Pencil Pots Day Nursery

Pencil Pots Day Nursery 321 The Drive, ILFORD, Essex, IG1 3PW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/11/2013 15/04/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The provider does not make sure that the named deputy is suitably experienced and qualified or that they have a secure understudying of their role and responsibilities when taking charge in the manager's absence.  Staff monitoring is not sufficiently robust to prevent inconsistencies in practice. As a result, children's learning and development is not effectively promoted.  Staff do not use observation, assessment and planning consistently to identify and support children's next steps, meaning that children are not always sufficiently challenged in all areas of learning.  Children lack opportunities to gain independence, for example, by serving their own food and drink.

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It has the following strengths

 The staff team promote children's health and use risk assessments to ensure potential hazards are minimised, both within the nursery environment and on outings.  Children build secure emotional attachments to their key person, other staff and children, which gives them a feeling of well-being and contentment.  Children who speak English as an additional language make sound progress because staff positively promote their communication and language skills.

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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 observed activities in the downstairs playroom and the garden.  The inspector spoke with the owner, nursery staff and children.  The inspector took account of parents' views by speaking to them on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at policies and procedures, risk assessments, children's development records, accident, incident and medication records and all relevant documentation.

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Information about the setting

Pencil Pots Day Nursery registered in 2012 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a two-storey converted house in Ilford, within the London Borough of Redbridge and is privately owned. It operates from three rooms and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs seven members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications and most at level 3 or above. One member of staff holds Early Years Professional status.

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Information about the setting

The nursery opens each weekday from 7am to 7pm for 50 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 16 children on roll in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language.

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must:

 ensure that the named deputy is sufficiently experienced and qualified to take charge when the manager is absent

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must:

 ensure that all staff receive effective supervision, that provides support and coaching, in order to develop consistency of practice and improve outcomes for children

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must:

 ensure that observation and assessment are used consistently to plan for all children's next steps, and to ensure they are effectively challenged in all areas of learning and development.

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

 offer children more opportunities to serve their own food and drink and tidy away after meals in order to promote their independence and skills for the future.

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who attend

Staff do not consistently plan an adequate range of challenging activities based on children's interests and next steps for learning to support and meet their specific needs. In addition, due to a number of changes in the staff team, the procedures for assessment, including the progress check for two-year-old children are weak. Not all staff maintain children's learning records well to clearly show where children are making progress or where they may need additional support. Consequently, this has a significant impact on how well children achieve and make progress towards the early learning goals of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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who attend

Children participate in a range of freely chosen and structured play activities and experiences, which enable them to explore and learn through play. A few staff demonstrate their understanding of how children learn and use their knowledge and experience to motivate children and extend their learning. For example, they build on children's sensory exploration of blue gel by introducing words such as slimy and slippery to extend children's vocabulary. Some staff support children's communication and language skills as they engage them in conversation and use some open-ended questions to stimulate their thinking. Staff listen to children and take an interest in finding out what they do at home. They use clear English to explain and describe. For example, when children ask why a staff member has her hands painted with henna, she explains how they were specially decorated for her to attend a wedding. Children make comparisons

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who attend

with events that happen within their own families as they remember how their mothers' hands are decorated. They take the gel they are exploring and paint it onto their hands and say 'I'm doing mehndi'. Children who are learning to speak English as an additional language are supported by staff's knowledge of several languages. Children learn about shape and colour as they build construction toys and use their imagination as they make the bricks into the shape of a camera and pretend take a visitor's photograph.

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who attend

Children are able to develop their physical skills through singing and dancing, and moving to action rhymes. Older children have fun on the swings in the garden. Babies are encouraged to lie on their tummies to roll over and reach out to attractive toys. Resources for babies are adequate to their age and stage of development although they have few opportunities to engage in outdoor play in the garden because it is currently not suitable for the youngest children to use. Consequently, staff take babies on outings around the local community. The babies learn physical and sensory skills as they roll around in a ball pool and explore the contents of a treasure basket. Children develop some skills to help prepare them for school through the nursery's daily activities and routines. For example, they understand that they place their belongings on a peg bearing their name to keep them tidy and safe. Labels all around the nursery support children to learn simple words.

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who attend

Children learn to understand the importance of following instructions. They learn to use their 'listening ears' as staff remind them of safety precautions as they prepare them for going outside, where it has been raining.

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

Children are safe in the nursery because staff use risk assessments to minimise any hazards to children. Staff practise fire evacuation procedures to help to ensure that all staff and children know what to do in an emergency. Children learn to keep themselves safe as staff remind them not to run near the moving swings in the garden. Children put on their own boots and coats for outdoor activities and they learn skills for the future as they learn to find the correct boot for each foot. The older children have some opportunities to run around in the garden benefitting from fresh air and exercise.

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

Babies and older children form close relationships with their key person, with other staff and each other. Babies and children settle and move about the nursery environment showing they feel comfortable. They select resources that are age appropriate and stored at children's level to promote their independent choices. The settling-in process provides opportunities for children and their parents to become acquainted with the nursery staff, environment and routines. Parents complete 'all about me' forms, which provide staff with information about the children's home environment, interests and likes and dislikes. Children behave well in the nursery and they learn to share and take turns. Staff speak to the children and to each other in a positive and gentle manner. Staff frequently offer praise and affirmation to children which helps to boost their self-esteem.

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

Regular routines within the nursery help children to develop an understanding of their own care needs. For example, they learn about the importance of washing their hands after using the toilet or engaging in messy play, and before snack and meal times. Babies' and younger children's nappy changing routines are carried out discreetly and hygienically, and staff chat to them to help them feel comfortable. The provider makes sure that the nursery is clean, and maintained appropriately to support the children's health and well- being. Children learn about eating healthily through the provision of nutritious and healthy food. Mealtimes are a social occasion for the children as staff sit alongside them. However, children do not often have the opportunity to serve their own food, pour their own drinks or to clear away afterwards. This is a missed opportunity for promoting independence. Babies and younger children sleep when they need to and wake up in their own time.

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

Their bedding is freshly laundered and cosy. Staff read stories to children and talk to them about starting school so they are emotionally prepared for the next stage in their learning.

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provision

Management arrangements within the nursery are not fully understood by the provider and staff, which has a significant impact on how well staff support and meet all children's needs. The provider is not always able to locate non-regulatory documentation stored within the nursery by the manager and the deputy is unable to support the provider with this due to their weak understanding of their role. The provider does not make certain that the named deputy is sufficiently experienced and qualified to take on the lead role in the absence of the manager. This is a breach of requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This has a significant impact on the quality of the nursery provision. The named deputy and provider do not monitor the educational provision to ensure that planning is consistently in place to support children's learning and development needs when the manager is absent. They also do not ensure that key

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provision

persons regularly maintain children's learning records to show where children are making progress. As a result, children lack sufficient challenge in their learning through play.

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provision

Staff supervision, mentoring and appraisal arrangements are not embedded or effective due to the high staff turnover. As a result, there is inconsistency in staff's practice with regard to the implementation of the educational programmes to support children's early education.

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provision

Staff promote children's welfare because they have a sound knowledge and understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures and are aware of their responsibilities in this respect. They know how to report and record child protection concerns and have attended relevant training to support them in their roles. The nursery implements satisfactory vetting and recruitment procedures to check that all adults working with children are suitable to do so. Children are protected in the event of an accident because several staff hold current paediatric first aid certificates. The nursery has clear systems in place for recording accidents and incidents, and for sharing this information with parents.

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provision

Staff form successful relationships with parents and keep them informed about their children's development and well-being through daily verbal feedback. Parents express positive views about the nursery. They comment that their children are making progress and are well cared for.

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provision

The nursery has basic systems in place regarding self-evaluation to help drive improvement in the quality of the nursery provision but this is having limited impact on the outcomes for children. For example, there are plans for the development of the outside area to create an area for babies to play outdoors and to enable all children to use the garden at all times of the year, regardless of the weather. Currently babies do not use the garden and so have fewer opportunities to move around freely outside.

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provision

The management team work in partnership with local authority development officers who support them to improve the nursery. The staff support children to have a smooth transition to school. They make sure that older children have some opportunity to practise the skills they will need when they start school, such as, learning to write their name, simple words, and to recognise letters and numbers.

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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 EY454335 Local authority Redbridge Inspection number 939105 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 16 Name of provider Pencil Pots Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 15/04/2013 Telephone number 02085540033

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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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