Little Fishes Pre-School

Little Fishes Pre-School St. Pauls Church Centre, 15 Northey Avenue, SUTTON, Surrey, SM2 7HS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/12/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children make significant progress from their initial starting points as a result of the extensive opportunities available, valuable support from staff and staff's excellent attention to well balanced planning for individuals.  An extensive range of interesting, stimulating activities are available. The excellent access between the indoor and outdoor environments enables children to choose where they wish to play and encourages their decision-making skills.  Leadership and management of the setting is excellent. The managers have a clear vision for the setting's outstanding practice and parents are very well involved to provide consistency. There are consistent practices in place to monitor the provision to enable the children to progress exceptionally well.  Children are highly confident in communicating with the staff as well as each other. Staff are highly skilled in using open-ended questions to make the children think about

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This provision is outstanding

what they are doing. As a result children's vocabulary is in line with, or exceeding, the developmental milestones for their ages and stages of 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the main play rooms and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the chair of the management committee, the managers and staff at appropriate times throughout the observations.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's learning journeys, planning documents, the setting's self-evaluation form and a selection of policies and procedures and children's records.  The inspector spoke with parents to gain their views.

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Information about the setting

Little Fishes Nursery is a privately owned sessionnal day care setting. It is based in a church hall situated in St Paul Church, located in Cheam. The setting was originally registered in 2003 but was re-registered in 2013 due to a change merging of charities of premises. The managers and staff have not changed in this process.

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Information about the setting

The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and takes children aged from two to five years. Operational times are from 9.30 am to 12.30pm, with option to stay for lunch time club to 1.00pm. The setting operates term time only offering part time places.

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Information about the setting

It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The setting supports children with English as an additional language. There are currently 36 children on roll. The setting is run by a management committee and two managers. Two members of staff hold qualified teaching status. A further six staff members, hold level 3 qualifications in early years. One member of staff is unqualified.

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

 look at ways to reduce the time spent waiting and to increase the learning time when moving between inside and outside play areas.

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who attend

Children are making significant progress with their learning and development. Staff provide a high standard of childcare practice by creating a vibrant, safe and enriching environment where children can play, learn and develop. Learning is promoted exceptionally well because staff provide an extensive range of activities and experiences covering all areas of learning. This effectively supports children as they ensure that activities are interesting and highly individualised to meet specific learning needs.

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who attend

Physical development is given high priority and children excel in the indoor and extensive outdoor environments. All children participate in well resourced and organised outdoor activities daily. There are pieces of climbing apparatus, providing opportunities for children to extend their climbing and balancing skills. Children thoroughly enjoy using the digging areas to fill buckets and to explore the environment for bugs. Staff have set up a mud kitchen in the garden to extend children's learning further. The area has a particularly rich selection of resources including cooking utensils for the children to extend their role playing and working together. Their physical development is enhanced further through activities such as parachute play. Everyday routines, such as helping to prepare snacks and serving themselves at snack time greatly enhance children's physical and independent skills.

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who attend

Children's personal and social development is greatly nurtured by the caring and supportive staff. They take time to settle the children, help them to understand their feelings and how they can change. All children play well together and support each other, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children's communication, physical, and social, emotional and personal development are supported extremely well by the staff. The staff are highly skilled in asking children open-ended questions to get them to think about what they are doing. They have informed discussions about the activities so the children tell them what is happening and what they will be doing. For example, when children ask for glue sticks to use in the sand try, staff ask the children what they are making. Children reply they are making cakes and need candles demonstrating their increasing imaginative and problem solving skills. Staff use open-

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who attend

ended questions to promote the children in talking about the activity and how they will make them. This greatly enhances the children's communication and language skills.

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who attend

Staff have completed the children's two-year developmental check. They use the excellent observations that are in place to track children's progress against the developmental milestones. Staff arrange meetings to complete the checks with parents so they are kept informed at all times about their children's progress. All planning is individual for children and takes into account their interests. This is then successfully linked to the learning intentions, which are used by the staff to progress the children across the seven areas of learning. Staff competently track where children are within their age bands to support children's ongoing development.

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who attend

The excellent planning systems ensure a balance of child-initiated and adult-led activities and parents are informed about and so involved in the children's planning. Discussions about what the children have been doing at home help staff to tailor plans to children's current interests. Staff also have regular meetings with the children to find out their current likes and dislikes and integrate this successfully into daily activities to support children's progress. For example, a recent change to the construction area which was moved away from the quiet area was as a result of children's concerns about noise. This gives children ownership of their environment and fully includes them in small decisions at the setting. Children and staff have expressed the success of moving these two areas and children's learning has been enhanced as a result.

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

Staff demonstrate an extremely positive approach towards inclusion. They work closely in partnership with parents to fully meet the individual needs of all children. Staff adapt the learning environment for individual children. This includes finding out key words from children's home languages, so all children are able to progress with their learning and development, as well as participate in all activities. Staff show a comprehensive understanding of each child's unique needs and have detailed information on child record forms of individual requirements. A variety of resources and displays around the base rooms depict positive images of diversity, including those of culture, gender and disability. Children celebrate a variety of festivals and cultural celebrations throughout the year and these are reflective of children's cultural backgrounds. This allows children to learn about different customs and celebrations of their friends and the wider world in which they live.

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

The setting has highly effective measures to promote children's ongoing safety in the indoor and outdoor environments, as well as on outings. Risk assessments are thorough and clearly identify hazards and any action taken to minimise these. Staff carry out fire drills on a regular basis, teaching children to be aware of what to do in an emergency. Children thrive in an environment where a high standard of hygiene practice is maintained. All children learn about good hygiene routines through washing their hands at appropriate times throughout the day. Children enjoy valuable social experiences during snack and mealtimes. Children are fully involved and take turns throughout the sessions to work with staff to set the table ready for snack. The children peel satsumas and chop up apples while sitting with staff and alert the other children when snack is ready. All children wash their hands and come to the table. Staff promote and support children's self help

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

and independence skills consistently well as they as they encourage children to take their plates from the table and to communicate their dietary preferences.

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

Children thoroughly enjoy and benefit from outside play. The enclosed garden is well equipped to enhance all areas of development. However, organisation of garden play at times results in children waiting, thereby reducing their time spent learning and playing in this area... Staff ensure they are well placed to be able to meet all of the children's needs. They supervise the children on the climbing equipment while encouraging them to explore challenging tasks in a safe way. Good interaction with the children from staff results in children using their critical thinking skills and increasing ability to problem solve in both physical and role play situations.

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

A robust key person system in place helps children to settle well and secure positive relationships with those around them. Key persons work closely with parents to find out about the children's individual needs. Staff are all consistent in their approach to behaviour management. Teaching includes clear and concise boundaries and the children respond well. The setting also works closely with the local authority to provide support for the staff in dealing with children who may have behaviour difficulties. Staff set goals and meet regularly with parents to ensure they are meeting all children's individual needs. All children work very well together and regularly help each other out during activities. Excellent strategies are in place to teach the children how to work together. Given the children's ages and stage of development they are all exceptionally well behaved.

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provision

Staff have a strong understanding of child protection and how to safeguard the children in their care. All safeguarding requirements are met effectively. Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures are consistently known and implemented by the staff. Robust risk assessments are in place for the setting and activities the children undertake. Children are extremely well supervised across all areas of the nursery and when on outings. Regular ratio monitoring ensures consistency of care across the setting, which has a beneficial impact for children. Robust recruitment processes are in place as well as checks to ensure staff are suitable to work with the children. The setting has been running since 2003 and reregistered in 2013 as a committee run setting. The managers and staff have not changed and as result, provide excellent and consistent care for the children.

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provision

Leadership and management of the setting is strong and impacts very well on children's learning and welfare. Managers and staff work closely together to bring about the best possible outcomes for the children. The managers carry out regular supervision to make sure staff practice is strong and to highlight any training needs. The management committee carry out the managers' appraisals and set them realistic targets to work towards to bring about positive outcomes for the nursery. Documentation is maintained to a very high standard and all records required for the safe and efficient management of the setting are readily available. A comprehensive range of written policies and procedures are in place and these are regularly updated to reflect changes in legislation and clearly underpin the setting's excellent practice. Self-evaluation is strong and clearly shows the settings key strengths and the areas they are currently working on. The parents share

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provision

their views on the setting and staff gather the views of the children to shape the service that is provided. As a result, the service is highly responsive to its users.

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provision

Staff work closely in partnership with parents. Regular newsletters allow the parents to be a part of the children's day. It allows them to see what the children will be learning over the next term and what they can do at home to support this learning. The nursery also works closely with other nurseries and children's centres in the area to support and promote the children's learning and development. Teachers from local schools also come into the setting to observe the children that will move into their class. This provides excellent continuity of care. Parents regularly share with the staff what they have been doing at home, which is used successfully by staff to enhance the children's individual needs. Staff arrange parents evening so the parents can meet with their children's key worker to talk about their progress. Staff work in excellent partnership with the other agencies caring for the children. They attend regular meetings with workers to develop

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provision

care plans for the children. This strongly enhances the setting's ability to meet children's individual needs.

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provision

The planning is linked effectively with guidance to support children's learning and development such as Early Years outcomes and as a result, staff are able to support each child to progress in the seven areas of learning at a level appropriate to their starting points. Staff keep parents well informed about their child's care, learning and development through valuable verbal exchanges upon arrival and collection. Observations demonstrate what children have achieved and include the next steps identified for their individual learning journey. All learning and development requirements are met to an excellent standard and stand children in good stead for their future learning.

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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 EY461344 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 920628 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 36 Name of provider The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Howell Hill with Burgh Heath Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02082249838

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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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