Rolfe's Nursery School

Rolfe's Nursery School Rolfes Nursery School, 34a Oxford Gardens, LONDON, W10 5UG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/10/2013 14/02/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2

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This provision is good

 Children are confident and independent learners who are making excellent progress in their learning and deelopment.  The nursery team has a very strong drive towards further improvements in the nursery school resulting in all developments being closely tailored to meet children's individual needs.  Staff professional development is extremely well promoted so they are confident and very skilled. This enables children to be exceptionally well supported throughout all learning opportunities.  The key person system is well-established and children are extremely happy and enjoy secure and trusting relationships with them. Staff provide them with constant praise and encouragement, which boosts their self-esteem.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The nursery did not report a significant event, which is a breach of requirement. On this occasion there was no impact on children's safety.  Staff generally use good questioning techniques to encourage children's thinking but at times miss opportunities within the daily routine to increase their awareness of the consequences of their actions.

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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 compulsory part 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 throughout the school in both indoor and outdoor areas.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager, undertook a joint observation and spoke to the members of staff and children during activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentations, including children's records, learning and development information, staff records and a selection of policies and procedures.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

Rolfe's Nursery School registered in 2012 and is one of two nurseries run by Alpha Plus Group Limited. It operates from a purpose built single storey building in North Kensington, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is open each weekday from 8.50am to 4pm during term time. Children have access to secure enclosed outdoor play areas. There are currently 109 children on roll, some in part-time places, all of these are in the early years age range. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and also children learning English as an additional language. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It employs 23 staff, of whom 19 hold appropriate early years qualifications. This includes two staff members with Early Years Professional Status and one with Qualified Teacher Status.

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

 extend ways to help children be aware of the consequences of their behaviour.

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who attend

The staff have an excellent knowledge of how children learn and develop. They help children to settle at the nursery by gathering a wealth of information about their interests and individual needs from the parents when they first join. From this information they ensure that activities are shaped to meet the children's individual interests and learning needs. This supports the children to make very rapid progress in their learning towards the early learning goals. The children's starting points are clearly identified and used by staff to plan an exciting and targeted range of activities to ensure their development flourishes. Staff clearly identify any concerns about children's development and promptly act to provide appropriate help to continue to support children's progress. Regular and well-focussed observations of the children and precise assessments are used to plan for their individual next steps in their learning.

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who attend

Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their children's learning in many ways. They are invited in to the nursery to see their children's progress records and share information with the children's key persons. Parents are also given suggestions of activities to complete with the children at home to support their learning and prepare them for big school. For example, preparing a guide for parents on school readiness and requesting parents bring in items, such as fruits, to support children's learning about a healthy lifestyle at snack time. For example, parents send in different fruits with their children, staff encourage children to cut these up for themselves and count how many pieces there were. Staff extend this by asking children which fruit they brought in, where did it come from and why is it healthy to eat fruit. This encourages children to learn about healthy lifestyles and which foods are good for them. These methods are highly effective in

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who attend

helping parents to be fully involved in their children's learning and development.

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who attend

Staff observe children and keep a comprehensive range of information and photographs to show the progress children are making. These are reviewed regularly to see what resources children engage with and what else they can do to further enhance children's involvement and interest in the activities. Therefore, children make excellent progress towards the early learning goals, given their starting points. Staff have an exceptionally good understanding about the characteristics of effective learning and they use expert teaching methods to highly motivate and extend the children's learning. All children are extremely well supported in acquiring very good communication and language skills as they engage in conversations with the staff and their peers whilst they play together.

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who attend

Children sit in small groups and they carefully listen to singing story CD and when this finished staff encourage them to answer questions about the story. Staff effectively encouraged the children's listening and attention skills by making activities fun. They enjoy having a musician in and they take part in singing nursery rhymes and joining in with the actions. This method of teaching highly motivates children to learn the words and corresponding actions. During the activity, they develop their skills in rhythm, rhyme and counting as they identify different parts of their bodies to the action songs. Staff skilfully engage children by getting down to the child's level and getting their attention, they acknowledge their efforts by providing enthusiastic praise and encouragement, which the children clearly relish. The children demonstrate excellent ability to maintain focus for significant periods of time, which prepares them extremely well for when they are ready to

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who attend

move on to school. Children recognise their names as they hang their coats up after playing in the garden. There is an excellent use of print in the environment, such as signs and labels on storage boxes and baskets. Children have many opportunities to make marks with a variety of materials which are freely available, such as chalks, pens, pencils and paints. This helps children to develop their understanding that words have real meaning and supports their very good early literacy skills.

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who attend

Children confidently choose from a excellent range of toys and books that interest them and they are highly motivated to play either independently or with other children. Staff enthusiastically show an interest in what the children are doing and in what they have to say, which helps them to feel valued and respected. Staff skilfully enhance their learning through play by playing alongside children and engaging in shared thinking and by asking skilful questions to help children think. For example, as the children were getting ready for snack, staff asked, 'does anyone knows what they need to do first' encouraging the children to think before answering. The environment is rich in numerals and shapes are displayed on the walls and in various number games. During an information, communication and technology activity, the children learn about positional language as the member of staff asks them which animal spoke first and which one was in the middle.

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who attend

These activities support children to make excellent progress in their mathematical skills. The children's creativity and imaginations are promoted well as they play in the shaving foam with mini beast. They thoroughly enjoy making models of transport from magnetic bricks. They learn to solve problems and have a 'can do' attitude. For example, they could identify which items in the water were stretchy, soft, and could absorb most water and comment on the different textures.

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who attend

Excellent opportunities are provided for children to learn about the similarities and differences in the world around them. The staff are committed to providing an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, valued and respected. Children understand about different festivals and cultures and play with multicultural toys. Parents are also involved by coming in to share their skill and culture with the children. For example, parents visit and talk to the children about their culture and got the children dresses up in sari outfits. In this way, they learn about similarities and differences between people and their diverse backgrounds. They have numerous opportunities to use technology, as they competently and independently use the computer, interactive board and various programmable toys. Due to the excellent range of activities and learning opportunities available to the children, they are prepared extremely well in their readiness for school.

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

Children thrive in this welcoming, dynamic and vibrant nursery. They enjoy extremely secure and welcoming relationships with their key persons, and the staff team as a whole. Children's individual needs are very well known because the staff work extremely closely with parents. This approach ensures the move from home to school is smooth, resulting in children settling easily and happily. The children are extremely well behaved and thrive on the individual attention received from the staff, who consistently boost their confidence and self-esteem. The staff have high expectations of the children and encourage their independence by giving them appropriate responsibility to undertake tasks, such as helping to tidy up. Staff provide consistently high levels of praise and encouragement for children to try new activities and develop their independence. Children develop very good self-care skills and are becoming competent in managing their personal needs relative to

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

their ages. For example, they are learning to put on their coats before going outside to play. Children have an very good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. They are offered a range of healthy snacks and meals brought in every day from home are very nutritious. Staff closely monitors what the children eat each day and encourage them to eat healthily, giving parents helpful tips by having information on the notice board. Children are aware of the importance of following good hygiene practices, such as, washing their hands before eating, with a gentle reminder from staff. Verbal feedback and telephone calls ensure that parents are kept fully informed about their children's routines throughout the day.

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

Children independently make choices from an exceptional range of stimulating and exciting play equipment and resources. The easy accessibility of the resources and the ability to move freely between the indoor and outdoor environment significantly supports the children's all-round learning and development. Children enjoy playing in the outdoor area with an excellent range of toys. They move with confidence as they carefully manoeuvre the bikes with pedals and skilfully avoid obstacles. They are developing very good awareness of how to keep themselves safe, for example, they understand to mop up spills when the drink got spilt onto the floor so no one will slip or tripped. They use the resources appropriately, however there is scope to enhance children's understanding of why they should take certain actions. For example, children are aware of how to use the slide but occasionally need to be reminded on how to use this safely. However, staff at

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

times say 'be careful' but do not explain why to children to extend understanding, The extremely varied and stimulating resources and the expert support provided by the staff equip children with excellent skills for their next stages in their learning and their move on to school.

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provision

The inspection took place following a notification of a significant event to Ofsted. However, the provider failed to notify Ofsted of this event themselves. This is a breach of the requirements however Ofsted does not intend to take action at this time. The nursery fully participated in the investigations, which were not in relation to an incident in the nursery, and found that there were no safeguarding concerns about, or impacting on, children present. The nursery demonstrated they had a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities during the investigation, however, they failed to notify Ofsted. The nursery maintains a meticulous record of this event. Since the investigation the nursery has reviewed all their procedures and implemented changes to ensure all staff are fully aware of all their responsibilities.

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provision

There are robust recruitment and vetting procedures undertaken by the management team to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. They are very well safeguarded as the staff make sure their welfare and safety is of the utmost priority at all times and in all situations.. A detailed complaints policy and procedure is correctly implemented when required. The staff ensure children's safety throughout the nursery as they complete risk assessments and review accidents logs. These are regularly reviewed and adapted, as and when required, to identify and remove any risks to children. They also ensure that they are meeting the required staff ratios and deploy staff effectively to make sure children are supervised, safe and secure at all times.

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provision

The staff have an excellent knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They continually evaluate and plan an inspiring range of activities and experiences that highly motivate and interest children. They base their planning on their superb knowledge of the areas of learning and of how children learn.

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provision

The partnership with parents and others involved in the children's care is exceptional. Parents and carers receive extensive information through policies, procedures, verbal discussion and children's progress records. Information displayed on the noticeboard as well as regular newsletters and the website, provide an abundance of useful information to keep parents fully informed about the school. Parents are highly complimentary about the care and education their children receive. They comment upon the exceptional care and range of activities provided, as well as the extremely good two-way flow of information.

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provision

The headteacher and staff are highly motivated, enthusiastic, and committed to the continuous development of their early years practice. They attend numerous training courses provided by the local authority and external agencies and plan ahead to update their knowledge. Regular team meetings, training and meetings with the local authority advisors also effectively support staff well in their daily work with the children. There are excellent systems in place for monitoring and evaluating practice through appraisals and supervision. The head teacher also monitors children's progress by sampling learning journals to oversee the quality of assessment and planning for their individual learning needs. Regular reflection and self-evaluation assist the staff in continuing to make improvements to an already outstanding service provided for the children and their families.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 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 EY448774 Local authority Kensington & Chelsea Inspection number 930948

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 109 Name of provider Alpha Plus Group Limited Date of previous inspection 14/02/2013 Telephone number 02077278300

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Type of provision

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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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