Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery

Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery 1 Springvale Terrace, London, W14 0AE

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 27/05/2014 20/06/2011

p.1

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

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Recruitment procedures are not robust to ensure the suitability of all staff. Staffing arrangements do not ensure children are effectively supervised in their learning.  Risk assessments do not cover all aspects of the environment to ensure children's safety is fully protected. In addition, staff lack knowledge of good hygiene procedures and not all children go outdoors daily for fresh air and exercise.  Although a key-person system is in place, it is not embedded into practice and staff lack understanding of the key-person's role in supporting children to develop secure attachments. In addition, staff do not maintain the attendance register accurately.  Staff do not ensure they plan effectively to support all seven areas of learning and do not provide sufficient interesting activities to fully engage all children. In addition, staff do not encourage children to think and extend their vocabulary.

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 The manager is ineffective in monitoring the nursery provision and does not have secure systems in place to manage staff performance. In addition, there is lack of space in the nursery to have confidential discussions with parents or staff.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 Staff have a secure understanding of how to safeguard children and of the procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child to help keep them safe.

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 compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spent the majority of inspection time observing the children in the nursery as they played.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled children's information and development records, staff records, and policies and procedures.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the manager throughout the visit, including about safeguarding.  The inspector discussed the nursery with a number of parents.  The inspector and manager conducted a joint observation in the baby room.

p.2

Information about the setting

Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery registered in 2010. It operates from a two storey building in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The ground floor is used for children over two years and the under two's room is situated on the first floor. Children have access to an enclosed, outdoor play area to the front and back of the nursery. Access to the first floor is via stairs. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm, all year round, apart from bank holidays. There are currently a total of 80 children in the early year age range on roll. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 15 staff. Of these, 11 staff hold appropriate childcare qualifications. Four staff are currently training for a childcare

p.3

must:

 ensure recruitment and vetting procedures are rigorous to safeguard children effectively, and there is an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check obtained for all members of staff

p.4

must:

 ensure that the risk assessment identifies aspects of the indoor and outdoor environment that need to be checked on a regular basis, when and by whom those aspects will be checked, how the risk will be removed or minimised, and the suitability of the resources for the age and stage of the younger children

p.4

must:

 ensure all staff have good knowledge of how to help children develop their communication and language well by increasing children's vocabularies, developing their listening skills, and providing more encouragement for children to talk and comment on their play activities

p.4

must:

 improve the planning to ensure that purposeful play and experiences are delivered through a suitable balance of adult-led and child-initiated play, and planning allows for children to be independent in their choice of play and routines

p.4

must:

 improve the systems for ensuring the good health of children, in particular ensuring that all staff have a secure understanding of the importance of effective hygiene particularly when preparing baby feeds

p.4

must:

 ensure there is an area where discussions between staff or parents can take place confidentially

p.4

must:

 improve the key-person system so that key persons are available to support the children and parents for whom they take special responsibility, right from the settling-in stage

p.4

must:

 ensure there are suitable arrangements for the deployment of staff to enable children to be adequately supervised indoors and outside

p.4

must:

 improve the arrangements for the monitoring and supervision of staff who have contact with children and families to ensure this identifies any practice issues and provides coaching to improve staff effectiveness

p.4

must:

 ensure that an accurate daily record is maintained of the hours of children's attendance  ensure that outdoor activities are planned and all children are taken outdoors on a daily basis.

p.4

who attend

Staff knowledge about the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage is limited. They are not supporting children's learning well enough and consequently, children are not making sufficient progress across all areas of learning. Staff have methods in place for observing and assessing children's development. Records for children who have been attending for longer periods of time, mostly have a wide range of observations and staff attempt to identify the next steps of learning for these children. However the newer and younger children's developmental folders contain limited or no settling-in observations to support the process for a baseline assessment. In addition, as the key-person system is not embedded into practice, a number of staff care for these younger age children. They have little idea of their interests, which leads to children becoming upset and crying.

p.5

who attend

Although staff in the two- to five-year-olds room spend time planning specific activities for individual children's needs and interests, these plans are not always evident in the activities provided. Children have free flow access between the two downstairs rooms and access into the back garden during the day. However, staff present insufficient toys to children and there are a number of tables left empty. Toys are stored in pockets around the rooms to enable children to self-select; however, they are not aware of this and a number of children wander around with little interaction from staff.

p.5

who attend

Children are not supported enough in developing their language and communication skills. This is because not all staff are confident in encouraging children to talk, or in extending children's vocabularies and conversation skills during activities. For example, children enjoy taking part in a planting activity where the staff provide instructions. However, staff do not talk enough about this process to fully engage the children. As there are limited indoor activities set up, most children choose to play outdoors. They have great fun jumping and splashing in a puddle in the walk-in sand pit. They also enjoy hunting for bugs outside and look closely at their features when they find a bug. However, the outdoor area is not set up to support all areas of learning. Furthermore, the outdoor resources are left out in the rain and as result are soaking wet and weather damaged, making them unsuitable to play with. Overall, staff promote some skills for children's

p.5

who attend

readiness for school, encouraging the older children to develop their self-care skills, such as toileting and hand washing. Displays around the room demonstrate older children take part in learning to write their names.

p.5

who attend

Staff practice in the one- to two-year-old room is variable, and at times poor. This results in some staff not fully understanding how to promote babies' learning fully, or how to meet their needs well. For example, senior staff are disorganised and plan for new parents to visit during the core hours during the morning. This takes them away from spending quality time with the babies in their care. The remainder of the staff, who have less experience, become over-stretched trying to pacify babies when they become upset and are unable to give them the reassurance and cuddles they need. In addition, staff do not ensure there are sufficient interesting resources to capture children's interests. Consequently, this significantly affects their development as they are not emotionally secure and confident to explore their surroundings and learn through play.

p.5

who attend

Practice in the room for the children under one-year-olds is better and children in this room are more settled and generally happy. They enjoy exploring their environment and have opportunities to practise their early physical skills as they crawl or roll around the room, investigating the resources. Staff are sensitive to these children's needs, quickly identifying for example, when young babies need to have a sleep. However, these children become fractious at mealtimes due to the poor organisation and lack of staff to help feed the babies. This results in two staff trying to feed three babies at a time, and therefore the babies having to wait for their turn. Children in the downstairs room have regular daily opportunities to go outside to play. However, the outdoor area is not used as well for the children under two years. This means that the youngest children do not have opportunities for fresh air everyday.

p.6

who attend

There are overall, adequate systems in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This involves working in partnership with other agencies, such as speech therapists, where individual education plans are set for particular children.

p.6

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

The nursery has a key-person system in place. However, this is not embedded into everyday practice as staff do not fully understand the importance of their role in meeting children's emotional needs. This is particularly noticeable for new children settling-in and results in some children being upset and quite distressed at times. Staff fail to recognise the importance of emotional attachment for the very young children. They do not plan quality and meaningful times with their new key children to develop a secure and trusting relationship. As a result, a number of young children show signs of distress during the day, crying often and generally being unhappy. This shows the nursery staff and management are not promoting children's well-being adequately.

p.6

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

The nursery is comfortable and has ample space for children to move around in and explore the environment. Staff have recently made changes to the layout of the downstairs playroom, making the two rooms into a free-flow area. This means that all the children, some who are still under two-years-old, up to school age, have access to the whole of the downstairs. However, staff are not deployed effectively to supervise children and support their learning and as a result, this leads to a number of children wandering and sometimes being unsupervised. Furthermore children's safety and well-being are compromised by the weak systems in place for risk assessment. Although staff conduct daily checks on the premises, there are a number of potential hazards that the manager and staff have not identified. For example children have access to the outside fire escape stairwell, the kitchen is accessible to children, small pieces of toys are accessible to young

p.6

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

children and the staff team fail to show awareness of the potential hazard of giving whole grapes to young children. Nonetheless, the nursery has effective security systems in place and any visitors need to ring the doorbell and show their identification before entering the premises.

p.7

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

Overall, most children's personal social and emotional development is fostered soundly; children have formed some good friendships and play well together. Children show kindness and understand about taking turns. Staff manage children's behaviour well and use positive strategies to deal with any minor issues that may occur.

p.7

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

Children's specific health, dietary needs and allergies are recorded to help staff to ensure children's individual needs are catered for. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and follow suitable hygiene practices as they take responsibility for washing their hands appropriately. Staff attend to the younger children's hygiene needs to support their health. However, one member of staff is designated to routines, such as nappy changing, rather than the key person taking responsibility for their own individual children. This does not support young babies' security. Staff understanding of ensuring good hygiene is maintained for the preparation and storage of young babies' bottles is poor. Staff do not ensure that the milk refrigerator is clean and that bottles have a lid attached to prevent the sterilised teats from contamination. This practice compromises the very young babies' good health.

p.7

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

Children are provided with a healthy and nutritious meal cooked by the nursery chef during the day. The chef takes responsibility for having discussions with parents if their child has any special dietary requirements. In addition, he ensures that he orders as much as possible of organic and fresh produce. Children under two years are offered full fat milk and children over two years are offered semi-skimmed milk, together with regular drinks of water and home-baked snacks and fresh fruit. Children sit together for their meals, creating a social time.

p.7

provision

This inspection took place following a concern raised to Ofsted regarding whether staff are supervised and receive appropriate training to meet the children's needs, including the effectiveness of the key person system; babies having access to inappropriate unsafe resources and inappropriate activities for all children; staff deployment and child supervision, and the hygiene arrangements for the preparation of milk feeds. There were also concerns relating to some aspects of the learning and development requirements. In addition, a second separate concern was raised to Ofsted regarding that children are given foods that parents have specifically requested as forbidden, and that some staff have not had their suitability checks completed.

p.7

provision

This inspection found that overall leadership and management of the nursery are currently ineffective. This has a significant impact on children's welfare, and their learning and development. It was found that recruitment procedures are inadequate as the manager does not ensure that all staff have a Disclosure and Barring Service check completed at the start of their employment to assess their suitability to work with children. This is also a breach of the Childcare Register requirements. There are ineffective supervision arrangements and training in place to support staff in understanding their roles and responsibilities. In particular, although a key-person system is in place, this is not working effectively. Staff do not understand their role in supporting new children to settle and do not work sensitively with the parents to help them develop secure attachments with their key children to support their well-being. There are sufficient staff working with children to

p.7

provision

meet the ratio requirements. However, staff are not always efficiently deployed to make sure children's learning is supervised effectively. In addition, staff lack awareness of providing a stimulating learning environment that covers all areas of learning. Evidence found that risk assessments do not accurately identify all hazards in the nursery and there are some small pieces of toys accessible to the younger children in the downstairs room. It was also found that some hygiene procedures were unsuitable. In particular, staff lack knowledge of ensuring good hygiene is maintained for the preparation and storage of baby bottles. There are adequate procedures in place to support children with dietary needs. However, the manager admitted that a child had been given food that parents had requested was forbidden due to their preference. In addition, the provider is not meeting the learning and development requirements relating to children's communication and

p.8

provision

language or the planning of activities to ensure outcomes for children are promoted adequately. As a result of the inspection findings, the provider is required to take further action. This is because they are not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements, or the learning and development requirements, of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.8

provision

It was found at the inspection that the manager suitably interacts with staff; however the organisation of the available space within the nursery does not provide a suitable area for confidential discussions to take place to prevent conversations being overheard. Self- evaluation systems are in place but are ineffective as they do not identify the weaknesses of the setting. Nonetheless, staff have a sound understanding of the safeguarding policy and know what action to take if they are concerned about a child. They implement appropriate procedures for the use of mobile phones and cameras, which supports the protection of children. Five of the staff have an appropriate first-aid qualification which means that they are able to respond to children's needs quickly. Most documentation, such as accident and medication records, are maintained. However, staff lack awareness of completing the daily register of attendance as children arrive and therefore are not

p.8

provision

always aware of how many children are present to ensure their safety. This is also a breach of the Childcare Register requirements.

p.8

provision

Overall, the partnership with parents and carers is weak. Parents report that staff are friendly and keep them informed about their child's day. In addition they say their child enjoys the nursery, particularly stating that the nursery is very flexible with the childcare arrangements. However, newer parents are not given adequate support by the key carer to help them in the settling-in process. Communication is through daily verbal feedback and the use of daily diaries for the children. Staff are considering ways to encourage parents to share their child's experiences at home to support the planning in the nursery.

p.8

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

p.9

To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 improve the systems for ensuring any person caring for, or in regular contact with, children is suitable to do so and which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check  undertake a risk assessment of the premises and equipment and ensure all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks to children  keep a daily record of the names of the children looked after and their hours of attendance.

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 EY419565 Local authority Hammersmith & Fulham Inspection number 975860

p.11

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 84 Number of children on roll 80 Name of provider Mark Antony Crosby Date of previous inspection 20/06/2011 Telephone number 02034909326

p.11

Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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