Kids Universe Montessori and Day Nursery (Kenton)

Kids Universe Montessori and Day Nursery (Kenton) 120 Preston Hill, Harrow, HA3 9SJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 14/05/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff support children extremely well to settle and to build relationships in the nursery. This creates a happy, vibrant and upbeat environment where staff meet children's individual care and welfare needs to extremely high standards.  Staff plan successfully and engage children in interesting and stimulating activities across all areas of learning.  Staff deployment and implementation of the nursery's policies is a strength of the nursery's practice. This enables the nursery staff to safeguard children very well.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 On occasions, staff miss opportunities to challenge children's thinking skills and entice them to learn more. This slightly reduces opportunities for children to continually seek to learn more.

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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 compulsory part 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 children's activities indoors and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children, looked at children's assessment records and discussed activity plans with the manager and staff.  The inspector carried out joint observations with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation and discussed self-evaluation and improvement plans with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents.

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Information about the setting

Kids Universe Montessori and Day Nursery (Kenton) registered in 2013. It operates from a purpose built building in Brent in the London Borough of Brent. The nursery is privately owned. Children who are aged two years and over are cared for on the ground floor and there is provision for babies on the first floor. Washing, toilet nappy changing facilities are in close proximity to the areas in which children are located. There is an enclosed outdoor play area including a covered area to which provides shelter for children. The nursery is open from Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, 51 weeks of the year. Children may attend a sessional or full time. There are currently 60 children on roll. The provision supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery is registered on the

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Information about the setting

Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are 17 members of staff and they all hold relevant childcare qualifications including five members of staff who hold relevant degrees. The joint manager has Early Years Professional Status as well as a BA Honours degree.

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

 increase staff's ability to entice children to want to do more by extending their chosen activities, by providing more opportunities for children to write for many different purposes and to experiment to extend their interest.

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who attend

Staff consistently plan for children's learning across all areas. They routinely and accurately assess children skills and knowledge. This enables staff to monitor children's activities and experiences to ensure that they are engaging with all aspects of the areas of learning. Staff plan children's learning based on their experiences and their interest. They successfully use this information to provide learning opportunities for children that are interesting, stimulating and in keeping with their developmental stages. As a result, all children are working comfortably in their expected developmental expectations. Children engage fully in many purposeful activities and their activities are enjoyable and fun. Even so, staff do not always stretch children's learning and entice children to find out more. This reduces, on occasions, opportunities for children to extend learning at a better pace.

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who attend

Children work in mixed group outdoors; they have fun and get fresh air as well as exercise. They increase their physical ability as they ride wheeled toys. Staff use these activities to extend children's understanding of the world. For example, when buying petrol, the staff introduce numbers to the activity, which helps children to begin to understand that they exchange goods for money. Children gain increasing understanding of the natural world as they play excitedly in the mud kitchen. They learn to use a range of tools and implements in their pretend play. Staff engage with children and asks some open questions, which encourages them to listen, speak and give information, thus promoting communication and language very well. Children explore the garden using magnifying glasses; they are very interested in the insects and bugs. However, staff miss opportunities for the children to develop early writing within the activities, such as to

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who attend

record their findings. Nevertheless, staff draw children's interest and hold their focus as they talk about the snails and slugs that they are caring for in the nursery. Staff provide children with information about these creatures, as well as where they live. For example, the children learn that some of the snails must stay indoors where it is warm, because they originate from Africa and those snails that live in the nursery garden love wet damp conditions. Staff readily gain children's attention and they are very enthusiastic in their engagement with the children. However, they miss some opportunities to challenge children's thinking to deepen their knowledge and understanding. Children are learning about the seasons and developing their understanding of time. For example, they learn to be patient as they nurture seedlings and learn about the essentials elements that all living things need.

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who attend

Across the nursery, children enjoy books and stories. Children learn to recognise their names and that of others as they self register. They are also learning that words carry different meanings. Some of the children show confidence in the use of some phonic sounds and are beginning to make real connections. For example, some children explain that 'A' is for Africa and Asia; these countries are very common to a member of the children's cultural experiences. The range of resources that children use, such as sand, soil, felt tip pens and a range of other messy play resources, enable children of all ability to practise early writing and increase their sensory experiences. Babies explore treasure baskets and they enjoy the challenge of hide and seek. Staff support them well to begin to start solving problems, such as where the item might be when it is out of sight. Children's trusting relationships with staff allows them to show their emotions, For example, the

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who attend

nursery is a very happy environment because staff respond positively to every child and children laugh readily. The extremely well equipped nursery and the effective deployment of staff is a strength. . Children play outdoors throughout the day under staff's supervision. This enables children to spend as much time in the environment where they learn best. Staff are empowering children to make these choices from very early ages. For example, staff make sure that the youngest children who are not able to make the choice, engage in outdoor play daily. Staff are promoting children's personal, social and emotional development extremely well. Children are making good progress in their learning and development in readiness for school.

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

The nursery practices focuses extremely well on supporting children to form strong emotional bonds with the staff who are caring for them. This goes a very long way to ensuring that staff treat each child as an individual. Staff engage fully with parents to settle children and this equips them with deep knowledge of individual children. They work closely with parents and give the highest priority to meeting children's individual needs whether based on cultural needs, children or parents preference. Staff are meticulous in the personal care of the youngest children and those in need of additional support. For example, staff know the individual ways in which parents give the babies their food. Therefore, although at lunchtime children eat together, the ways in which staff support children to enjoy their food are as individual as the children. For example, it is usual to see staff feeding the youngest children with their fingers, if this is their cultural experience and

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

in keeping with their parents weaning practices. Staff know how each child enjoys their milk and their step-by-step comfort routines. Staff are always alert to children's care needs and cheerfully give children the individual and personal care that reflects their home experience. Children in the nursery are very happy and engaging; they experience care that is expertly tailored to their individual needs with a very strong focus on continuously supporting and promoting children's personal, social and emotional development.

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

The nursery's settling-in procedure works extremely well because it enables staff to engage with parents and children fully to identify children's starting points. For example, staff make sure that they find out the correct pronunciation of every child's name. All staff identify children by their names and this helps to affirm children's individuality. The nursery provides for children from diverse cultural backgrounds. The staff team reflects this well, and they use the information to the advantage of the children. For example, a child's key person may also share their cultural experiences and or home language and this is particularly useful for children who are learning as an additional language. Staff engage closely with parents to learn how best to use children's home language to promote their learning. They use children's home language along with other resources including, bilingual staff, and picture exchange to support children's learning of English and this

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

positively promotes inclusion. Parent praise the staff highly for their interest and engagement with themselves. There are clear and precise individual educational plans in place for children with special education needs and/or disabilities. There are effective systems in place, which the manager, key persons, parents and educational professionals use to strictly monitor, review, and target the development of these children. This ensures that they are all proactive to implement the best strategies that keeps these children moving forward at a good pace overall from their starting points.

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

Staff share detailed and precise information with parents daily and this helps parents to gain good an insight about how their children are learning in the early years. Parents know that in additional to planned reviews, they are very welcome to look at their children's records and learning journals, which includes pictures of their work and play. These records help parents to understand more about their children's learning experiences in the early years. Parents state that they welcome this information because it helps them to engage with their children's learning and extend activities at home. There is an excellent range of resources readily available for staff to meet children's education and welfare needs. Nursery staff make full use of its resources, including outdoors to provide deep and broad learning experiences for all of the children.

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

Senior managers and nursery staff engage with programmes that are specially designed to promote excellence in healthy lifestyles for children in the early years. They use information for such programmes to ensure that all children eat balanced and nutritious foods and their meals include foods from the main food groups. The preparation of children's food in the nursery enables children to eat healthily. Additionally, it enables staff to meet children's dietary requirements and parents preferences for their children. Staff know children's dietary requirements and they support children extremely well to enjoy their meals safely. In addition to nutritious foods, all children get plenty of fresh air and exercise each day. Staff act promptly to take excellent care of children personal hygiene needs and to assure their emotional well-being. Additionally, they support older children to begin to understand and act on their needs independently. For example, through planned

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

activities, children learn about the importance of brushing teeth; children drink when they are thirsty, particularly when playing outdoors. They use tissues independently and start to understand practise that reduces the spread of infection between individuals. These practices and activities, along with routines such as hand washing and dressing properly in consideration to the weather, are promoting children's understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles.

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

The nursery is safe and secure for children and all of the nursery equipment is properly maintained. Children are not able to leave the premises unsupervised and all of the areas available to them show high standards of hygiene. The meticulous safety practices and staff's consistently close supervision of children, minimises risks to children and promote their understanding of personal safety. Additionally, staff enable children to take some risks in controlled environments. For example, as they use gardening tools, climbing and running the garden. Children are learning that different rules apply in different situations. For example, they know that they are allowed to run in the garden, but they must walk carefully indoors or on the road going to the park.

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

Staff redirect children and help them to understand how to make better choices and this helps children to learn to manage their behaviour. Children are learning why it is important to share and be considerate to others. Children behave well; they are responsive to the staff and they show respects for their friends. Children are learning to listen and respond positively to the adults who are caring for them and this prepares them well for school. Parents state that children are learning extremely good manners, developing high confidence and excellent social skills through their learning experiences at nursery.

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provision

The nursery leadership team implements policies and procedures very well and meets the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements for learning and development and safeguarding and welfare. Staff's practice in respect of the contribution to children's well being is excellent overall. Consequently, the children are extremely happy, well settled and they experience care that is expertly tailored to their individual needs. Although the quality of teaching and learning in all area is not as consistent, there are effective systems in place for planning delivering and monitoring educational programme. This includes the tracking of children's learning and developmental experiences. Children make good progress from their starting points, they are well on their journey towards the early learning goals at a pace that is in keeping with the expectation for their developmental stage, and this serves them well in readiness for school.

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provision

Staff are clear of their role to safeguard children and are familiar with the nursery's policies. They are knowledgeable about child protection matters and clear about what to do if they have concerns about any child's well-being. The necessary contact details for the local safeguarding agencies and Ofsted are displayed in the nursery and included in their policy. This enables staff and parents to act immediately if concerns arise about children's well-being. All adults in the nursery are properly checked through the suitable person's procedure as an integral part of the nursery's safer recruitment practices. This ensures that children are only alone with suitable adults.

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provision

Effective deployment of staff and well-established policies helps to implement safeguarding very well for the benefit of the children in all areas. There are clear systems for the management and supervision of all staff. These include regular staff meetings, supervision and staff appraisals. There are good systems in place to evaluate the nursery's overall performance and parent's staff and children contribute to the evaluation process. The management team is using reflective practice and self- evaluation effectively to inform the nursery's action plan, thus driving continual improvement. Although the nursery has only operated for short period, the leadership team is determined to achieve the best outcomes in all aspects of its performance. Therefore, they capitalise on the strengths of the local authority's training opportunities and advisors and gain valuable input from educational professionals, parents, children and staff.

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provision

Parents praise the staff and leadership team for the very good quality information they share and they refer to the home and nursery link books and newsletters. They praise the staff for their positive use and value of children's home language and cultural experiences. They state that staff use children's home language to promote their speaking and understanding in English. Staff in the nursery have completed some assessments for children at age two and they engage fully with parents when doing so. The senior staff review each of these records and this ensures that correct strategies are in place for individual children and that the reports meet the requirements. Additionally, there are good systems in place to support children's transition into school.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 EY471426 Local authority Brent Inspection number 943691 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 41 Number of children on roll 60 Name of provider Little Learners Pre-School (UK) Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07956286572

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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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