Matchbox Day Nursery

Matchbox Day Nursery 1-2 Butler House, Burdett Road, London, E14 7AB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/02/2014 22/05/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The nursery arrangements for the supervision of children when playing in the communal outdoor play is inefficient and does not guarantee children's safety.  The manager does not monitor or review risk assessments after an incident in order to find ways to prevent it from happening again. The manager and staff do not ensure that all areas that children have access to are risk assessed to reduce and remove hazards.  Children have insufficient access to dual language books and visual aids that are written in their first language and the language of other people in their community so that they become aware that texts are written in language other than English.  Children have few opportunities to visit and explore their local community.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff encourage all children to participate in the range of activities on offer by taking account of children individual learning needs and adapting activities to suit children's various abilities.  The staff provide a range of opportunities to develop children's early literacy skills.

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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

 Inspector had discussions with the manager

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children during play and the staff's interaction with the children

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled some documents, which included the attendance register, policies, staff records and the assessment and observation reports. Also sampled the record of the risk assessment record

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Information about the setting

Matchbox Day Nursery is part of the neighbourhood nurseries initiative and opened in 2003. It is located on the ground floor of Butler House, on the Burdett Estate in Poplar in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The setting is on two sites, catering for children aged under two and pre-school children. The children have daily access to the residents communal play area for outdoor play. The nursery offers full day care for children aged three months to five years. It is open each weekday from 8.00am to 6.00pm, for 51 weeks of the year.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 145 children aged from three months to under five years on roll. Children come from the local and wider community. The setting currently supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and also supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language. The setting employs 27 members of staff, who all hold appropriate early years qualifications to level 2, 3, 4 and 6. Two staff members are qualified to early years professional status The nursery provides funded early years education for two, three and four-year-olds.

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must:

 strengthen the level of supervision for children when using the outdoor communal play area so that children are always within sight and hearing of a member of staff at all times and take account of the possible access of residents and other unauthorised persons to children in the communal play area

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must:

 improve procedures for risk assessment by; making sure that all areas children come into contact with are thoroughly checked and hazards minimised, improving the management of children's safety when moving between inside and outdoor areas and by reviewing the record of risk assessment after each incident to see how it can be prevented from happening in the future

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

 provide dual language books spoken by families of the nursery and the community to enable children to see texts written in a range of different languages

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

 provide opportunities for children to go out on trips to different parts of the community to enable children to become familiar with the features of their environment.

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who attend

Staff regularly assess children's achievements and they make appropriate links between the plans and the assessments they make of the children's progress. Staff have a clear understanding of how children learn and they adapt their approach and activities according to the different age, needs and interests of the children. The manager and staff ensure that children with additional needs are catered for in the same way. This helps to ensure that all children receive the support they need to help them progress in their learning and development. Children participate in a range of adult-led activities and child- initiated play. They are developing independence skills as they help themselves to toys from open shelves and storage units. This demonstrates that children are able to make choices about their play and learning. All children's communication and language skills are appropriately promoted during planned activities and through daily routines.

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who attend

Children freely access books in comfortable reading areas. They enjoy listening and taking part in story time sessions, particularly when staff use props to capture children's attention and imagination. Children look at books that include stories from a range of cultures, religion and traditions. However, the nursery does not provide sufficient books that represent the first language of the children and their parents. In addition to this, children do not receive the support to help them become aware of print written in other languages. Children see their name in print on coat pegs and their artwork on display in the rooms. Young children have access to puzzles, picture cards and posters where they see letters of the alphabet on display. This helps children to begin to understand that print carries meaning.

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who attend

Children have opportunities to practise making marks on a daily basis as a selection of writing tools and materials are readily available. Some older children are starting to write the first letter in their name. Children learn to create a story with an adult writing down what the children dictate. This shows that children are developing a sense of story through using their imagination and past experiences in play situations. Consequently children are developing the skills they require for their future learning and development.

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who attend

Staff recognise the importance of babies and toddlers using and responding to their sense of observation, touch and smell to promote their creative development. Staff now increase opportunities for babies and young children to take part in messy play and painting throughout the day. Young children enjoy using a range of equipment such as, pumps, funnels and wheels to explore water. Staff set up activities that help children to select materials and equipment such as, tissue paper, catalogue pictures, glue and scissors where they learn to use skills for cutting, joining and folding. Children also show interests in handling natural materials, such as, sand, water and soil during play. They also start to notice the change that occurs to flour when adding water during a play dough activity. However, staff do not provide children with opportunities to learn about the local environment and some of its features. This is because children are rarely taken out on

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

The key person system enables children to form meaningful relationships with their carers. Also, the manager makes sure that a substitute key person known to children and their parents steps in as the carer in the absence of the children's key person. This supports children's emotional wellbeing and their continuity of care. Babies and new children are developing confidence to move away from their key person to explore their surroundings and the resources that are set out for them to play with. The nursery provides sufficient cots and beds that allow babies and children to rest and sleep in comfort. Staff regularly check sleeping children to help promote children's health, safety and wellbeing at these times. Children learn how to evacuate the premises quickly in the event of an emergency, as they take part in regular fire drill practises with staff. However, weaknesses seen in the system for risk assessments and also staff's lack of vigilance outdoors means that

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

children's security and safety cannot be fully assured.

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

Children behave appropriately. Staff encourage children to care for each other, resources and the environment. Older children play cooperatively with their friends, sharing and taking turns with little or no prompting from staff. Consequently, children are beginning to demonstrate that they are able to form a relationship with others and work as part of a group. A number of the staff hold a valid paediatric first aid training certificate and are able to provide appropriate care for children in the event they sustain minor injuries.

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

Children benefit from a healthy diet. They receive a range of nutritious meals and snacks that include fresh fruits and vegetables, pasta and rice dishes with chicken, mince meat or quorn as an alternative to meet with children's dietary requirements. Staff make drinking water available to children at all times. As a result of this, children help themselves to fresh drinking water throughout session and demonstrate that they are able to think about their personal needs. Staff offer babies regular drinks of water so that they do not get thirsty. Children have daily opportunities for physical activities, both indoors and outdoors, which contributes to children's health and physical development. Staff give encouragement to babies and young children when they attempt new movements, such as learning to crawl, walk and climb mini steps. Children use a range of play equipment, such as, tricycles, hoops, balls and push and pull along toys that help them to practise and

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provision

This inspection was brought forward by Ofsted because of a concern raised by a resident relating to safeguarding and the welfare of the children. The manager states that two young children were left outside in the communal play area unsupervised for a short period of time. In addition to this, residents of the building use a section of the communal play area as an exit route to go out onto the streets. Therefore, the residents entering or exiting the building will have direct access to the children. This has a significant impact on the wellbeing of the children. This inspection found that staff do not fulfil their responsibilities in meeting aspects of the safeguarding and welfare requirement, in particular, the safe management of the children. This is because they are not sufficiently vigilant to help ensure children are safe at all times. The manager does not take sufficient steps to monitor and review how well safe practices are implemented by staff when

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provision

Staff carry out daily risk assessments at the beginning of the day and complete safety checks before closing time to prepare the nursery for the children's arrival in the morning. However, the system for risk assessment is restrictive because staff and managers are too reliant on the existing information on the daily safety check list. They do not take a child's eye view of the outdoors to continuously assess children's safety. For example, the manager and staff are not aware of the gap beneath the external gate that a child can crawl under. They do not take account of the level of supervision for children when moving children from outside to indoors to ensure that all children are accounted for. Incidents are recorded but risk assessments are not regularly reviewed to ensure consistently high standards. As a result, the current system is not effective for reducing hazards to children outdoors and therefore is a breach of the welfare requirement. With

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provision

the exception of the record of the risk assessment, all other mandatory records relating to nursery activities are in place and appropriately maintained. In response to the last inspection, the staff now increase opportunities to help promote babies and young children's creative development. The manager includes staff's input in the self-evaluation process and together they are aware of the nursery's strengths and what they generally need to improve to support children's outcomes.

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provision

The manager demonstrates an understanding of the procedure for safer recruitment. She makes sure that the staff she employs to look after children are suitable to do so. The manager has put in place suitable a induction programme to help new staff become familiar with the nursery policies, procedures and routine of care and learning for children. She offers staff regular appraisals and supervision that identifies their training needs and professional development. Consequently, staff are able to demonstrate their understanding of the learning and development requirements as they follow the children's lead when setting up activities. They also link children's assessments to activities plans to meet the children's individual and group learning needs. The staff carry out peer observations on each other to help develop their practice in order to promote children's learning and development. The staff's relationship with parents is friendly and supportive.

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provision

Staff welcome parents in the setting and work with them to help with their child's settling in arrangements. Staff encourage parents to contribute to an initial assessments so that the staff gain a knowledge of children's individual needs, routine care and development when they start. This helps to ensure that children individual routine is put in place immediately and to enable staff to know children's stage of children's development from the outset. The staff and parents regular sharing of information supports children's learning from nursery to home. The staff work closely with parents and external agencies to help ensure that the specific needs of children with various abilities are planned for and 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 EY265143 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 954517 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 98 Number of children on roll 145 Name of provider Matchbox Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 22/05/2012 Telephone number 020 7987 6296

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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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