Hill Top Daycare Nursery Ltd (Roof Top Nursery)

Roof Top Nursery (Hilltop Day Care Nursery Ltd) 6 Ottaway Street, London, E5 8PX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/01/2014 16/11/2009

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early years provision

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

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This provision is outstanding

 Inspirational leadership supports this family orientated nursery to provide an excellent service for all children and their families.  Management shows staff they are very valuable and respected, offering great support, encouragement and further training. Therefore staff are very knowledgeable and continually develop their practice.  Staff have an exemplary knowledge of children's individual needs and this ensures that all children make excellent progress.  Planning and assessment is of consistently high quality and offers children stimulating and motivating activities, which build on their interests. Therefore, children are confident and active learners.

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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 the children and staff engaged in activities and spoke to them at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector undertook a joint observation of an activity.  The inspector had a meeting with the manager/provider.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to parents and took account of their views during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Roof top Nursery was registered in 2005. The nursery is situated in the London borough of Hackney. The premises consist of three children's rooms, bathroom, kitchen, office, a roof garden and side and front gardens for outdoor play. A recent extension has added a bathroom with shower for the pre-school room and a staff room. All areas with the exception of the roof garden are fully accessible. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register to care for 42 children from six months to the end of the early years age group. There are currently 59 children on roll, including 17 children who receive the nursery education grant. The nursery supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery is open each weekday from 8.00am to 6.00pm for 48 weeks of the year. Children are looked after by 17 members of staff, some of whom work on a part-time basis. All

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Information about the setting

staff have recognised early years qualifications. A further 6 staff work at the nursery as cleaners, cooks and support staff. An early years professional is in place and a number of staff are working towards gaining qualifications at level 4 and degree courses in early years.

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

 develop further the highly effective monitoring of all activities to ensure that the oldest and most able children are always fully challenged during all planned group activities.

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who attend

Staff create bright attractive rooms, which are well resourced with easily accessible toys and equipment, to support all children to make independent choices. Children flourish in an environment that supports their development, learning and well-being with a committed and extremely knowledgeable staff team.

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who attend

All staff have expert knowledge of children and their individual progress is very closely monitored to ensure all children meet expected levels of development. Parents are consulted prior to their children starting at the nursery, at regular formal and informal meetings and at feedback every day at home time. This feedback includes information about younger children's feeding, sleeping and nappy changes, and for all children talking about some of the activities they have experienced through the day. This means parents are fully included in monitoring their child's progress and kept up to date with their learning. The children's key person plans, records and identifies individual next steps for each child, and this is followed up by comprehensive observations to monitor their progress. This information is very clearly set out for parents to understand how their child is progressing and how their next steps are included in planning. As a result parents are

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who attend

exceptionally well supported to engage with their children's learning at home. The staff show great dedication to providing the children with high quality experiences and use information from parents to support children's development and learning at home. For example, a parent discussed with her child's key person her child's fear of the hairdressers. The nursery staff then set up a 'hairdresser' area during the next week so that child could role-play and become familiar with the experience. This in turn led to a stress free visit to the hairdressers with his parents. This demonstrates that children receive activities and learning experiences that are tailored to their individual needs.

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who attend

Room leaders monitor planning, observations and on-going assessment every week and hold meetings with the room teams to discuss children's progress and plan the next weeks possible activities and experiences. Rigorous monitoring and reviewing of these plans by management ensure that every child gets a high quality experience tailored to their needs. Occasionally, during some planned group activities staff do not challenge the oldest and most able children quite as well as during free play. However, overall staff persist in encouraging children to stretch themselves and as a result children all reach their full potential.

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who attend

Staff constantly review what they do to provide the best they possibly can for the children in their care. Excellent information about children's starting points from parents and thorough observation and assessment means that staff are very well placed to further promote children's learning and development by offering interesting and stimulating activities linked to children interests. For example, some children in the Sunshine room choose to sit with an adult who is reading a story and singing a familiar song. The babies and toddlers are joining in with animal sounds, some are dancing, and some are helping turn the pages of the book. Staff echo children's attempts at language, supporting them with new words and praising their efforts. This supports the babies' listening and concentration and language skills extensively, and encourages their understanding of the links of the words to the pictures. In the Rainbow room children are playing in the home

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who attend

corner and are expertly putting nappies on the dollies. A member of staff asks what they might need to do before putting on the nappy and a child says 'wipes!' The adult gets them some wipes and supports new language and understanding. In the Star room an exciting theme on Pirates which was led by the children, has included role play, dressing up, creative activities, stories, which children have been 'reading' for themselves, and opportunities for writing linked to the pirate theme. The staff have fully embraced the children's interests by supporting their learning and encouraging the children to think for themselves and following their lead. This means children are motivated and engaged in high levels of learning.

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

Children benefit from a highly effective key person system; children's individual needs are met by nurturing staff, who work tirelessly to make sure they feel secure. Children are closely supervised by staff who are very attentive to them. For example, staff sit on the floor with the children, giving them cuddles and encouraging them to explore the environment and toys. A key person reads to a sleepy child who wishes to lie down on a cushion quietly so he can rest. This means that all children have a secure base from which they can explore and become independent motivated learners. All staff are extremely receptive to children's needs and respond quickly and effectively to them, as well as to parents' requests such as sleep routines, dietary requirements and cultural considerations.

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

Older children are inspired by the computer programme showing them a Chinese dragon dance which links to their recent visit to Chinatown and activities about the upcoming Chinese New Year. This leads to conversations about other festivals and celebrations that children themselves have experienced while they use craft materials to make highly individual dragon pictures. Highly skilled staff follow the children's lead, asking open ended questions such as 'I wonder what the dragon is thinking as he dances?'. This encourages children to think and develop their vocabulary and as a result children are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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

All staff, including students, demonstrate excellent knowledge of how to keep children safe and the reporting arrangements should they have any concerns. Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of safety by talking about how they use the outside steps to access the rooftop garden. They develop excellent independence and self- care skills putting on their own coats and shoes on from a young age. Physical activity is encouraged in both the gardens and indoors meaning that even the youngest children can explore their bodies' capabilities and develop skills for the future.

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

Children are taught about healthy lifestyles by staff who talk to them at snack time about the foods and fruits they are eating. Younger babies are encouraged to feel and taste new foods and textures. Older children are encouraged to self-serve and this means they are well prepared for the next stage towards independent learning. Staff are sensitive to children's individual needs for support and give plenty of positive, warm praise and encouragement. Consequently children behave extremely well. Children independently make choices from the toys and resources stored at a low level in all areas of the nursery. The nursery environment is inviting and welcoming with photographs of children and their families on display. This supports children's sense of belonging and well-being.

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provision

The nursery is led by an inspirational manager who has very clear aims and objectives, placing the child and their family at the heart of everything she does. She shows staff that they are very valuable and respected, offering great support, for example, in the form of a wide variety of training. She often leads training at staff meetings and workshops on subjects brought to her attention by either the team, or by analysing where children's learning and development can be further supported. For example a focus on early literacy with links from the local primary school and the manager's own research has led to challenging activities such as writing stories linked to the pirate theme in the Star room. This means that children's literacy skills are very well supported, preparing them well for the transfer to school.

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provision

Staff are fully and enthusiastically supported to further their own training and expertise and this has had an impact on staff loyalty as there is a low staff turnover. This offers excellent stability for the children. The nursery is seen by parents as having a really enthusiastic and committed staff team who are like a family.

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provision

The manager has an extremely clear focus on her drive to continue to deliver the best services for families and children. Rigorous self-evaluation identifies the successes, areas that she wishes to develop and there is a clear ambitious plan for the future. The manager is considering training to use the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales as another way to reflect on, evaluate the already excellent practice in the nursery and share this with other nurseries in the area. Children's care, welfare and learning are significantly enhanced by the highly effective way the nursery is managed.

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provision

Very thorough recruitment processes ensure that all staff are skilled and their suitability to work with children has been rigorously checked. Regular staff supervisions enable management to focus on staff development. For example one member of staff who started as a volunteer was encouraged and supported to gain a qualification at level 2 and then level 3, and is now about to undertake a leadership programme. This means that staff are continuously updating and enhancing their skills which leads to an extremely high quality staff team.

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provision

Children's safety and protection is assured due to robust safeguarding procedures, staff training and risk assessments. All staff are confident in their secure knowledge of child protection and the implementation of rigorous procedures. Recently installed CCTV further supports the safety and security of the setting and allows the manager to further monitor and support all rooms and gardens.

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provision

The nursery has established very strong relationships with parents and external professionals including their local children's centre. Through effective communication and partnerships, the nursery can quickly identify and address children's individual needs with support from specialists if necessary. Parents contribute actively towards their children's continual development by the use of daily diaries, 'Learning Journal' scrapbooks, and the opportunity to attend informal and formal meetings with their child's key person. Staff are available at the end of every child's day to share feedback about their time at nursery. This means that parents are fully involved in their children's learning and can support them at home.

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provision

Comprehensive information from parents and effective observation feed into identifying starting points for all children. Highly effective assessment feeds into thorough individual and room planning which supports all children to achieve. Tracking programmes, including a new computer programme ensure that any area of concern is quickly acted upon, therefore children are making good progress across all seven areas of learning and are well prepared for school.

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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 EY308928 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 827151 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 59 Name of provider Hill Top Daycare Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 16/11/2009 Telephone number 07930380443 02089862006

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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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