Dicky Birds Pre School Nurseries Ltd – Durham Road

Dicky Birds Nurseries 12-14 Durham Road, LONDON, SW20 0TW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/02/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children are happy at the nursery and make good progress in their learning through well planned interesting activities and a welcoming environment.  Leadership and management are good and the nursery has an excellent capacity to improve due to their skills, expertise and commitment to achieving excellence.  The friendly staff team are enthusiastic, know how children learn and take great pride in the achievements of the children in their care.  Partnerships with parents are strong and they are very happy with the care their children receive. An effective key person system enables children to bond with staff and settle quickly into the nursery.  Arrangements for safeguarding children are firmly in place and the implementation of the clear policies and procedures contributes to the safety and welfare of the children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Not all children's cultural backgrounds and home languages are fully reflected in the setting to further give them a sense of belonging and help children learn about similarities and differences, that connect them to and distinguish them from others.  Photos of significant people in children's lives are not available for all, in order to further support children's personal, social and emotional development and encourage them to communicate about their families.

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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 children in each early years age groups in different rooms around the nursery and in the garden area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with some children, staff and room leaders and had discussions with the manager and operations manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a tour of the premises and completed a joint observation with the manager of a routine activity in a baby room.

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Inspection activities

 The views of the parents were sought through discussions at inspection and a sample of available documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of available documentation such as children's records, evidence of suitability of staff working within the setting and the safeguarding policy.

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Information about the setting

Dicky Birds Pre-School Nursery is privately owned; it registered at these premises in June 2013 and it is one of seven provisions. It operates from converted premises in Raynes Park, in the London Borough of Merton. Children have the use of several play rooms on the ground and first floors of the three storey building. There is an enclosed area for outside play for all the children.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 135 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who learn English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

A team of 28 staff work with the children. Of these, 19 hold relevant qualifications from level two. The day-to-day manager and operations manager have Early Years Professional status. The nursery provides funded early education for, two, three and four-year-olds.

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

 include the home language and cultural background of each child in displays and resources around the setting, to give a further sense of belonging and develop children's understanding of difference

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

 display or make available photos of significant people for each child to support their personal, social, emotional, communication and language development.

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who attend

Staff have a secure knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and activities are planned to cover all seven areas of learning. Spontaneous and planned observations are well captured both written and pictorially. Staff use these well to identify next steps in children's learning and this informs their planning of interesting, inviting and engaging activities. This results in children making good progress towards the early learning goals. Ongoing assessment includes the progress checks for two-years-old, which reports on the children's current developmental stage and where support may be required. Overall, the quality of teaching is good and room leaders are working with their staff teams to ensure consistency in using effective techniques to extend and challenge children's thinking. They role model good practice, for example, encouraging babies to communicate by commentating during routine activities.

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who attend

Each room in the nursery has its own character, some are calm and reflective and some are busy and lively, but all are happy and welcoming. Babies are able to choose from an attractive range of good quality toys and activities displayed at their level. They are encouraged to explore and investigate both indoors and outside. Babies look at their reflections in a range of mirrors to develop a sense of self. They watch in awe as the cornflour gloop drops off their hands and they push the mixture with their fingers strengthening their muscles. Staff sit in cosy areas and look at books with them, commentating on the pictures using variations in their voice to sustain the children's interest. Children explore natural materials such as wooden shapes and learn about sounds as they bash a metal tin with a whisk. Young children adore playing with coloured foam, they use brushes to transfer it to paper and smear it on glass making large

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who attend

satisfying patterns. They begin to act out familiar roles as they play with items in the home corner and pretend to drink from the cups. They make good use of the cosy house made from a large cardboard box, which they helped to paint. Staff encourage children to use this enclosed space to communicate with their peers. Children learn about numbers and counting as staff include this in everyday routines, for example, when children climb the stairs coming back from the garden. Staff use puppets, such as 'Mingo the flamingo', around the nursery to encourage children to communicate and develop their personal, emotional and social skills. Babies love the puppets and respond positively by giving their puppet a great big hug. Staff develop children's vocabulary by leading singing sessions. They are in the process of developing a card system to encourage young children to choose the songs they wish to sing. This particularly helps those who are learning English

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who attend

as an additional language and children who need more support in communicating their ideas.

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who attend

Older children are encouraged to think about what happens to materials before they immerse them in water. They make predictions, experiment and talk about what has happened with a staff member, which helps them notice changes in properties and develop an understanding about cause and effect. Children enjoy writing letters in foam and rubbing them out quickly which makes them giggle. Staff members encourage children to write the first letter of people's names and by introducing the sounds letters make, they support children in their next stage of learning. Children act out their experiences of being at the doctors and hospitals. They pretend to give injections and wrap bandages on injured body parts of their willing patients. The range of dressing up clothes helps children get into their role as a medic. Children go with staff to quieter spaces in the premises for one-to-one and small group work. For example, they play a

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who attend

shopping list game that involves matching items to their trolley and reading the list. They learn to take turns and test their memory. Staff provide collections of interesting things such as socks, which children are sorting by size, colour and pattern. Children develop an understanding about technology as they have access to a laptop computer with different programmes. The large cushioned area is inviting for children to sit and explore the range of books both for fiction and for information. Children handle the books with care and staff are readily available to read with them.

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who attend

There are a large number of different community languages spoken at the nursery and there is some support in place for children learning English as an additional language. For example, staff seek key words from parents that can be used in the setting and provide some dual language books for children to explore. In addition, staff are able to speak to some children, where relevant, in their home language. There are some displays in community languages spoken by all the children to help them learn from the environment around them and feel valued. In addition, there are some resources reflecting their culture. However, this is not fully in place for each and every child. Staff support children's individual needs well. They successfully implement Individual Educational Plans (IEP's) and use the information from other professionals involved to ensure the children make progress in their learning.

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

Children are happy and content in the nursery. The numbers of children are gradually increasing as the nursery settles into their new premises. The staff support children well in settling in with their key person and successfully create a calm space for new babies and young children. Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is good and it shows that they feel safe in the setting. They display high levels of confidence and are happy to chat to visitors. The effective balance of free play and routine helps children develop a good understanding of boundaries. Staff dim the lights and sing a song to indicate 'tidy up time', encouraging children to view the task as being fun. Children respond promptly, they listen to instructions and cooperate well. Consequently, staff award them with lots of praise and a sticker, which children eagerly await. Staff obtain detailed information at the start of each placement both verbally and in writing from parents who are encouraged to

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

share what they know about their children. Key persons use this information to help children settle and enable them to plan activities. Staff demonstrate that they know their key children well and when speaking about them show immense pride in their achievements. Parents comment that the staff 'really like the children'. Children have many opportunities to be independent. For example, babies are encouraged to feed themselves and children have opportunities to serve themselves food. All children make free choices about their play. A number of children in pre-school room, although not all, have beautiful pictures of their families on display. In addition, some staff are in the early stages of developing a family book. However, most children in the nursery do not have significant people in their lives represented in this positive way in order to further their sense of belonging and help them develop an understanding of similarities and differences

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

Children learn about good personal hygiene as they hand wash after toileting and before handling food. Older children are able to manage their personal care without adult support in the adjacent toilets. Meal times are a social occasions and staff interact with the children as they enjoy their food. Children benefit from a healthy balanced diet prepared by the nursery cook freshly each day on the premises. Staff know children's individual dietary requirements and a sticker system reminds them when children have allergies. This ensures that new staff seek advice before offering any foods, to protect children's well-being. Activities around healthy eating extend children's awareness of healthy lifestyles. All children have the opportunity to access the garden area on a daily basis. As different aged children share, the same space there is a rota system to reduce hazards for them. They climb the ladder of the large fixed equipment and whizz down the slide. They

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

balance on beams and negotiate space as they push buggies around and scoot along on ride on toys. Babies are afforded lots of space to move and crawl and are encouraged to reach out for toys to support their physical development.

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provision

Arrangements for safeguarding children are firmly in place. The implementation of the comprehensive policies and procedures, including a safeguarding policy, contributes to the safety and welfare of the children. All staff receive training in child protection as part of the induction process. Furthermore, regular in house training sessions ensure that staff are up to date in their knowledge. As a result, through discussion, staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child in their care. Recruitment and induction procedures are robust. Therefore, suitably qualified and experienced staff care for children. Staff undertake regular risk assessments and as issues arise. For example, they have assessed the suitability of babies wearing hair clips because they may be a choking hazard. This is the first inspection since they registered following their move into these new larger premises. The setting makes use of use of finger print

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provision

recognition technology to provide security in the setting.

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provision

Managers show good organisational skills resulting in the efficient running of the setting as it expands. They work very well together and are effective in their roles. They show a secure understanding of how to implement the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage successfully. Staff are assigned designated roles with the setting and are effective in their position, for example, room leaders are responsible for driving initiatives and developing their colleagues' skills. Effective performance management means staff are supported well in improving their skills, knowledge and practice. A key strength of this setting is the management's culture of reflective practice. Throughout the nursery, staff have indentified areas that they are focusing on for development to bring about positive changes to the setting and further improve outcomes for children. Some staff have developed a reflection book, which they share with parents. They use pictures

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provision

and texts to record activities and evaluate how much the children enjoyed them and how they might do them differently next time. They have an abundance of ideas and initiatives, which managers nurture by affording staff space to trial them. As a result, staff are extremely enthusiastic about their future plans. The managers have high expectations and are working towards supporting new staff in embracing the ethos of the organisation to deliver high quality childcare. As a result, the setting demonstrates an excellent capacity to maintain continuous improvement.

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provision

Partnerships with external agencies are well-established. Staff are successful in securing appropriate support for children to help ensure they make good progress. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) takes the lead role in helping staff to meet the needs of children who require additional help to make good progress. Managers have forged links with local schools and have invited them into the setting to help children with their move to their next stage of learning. Staff have established strong partnership with parents. The settling in process is flexible to meet the needs of individual children. Parents provide positive comments about the nursery; they feel that the staff are the key strength because they are gentle, caring, friendly and warm. They feel that the new building and garden are 'good'. They like the 'play dates' that they came to before their children started at the nursery which helped with the settling in process. Staff implement creative ways to

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provision

share information and engage with parents. For example, they organise 'pie and mash evenings' where information is shared in an informal social way. Parents are informed about their children's day and development through verbal feedback, regular meetings and summaries of their children's progress, for example, when the children are aged two, as required.

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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 EY465156 Local authority Merton Inspection number 923914 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 76 Number of children on roll 135 Name of provider Dicky Birds Pre School Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 02089425779

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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

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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