Family Tree Day Nursery

Family Tree Day Nursery North Cray Neighbourhood Centre, 1 Davis Way, SIDCUP, Kent, DA14 5JR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/03/2014 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

 The nursery's enthusiastic, caring approach to teaching and learning really enhances children's development.  The key person system is effective in supporting children to settle into the nursery and to form strong attachments with staff.  Exceptional observation and assessments show the stage children are at and effective planning provides challenging activities to enhance their development further.  The nursery's understanding of safeguarding is thorough and the extensive policies and procedures fully enhance children's safety and well-being.  Children's personal, emotional and social development are supported extremely effectively and skills such as sharing and turn taking are promoted exceptionally well.  Daily verbal exchanges and an excellent variety of communication methods, enable parents to be fully involved with the child's care, learning and development.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although the nursery has started to make links with other providers and some local schools children will be moving on to, these are in their infancy.

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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 children enjoying activities in the indoor and outdoor environments.  The inspector spoke to the manager and staff during the inspection.  The inspector looked at children's observation and assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector checked evidence of staff suitability and qualifications.

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Information about the setting

Family Tree Nursery is privately owned. It registered in 2013 and operates from North Cray Neighbourhood Centre. The nursery is all based on one level and there are three play rooms, all of which have free flow access to an outside area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. Children come from the local community. The nursery offers full and part time care for children between the ages of three months and five years. The nursery is able to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. At present, there are 35 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery receives support from the local authority. Currently, seven members of staff are employed at the setting, three of whom are qualified at level 3 and two staff at level 2, who are currently completing their qualification at level 3.

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

 further develop partnerships with other providers including schools that children are moving onto to support continuity in children's care and learning

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who attend

Children make very good progress and are working securely in the appropriate age band for their age with some working beyond their age bands. This is as a direct result of the staff teams effective teaching methods and their knowledge and understanding of how children learn. Their thorough awareness of the expected levels children reach at their different ages and stages enables them to effectively support children's progress and development. Staff competently assess where children are at when they start the nursery and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of how to promote this further. As a result, children are making excellent progress in relation to their starting points. Parents are highly complimentary of the nursery's role in their children's ongoing development.

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who attend

The comprehensive observation and assessment systems enable staff to plan extremely effectively for children's individual developmental needs. They demonstrate a clear picture of where children are in their learning and plan effectively for their individual progress and development. Learning journals are in place for each child and contain in-depth information about how each child is progressing and how the next steps in their development will be encouraged. Staff use extensive tracking systems to support children's progress and identify any concerns or gaps in their learning. The required assessments are completed when children are between the age of two and three years and staff discuss these thoroughly with parents.

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who attend

The indoor and outdoor environments are extremely bright, stimulating and exceptionally well equipped. Resources and activities are stored attractively, which encourages children to actively explore and enjoy the extensive range available. Babies enjoy rummaging through the toy boxes and treasure baskets, exploring how different toys feel or sound, which extends their exploratory skills. For example, they investigate the texture of bath sponges and they shake wooden musical toys, fascinated by the sounds they make.

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who attend

The nursery places a very high priority on children's communication and language skills. Staff support children's language development extensively during play activities and everyday routines. They effectively use non-verbal actions, gestures and introduce and repeat new words continually to extend communication and vocabulary. Staff use spontaneous opportunities during play activities to promote and enhance children's vocabulary by introducing and repeating words. This enables children to start building on their vocabulary, their communication and understanding. Staff sit with children at activities to extend their play and learning and use lots of open-ended questions to help extend their vocabulary and language. Support for children with special educational needs and for those who learn English as an additional language is excellent. For example, parents are asked to provide key words and phrases in a child's first language and staff

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who attend

use these as required to aid settling in. There are numerous labels that involve other languages such as welcome labels and displays in languages such as Russian, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin. The dual-language books and print in other languages, fully reflects the languages of all children attending the setting. Consequently, this highlights the immense value staff place on children's home languages. Staff work extremely closely with parents and outside agencies. They positively embrace specialist activities and additional resources, which are provided by specialists to enhance children's progress.

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who attend

Children's confidence and self-esteem is extremely well promoted. For instance, staff value children's contribution by attractively displaying their paintings, computer work and early writing. The learning environment provides exceptional opportunities for children to see print in meaningful contexts to support the development of early reading skills. The staff team provide a wide range of print in other languages to reflect the linguistic diversity within the setting. Some of the children write their names independently and show an interest in reading and writing different words. Older and more capable children are stretched to their full potential by staff. For example, staff provide them with opportunities to write labels and further extend their emerging writing skills. Children are encouraged to self-register upon arrival and have numerous opportunities to recognise their names such as on their personal trays, on displays, on their cups and on their pegs.

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

The nursery has very good systems in place to promote children's health and well-being. Children form strong emotional attachments with staff because there are highly effective settling-in procedures in line with parental wishes, children's individual needs and circumstances. Babies form strong attachments to staff, which they show by crawling or walking over to them for cuddles or support. Children are comforted when they are distressed by the nurturing, intuitive staff team. At the start of their child's placement, staff work closely with parents to find out all about the child's care needs, daily routines, interests and current stage of development. A highly effective key person system is in place to support children to settle. The key person uses information from parents in their initial planning for children's individual learning and development. Children are extremely happy and confident, exploring the warm, welcoming setting, engaging well with staff and

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

their friends. Children enthusiastically participate in the extensive variety of play activities. Staff support this well by being on hand to support and extend their learning.

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

The nursery is a vibrant, stimulating setting. It has been set out extremely attractively with designated play areas in each group room and in the extensive outdoor area. Children have free-flow access between the indoor and outdoor areas of the setting, which enables them to choose where they want to play. Children are able to independently select from the extensive range of resources available due to the way activities and toys are stored at low level. For example, resources are stored attractively at low level on accessible bookshelves, in baskets and in brightly coloured trays. In the baby room, babies can play with floor activities, crawl or can pull themselves up against low-level furniture and play with activities that are set out on table tops.

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

The nursery supports children to develop a good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles by providing daily opportunities for physical exercise, fresh air and a healthy diet. The nursery's ethos for offering a nutritious, well-balanced and healthy range of food and drinks is very good. They provide meals and snacks, which fully meet children's individual dietary requirements. Parents highly praise how the nursery has encouraged their children to explore different tastes through the varied menu, cooking activities and tasting activities. The nursery provides extensive opportunities for children to develop their independence and self-help skills. For example, older children pour out their own drinks and serve their own lunches; younger children are supported to independently feed themselves. The outdoor area is extremely well resourced. It provides exciting, stimulating areas for children to explore and develop skills in all areas of learning. Children

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

are able to move around freely in different ways, practise ball skills, climb and balance. An innovative forest school area has been created and children have opportunities to explore nature and learn about living things. They are currently creating a 'bug hotel' and have been to the local meadows to collect natural items for this area such as logs, twigs and leaves. All of the areas of learning are promoted in this area.

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

Behaviour is managed effectively by staff who use appropriate strategies in line with children's age and current level of understanding. Staff provide children with extremely positive role models and manage any inappropriate behaviour consistently and calmly. Children have been involved in drawing up the 'golden rules' and staff have displayed these using written print and pictures to support children's understanding of these. Children are given clear guidelines to enable them to understand what is expected and the consequences of any inappropriate behaviour. Staff consistently support key skills such as sharing and turn taking during play activities.

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

Good partnerships are established with parents and others to positively support children's individual care, learning and development. A notice board, regular newsletters and feedback with staff, ensure that parents are up to date with events and the weekly planning. Daily information is provided for parents about the activities their children have engaged in. This enables parents to be fully involved in their child's learning and enables them to support further learning at home. Comments from parents spoken to during the inspection and in the comment book are extremely positive. Parents' comments include, 'I cannot speak highly enough of the nursery; my child's development has been amazing' and 'a 10 out of 10 experience from my point of view'. The nursery understands the importance of developing links with other early year's settings that children attend or are moving onto and has started to develop these partnerships. However, these are not fully

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

developed to support continuity in children's care and learning.

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provision

Staff are aware of their role and responsibilities in protecting children in their care. They understand the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect and the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child in their care. Comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures are in place and these include a detailed procedure regarding the use of cameras and mobile phones in the nursery. The policies and procedures are shared with parents to ensure that they are fully informed of the nursery's responsibility to their children. The designated person responsible for safeguarding understands her role in the referral process and when she is required to liaise with the Local Safeguarding Children Board and Ofsted. The effective deployment of staff in the nursery and the security systems ensure children's ongoing safety and well-being. Children are never left alone with people who are not vetted. Secure collection procedures are in place to ensure that

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provision

children are only released to authorised adults. All visitors show their identification, sign into the visitor's book and are fully supervised while at the nursery. The staff team ensures that children are able to play in a secure, safe environment. A comprehensive risk assessment system ensures that any potential hazards to children are minimised.

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provision

The manager demonstrates a positive approach towards reflection and self-evaluation. She understands the need to monitor the educational programme and how staff support children's learning and development. There are effective systems in place to monitor and reflect on the provision. A written self-evaluation is in place and demonstrates how the nursery effectively meets children's care, learning and welfare needs. The nursery takes into account the views of children by observing their play and ensuring that they are interested and challenged in the resources and activities available. The staff team's continual evaluation of activities and outings ensures that they provide resources and experiences that are age appropriate, challenging and interesting. The nursery actively seeks parental views through daily discussions, written questionnaires and by regularly sharing progress reports on their child's development. The staff team demonstrate a

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provision

strong commitment to developing their professional development further through training and liaison with other professionals. Supervision meetings are arranged regularly to discuss staff practice and to identify ongoing training and professional development. This enables staff to discuss further training, to extend their individual knowledge and understanding. As a result, staff are developing skills in many different areas of the curriculum, which they share with colleagues.

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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 EY469757 Local authority Bexley Inspection number 934614 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 35 Name of provider The Family Tree Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07582448249

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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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