Chestnuts Nursery

Chestnuts Nursery Baby Pod 127 Colne Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW2 6RA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/10/2013 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 is satisfactory

 Staff provide a suitable range of activities and experiences to help children make reasonable progress in their learning and development.  Children are happy and develop confidence in a small cosy setting where staff provide attentive care and meet children's individual care needs well.  There is a warm, friendly relationship with parents.  Children's safety is sound as staff are rigorous about keeping doors and gates secure and thoroughly check the credentials of all visitors.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff do not meet the legal requirement to carry out a progress check for children between the ages of two and three years. As a result, there is a gap in the quality and consistency of observations and assessments, particularly for this age group.  On occasions when qualified staff leave the building. the ratio of qualified staff caring for children falls below the legal requirement.  Staff do not consistently ensure all resources are complete, such as inset puzzles, which impacts on children's learning.  Self-evaluation is not sufficiently rigorous to ensure that the setting focuses its priorities in providing challenging activities for all children and working more effectively with parents.

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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 nursery room and the outside play area.  The inspector held a meeting with the registered person.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector spoke to staff and children during the course of the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documentation, including children's assessment records and learning journals, planning, and evidence of staff suitability and qualifications.

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Information about the setting

Chestnuts Nursery Baby Pod registered in 2012 and is one of two privately owned nurseries run by Chestnuts Childcare & Training Limited. The nursery operates from a single storey building in Twickenham, in the London borough of Richmond. Children have access to one room and an enclosed outdoor area at the front of the setting. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm throughout the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It offers care to babies and toddlers up to the age of three years. There are currently 29 children on roll. There are four members of staff employed to work directly with the children. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications and one member of staff is currently undertaking relevant training.

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must:

 ensure that at least half of the staff left in charge of babies and toddlers hold at least a level 2 qualification and have received training that specifically addresses the care of babies

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must:

 implement the progress check for children who are aged between two and three years of age and provide parents and/or carers with a short written summary of their child's development in the prime areas.

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

 improve upon the current methods of self-evaluation to ensure that there is a clear focus on the priorities and challenges for children's learning

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

 improve the quality of resources that children freely access to support their independence and enable them to start and complete tasks

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

 improve the partnership with parents to ensure that they regularly receive information regarding their children's learning.

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who attend

Children arrive to a friendly and welcoming environment where staff help them to settle. Staff have an adequate understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They obtain from parents information about children's likes and dislikes and this enables them to provide appropriate activities that interest the children. Observations are made of the children in their play and staff mostly record these in the children's development folders. However, staff do not follow consistent practice in their observations and planning and not all staff are effectively using their observations to identify the children's learning priorities. As a result, on-going assessments on children's progress are not consistently highlighting children's next steps or offering appropriate challenge. This is more noticeable for children between the ages of two and three years of age because staff have not yet implemented

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who attend

the legal requirement to conduct the progress check for children between the ages of two and three. Teaching quality is variable; some staff are confident about moving children's learning on as they play. However, not all staff consistently ensure that their teaching meets the needs of children who need extra support or challenge. Consequently, children make satisfactory, rather than good, progress. Parents have opportunities to review their children's progress through discussions and children's daily notebooks as well as viewing their children's learning journals. Staff adapt their interactions and provide targeted care to babies and toddlers with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help support them to reach their potential. This is done as inclusively as possible as staff work well with parents, in liaison with other professionals, to ensure consistency to the children's daily care programme.

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who attend

Babies and toddlers benefit from very attentive staff. Babies smile and laugh in response to staff's constant chat, which supports their early social skills. Babies explore items such as rattles and soft toys in baskets and they enjoy discovering how to pull themselves up, crawl and move towards a different toy. Older children are also able to help themselves to toys that staff display on shelves and in boxes, which promotes their independence. However, children are unable to complete some self-chosen tasks that support their physical and emotional development due to missing parts, for example, of inset puzzles. All children enjoy being creative with mixtures such as flour and water. They begin to develop confidence in feeling and working with different textures. As a result, they have fun creating hand print paintings as well as discovering how their fingers make different patterns, which is the foundation for their understanding of early writing.

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who attend

Children benefit from the outdoor play area daily, and on warm days independently access this as the door is kept open so they are able to wander both inside and outside.Children eagerly play with water with some deciding to give their dolls a bath. Staff ask children what they need to wash their dolls and children show their reasoning by asking for cloths to wash the dolls and spoons to use for rinsing. Children extend their play to cleaning their small cars, immersing them in water and eagerly talking about the function of the wheels. Staff further stimulate children's fascination and physical skills by encouraging them to roll giant tyres. Staff extend children's thinking, encouraging them to consider other uses for tyres, such as rolling them in paint to make attractive patterns from the tyre tread. Children also enjoy playing with sand, feeling the texture and filling containers with staff encouraging them to play together, sharing the sand toys..

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who attend

Staff provide many opportunities for children to sing songs, listen and move to music. Children happily sing and energetically move to the actions displaying their ability to control their bodies. Staff make positive use of song and rhymes to teach children early counting and new words. Story times are also a favourite and the children enjoy comfortable areas to cuddle with staff to read their favourite books. Group story times are also popular, especially with the older more active children who enjoy learning about owls with large books and props.

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

Staff give children tender care which makes babies and toddlers feel safe and secure. They show happiness and contentment as they bond well with their key person as well as other staff members. Staff ensure the premises are safe by carrying out daily risk assessments. They are vigilant in securing outside doors and gates to ensure children's safety. Children learn how to be safe as staff make them aware that they must not climb on tables and monitor the safety of the indoor slide by placing appropriate matting to cushion children as they descend. Children behave well because staff encourage children to help each other and share their toys. Staff also give plenty of praise and encouragement to which children respond with smiles, showing their growing confidence.

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

Children's health is supported as they play in a clean and homely environment, both inside and outside. Staff adhere to the routines babies have at home, which enables them to feel at ease. For example, babies rest in baby pods with their own blankets in a quiet curtained area of the room. Children's meals are prepared each day on site and staff note each child's particular dietary needs. Children begin to understand their bodily needs such as being thirsty. They have their individual drinking bottles, to which they help themselves from a low level table. All children know why they need to clean their hands prior to eating fresh fruit snacks because staff explain the reasons.

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

Staff plan a range of activities and resources to help children to learn about the wider world. They see pictures of babies and other families on display and staff read stories about the lives of others including the animal world where children show a particular interest. Staff support children who do not speak English at home by displaying and learning a few key words in the child's home language. Staff also ensure they note children's family backgrounds. As a result, staff are sensitive to children's cultural needs and create a fully inclusive environment.

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

Children make the change from home to nursery well because staff work closely with parents. Most children move on to the linked preschool nursery, which is situated in the building next door. Staff help children to make the gradual change because some staff who work in the preschool also visit the baby pod, so children recognise familiar faces when they move into the larger play environment. For children who move on to other preschools at the age of three years, staff complete final assessments of children's progress. This aids the new setting to continue to support children's learning and developmental needs.

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provision

The manager and owner have an understanding of their roles and responsibilities with regard to the requirements to safeguard and protect children's welfare. They ensure that staff are appropriately qualified and the relevant checks are carried out to ensure they are suitable to work with children. All staff have a satisfactory understanding of the procedures, including their individual responsibilities, for protecting children through safe recruitment procedures and induction programmes. Documents show that the registered person considers staff deployment to maintain the correct ratio of qualified staff who care for the children to ensure their safety and wellbeing. However, this does not always go to plan, especially when the registered person leaves the building to attend, albeit briefly, to other business outside. This is a breach in the legal requirements as children are left with only one qualified member of staff, one unqualified member of staff and two students who

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provision

are currently in training. This has an impact on children's welfare, learning and safety.

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provision

The owner and manager are suitably aware of the nursery's strengths and areas in need of further development. They have implemented appropriate staff supervision and appraisals to support staff's continued professional development. They also seek the views of staff and parents through satisfaction surveys. Although they action some ideas, they do not use a fully reflective process to identify inconsistencies in the assessment systems. Consequently, this has led to fewer challenges for some children as well as variations with regard to effective teaching.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and carers are appropriate. They are confident in approaching their key person or the registered person if they have concerns about their child's well- being or learning. Parents are very positive about the provision, saying that staff are very friendly and approachable. They like the smallness of the group and the individual care their children receive. There is a range of useful information for them, including policies and procedures that cover all relevant legislation. This includes permissions to administer medication and the correct recording for children's accidents. Systems are in place to liaise with other providers the children may attend to ensure information is shared about their learning. The registered person has sound links with the local authority and also understands the importance of liaising with other professionals to aid all children's care, learning and development.

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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 EY461775 Local authority Richmond upon Thames Inspection number 910288 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 16 Number of children on roll 29 Name of provider Chestnuts Childcare & Training Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 020 86170464

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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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