Chatterbox House Day Nursery (Sidcup)

Chatterbox House Day Nursery 289 Main Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 6QL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/03/2014 03/06/2013

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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 working with the older children provide a wide range of resources and different experiences to promote their learning across all areas.  Children benefit from opportunities to experience the natural environment to enhance their learning through use of the 'Forest School'.  A range of resources to promote inclusion are accessible for the children, enabling them to learn about different cultures, celebrations and religions from around the world.

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It is not yet good because

 Staff ratios, deployment and their supervision of children do not always effectively promote children's safety and well-being.  The learning environment for the children aged under three years is not always conducive to promoting their learning through stimulating and interesting activities and resources.  Systems to monitor the provision are in place but not fully embedded to drive improvement in the quality of the nursery and outcomes for children.  Staff do not always use snack and meal times well to further promote children's 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector spent the majority of the inspection observing the interaction between the staff and the children, including staff deployment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled documentation such as policies and children's assessment records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector obtained parents' views through discussion on the day of the inspection.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a leadership meeting with the manager and the owner of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Chatterbox House Day Nursery is a privately owned nursery situated in a detached house in Sidcup in Kent. The nursery registered in 2002. The premises, which is on two levels, consists of a ground floor office, baby room, children's bathroom, toddler room, conservatory and kitchen. The first floor comprises of three pre-school rooms, children's bathroom, staff toilet and laundry facilities. There is also a large garden for outdoor play with an enclosed decking area for babies. There is an area to the rear of the garden used as a Forest School environment. The nursery and garden are accessible by ramps, and stairs lead to the first floor. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm all year round, with the exception of bank holidays.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning English as an additional language. There are currently 88 children on roll who attend full- and part-time sessions.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs a team of 17 staff. Of these, 14 staff hold an appropriate early years qualification. The nursery also employs a cook and a teacher who comes in to offer French lessons with the pre-school children once a week.

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must:

 ensure that all children are supervised through effective deployment and ratios of staff at all times.

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

 improve opportunities for children under three-years-old to experience a full range of stimulating activities and experiences that are suitable for their age and stage of development and meet their interests in an inviting environment

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

 improve the monitoring systems to identify the strengths of the provision and to highlight areas that need further development to promote good outcomes for children

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

 further develop social times, such as snack and mealtimes, to enhance children's learning opportunities.

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who attend

Children generally make sound progress in their learning and development with some children making good progress. The staff team understand the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and use this when carrying out observations of children's learning. Staff identify children's next steps in their learning but these are not always used effectively to inform the planning. This results in some activities, mainly with the under three-year-olds, that are not fully appropriate or aimed at children's individual interests to support their specific needs. Parents receive satisfactory information about their children's development, both verbally and through the sharing of the assessment files. Parents are encouraged to contribute to these through written comments or by providing photographs, so they are involved in their children's development.

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who attend

Staff provide opportunities for the younger children to have free flow to the outdoors due to the small decking area. This enables young children to make choices about where they would like to play on most occasions. Staff take children out into the main garden regularly to provide them with opportunities to use the large play equipment to develop their physical skills. Children show developing fine motor skills as they use the brushes in the paint or join pieces of track together. The over three-year-olds also have regular opportunities to use the outdoor area, benefiting from the fresh air and exercise. They use the large play equipment and have opportunities to dig in the mud, crawl through the tunnels and balance on the rockers. The older children have additional exciting opportunities to use the Forest School to experiment with the natural environment.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to be aware of the natural environment by identifying the new buds on the trees and the growing seeds in the pots. Children experiment with the tub of rainwater and use different utensils to explore outside. Older children demonstrate confident fine muscle physical skills and hand-to-eye coordination as they use the scissors to cut around shapes or use the mouse on the computer. Children confidently operate the programmes, using the mouse to expertly press and drag numbers across the screen. Many of the older children have good number recognition and are beginning to do simple addition and subtraction with the computer. Books with numbers are used well by some children to re-enforce their concept of number with a variety of different resources to support all aspects of mathematical development.

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who attend

Older children are confident communicators and can articulate their views, likes and dislikes well. They enjoy sharing books with the adults and often sit in groups, discussing the pictures of dinosaurs or sea creatures with enthusiasm. The adults provide positive support and ask open-ended questions, teaching new language such as reflection and gills. Children show strong concentration and listening skills at story time with increasing understanding of the story through their replies to questions asked by the adult. Younger children are encouraged to develop their language skills through appropriate interaction from the majority of staff. Staff sit with children at activities and talk about what they are doing, offering a verbal commentary to extend children's thinking. However, they do not always encourage children to speak back to them to support children's communication skills. Staff sing rhymes with the children helping them learn the words and actions from

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who attend

Staff provide role play opportunities for all children, although the resources are not always well presented and activities are occasionally disjointed. For example children want to play with the dolls that are placed away from the role play, with dressing-up clothes that are stored in a box. Older children demonstrate good co-operative play as they develop their imagination together using different props. Staff support the younger children to act out familiar roles such as cooking and caring for the baby dolls. Art and craft play is available in all rooms, with a variety of different mediums, enabling children to use their senses to explore. However, this is not made accessible at all times, preventing some children learning with resources that engage their attention.

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

A key person system is in place with some children showing strong relationships with the staff. Other children have new key people or are new to the setting and consequently are still building up trust and security. Staff generally show care and concern for the children, offering cuddles or reassurance when children are upset. The key person carries out intimate care when possible to support children's important attachments. Once children are settled and secure in the environment staff encourage them to begin to become independent, for example by finding their coats or washing their hands. Staff offer praise and encouragement to the children, supporting their understanding about good behaviour and helping to build their self-esteem. Children generally behave well although on occasions when an activity is not sufficiently challenging or engaging, children forget their manners and tend to struggle to share or take turns. The majority of staff encourage

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

children to say please and thank you to help children learn about behaviour expectations.

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

Staff understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle and encourage children to take part in outdoor play to benefit from the fresh air. Children sit in small groups for snack time and altogether for lunch. They begin to learn how to use tools to eat with such as a spoon or knife and fork. Children eat a balanced diet of freshly cooked meals, with the cook accommodating appropriately those children with specific dietary requirements. However, on occasions staff do not give choice at snack time or use this experience of sitting in groups as a learning opportunity. As a result, staff miss good opportunities to talk about healthy foods or introduce conversation to help children learn the importance of eating healthily. Hygiene routines are effective and implemented well by the staff. Children understand why they must wash their hands before eating and talk about 'getting rid of the germs'.

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

Staff carry out daily check lists to ensure the environment is safe for children to play in. Measures are in place to minimise hazards, such as the stair gate at the top of the stairs. Staff record children's times of arrival and departure and operate a password system if someone different collects the child to promote the children's safety. There are strong security procedures in place to prevent unwanted visitors entering the premises by use of closed-circuit television and an identity thumbprint. In addition the nursery implements a visitor's book to record all visitors to the nursery as part of their safeguarding procedures. Staff carry out regular fire evacuation procedures and record details of these to help them to ensure the children are safe and understand what to do in an emergency.

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

Resources are varied throughout the nursery. The older children have access to a wide range of resources that are easily accessible from low-level storage trays and shelving. Children can select different rooms to play in depending on the activity they would like to do. For example, one room is available for computer work, looking at books or playing with a wide range of resources to reflect different cultures and celebrations. This is the quiet room as opposed to the messy room, where children can access sand, dough and messy activities including role play activities. The younger children have less choice and do not have access to many natural resources or treasure baskets to support their sensory play effectively. The book area is also not particularly comfortable or cosy for children to share books with the adults in a purposeful way.

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

Staff have a clear understanding about preparing children for the next stage in their learning and for school. Children have opportunities to listen, take turns and develop their concentration. They are independent when toileting and washing their hands and are able to put on their own coats and shoes for outdoor play. The older children are enthusiastic learners and keen to try new opportunities and activities. Teachers from the local schools are invited into the nursery and staff prepare transition forms for each child. Therefore this provides teachers with useful, instructive information. As a result, children do well in the move to school.

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provision

This inspection took place due to Ofsted receiving concerns regarding staffing ratios within the premises, staff deployment and a high turnover of staff. This inspection found that the nursery had had an increase in the numbers of children attending and has therefore recruited new members of staff. In addition several members of staff left the nursery, resulting in new staff being appointed and some children having a change of key person. However, staff changes have slowed down over the past six months and have begun to stabilise, minimising the impact on children. The inspection identified that on occasions staff do not communicate with each other effectively when moving from room to room. This results in occasions when staff's supervision and deployment are not effective and ratios are not always appropriate to meet children's individual needs. Consequently, this breaches the legal requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years

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provision

Staff undertake safeguarding training on a regular basis with two people attending training for the designated person role. All staff demonstrate a sound understanding about their role and understand the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about the welfare of children in their care. The safe arrival and departure procedures in place further support children's safety and well-being. Effective procedures are in place for the recruitment of staff and regular supervisions and annual appraisals ensure their ongoing suitability to work with children. In addition, staff are encouraged to attend regular training to update their skills and knowledge to promote opportunities for children. Staff carry out and regularly review risk assessments to help to ensure the premises are safe and secure and organised to meet children's needs. Risk assessments for outings are also in place to make sure they follow safe systems for taking children off the premises.

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provision

The management team has recently changed and this has had an impact on the monitoring procedures in place. Although room observations have been carried out and weaknesses identified, procedures to improve aspects within the nursery have not been fully established or embedded. Consequently, weaknesses within the provision for younger children have not been fully rectified to improve outcomes for these children. Staff meetings take place on a regular basis together with meetings with room leaders. This enables staff to share their views and contribute to the decision-making and self- evaluation process. The nursery seeks parents' views and uses them to gradually make improvements to the nursery. The manager and room leaders are beginning to implement staff observations and regular reviews of the rooms to identify the strengths and areas to develop. As a result, improvement in the quality of the provision is gradual but continuous.

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provision

Staff work well with the parents and value their contributions to their children's learning and development. Parents attend with their children for settling in visits and meet the child's key person. They fill out 'All about me' forms offering useful information to help the key person learn about the child. All policies and procedures are shared with the parents so they are aware of the care their children receive. The nursery deals with any complaints in line with requirements and to support positive parental partnerships. Parents questioned felt the staff were generally friendly and welcoming. Parents felt their children enjoyed attending the nursery and were building relationships with the key person. Partnerships with outside agencies are sound. Local professionals such as speech therapists come in to the nursery to make observations when necessary and provide useful information to support individual children's needs. In addition, providers who share

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provision

the care of the children liaise with the staff and parents to provide continuity of care for the children.

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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 EY244989 Local authority Bexley Inspection number 948425 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 57 Number of children on roll 88 Name of provider Chatterbox House Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 03/06/2013 Telephone number 020 8302 2727

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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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