St. Michael's Nursery

St.Michaels Nursery St.Michaels and All Angels Church, Knatchbull Road, London, NW10 8JX

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/07/2014 10/10/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 4 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children have developed close bonds with their key person. There are good links with parents which helps to ensure staff plan effectively for the individual care and learning needs of each child.  Children are well prepared for school. They are able to count in multiple numbers and demonstrate a range of self-help skills.  The setting offers a stimulating well-resourced environment to support each child's individual care and learning needs.  Children are able to make healthy choices as they have opportunities to grow their own fruit and vegetables. This encourages them to eat healthy during meal times.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Although children have opportunities to develop their independence in activities and free play, there are less opportunities during daily routines, such as mealtimes.  Staff are not always helping children to learn about taking turns during activities to fully promote their developing social 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

 The inspector observed practice throughout the setting.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held discussions with staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including policies, and the learning and development plans.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager.

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Information about the setting

St Michael's Nursery registered in 1992. It is one of three nurseries run by a private provider and operates from two large rooms within St Michaels and All Angels Church in Stonebridge, in the London Borough of Brent. It is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year round. There are currently 36 children on roll in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are eight members of staff, of whom seven hold appropriate early years qualifications, including two staff who hold Early Years Foundation degrees.

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

 promote children's independence further to encourage them to participate in their own learning routinely, for example, during mealtimes, and encourage children to help others by taking turns during activities.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is good because all staff have a secure knowledge of how children learn through play. They use this knowledge well, planning a broad and diverse programme of stimulating activities to extend and promote children's learning and development. The staff use planning, observation and assessment documents to monitor children's achievements and to assess their learning needs. There is an effective settling-in process. Staff use the information gained from parents as children join the nursery as the basis for the first steps in their earning. Staff use the interests of each child to plan for their individual learning, so children make good progress in relation to their starting points. The progress check at age two is shared with parents at a planned meeting, so they are fully aware of young children's recently acquired skills and how they can support them at home. Parents make good use of home observation sheets to share children's

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who attend

experiences from home. These are added to the children's learning journals so staff can build on events and support children's learning by talking about previous experiences they have enjoyed.

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who attend

Children have exciting opportunities to learn with a variety of good quality resources. The setting is bright and welcoming with a variety of pictures and posters to support learning, including languages of other cultures and daily routines. Staff observe all children as they play and use their observations to plan stimulating activities based on children's interests. Staff skilfully introduce additional resources into children's play and give them time to think about how to use them. For example, children explored flour in a tray. Staff extended this further by inviting the children to add water so that they developed their sensory skills. This activity helped to support children's imaginative play and encouraged exploration. This also demonstrated staff's knowledge of how children learn through play.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to be active throughout the day. They understand the benefits of physical activity, being healthy and keeping fit through play opportunities and discussions. For example, children participate in growing their own fruit and vegetables in the garden. The children are encouraged to make their own choices in activities as much as possible. They also have opportunities to learn about floating and sinking during water play in the garden.

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who attend

Children are well prepared for school as the staff hold regular discussions during circle time about the children's move on to school. The children are currently learning French and an outside teacher holds two sessions a week with the older children. As a result, most pre-school age children are able to count in multiple numbers and they demonstrate this in English and French. Children successfully learn to use phonics through rhyme, and make marks as they develop their early writing skills, for example, when writing their name on their work.

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who attend

Staff take children on outings to extend their learning so that the children can participate in more challenging and risk-taking exercises and activities in a safe, supervised environment. Children are encouraged to be active throughout the day and understand the benefits of physical activity, being healthy and keeping fit through play opportunities and discussions.

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

Children are developing strong bonds with their key persons and the whole staff team. They are confident in seeking comfort from adults, who are kind and responsive to the children's individual care needs. A comprehensive settling-in process gives parents time to talk to their key person and for children to become confident in their surroundings. A well- understood open door policy enables parents to call in at anytime to talk about their children's needs. The nursery provides healthy and nutritious meals and snacks, in line with family and dietary requirements. All food is prepared on site by the nursery cook. She is a frequent visitor to the home rooms and children are very pleased to see her. Snack and lunch times are managed well. Staff sit with the children to teach them how to feed themselves and to help when needed. However, staff do not always fully encourage children's growing independence at meal and snacktimes because they do not involve

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

them in preparing their own snacks or serving themselves. Staff make children's well- being and safety a high priority. The manager ensures staff are appropriately deployed around the nursery to monitor children's well-being at all times. She ensures ratios are met and manages the rotas for early morning cover and staff breaks effectively. Children's behaviour is managed well by staff. They use distraction and simple explanations to help children learn what is acceptable behaviour. As a result, children's behaviour is good. Children learn how to manage their own safety. Staff teach them to be aware of children playing nearby and ask them to take care in the outside play area. They are reminded to play cooperatively. However, at times, there are too many children around activities as staff do not always help children to learn about taking turns so that others can also take part in the same learning experiences. Staff teach children about good personal care

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

through everyday routines. For example, children learn how to be independent as they put on their graduation outfits. The staff teach children the importance of a healthy lifestyle with a range of physical and sporting activities planned throughout the week. Children are developing good social skills overall. They are learning how to be part of a group; for example, the children participate in rehearsal for their graduation based around the history of Nelson Mandela. Children reiterate the story and communicate effectively demonstrating good communication skills and independence as they play well alongside their peers. This helps to ensure they are emotionally well prepared for new experiences, such as when they start school.

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provision

The team strive to deliver good quality care and learning for all children. Robust recruitment systems, staff appraisals and training ensures that all adults working with the children are suitable to do so. The nursery management and staff work with the Local Safeguarding Children Board and incorporate their guidance in the nursery safeguarding procedures. All staff have a good understanding of the safeguarding policy, ensuring any concerns about children's well-being are referred to the appropriate agencies. Risk assessments and effective daily routines help to ensure children are supervised at all times and staff care for children in a well-managed environment.

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provision

The management and staff have a strong commitment to continuous improvement and training. The manager works with her deputy to monitor staff performance. She conducts regular staff supervision meetings and appraisals so that she can discuss staff performance and identify any training needs. They work together to reflect on practice and identify any improvement needed. Regular team meetings, in-house training and courses run by the local authority help to support staff in their professional development. This enables them to promote children's learning through effective planning and learning opportunities. An evaluation process identifies strengths and weakness throughout the nursery. Management use effective action plans to ensure areas are identified and addressed to improve the outcomes for children. Staff and parents' views are sought to enable the manager to review the overall practice of the nursery, and to consistently

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provision

promote children's care and learning to a good level.

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provision

Partnership working with parents is good. Those spoken to at the time of the inspection talked about how much they valued their child's key person and how their children enjoyed coming to the nursery. Staff communicate on a daily basis with parents to share information about children's personal care needs, so both parents and key staff manage children's well-being to a good level. The nursery is informative, providing letters and newsletters which help to ensure parents are fully informed about day-to-day issues.

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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 137846 Local authority Brent Inspection number 963048 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 34 Name of provider Learning Tree Nursery Limited T/A St Michaels Nursery Date of previous inspection 10/10/2013 Telephone number 020 8965 3810 or 8965 7443

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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

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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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