The Blackheath Day Nursery

The Blackheath Day Nursery The Rectory Field, Charlton Road, Blackheath, London, SE3 8SR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/09/2014 12/12/2012

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early years provision

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

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This provision is good

 Children have good access between the indoor and outdoor environments. This enables them to choose where they wish to play, and develops their decision-making skills.  Staff receive comprehensive training to support their effective understanding and implementation of the nursery safeguarding policies and procedures.  Children enjoy a good range of play and learning experiences. This enables them to make secure progress from their initial starting points.  Children enjoy strong relationships with staff. As a result, they rapidly grow in self- assurance and are happy and keen to learn.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always provide a consistent quality of teaching in relation to phonics to fully promote children's literacy skills.  Staff do not always provide resources outdoors to support children's early writing 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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the main playrooms and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the provider, manager and staff at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed children's records, planning documents, the development plans, and a selection of policies and procedures.  The inspector invited the manager to carry out a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

The Blackheath Day Nursery has been registered under the current provider since 2007. The nursery is one of three provisions run by Bridge Lane Nursery Ltd. It is located in the club house of a sports ground in Blackheath, in the London borough of Greenwich. The nursery is open 51 weeks a year, Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm. Children have access to several base rooms and a large outdoor play area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 127 children on roll and the nursery receives funding for free early education for children aged three and four. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning English as an additional language. The nursery employs 40 members of staff to work with the children, 29 of these hold appropriate childcare qualifications at level two and above.

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

 enhance the daily resources available outdoors that promote children's early writing skills

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

 review and develop a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics by staff to the children across the nursery.

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who attend

Children are happy and settled across the nursery. They have secure bonds with all staff, which builds their self-esteem and confidence. Younger children enjoy snuggling into staff when they become tired or need some reassurance during play. Staff encourage the younger children to practise their emerging skills, such as starting to crawl and to stand. They hold the children's hands to support them and offer plenty of praise and encouragement, which motivates them in developing their skills. Children smile and show how proud they are of their achievements. This builds the children's self-esteem and their confidence in trying new experiences.

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who attend

Staff provide a good quality teaching, which helps the children to make good progress across all areas of their learning and development. They create a safe learning environment where children can play, learn and develop well. Children enjoy a good range of activities both indoors and outside that overall cover all areas of learning effectively. Staff are skilled in asking the children meaningful questions to encourage them to think about what is happening as they play and to enhance their language development. Children of all ages enjoy singing songs and nursery rhymes. They readily suggest their favourites for staff to sing with them. In addition, staff provide effective explanations and praise to help develop children's communication and language skills. Therefore, children are confident communicators and are developing their vocabulary and spoken language well. Staff are fully aware of the home languages the children are exposed to at home and

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who attend

gather key words in these. This enables staff to support children in learning English securely and further enhances the children's language development.

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who attend

Children enjoy learning about phonics. They are developing their skills in understanding letter sounds and how to form and write letters. For example, staff encourage children to find the letters in their name and sound these out, and praise them warmly for their efforts and achievements. However, staff use different teaching techniques to promote this area of learning. As a result, children can become confused with the different letter sounds, which does not fully support their early literacy skills.

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who attend

Staff track the children's learning and development securely to identify any gaps in their progress, which they use to inform the planning. They use the children's next steps in learning, their interests and gather views from the parents to plan effectively for individual children. This effectively supports children as activities are interesting and individualised to meet their specific learning needs. As a result, this helps to close any gaps in children's achievements and promotes their readiness for the next stage in their learning well. As children enter the nursery, the staff complete an assessment with their parents to establish their learning and development starting points securely. Parents are encouraged to talk with staff about their children's progress and to share with them what they have been doing at home. This provides good continuity of care and learning for the children. Staff complete detailed progress reports for all children, including the required progress

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who attend

checks for two-year-old children, which they share with parents. This enables them to see the progress their children have made.

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who attend

When children are nearing school age, staff work closely with teachers and the children's parents to enable them to settle into a new routine quickly. They invite teachers into the nursery to observe the children and talk to them about the children's stages of development. This promotes continuity for children as they move onto school. Staff work well with each other to support children as they move rooms, which enables them to progress smoothly through the nursery. This supports children's self-esteem and builds on their confidence well to become independent learners.

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

All staff provide a consistent approach to managing children's behaviour. This enables children to develop a clear understanding of the expectations of behaviour. Staff use good strategies to help children manage their behaviour. For example, they provide thinking areas for older children to take time away from activities to calm down and to reflect on their behaviour. Staff take time to talk to children about the importance of sharing and working together. This approach helps children learn right from wrong. Staff distract younger children successfully and as a result, they learn to share resources. Overall, staff use resources well to promote all areas of learning at the nursery. The resources are stored so that children can freely choose those they wish to play with, which promotes the children's independence skills effectively. However, staff do not always consider resources fully outdoors. For example, there are few writing resources available

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

outdoors on a daily basis. This means that when children show an interest in making lists they unable to do so as they do not have any pens or paper outside. This does not fully support children to use their early writing skills, particularly those children who learn better in the outdoor environment.

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

Staff promote children's physical development well. The outside areas allow children to learn to move in different ways. For example, by using ride-on toys, such as scooters and bikes children develop coordination and their understanding of how to negotiate space. They enjoy learning to climb, such as when using the climbing frame and slide. Staff teach the children how to use the steps to get to the top so they can slide back down again. Staff change the resources according to the ages of the children currently using the garden. As a result, the equipment is age and stage appropriate for the children.

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

Staff make effective use of meal times. These are positive social occasions where children sit and talk about their play and what they have been doing at home with the staff. Older children learn how to pour their drinks and serve their meals. They set the tables ready for meal times. Staff encourage the children to count the numbers of plates, cups and cutlery they need. These measures encourage children to take on responsibilities, develop their self-care skills and promote the children's mathematical development well. All children learn the importance of good hygiene through effective hand washing procedures. Staff promote the children's independent skills, for example, by encouraging them dress themselves when they are role playing. As a result, children develop skills that prepare them for their eventual move to school.

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

Staff implement an effective key-person system, which starts as children enter the nursery. They work well with the parents and children to help them settle them into the nursery. For example, staff find out what toys children like to play with and use these to help settle children in. Staff work closely with the parents to support babies sleep routines. They find out how children like to sleep and if they require comforters. Staff then successfully use these methods to help the children go to sleep and rest, which provides good continuity of care.

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

Children learn about safe practices through the staff's effective support. For example, they teach the children about using the resources safely, such as only sliding down the slide and not walking up it. Staff also teach the children to look to see if the slide is clear before they go down so that they do not hurt anyone else. Staff undertake regular risk assessments to support the children's safety in and outside of the nursery. Children participate in regular fire drills, which supports their understanding of what to do in an event of an emergency.

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provision

The managers and the provider demonstrate a secure understanding of their responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Staff have a good knowledge of safeguarding and child protection, including the procedures to follow in the event of having a concern about a child. They carry out detailed risk assessments, which helps them to identify and minimise potential hazards. As a result, this enables children to play in a safe and healthy learning environment. Staff follow the nursery safety procedures consistently to promote children's welfare. For example, they drink hot drinks away from children in the milk kitchen or main kitchen where children do not have access to them. Arrangements for staff who smoke securely support children's good health. For instance, staff wear different clothes when smoking and smoke away from the premises.

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provision

The manager implements robust recruitment procedures to check the suitability of all staff working with the children. All staff are appropriately vetted and the relevant details are recorded and logged to show when the suitability checks were carried out. All staff have their ongoing suitability checked throughout the year during supervisions and appraisals. As a result, suitable staff care for children. A robust induction system is in place to support all new staff. All staff are effectively deployed to maintain ratios and ensure children are well supervised, which helps keep children safe effectively. The regular staff appraisals means that staff are fully supported by the manager and her deputies in their roles. The manager uses these to keep track of staff development and to identify their training needs. Staff attend regular training to enhance their practice in order to promote children's learning and welfare. For example, new staff are currently undertaking

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provision

The management's self-evaluation process is strong. Staff involve the parents by gathering their views on the service through regular questionnaires. Staff also assess the activities to make sure they are meeting the children's individual needs. They use the children's participation in activities to gauge their interests and to identify what needs adapting in order to meet their individual needs further. Therefore, children are interested, engaged in the activities and are keen to learn. Staff are very responsive to the users of the service that they provide. The manager and deputies are fully involved in all aspects of the evaluation to bring about good outcomes for children. For example, recent changes to the staff shifts minimises disruption to children at the beginning and end of the day.

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provision

Staff work very closely with parents. They regularly share information with parents about their children's progress and provide useful daily feedback. This keeps parents informed about their children's daily experiences and progress well. Staff work with parents and carers if they have any concerns about their children's development. They link closely with other agencies that are involved in the children's care to provide a consistent approach to supporting children's individual needs.

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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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 EY361480 Local authority Greenwich Inspection number 987333 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 100 Number of children on roll 127 Name of provider Bridge Lane Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 12/12/2012 Telephone number 0208 3052526

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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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