Little Learning Ladder

Little Learning Ladder Unit 1, Chips, 2 Lampwick Lane, New Islington, Manchester, M4 6BU

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/02/2014 Not Applicable

p.1

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

p.1

This provision requires improvement

 Parents feel welcome, so they are able to share information with adults about their child's needs.  Behaviour is managed effectively and as a result, children play and learn together well.  There is a robust recruitment and selection policy and procedure in place. This ensures that all adults working with children are suitable to do so.  The manager has a good overview of the setting's strengths and weaknesses, which has enabled her to identify what needs to be done to improve the provision.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 Assessment does not incorporate adults' knowledge of children's starting points and there are inconsistencies in how information from assessments is used to provide children with challenge, so that they make good progress over time.  Not all staff effectively engage with children during their play to promote their learning and enjoyment.  Resources for the development of children's understanding of number are not fully utilised. This results in missed opportunities for children to fully extend their understanding of number concepts.  Strategies for informing parents of their child's progress are not always successful; as a result, not all parents are able to share in their child's learning.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager and staff.  The inspector viewed a sample of the children's learning journals.  The inspector took into consideration the views of the children and their parents.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager of the provision and the registered person.  The inspector looked at planning documentation.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

p.2

Information about the setting

Little Learning Ladder was registered in 2013 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in purpose built premises in the New Islington area of Manchester and is managed by a limited company. The nursery serves the local area. It operates from two rooms; with a third room currently under renovation, therefore, inaccessible to children. Playrooms are accessed by a number of steps and the nursery is in the process of installing a lift. Children have access to an area for outdoor play.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, eight hold appropriate early years qualifications, including three at level 2, three at level 3, one at level 5 and one with Early Years Professional Status.

p.3

Information about the setting

The nursery is open seven days a week, all year round, except for bank holidays. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 7pm and from 8am to 5pm at weekends. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children who speak English as an additional language.

p.3

must:

 improve planning and assessment by; ensuring staff identify and use children's starting points, so that they form a sound basis for assessing children's progress over time and that the next steps in children's learning are well supported and planned for to ensure that each child makes consistently good progress

p.4

must:

 improve the key person system, so that that they support engagement with all parents, thereby, ensuring that parents are kept well informed of their child's progress and are effectively supported to contribute towards their child's learning.

p.4

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

 improve the leadership and management of the nursery by monitoring learning and teaching to identify and address inconsistencies in staff practice, so that all staff effectively engage with children during their play

p.4

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

 review and develop how resources are utilised to support and extend children's understanding of concepts relating to number.

p.4

who attend

Children enjoy their time at the setting and their engagement is supported through warm and caring interactions with adults. For example, children in the pre-school room enjoy sitting with their friends and joining in with singing their favourite nursery rhymes. Adults encourage children to join in with the hand movements and gestures, enabling them to develop their understanding of concepts relating to number. However, resources for enabling children to independently extend their mathematical development are not fully utilised within the continuous provision. As a result, children are not always met with the challenge they need to develop this area of their learning.

p.4

who attend

Adults assess children and have begun to track their progress using the Early Years Outcomes document. However, assessment does not incorporate adults' knowledge of children's starting points, so does not clearly demonstrate children's progress over time. There are some inconsistencies in how information from assessments are used to plan for the next steps in children's learning, meaning that some children are not always provided with the support and challenge that they require to secure their future learning. There are a high percentage of children attending the setting who have English as an additional language. The setting has demonstrated that these children are making some progress, however, key person systems are not always effective in providing fully tailored care to support the individual needs of all children. Adults understand how to promote children's learning and development, although, teaching is variable. For example, while some staff

p.4

who attend

use appropriate teaching strategies to engage children in a painting activity. Other staff are reluctant to join in and do not encourage children's participation or enjoyment.

p.5

who attend

Parents evidently feel welcome and will openly share information with adults at the beginning of a session. Each child has a development file that contains observations, photographs and some of the children's work. Parents may view their child's development file, although, some parents were not aware that they could. Key workers share information about children's progress during informal discussions with parents on a day- to-day basis. There are strategies in place to encourage parents to contribute towards and share in their child's learning, although, in most instances they are not successful.

p.5

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

Babies are happy and emotionally secure because they are cared for in a well-resourced and stimulating environment; soft rugs and canopies help to make this area warm and welcoming. Key persons share information sheets with parents regarding babies' feeding, sleeping and nappy changing routines. Children's behaviour is well managed by adults who give children clear messages about how to behave. This enables children to learn to manage their own behaviour and develop control over their actions. Adults successfully distract children by offering alternative positive play tasks, which defuses challenging behaviour. Children demonstrate an awareness of their actions upon others and play cooperatively alongside one another. Transitions within the setting are supported as children move up from one room to the next according to their developmental needs and not age. This approach means that children are emotionally prepared for the next stage in

p.5

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

their learning within an environment that is safe and welcoming.

p.5

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

Children wash their hands before sitting down to eat and are served with a variety of healthy foods. Each child has their own water bottle, with a picture of themselves attached to it, so that they can easily identify which is theirs. They are supported and encouraged to fill them with water themselves. These practices enable children to begin to manage their own personal needs and develop an awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyles. Previously, the children took part in a healthy eating programme, which supports children to contribute towards their own well-being. Children are beginning to develop and demonstrate their preferences through choosing what they would like to drink and by trying a range of fruit made available to them on their plates. However, adults' interactions with children at snack times were limited. For example, they did not sit with the children and engage with them to develop their social and communication skills.

p.5

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

Children have access to outdoor play, which provides them with some opportunity for physical activity using basic resources, such as bicycles.

p.5

provision

The manager and staff demonstrate an understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are effective safeguarding policies and procedures in place to support this knowledge and they are effectively implemented by all those involved in the setting. There are plans in place for the review and development of all policies and procedures. The setting has very well developed and robust selection and recruitment policies and procedures. This ensures that those people working with children are suitable to do so. There are arrangements for performance management and the manager carries out regular supervision sessions with all staff. This helps to enhance practice as a whole, although, there is not always sufficient focus upon improving the quality of teaching. The manager has made plans to begin a process of peer observation to focus upon enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.

p.5

provision

The monitoring of assessments of children's learning and development is not consistently thorough enough to identify individual or groups of children who need specific intervention and because of this, gaps in their learning are only slowly closing. Systems for assessment are underdeveloped and do not enable adults to plan to support children's full potential. Consequently, aspirations for children are not as high as they should be. Systems for monitoring the delivery of the educational programmes are not robust enough and this results in staff not always being enable to plan effectively for the next stages in children's learning.

p.6

provision

The manager aspires to improve and this commitment is fully supported by the registered person. Through self-evaluation, they have identified areas of weaknesses as well as what action they need to take, in order to overcome them. This has allowed the setting to devise a development plan that has enabled them to make changes and make some improvement to the provision. However, these plans are not sufficiently focused on improving children's achievements. Self-evaluation takes account of the views of staff, children and parents. Partnerships with parents are encouraged and this enables them to contribute towards supporting their child's well-being. However, strategies for enabling parents to play an active role in their child's learning are variable. The setting receives ongoing support from the local authority and are currently completing the Early Years Quality Assessment Framework, to help them to further improve their provision for all

p.6

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

p.6

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

p.7

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.

p.7

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.

p.8

Setting details

Unique reference number EY460492 Local authority Manchester Inspection number 936612 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider Little Learning Ladder Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07885613509

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

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,

p.9

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’.

p.10

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10