Fledgelings Day Nursery (Hornchurch)

Fledgelings day nursery (Hornchurch) 103 Suttons Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 6RR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/01/2014 16/06/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 2 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

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff help children to understand the importance of leading healthy lifestyles through playing daily in the fresh air and eating healthy, balanced diets.  There are good systems to ensure that all visitors to the nursery are signed in and made aware of the nursery's policy on mobile phones and cameras.  Children enjoy learning through play because staff provide children with a suitable range of age appropriate toys and activities.

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It is not yet good because

 Some staff do not regularly observe and assess children's progress in relation to their starting points.  Key persons are not fully effective in building sound relationships between parents and staff.  Supervisions and appraisals are not regularly held to support staff's professional development and practices.  Staff do not fully encourage children's independence at mealtimes.

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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 the staff interacting and playing with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of staff's qualifications and suitability to be working with children.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector sampled safeguarding policies and procedures.  The inspector spoke to staff, some parents, children and the management.

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Information about the setting

Fledgelings Day Nursery registered in 1987. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is one of two privately owned nurseries and operates from a converted house in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. All children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open all year from 7.30am to 6.30pm. There are currently 74 children attending within the early years age range. The nursery employs 16 members of staff. Of these, ten hold appropriate early years qualifications to at least level three. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three- and four-years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 ensure that observations and assessments are regularly conducted to identify children's current stages of learning and development and to plan appropriate next steps.

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must:

 ensure that regular supervisions for staff are put into place to foster a culture of mutual support, teamwork and continuous improvement.

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must:

 implement the key person system fully to meet children's individual care needs and build settled relationships for children and their parents.

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

 develop mealtime routines so that children learn to become independent and use their emerging physical skills.

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who attend

Overall, staff demonstrate a suitable understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff gather information about children's starting points on the registration and 'All about me' forms, which parents fill out at the start of each new care arrangement. This helps staff to identify children's current stages of learning and development and children's likes and dislikes. Staff carry out some observations on children. However, this practice is not consistent across all the age ranges, which means that some staff are not able to fully identify and monitor children's progress. Consequently, assessments are not up-to-date and so some staff do not have sufficient knowledge about children's current stages of learning and development in order to plan appropriate activities and experiences to support children's next steps. However, staff know what children find interesting and use this knowledge to provide resources and

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who attend

activities which children will enjoy playing with. As a result, children enjoy their learning through suitable play experiences. Staff complete the required progress check for children between the ages of two and three. Staff in the toddler room have a sound understanding of why they need to carry out the check and the importance of sharing it with parents. This helps them to identify any gaps in children's learning and development and put in place individual learning plans to help children close those gaps.

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who attend

Overall, children have an appropriate range of activities and resources to play with. The youngest children enjoy exploring treasure basket resources with staff. They use their senses to explore, listen and touch the different objects. Staff support this by offering the children different textures and using related language to describe the objects. This helps to develop children's communication and language skills. Children interact and enjoy the exciting display of lights and sounds in the sensory room. The staff use this area for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The calming atmosphere in the room provides additional ways to encourage children to interact with the equipment and respond to the stimulation from the bubbles in the light tube. Toddlers enjoy experimenting with paint. Staff provide them with different colours which enables them to learn about mixing different colours of paint. In addition, staff provide a range of stampers

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who attend

and stencils, so children can experience making a range of marks on their pictures. Staff talk to children as they paint, using sound questioning techniques to help children think about what they are painting. This helps children to talk about their pictures and develops their speaking skills.

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who attend

Children in all rooms have a suitable range of books to look at. Children choose books for themselves and enjoy sitting on the small child sized sofas, cushions and rug to share books with their friends. They 'read' familiar stories to each other, using the pictures as guidance. This helps to develop children's literacy skills and social skills. Staff provide regular story times, during the day, to develop children's listening skills as they learn to sit quietly and listen to the story. Staff consolidate this by asking children relevant questions as they read the book. This helps children to understand the story and the characters. For example, staff ask the children what they think will happen next, which develops their thinking and predicting skills. All children share access to the outdoor play area. Staff encourage children to take responsibility for the toys, as they all work together to clean

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who attend

and dry the toys prior to playing on them. Children eagerly set about drying the toys, using cloths before telling each other that the toys are now dry and they can play. Staff provide a range of bicycles, sit and ride toys and small climbing frames to support children's physical development.

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who attend

The staff care for a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff provide suitable resources which they know children enjoy, such as liquid gel sand timers, to capture children's interests in bubbles and movement. This helps children to make sound progress in relation to their starting points.

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

Children demonstrate that, overall, they feel happy, safe and enjoy learning through play. Time spent at the beginning of each new care arrangement helps to build relationships between children and staff. However, recent staffing changes have left some staff unclear as to their key person responsibilities and means that some children do not have one special person to turn to. Despite this, children show that they have suitable relationships with all the staff. The babies are happy to approach staff for cuddles and reassurance when they feel uncertain. The staff respond to them with warm, loving care and kind words of support. This helps the youngest children to explore their surroundings and learn about the world around them through play. The older children eagerly chat to staff about what they have done at home and proudly show off their pictures and models as they play. Staff praise the children's efforts which helps to develop children's self-confidence

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

Overall, most children behave suitably in the nursery. Staff teach children how to manage their own behaviour using 'golden rules'. They model appropriate behaviour to the children, conveying their expectations of appropriate behaviour through praising the children for good listening and behaviour. Staff act swiftly to support children who forget the rules, by using visual aids to remind the children of how to behave in the nursery.

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

Staff support children to learn about leading healthy lifestyles through daily outside play and healthy, balanced and nutritious meals and snacks. The nursery employs a cook who prepares hot meals and snacks for the children. Staff gather information about children's dietary requirements to ensure that children's individual requirements are met. Children enjoy eating their lunches, such as chicken with potatoes, gravy and vegetables. However, staff do not teach children to develop their independence and physical development at mealtimes. This is because staff serve up all the food and drinks for the children and only provide plastic forks for the children to eat with. This means that children cannot cut up their own food and find balancing peas and sweetcorn troublesome. Consequently, children eat with their fingers as it is easier, but this does not develop their future independence skills. All children have access to fresh drinking water, either from the water

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

fountains in the rooms or from their own cups and beakers for the babies. This means that all children are able to have a drink should they become thirsty. This helps children's concentration levels and ensures that they develop a healthy habit by drinking water frequently.

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

The children all share the outside play area. This ensures that children are able to enjoy fresh air and physical play daily which supports their health and well-being. Staff are in the process of introducing children to the importance of recycling to help the environment and have just taken delivery of some fun recycling bins, shaped as animals to teach children about recycling waste products in the nursery to promote greener lifestyles.

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

The nursery staff have links with some of the local primary schools, although some children go outside the borough for the next steps in their education. Staff share information about children's learning and development with the teachers, which helps the teachers to promote continuity of children's learning and development.

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provision

This inspection was brought forward following notification from the provider about an allegation against a member of staff. This shows that the manager met their responsibilities to notify Ofsted of such matters. The manager shows a suitable understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All staff have a suitable knowledge of the safeguarding policies and procedures. This means that they know what to do should they have a concern about a child in their care. Staff have an appropriate understanding of the whistle blowing policy and the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a member of staff's practices. Following the allegation the manager implemented the safeguarding policy effectively and followed the guidance received from the local authority designated officer for safeguarding. This led to the dismissal of the member of staff. This

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provision

shows that the manager understands their responsibilities to safeguard children's welfare and ensure that all staff caring for children are suitable. However, the nursery has undergone a number of staffing changes, including the appointment of a new manager. The manager has spent time evaluating the nursery and has put in place action plans to identify key areas of weakness. However, she has not yet had sufficient time to implement all the required improvements. For example, prior to the manager's arrival, staff had not had regular supervisions or appraisals, as required. Consequently, staff's performance has not been regularly monitored, or supported, to identify areas in which they need support. In addition, staff's records of children's observations and assessments are not regularly checked which has meant that some staff are not completing regular observations and assessments to assess children's progress in relation to their starting points.

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provision

Systems for recruitment are now stronger. The manager ensures that all new staff complete the necessary checks to ensure that they are suitable to be working with children. All staff are thoroughly checked through the Disclosure and Barring Service prior to being able to work in the rooms. All staff complete an induction programme and probation period which helps them to understand their individual roles and responsibilities. Staff carry out regular risk assessments and daily visual checks to ensure that the indoor and outside environment are safe for the children who attend.

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provision

The staff work suitably well with the parents to share information about children's days with them when they arrive to collect their children. Parents are happy with the nursery and the care their children receive. However, the lack of a clear key person system means that parents are sometimes not fully informed about their child's learning and development progress. In addition, parents feel that they do not know all the new staff and consequently, they are unsure of who their child's key person is. However, the manager has acted on this weakness. She asks all staff to introduce themselves to the parents. The staff have some partnerships in place with external professionals which enables them to seek support or guidance should they have any concerns about children in their care. This enables professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to come into the nursery and observe children in their familiar environment. Consequently, support and

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provision

learning plans are put into place to support children's learning and development.

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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 EY269379 Local authority Havering Inspection number 951276

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 74 Name of provider Salma Khodabaksh Date of previous inspection 16/06/2011 Telephone number 01708440900 mob 07793 204504 (salma)

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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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