Devonshire Day Nursery

Devonshire Day Nursery Bennett Street, Chiswick, London, W4 2AH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 31/07/2014 05/04/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 1 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

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This provision requires improvement

 Parents are kept fully informed about the activities and experiences children take part in; this enables them to extend learning at home and further support children's progress.  Staff follow closely children's initial care routines from home. As a result, there is a strong continuity between home and the nursery, and children settle well.  The nursery has effective links with external agencies which supports them to reflect upon the provision and gain access to specialised support for children as needed.

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It is not yet good because

 Induction procedures, particularly for agency staff, are not effective. Staff do not all demonstrate a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in supporting children's needs.  Staff do not manage children's behaviour consistently to help them learn about expectations and boundaries.  Staff do not always fully consider children's capabilities, skills and needs when providing support in order to develop their confidence and independence.  The quality of teaching is not consistent in all of the rooms to support all children to make good progress in their learning and development.

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors observed children's activities in the four rooms and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The lead inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager, and both inspectors held discussions with members of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors took account of the views of parents from a recent survey and discussions on the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors sampled the nursery documentation including policies, evaluations, learning journals and assessments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors saw evidence of the suitability of all persons working on the premises and other documentation in relation to the safeguarding and welfare requirements.

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Information about the setting

Devonshire Day Nursery registered in 2001 and is part of the nursery chain Childbase Limited. It operates from a converted, detached building situated in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year round. All children share access to an enclosed, outdoor play area. There are currently 122 children on roll in the early years age group. Children attend from the local area. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and also children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs a team of 33 staff, including the cook. Of these, 22 staff, including the manager, hold appropriate early years qualifications at levels 1 to 5 and two staff are working towards a qualification. Some of the unqualified staff work on an occasional basis,

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Information about the setting

for example, to cover staff illness or annual leave.

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must:

 ensure that all members of staff understand the policy and procedures for behaviour management to implement the policy effectively

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must:

 ensure all staff, including agency staff, receive effective induction training to cover their roles and responsibilities within the nursery

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must:

 establish good learning opportunities for all age groups of children in the nursery, by monitoring and developing staff practice, so that the quality of teaching is consistently good.

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

 further develop children's confidence and independence through consistently supporting their development according to their abilities and skills.

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who attend

Staff plan educational programmes that cover the seven areas of learning and know how to promote the learning and development of children. The quality of teaching is variable. For example, the staff's interaction with the older children and very youngest is consistently good. Staff are sensitive to the individual needs of the children and adapt activities to engage them in their learning. However, staff supervising children aged between one- and two-years-old sometimes insist they take part in activities when the children appear happy to observe. Staff also make assumptions about where children would like to play. This limits the choices that children are able to make about what to do and where to play. In addition, at times, staff use raised tones when speaking to children within this area, which contradicts the nursery's policy of using positive calm voices to support children's welfare. This demonstrates that some staff have limitations in their

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who attend

understanding of how children learn. As a result, they do not support effectively the current development needs of individual children which, in turn, prevents some children from making good progress.

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who attend

Throughout the nursery, children access resources indoors which are freely available to use or are located in labelled trays. This allows them to direct their own learning. Staff plan adult-led activities weekly to provide a more structured focus and to include the noted interests of children and their next steps. As a result, children make satisfactory progress towards the early learning goals in line with their individual needs.

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who attend

Staff plan regular access to the outside areas for all children which promotes children's physical development. Children pedal tricycles outside to develop their leg muscles and choose from balancing bowls, a seesaw and a house with a slide to develop the physical skills of climbing and balancing. However, children who are in rooms attached to the garden do not always have the freedom to move between the indoor and outdoor areas as the door remained closed. This again limits children's choice. Outside, during the inspection, children enjoyed a story and were encouraged to make the sounds of the animals so they engaged more. Children were given time to join in and take turns, which supported their understanding of socially acceptable behaviour. Staff used a puppet of each animal to add to the children's experience. Children clearly enjoyed learning about animals and the sounds they make as they laughed and smiled and attempted to copy the

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who attend

sounds. Furthermore, staff regularly sing with the children and explore beats using various instruments. As a result, children's communication and language is supported well.

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who attend

Most of the displays are bright and colourful, making the rooms an inviting place for children to learn. A few displays are less attractive and do not add value to children's learning. Children refer to their displayed work and current topics to reassess the learning they have taken part in. Children use telephones, keyboards and electronic resources to develop their use of technology and understanding of the world. A board display of flags and photographs shows the countries that children are from, promoting inclusion and a sense of belonging for each child. In addition, children speak in their home language with bilingual staff. This demonstrates a positive approach to the cultural diversity of the nursery. Children express their ideas and use their imaginations by exploring different textures, using tools and their hands to play with flour, water, paint in various colours and jelly. Children use the cosy areas made up of tents, cushions and blankets in each room to

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who attend

look through books or to take a rest as needed, for their health and well-being. Staff support children further in developing skills to assess their own personal needs by ensuring fresh drinking water is readily available. Staff promote children's readiness for school suitably. In the rooms for older children, they expect children to follow instructions and carry out tasks. Children listen well to each other during activities and learn to value the contributions that others make, developing their speaking and listening skills. Staff support children during the activities to solve problems and reach the correct answer, adapting their expectations in line with children's capabilities. Staff use transition bags to support children through times of change. For example, they use a starting-school bag to stimulate discussion on uniforms and the differences they will experience. The manager has established links with some other

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who attend

schools and invites teachers in to meet the children before they move on. Children use the available literacy areas to practise their early writing skills and begin to grasp name recognition. Staff include counting in many daily activities and introduce children to number use and early mathematics. As a result, children are beginning to prepare suitably for the next stage in their learning.

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who attend

Staff involve parents in their children's learning through plans they display at the door and through regular discussion. Parents contribute to their children's reviews and supply information about learning at home. Staff use this to plan activities tailored to each child's needs to support further their progress. Staff inform parents about the activities children take part in and their response to them, promoting continuity between home and the nursery. Staff complete regular observations on each child and a longer, more detailed one twice a month. They then assess children's skills, knowledge and abilities accurately and use this information to plan how to improve children's progress. They use national guidance to complete a development of progress review on each child every three months. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those learning English as an additional language receive good support. Staff work with a special needs coordinator to

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who attend

develop individual educational plans. This helps staff to close gaps in learning rapidly for particular groups of children and improve the progress that these children make.

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

Children show they are happy and generally enjoy their time at the nursery. They access their own photographed and named pegs to collect their belonging, and each child has a nursery bag to use. As a result, they are gaining a sense of belonging to the nursery. A key person is allocated to each child to care specifically for their needs and to act as the main point of contact between parents and the nursery. Children have a second key person who covers in cases of staff absence to ensure continuity of care for each child. Staff display this list by the main door of each room to keep parents informed. Parents complete an 'All about me' sheet before children start. This includes information about their children's likes, dislikes, their celebrations, key words and the routines of home. Staff use this information well to tailor activities and experiences for each child and offer them reassurance during this time. For example, staff show awareness of children who use

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

comforters and know the times when they will need these most, such as before lunchtime or when they are tired. Staff check sleeping children regularly for safety and use separate areas for preparing milk and food to avoid cross contamination. Staff support children to settle using a gradual process when starting at the nursery or moving between the rooms. Parents consult with staff during this time as they complete a settling-in and transition review. This allows parents and staff to share information to support children's well-being. Parents raised concerns about this aspect of their children's care, feeling they were not given enough time to settle into the next rooms. Therefore, the manager continually monitors each age group to adapt practice where necessary to suit the individual needs of all children, and their parents' wishes. As a result, children's personal, social and emotional development is adequately supported during this time.

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

Most children gain an appropriate understanding of what staff expect of them because positive behaviour management techniques are displayed within each room. For example, in the pre-school area, children are fully aware of the weather board representations as they volunteer when a child should be placed on the sad cloud. However, staff do not always have a sufficiently good understanding of agreed nursery strategies with regard to managing younger children's behaviour to apply these consistently. Staff members looking after the younger children provide different explanations for managing behaviour which means that children receive mixed messages about boundaries and expectations. In addition, not all staff are fully aware of the contents of the nursery's policies and procedures regarding the care of children. Consequently they do not meet all requirements for safeguarding and welfare. These are breaches of the Early Years

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

Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register.

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

Staff encourage children to socialise at mealtimes as they sit together and pass the serving spoon to the person next to them. Children wash their hands before eating at the low-level sinks, supported by the pictorial instructions displayed. This promotes safe hygiene practices and reduces the spread of germs. Children use cups without lids and serve themselves food, further promoting their independence. However, at times during the inspection, the younger children were not fully supervised during meal times. For example, as they drank from their cups, they repeatedly spilled water over themselves; staff automatically refilled their cups unaware of what had occurred. As a result, children's individual needs were not fully met.

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

Staff encourage children to try a range of healthy, nutritious and balanced food, for example, when children enjoyed a cottage pie with vegetables for lunch. All food is freshly prepared on the premises by a resident cook and the kitchen has been awarded a five-star food hygiene rating. The nursery has also been awarded a healthy early years setting award from the local authority. Robust procedures are in place regarding the support for particular children's dietary requirements or preferences through the use of different coloured mats, cups and plates. In addition, three separate staff check the food before they serve it to further protect children's welfare. Staff display posters of fruit and vegetables in this area to remind children of healthy choices that they can make. Children experience a regular visit from the dentist to promote their understanding of how to look after their teeth. In addition, younger children chose fruits to explore and tasted them on

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

a recent trip to the local vegetable stall, increasing their awareness of a healthy lifestyle.

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

Children enjoy regular fresh air and exercise as, in addition to use of the outdoor areas, they use the house and grounds of a large local house. They take part in weekly exercise provided by an outside sports company and practise yoga with a trained staff member. Children visit the library once a month and experience their local community further through experiences such as visiting a home for the elderly and taking handmade gifts to distribute. Children are beginning to gain awareness of personal safety through these outings. For example, when visiting the Natural History Museum, children safely used the zebra crossing and underground tube station.

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provision

This inspection took place after concerns were raised to Ofsted about to the management of children's behaviour. In particular, the concerns related to managing behaviour, safeguarding practice and policy, general suitable people matters, key persons, child supervision and staff deployment. The inspection found that managers of the nursery regularly carry out various self-evaluation processes to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the childcare provision. There are planned actions to overcome weaknesses in behaviour management, but the managers have not evaluated these effectively to ensure that their induction procedures for all staff, including those from agencies, provide a clear understanding of the policies and procedures of the nursery. For example, staff do not all use the nursery's positive reinforcement strategies and they are unable to explain the child protection procedures clearly with confidence. The monitoring of staff practice in

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provision

relation to the quality of teaching also lacks rigour, resulting in variable teaching practices between staff members. Therefore, the nursery does not meet all of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register.

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provision

However, parents and children are made to feel safe at the nursery through a secure entrance buzzer system and fencing surrounding all outdoor areas. Staff complete an accurate register of the children attending and these are kept within each room. In addition, all visitors are asked to sign in and out and all staff working with the children have received full Disclosure and Barring Service vetting clearance. This helps to safeguard children against any adults they have contact with. Staff maintain ratios at all times and the manager demonstrates a clear understanding of how to deploy staff in line with their levels of qualification. All required policies are in place and there is a designated lead person for safeguarding, behaviour management and first aid. Staff complete daily risk assessments and more detailed assessments are carried out routinely to help to keep children safe. The manager responds to, and investigates, all complaints received by

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provision

following the relevant procedures and identifying any areas to improve. Fire evacuation is practised every three months and fully documented to help children learn about their personal safety. Staff use evacuation cots to improve the manageability of exiting the building safely.

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provision

The nursery follows sound recruitment procedures when employing new staff. For example, they have to provide proof of identification and complete online training sessions before starting work at the nursery. Staff are involved in rolling supervision and have a regular personal development review. The managers use these to identify the specific training needs of each staff member and their current strengths. For example, after a recent supervision a staff member was allocated as the school liaison officer. Staff meetings are held every six weeks and include discussions on refresher training and the progress children are making. As a result, staff feel supported within their roles at the nursery. The manager attends regular meetings and forums which help her to remain up to date on the learning and development requirements. The nursery's vision for improvement focusing on quality includes plans to refurbish parts of the nursery, such as

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provision

laying new flooring to an outdoor area, and improving links to the main nursery website for parents.

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provision

The nursery has established a positive partnership with parents and regularly gains their views on the provision. Parents complete an annual survey and responses are displayed on a 'You said - we did' board. Staff make time for regular discussions with parents. This demonstrates how their views are continually valued. The nursery regularly invites parents to the nursery to share activities with the children or attend workshops. For example, parents are currently invited to a clinic on early speech sounds to help them to support their children's communication skills. Staff display posters on the doors of upcoming events and the manager sends updates and invitations by email to further strengthen this communication. The staff take the older children's views into account as they are asked at the beginning of each day about any activities they would like to do. Staff follow these choices through by incorporating them into the day's planning.

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provision

The nursery has established strong links with other early years agencies, such as a speech and language therapist, a family support worker who comes in to offer advice, and a quality environment matters representative who visits monthly. The managers follow through suggestions from these professionals, such as the purchasing of additional resources throughout areas of the nursery. This helps drive improvement which benefits the children's learning and care.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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

 ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY100091 Local authority Hounslow Inspection number 983639

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 88 Number of children on roll 122 Name of provider Childbase Partnership Limited Date of previous inspection 05/04/2013 Telephone number 0208 995 9538

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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.

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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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