Seedlings Day Nursery

Seedlings Day Nursery 9-11 Firs Close, Forest Hill, London, SE23 1BB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/11/2014 12/05/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision requires improvement

 Children benefit from a well-resourced outdoor play environment, which provides them with appropriate resources, and fun and exciting challenges.  Children are very confident as they have strong, positive relationships with staff.  Staff effectively manage how children move between the setting rooms, and eventually on to school, and this helps these moves go smoothly for children.

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It is not yet good because

 Systems for monitoring the implementation of the educational programme are not sufficiently robust at improving the quality and consistency of teaching in the setting.  Staff's implementation of the planning and daily routines is not always effective or well thought through to ensure a smooth flow to the day or consistently meet children's needs.  The organisation of resources in the baby room does not enable them to independently choose what they want to do.  Older children cannot always access resources as they are not kept fully stocked by staff and their indoor reading area is not inviting to encourage them to sit and read.

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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 inspectors observed activities in the three play rooms and the outside learning area.  The inspectors held a meeting with the managers and key persons.  The inspectors looked at children's developmental records and planning documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of staff, and the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors took account of the views of parents and information from the nursery's parents' surveys.

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Information about the setting

Seedlings Day Nursery has been registered since 2004. It is located in Forest Hill, in the London Borough of Lewisham. The group operates from a self-contained building. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open five days per week throughout the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 67 children on roll in the early years age range, some in part-time places. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four years. The nursery employs 21 members of staff, of whom 19 have a recognised early years qualification. Three staff have Early Years Professional Status or Qualified Teacher Status.

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must:

 review the systems for monitoring the delivery of the educational programme to identify further ways to strengthen the quality of teaching and to promote high quality learning.

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must:

 improve the layout of the environment in the baby room so that babies can access, and choose from a range of interesting resources and exciting activities

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must:

 develop how staff implement planning and daily routines, and interact during activities, so that children receive a challenging range of activities and experiences that take account of their individual development needs in all areas

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

 review the organisation of the indoor reading area and the availability of resources to older children.

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who attend

Children make steady progress in their learning and development in this welcoming and nurturing nursery. Overall, staff are committed to meeting children's learning needs and confident children enthusiastically play from a secure base of positive relationships. Staff use individual learning plans, informed by regular observations and assessment, to set next steps across the areas of learning for children. However, activities lack sufficient planning and staff implementation of these does not always meet the needs of the children. Therefore, the quality of teaching and interaction is not yet fully effective at helping children make good progress in their learning, and develop enthusiasm and enjoyment in what they do. However, outdoor activities are more effectively organised, and staff are more consistent at ensuring all children are fully involved and engaged in this area. For example, there is an inviting reading area in the playground with a different

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who attend

theme each term where children sit, relax, handle and read a variety of books, while there is a forest school for children who cannot go on nature reserve outings. Other children enjoy a race on the bikes, crawl in the caterpillar tunnel or wash cars at the car wash. Therefore, children develop a positive attitude to exploring the natural world and undertaking physical play in the fresh air.

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who attend

Staff, generally, enthusiastically engage in children's activities and development. For example, they talk to the children, and make suggestions and comments to enhance their play. They use appropriate questioning techniques and gestures to engage the children. Consequently, most children in the nursery communicate well. In the baby room younger children respond well to gestures and language that staff use. Babies sit, listen to songs with a doll and join in with actions. Toddlers engage in long conversations with staff as they wash toy cars in the car wash and older children demonstrate their active imaginations. For example, dramatizing that they are being chased in the wild by dinosaurs and escaping in a boat as they sing 'Row, row, row the boat'. However, the indoor book area is not enticing or well resourced to provide a comfortable area for children wanting a quiet, calm space to sit, relax and read. To enhance their relaxation

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who attend

Children 'have a go' and investigate and create. For example, children are encouraged to dance and express themselves to music. They are provided with many opportunities to know the world they live in through various outings in the local community, such as scheduled visits to a nature reserve and park. Here they can collect, investigate and explore natural materials, create rockets, dance, and play drums and other musical instruments to express themselves. As a result children's natural curiosity and creativity is suitably promoted.

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who attend

There are positive partnerships with parents, which help to support children's care and learning. Parents' contribution about their children's likes, dislikes and other relevant information is used to inform planning. Staff demonstrate their understanding that if children are doing things they are interested in it helps them to be engaged in their learning. The managers and staff ensure continuity, and encourage two-way communication by drawing parents into their child's learning. For example, the nursery's website provides parents with activities to support their children's learning at home, and parents are assisted to better understand the foundation stage curriculum and attend social evenings. These positive relationships help promote children's learning and development.

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

Children and parents are warmly welcomed. Parents have positive relationships with staff and are comfortable exchanging information with them. There is a key-person system implemented and children have very secure attachments with their key persons. This ensures that children start the day calmly, and can play and explore their environment with confidence. The staff work hard to ensure smooth transfers within the nursery and eventually on to school. However, staff do not organise the daily routines well to provide children with a smooth, consistent structure through the day. As a result children lack understanding and confidence in what happens next in the daily routine.

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

Children are well behaved. They cooperate and help each other in their play. This demonstrates they have already developed very positive relationships with each other and generally know what is expected of them. Staff support children's behaviour very well by using positive methods, such as selecting a class monitor to help make sure the rules, which children are involved in developing, are followed. For example, the class monitor walks around with visual rule cards reminding other children about what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Consequently, children behave well and are self-confident.

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

Staff provide a range of resources for children that, overall, meet their needs well. Staff provide babies with resources to play with. However, they do not organise the resources effectively to enable babies to choose for themselves and determine their own play. For example, staff keep resources on shelves, out of the reach of children, and this does not enable babies to direct their own play and exploration or enhance their independence skills. In addition, indoor resources for older children were not always replenished when empty or replaced when worn or torn. For example, there were empty bowls, and worn and torn books. Therefore, there were not always sufficient resources available to meet the needs of the children or fully encourage their involvement.

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

The setting reinforces healthy lifestyles and staff use interesting opportunities to link healthy eating with living a healthy life. For example, children grow potatoes and tomatoes, and they observe the tomatoes changing from green to red. Staff reinforce with them the importance of healthy foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, by explaining that nutritious food is good for them. In addition, morning exercise is part of the children's daily routine. Staff embed physical activity as a regular pass time and this further promote the importance of a healthy lifestyle to children. Staff talk to children to help them learn how to keep safe. Staff discuss about tidying away toys to prevent accidents happening. In addition, special visits from the community police, fire service, and the road crossing lady help to enhance children's understanding and awareness of how to keep and be safe. The nursery team includes assigned and qualified paediatric first-aid staff to ensure

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

children are promptly treated if ill or hurt. The premises are secure to prevent any unauthorized access and there is a gated main entrance,Monitored by a digital code and camera, that must be passed to gain entry to the building. Therefore, there is a high priority placed on safeguarding children.

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provision

Children are safeguarded well. The management team implement appropriate systems to ensure staff members continue to be suitable to have contact with children. Staff's safeguarding knowledge is strong, and they are supervised by the lead safeguarding officer to keep them up to date with child protection procedures and training. Therefore, staff demonstrate they are clear of their responsibilities in protecting children's welfare and well-being.

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provision

There is a high ratio of suitably qualified staff, and the recruitment and vetting procedures, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks, are robustly followed. All staff undergoes induction and ongoing training as part of their professional development. Management complete monitoring to ensure staff carry out their responsibilities accordingly. However, the inconsistent daily routine, and weaknesses in planning of activities shows that the systems for monitoring staff practice, the implementation of the educational programmes and supervision of staff are not yet fully effective. Therefore, children's developmental needs are not always met effectively by staff. Nonetheless, the management team is committed to raising standards, and actively seeks the views of parents, staff, children and external partners in the nursery, which positively impacts on the experiences available to children. For example, the outdoor provision has been

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provision

developed in response to consultation with the children and a local authority adviser. Consequently, children have access to an enriching outdoor space in, which they enjoy motivational experiences. The management team and staff are also currently undertaking an audit, which will include feedback from this inspection to inform actions for further improvements. This indicates the nursery team is working well towards improving its provision.

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provision

The nursery team places strong value on partnership working. Parents comment on how effective the staff, and provision is in supporting their children's needs and working with them. The nursery has a page on its website to explain the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. It has installed digital picture frames to display photos of children's activities. Parents contribute to children's developmental records. For example, staff provide stars, which parents write significant observations from home as well as encouraging parents to comment on their children's assessment profiles. This helps provide a full picture on how children are progressing.

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provision

Partnerships with other professional agencies are very effective. For example, staff encourage teachers from the local primary school to visit, which further eases potential anxiety when it comes to children's eventual move from the nursery to school. Staff provide an assessment profile of progress for each child to the new schools to enable continuity in learning for the children and their families. The nursery team also maintains links with an education psychologist, language therapist and health visitor as part of its partnership working with others.

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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 EY287094 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 833697 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 49 Number of children on roll 67 Name of provider Seedlings Day Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 12/05/2009 Telephone number 020 8291 3344

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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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