The Growing Tree Nursery

The Growing Tree Nursery West Ruislip Elementary School, Pentland Way, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB10 8TS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/03/2014 11/07/2012

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Staff develop strong partnerships with parents and share information about children's learning and development meaning children's individual needs are met.  Staff engage well with children and develop warm relationships with them; as a result children feel happy and safe.  Leaders and managers have a strong drive to improve practice and effectively implement changes to continue to develop good practice and outcomes for children.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Systems in the baby room mean that when key persons are off sick other staff meet the babies' need. While they are caring and attentive, they do not always provide consistency in relationships which are beneficial for very young children's well-being.  On occasions daily routines require younger children to sit for too long, and as a result some children lose focus in their learning.

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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 children and staff's interactions with them, in the inside and outside areas of the nursery.  The inspector spoke with children, parents and staff.  The inspector held meetings with the staff, manager and the provider.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed a range of documents, including relevant policies, staff vetting checks and children's learning records.

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Information about the setting

The Growing Tree Nursery is a private day care setting, which registered in 1998. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is located in the Ickenham area of Uxbridge, in Middlesex. It is in a building that was previously a school and has sole use of the premises. The children are grouped into four rooms according to age and have access to enclosed outside play areas. There are currently 145 children on roll who are aged from three months to five years. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.45am to 6pm all year round, excluding bank holidays, a week over Christmas and three days a year for staff training. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 26 members of staff, of whom 22 hold relevant early years qualifications. The nursery also employs four members of staff who work in the kitchen.

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

 develop key worker practice in the baby room with regards to consistency in meeting the need of babies when their key person is absent

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

 review daily routines in the rooms for two-year-olds to make sure they are appropriate with regards to the length of time children spend sitting on the carpet.

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who attend

Children are happy at the nursery. They are inquisitive and confident to approach new adults to find out what they are doing in their nursery. The children exhibit the characteristics of effective learners, for example by investigating the keys of a laptop computer, identifying those letters that their names start with.

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who attend

The rooms are large, light and well resourced. The staff provide a wide range of interesting experiences for children to take part in that cover the seven areas of learning and development effectively. The staff also use daily routines to successfully promote children's learning. For example, children count out the places at the tables and staff help children to think about how many knives and forks will be needed for lunch, developing children's early mathematics skills. When children join the nursery key persons talk to their parents to develop an understanding of the child's current levels of learning and development. All staff carry out regular observations of children and key persons use these to build a picture of their current skills. They then plan suitable activities and experiences that will encourage children's next steps in their learning. Staff efficiently use summative assessments and

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who attend

progress checks for two-year-olds to track children's progress. This means that key persons identify any specific support needed by individual children. This ensures that all children are progressing well towards the early learning goals over time given their starting points.

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who attend

Staff spend their time talking to and playing with children. They show a secure knowledge and understanding of how to promote the learning and development of young children. They model new words in context, for example as staff show children how to draw a circle saying 'I go round and round and round'. Children enjoy the repetition of words and actions. They begin to attempt to make circular marks repeating the word 'round' as they draw. All children are generally working comfortably within the typical range of development expected for their age. They are developing the key skills they need for the next stages of their learning, including school where appropriate.

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who attend

Children in the pre-school room enjoy spending group time listening to stories, and talking about their day while sitting on the carpet. They learn to listen to each other and take turns answering questions. These skills will help them when they go on to school. However these routines are not so effective in the room for two-year-old children, where they are expected to sit on the carpet for too long given their ages. As a result some children become bored and lose focus on what the staff are trying to teach them.

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who attend

The key persons develop good relationships with parents. Parents contribute to the initial assessments of their child to help staff identify children's starting points for learning. Communication between the nursery and home is maintained through a system of daily conversations, and parents' evenings. Parents are encouraged to share information about their children's learning and development at home. Key persons work closely with parents to ensure that effective, targeted strategies are put in place to support children's individual learning needs so that they make good progress.

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

There are good systems in place to manage children's behaviour so that they learn about boundaries and expectations appropriate for their age and understanding. Staff work together with the support of senior staff to provide clear guidance for children about what is acceptable behaviour. Therefore children behave well and understand the nursery 'rules'. Staff are deployed well and are good role models as they talk calmly and politely to children. They use visual support for children such as timers to help them understand when activities need to end or they need to take turns with resources. Children enjoy playing and learning together. They get along well and respect each other's differences.

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

There is a well-established key person system in place. Key persons know children well and they talk about their likes and characteristics with affection. Children form secure attachments with their key person and children's behaviour shows they are happy and confident to explore the environment. However, in the baby room the lack of deputy or buddy key workers means that occasionally a baby may be cared for by different members of staff. While all staff know children well, this means that on occasion, if their key person is off, babies may lack consistency in their care.

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

The nursery is a spacious, light and well-resourced environment which enables staff to strongly support children's all round development and emotional well-being. Staff plan and provide a range of interesting experiences that meet the needs of all children. Children show good levels of focus in the activities provided for them and in their engagement. Children have access to the outside area and take part in a range of physical activities to support their good health and well-being.

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

Staff have a consistent understanding of how to safeguard children. They know the nursery's safeguarding policies and procedures and understand how to implement them to promote children's safety and well-being. Staff help children to explore the environment and gain an understanding of suitable risk as they climb over and balance on slides and tunnels. Children are developing good skills to manage their own personal needs relative to their ages and understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

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

Children are emotionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning. For example, staff use resources such as uniforms from local schools, lunch boxes and book bags during role play with children to help them think about what school life may be like. Schools are invited into the nursery to meet the children who are about to join them. When children are moving between rooms within the nursery, they have a series of visits to help them get to know their new key person before they move so that they make a smooth transition.

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provision

The provider has a good understanding of her responsibility to implement the requirements as set out in the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The provider and manager work well together to make sure they have a good overview of the curriculum. This helps them to make sure children receive good quality learning experiences that meet their needs. The manager spends time in the different nursery rooms to observe what is being provided for the children. The provider uses team meetings to review planning and children's learning records to ensure the education programmes cover the seven areas of learning and development and meet all children's needs. There is close monitoring of planning and assessment to make sure it is consistent across all age groups and among staff to benefit the outcomes for children. The provider has been focusing on developing staff's observation, assessment and planning and these

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provision

are now good areas of practice. As a result, individual children with identified needs are targeted, their progress rigorously monitored and appropriate interventions are sought to meet their needs. The provider and manager have a good understanding of how to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements. Recruitment, induction and supervision processes have a strong focus on safeguarding and the suitability of staff. All staff are vetted appropriately to work with children and as a result they promote the safety and welfare of all children. There are effective procedures in place to deal with any accidents or injuries children sustain, because the nursery follows good practices and make sure there is always at least one qualified first aider present. They record details of any accidents that occur, along with incidents that have an impact on children's safety and well-being.

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provision

There are good systems in place to promote children's positive behaviour to support their self-esteem and personal and social skills. The staff fully understand the required ratios to maintain and to make sure they are well deployed to closely supervise all children. In addition, the provider regularly reviews these to make certain the nursery maintains the correct ratios, creating a welcoming and safe environment for every child.

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provision

There are effective systems for performance management. Staff are regularly monitored by the manager and provider. Through this process they identify the professional development needs of staff and make mentoring or training available to improve the staff's practice and ultimately the outcomes for children. The manager and provider clearly understand their management and accountability arrangements and they routinely tackle any under performance by staff to minimise the impact on children's care and learning.

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provision

The provider and manager have good systems in place for self-evaluation that identify the nursery's strengths and areas for improvement. These take into account the views of parents and children to enable them to target improvements efficiently. Planned actions are closely monitored and areas of practice are successfully improved and have a strong focus on supporting children's achievements.

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provision

The provider and manager have strong partnerships with parents and have built good relationships with other professionals. This enables them to swiftly investigate any key persons' concerns about children's learning or development. They secure appropriate interventions meaning that children receive the good levels of support they need to make progress. In some instances the nursery staff work as part of a larger team with local authority professionals, meeting the needs of the children and their families through collaborative partnerships. Staff also work with these teams to support children during their transition on to school so that it is smooth and meets each child's specific needs.

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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 EY363985 Local authority Hillingdon Inspection number 957102

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 104 Number of children on roll 145 Name of provider The Growing Tree Ltd Date of previous inspection 11/07/2012 Telephone number 01895 622223

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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

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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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