Magic Roundabout Nurseries Ltd

Magic Roundabout Nurseries Limited Roberts Hall, 161 Wadham Road, London, E17 4HU

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/03/2014 23/01/2014

p.1

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

p.1

This provision requires improvement

 Provision for children age under two years is good in all aspects. Staff provide particularly good opportunities for this group of children to learn and develop through sensory and creative play.  The nursery is well-resourced with equipment to encourage children's physical development. For example, children learn to use the climbing and balancing equipment safely showing confidence and skill

p.1

It is not yet good because

 Staff lack the expertise to fully support children with special educational needs and disabilities, and deal with challenging behaviour. Not enough is done to help all children to make good progress in their communication and language development.  Systems for monitoring the overall effectiveness of the provision fail to identify the weaknesses in teaching practice, organisation, deployment and use of space. Staff receive insufficient support and training to help them to meet children's individual needs.  Parents are not involved enough in reviewing and planning for children's progress, albeit this is being targeted for improvement.  There are not always enough staff based in the rooms for children age two to three and three to four years to meet the needs of all children.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's play in all group rooms and outdoors.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of records and documentation relating to safeguarding and welfare and learning development.  The inspector spoke to parents and took account of their views.  The inspector spoke to staff and held meetings with the manager and provider.

p.2

Information about the setting

Magic Roundabout Day Nursery registered in 1994 and is situated in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The nursery operates from a purpose-built building, which is situated behind a row of shops in a semi-residential area on the Walthamstow and Chingford border. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register, as well as the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The setting's nursery provision provides full and part time day care to children in the early years age range, from age three months. The setting also provides a breakfast, after school and holiday club service for school age children. The setting operates each weekday between 7.30am to 7pm for 52 weeks of the year. There are currently 72 children on roll in the nursery and 17 children in the out of school provision. The setting is in receipt of funding for free early education for children age three and four years. The setting supports children with special educational needs

p.3

Information about the setting

and/or disabilities, and children learning English as an additional language. A total of 21 staff are employed to work with the children. Eight staff hold early years level 3 qualifications, seven hold level 2 one of whom is working towards achieving a level 3. One member of staff has a bachelor of arts degree in early years and one member of staff is working towards achieving Early Years Teacher accreditation. The manager is working towards achieving a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in leadership and management.

p.3

must:

 improve the effectiveness of self-evaluation by enabling leaders to carry out more regular observations of staff's teaching and care practices, such as in relation to their use of time, space, resources; use the information to help inform staff's professional development and to ensure they receive training and mentoring to gain the necessary skills for supporting children's individual needs

p.4

must:

 review, evaluate and improve the use of space indoors and outdoors, and deployment of staff within the preschool room to enable staff time to engage with all children for longer periods to extend and challenge their progress.

p.4

must:

 ensure that staff in the designated position of 'special educational needs coordinator' fully understand their role and responsibility to support and guide staff in implementing individual educational plans, and in acting as advocates for this group of children so that they consistently receive the specialist external support they need in preparation for their transfer to school.

p.4

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

 strengthen partnerships with parents to engage their full involvement in helping to plan for children's further learning and development.

p.4

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

 support all children's communication and language development further, for example by making more use of open-ended questioning, visual aids, and physical actions when communicating with children with speech and language delay.

p.4

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

 increase opportunities for children to recognise their name in print, for instance by providing name cards at the snack cafe so children can register their attendance; to also further ensure children's attendance at the snack cafeis well monitored

p.4

who attend

Most children make steady progress in their learning and development and are suitably prepared for school. Staff's use of assessment and planning is developing steadily. Staff identify children's starting points for learning by asking parents to complete an 'all about me form' about their children's interests and abilities and by completing their own observations of children while they play. They ask parents of children learning English as an additional language to provide a list of key words in their home language to help them communicate with children. A system for tracking children's progress, from their starting points, through a process of continual review is being implemented. However, parental involvement in this is not fully established for all children. Nonetheless, the statutory progress check for two year old children is completed by staff and shared with parents. Staff recognise gaps in children's achievement and appropriately refer children, with

p.4

who attend

parental consent, to external agencies for additional support. When this support is actively secured staff work well in partnership with other professionals to implement individual educational plans. However, when external agency support waivers and individual educational plans have past their review date, insufficient action is taken to address this. The nursery's systems for monitoring the effectiveness of support plans for children are not rigorous enough. For some children with special educational needs progress is limited because staff do not always pay enough attention to ensuring children are provided with appropriate activities. Neither do they use visual strategies, such as pictures, basic sign language, and props to support children's communication and language when advised to do so.

p.5

who attend

Staff are secure in their knowledge and understanding of the areas of learning and how children learn through play. Babies and young toddlers benefit from a wide range of sensory play opportunities. For example, they have a wonderful time playing in the indoor sandpit with a good selection of toys and tools. They make patterns and marks in shaving foam using their fingers and hands, and discover weight, shape and texture as they explore and experiment with everyday objects and materials. Staff support young children's communication and language by repeating words clearly, engaging them in action rhymes and by sharing picture books with them. However, there are no pictures or photographs displayed around the rooms of people, places and objects familiar to them to further encourage babble and talk.

p.5

who attend

Staff caring for children aged over two years set out a range of activities, inside and outside, each day which provide for all areas of learning. For example, there are designated areas for looking at books, role-play, using mathematical equipment and the computer, and arts and crafts. There are numbered bays to match numbered bikes for the intention of encouraging number recognition. Children have access to writing and painting outside. However, planning does not always provide sufficient challenge for the eldest and most able children. For example, while two year olds enjoy emptying and filling vessels with coloured water, older children are ready to engage in experiments, for instance with water channeling, but there are no resources provided for them to do this. Children show interest in learning as they load weighing scales with quantities of small cubes until the scales balance. Outdoors children, boys in particular, enjoy digging around in the soil pit

p.5

who attend

looking for small creatures, but staff do not provide additional resources, such as pots and magnifiers to enable them to examine their findings more closely. When staff read stories and engage children in small group activities, such as for identifying opposites, the outcomes for children are generally good. Staff recognise and exploit opportunities to engage children in spontaneous learning, for instance they help them examine giant hailstones when they suddenly appear. However, the environment for children age over two years is often chaotic. Staff spend more time supervising children than engaging them in sustained conversations, play and learning. This limits their progress.

p.5

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

Children's health and emotional needs are sufficiently met overall. Staff support children to settle into nursery life through a gradual parent separation process. Children are allocated to a particular member of staff who becomes their 'key-person'. This procedure has not been wholly effective for all children recently due to staffing difficulties, but this is beginning to work well now. All ages of children show they have positive relationships with staff. Children enjoy lots of cuddles. Babies and toddlers visit the room they are due to move into many times before transferring permanently so they are well prepared emotionally. Preschool staff help prepare children for school through equally as well through circle time discussions and related activities.

p.6

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

Most staff have a valid paediatric first aid qualification and promptly notice the onset of illness in children and take appropriate action, such as removing clothing and contact parents asking them to collect children. However, when parents do not arrive promptly children suffer because the nursery does not have enough staff to release one member of staff to care for the sick child.

p.6

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

Children arrive in the morning and happily separate from parents most of the time and enjoy attending. However, when they witness individual children demonstrating challenging physical behaviour they feel unsafe and insecure. Children respond well during fire evacuation practice showing good awareness of safety procedures. They calmly follow staff outside to the garden and wait while staff check the register. Staff encourages babies to develop self-awareness through mirror play which they love. Babies sleep at times consistent with their home routines in comfortable cots. Older children have mattresses and are watched closely by staff who sit in the room with them while they sleep. Children enjoy healthy meals. Staff sit with children and engage them in conversation during lunch, but miss opportunities to do likewise when children take their snack. Children learn to be independent by being encouraged by staff to serve themselves lunch and decide when to

p.6

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

take their mid-morning break and visit the snack caf. However, staff rely on keeping a mental note on who has visited and who has not, rather than implement a system for children to register their own attendance. This raises the possibility of staff missing the fact that some children may not have had a drink or snack. Pre-school children show good awareness of hygiene rules as they wash their hands and use the electric dryer independently before taking their snack.

p.6

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

The nursery premises are very spacious and well-resourced with toys, learning equipment and furniture. However, staff do not make best use of the space to meet the needs of the children. For example, there is a small sensory room which has calming fibre optic lights but this is currently not used; for a long time it has been used to store unwanted equipment. Although staff are vigilant in ensuring children are supervised, accidents do occur because so many children are outside together at the same time. Some children need constant reminders, which staff give, about safety when riding bikes around the garden to avoid colliding with others. The nursery is well resourced with challenging equipment to encourage children to engage in physically active play which provides a good level of challenge. Staff support children well when they use the equipment, for example by talking them through using their feet to negotiate the climbing rungs so they

p.6

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

reach the top of the climbing roof safely. Children have fun negotiating assault courses made by staff using vehicle tyres and raised planks for balancing. Indoors children enjoy taking part in physically active games and dancing. Young children climb up and crawl through apparatus both indoors and outdoors with confidence. Babies have ample floor space to develop their mobility.

p.7

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

Staff are caring and kind towards the children. They use positive language to encourage children to behave well and to raise their self-esteem. For example, at the end of a small group time activity staff tell children they are 'very happy with your listening today' and then award them all with a sticker. Staff manage typical minor misbehaviour well using distraction and clear explanations. However, they lack the expertise to deal with more challenging behaviour. For example, when children's behaviour becomes particularly challenging staff take them to a different room, but still one where other children are based, rather than use the calm environment of the sensory room.

p.7

provision

This inspection was brought forward by Ofsted as a result of multiple concerns. In the main these concerns are about the effectiveness of leadership, safety of the children, partnership with parents, behaviour management, provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the outcomes for children's learning and development. This inspection found that management demonstrate suitable knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, but are failing to fully meet requirements relating to staff qualifications, training and skills; equal opportunities; and information and records. The cause of breaches in requirements is, in the main, leadership's underdeveloped systems for monitoring and evaluating staff performance and the organisation of the provision, and failing to provide staff with appropriate levels of support and guidance to enable them to

p.7

provision

successfully fulfil their roles. . This inspection found that positive action is being taken by the provider to drive improvement, but the provision is not yet demonstrating the characteristics of good provision.

p.7

provision

The team are all clear about their responsibility to promote children's welfare and of the procedure to follow if they are concerned about a child. All staff complete child protection training and update this every three years. The setting's written policy statement includes detailed procedures that fully meet requirements. There are established procedures in place for recruiting, inducting, and vetting staff. A Disclosure and Barring Service check is carried out on all staff before they start work. These are updated every three years. Staff complete opening and closing checks on the premises to identify and remove potential hazards. There are some oversights, such as small amounts of collected rain water on the top of the sand trough, but overall staff carry out effective risk assessment. The manager reviews the records of accidents to identify any particular safety risks and takes steps to reduce accidents. For example, due to the number of injuries occurring during the use of

p.7

provision

soft play, such play is suspended while further safety considerations are made. There is an appraisal system in place which is used to identify a professional development plan, including training needs, for each member of staff. Management provide staff with regular training opportunities and staff are supported to achieve higher level qualifications. For example, two staff recently completed training related to supporting young children's communication and language. Staff share what they learn from training at staff meetings and whole team training days which take place three times per year. This shows management are committed to providing staff with training. However, staff's professional development plans are not linked closely enough to the needs of the children. For example, current staff are not trained to use sign language or specialist strategies for managing complex and challenging behaviour and supporting children with gaps in their

p.7

provision

personal, social and emotional development.

p.8

provision

The majority of the team are fairly new. A new deputy has been appointed, but has only been in post for a week and so is currently focussed on completing the nursery induction programme. The manager currently has taken on responsibility for behaviour management and designated special educational needs coordinator until new staff have completed training. She is also mentoring and coaching the new deputy. Therefore, not enough time is available for her to carry out direct and sustained observations and evaluations of teaching practice; to identify the most important priorities for improving staff practice, training needs and planning and delivery of the educational programs. Furthermore, pre- school staff are always working alongside each other and are very busy dealing with the children. This means that they do not have the time to fully observe and evaluate each other's practice. Opportunities, therefore, for staff to learn from each other's strengths

p.8

provision

and weaknesses and to notice gaps in their planning of activities, are missed.

p.8

provision

Management has identified, and is currently targeting, the gaps in provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Some children's individual educational plans have not been reviewed, updated or consistently followed. Intervention for some children has been sporadic although the responsibility for providing this does not lay entirely with the nursery. Management and staff work willingly with any external agencies involved with children. However, in some cases the nursery does not advocate strongly enough for children by communicating with these agencies to ensure they continue to receive their entitlement to additional support.

p.8

provision

Parents have access to and are informed about the nursery's policies and procedures. For example, they know how to make a complaint and are fully aware of the provider's responsibility in relation to responding to these complaints. Management handle complaints from parents appropriately. The nursery website informs parents of the food menu and how children's learning is supported through play. Some parents are fully satisfied with the nursery provision. However, others are concerned about the level of staff turn-over and the lack of information about 'what is going on'. Parents are also worried about behaviour management at the nursery. Some children at the beginning of the year were left with no allocated key person for a period, parents say, for up to two months. Management have not provided a newsletter for a long time, but firm plans are now in place to reintroduce one. The new team are currently focussed on making the key-

p.8

provision

person system a success and this includes full engagement with parents. However, while parent consultations are currently taking place, for some parents this will be the first time in two years. All this said management's period of instability is now behind them. There is an experienced deputy now in post, and virtually a new staff team who are dedicated to the children and very committed to improving their practice and outcomes for children. A culture of good reflective practice is emerging.

p.8

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

p.9

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

p.10

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.

p.10

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.

p.11

Setting details

Unique reference number 156213 Local authority Waltham Forest Inspection number 964979 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 120 Number of children on roll 72 Name of provider Magic Roundabout Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 23/01/2014 Telephone number 0208 523 5551

p.11

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.

p.11

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.11

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.

p.11

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.

p.11

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.

p.12

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,

p.12

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’.

p.13

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.13