support any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This means that all children have equal opportunities to make good progress, and that staff can successfully close any identified gaps in children's development.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 keep records of children's hours of attendance and retain them for a period of two years (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  keep records of children's hours of attendance and retain them for a period of two years (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY386062 Local authority Lambeth Inspection number 939803 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 55 Name of provider Court Green Investments Ltd Date of previous inspection 21/02/2013 Telephone number 02086778778

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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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