Twisty Tails Nursery Ltd

Twisty Tails Nursery Limited 25 Sheaveshill Avenue, Colindale, London, NW9 6SE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/11/2014 22/11/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 3 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

 Staff provide a welcoming environment and wide range of resources inside and outside, which promote active play and exploration. Therefore, children enjoy learning.  Staff are proactive in promoting parental involvement in the nursery. Therefore, strong partnerships ensure children receive the support they need to learn and achieve.  The manager works closely with other professionals to address weaknesses in practice As a result, sufficient improvements have made since their last inspection.

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It is not yet good because

 The current staffing arrangements do not always demonstrate suitable staff-to-child- ratios. Therefore, at times children's needs are not met and their safety cannot fully be assured.  Although teaching practice has significantly improved following the last inspection, occasionally, the quality of interaction is variable across the staff team. Therefore, some staff miss opportunities to further extend children's learning.

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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 had a tour of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's activities in all nursery rooms and outdoors, and sampled children's records.  The inspector conducted joint observations with the manager.  The inspector took account of the views of the parents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a leadership and management meeting with the manager and sampled key documentation.

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Information about the setting

Twisty Tails Nursery Limited registered in 2010 and is privately owned. It is registered on the Early Years Register. It is based in an extended house in a residential area of Colindale, in the London Borough of Barnet. Children are accommodated in rooms over two storeys. There is access to an enclosed garden for outdoor play. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm, all-year round. Children attend for various sessions. The provider receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two-, three-, and four years old. There are currently 68 children on roll in the early years age group. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children learning English as an additional language. There are 10 members of staff employed, including the manager and eight staff currently hold appropriate qualifications. The manager and deputy hold early years degrees.

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must:

 ensure staffing arrangements meet the required staff-to-child ratios at all times in order to ensure children's safety and support their individual needs.

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

 review teaching practices to strengthen the quality of interaction with children across the staff team.

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who attend

Staff provide a welcoming environment. They offer children a wide range of resources inside and outside, which promote their active play and exploration. Therefore, children enjoy learning. Overall, staff show a suitable understanding of how children learn and develop. They skilfully encourage children to participate in planned activities, which they enjoy and learn from such as foam play. Staff know when to intervene and when to step back in order to allow children to take risks in their learning. For example, staff support younger children as they select additional resources to a planned sensory activity using blocks. As a result, staff use this opportunity to extend children's mathematical understanding of shape, height and problem solving.

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who attend

Staff sufficiently support children's language development through planned activities. They introduce new vocabulary and allow children to explore new concepts. For example, children take part in a sensory experiment of creating their own mixture. This leads to a discussion with staff about the smell, look and taste of their mixture. These learning opportunities adequately support children to make steady progress from their initial starting points on entry. However, although staff provide an interesting environment and overall the quality of teaching has improved following the last inspection, the quality of interaction is variable at times across the staff team. For example, during outdoor play, some staff focus on supervising play and therefore, young children do not benefit fully from meaningful interaction with staff. This means their play is not extended by some staff in order to fully maximise their learning potential. Nonetheless, most staff do follow

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who attend

children's interest. For example, when staff observe children looking at pictures of animals on a mat, they use this opportunity sufficiently to introduce new vocabulary through singing, which children respond to with enthusiasm. This demonstrates that some staff are more skilful and knowledgeable than others in providing enabling interactions to enhance children's learning.

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who attend

Staff provide suitable early intervention for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. They work with local authority professionals in order to access additional support. This involves liaising with external agencies and implementing recommendations, such as using visual aids and developing targeted individual learning plans. Staff promote diversity well by displaying labels in children's spoken languages and by providing multicultural toys and books. Staff also display children's work and use visual timetables to communicate with children, particularly young children and those who are learning to speak English as an additional language. This helps all children learn about the wider world in which they live and supports their language development. There is a real focus by staff on supporting children's early writing and literacy skills. Children are enthusiastic about finding and

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who attend

writing their names and mark-making outdoors and indoors. This supports children's learning in this area and prepares them well for starting school.

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who attend

Staff are proactive in promoting parents involvement in the nursery. They communicate well with parents to gather information about children's interests as well as their specific learning needs. They sufficiently use this information to tailor children's planning and inform their initial assessments. Staff complete progress checks for two year olds and share progress reports every term with the parents. In addition, staff have recently started to use online software to help monitor children's progress more accurately. This further enhances partnerships with parents as they are now able to regularly access their children's latest observations online and comment on them. Therefore, the strengthened partnerships with parents and improvements in the assessment process by staff has generally helped to promote children's learning further.

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

Staff have sufficiently established the key-person system, which has helped to promote two-way communication with parents. Therefore, children generally develop secure emotional attachments with staff. For instance, young children feel safe and secure to express their needs and preferences to staff, and follow guidance and instructions well. Staff celebrate children's achievements, for example, by organising a graduation party for children going to school. This helps children to develop a positive outlook about their future and therefore, have a smooth transfer to other settings and manage change well. The key-person system means that staff communicate with each other well and organise settling-in times, for children moving up to older groups. Staff are sensitive to children's needs and consider specific aspects of a child's life in order to allocate a suitable key person, for example, their home language. Staff also organise meetings with parents to

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

agree a transfer plan, which includes taking into account care and learning needs of the children, such as home routines, diet and interests which informs their planning. This contributes to making an enabling environment for children and to promoting their well- being.

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

However, during the inspection, there was not enough staff, particularly in the morning, to care for the children present. Therefore, staff-to-child ratios are not always maintained. As a result, staff are not meeting the needs of the children fully, in particular those who are new to the nursery and who find it hard to settle. Nonetheless, once the staff team was complete in the morning, children quickly settled into a calm atmosphere and were engaged in their activities Additionally, staff looking after the children at all times have undergone suitable paediatric first-aid training. Furthermore, they demonstrate a sound understanding of the procedures to follow in case of emergency or when dealing with a concern. Consequently, staff show a suitable knowledge of children's individual learning and development needs. Therefore, the overall impact of this weakness on children's welfare is minimal.

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

Staff help children develop increasing self-help skills and use daily care routines to promote cooperative play and independence. Children volunteer to set the table for lunch and help tidy up and they learn to manage their own needs. Babies learn to take turns during snack time as staff offer them a choice of fruit. Furthermore, young children learn to eat independently and older children serve their own food at lunchtime; they also follow hygiene routines independently. This shows staff adequately support children in the development of self-help skills and independence, which prepares them for the next stages in their learning.

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

Staff model positive behaviour and good manners, therefore, children use polite words and learn to consider and respect each other. Children say please and thank you to each other and staff give them praise for showing positive attitudes for learning. Overall, there is a calm atmosphere and children behave appropriately according to their age. Staff provide balanced meals and healthy snacks for children and provide water throughout the day, which contributes to promoting healthy habits. Children have great fun playing outside and engaging in high-energy activities. For example, they enjoy running games, riding on scooters, throwing and kicking balls and rolling hoops. This extends their physical skills and gives children opportunities to exercise and access fresh air as part of learning to be healthy. Overall, staff are conscious of ensuring safety measures are effective, for example, by installing security cameras outside and inside the nursery. Staff

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

conduct daily checks of the premises and remind children of the nursery rules such as walking inside, which help children to learn to play safely.

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provision

The manager has a suitable understanding of the learning and development requirements, and as a whole, the nursery is developing more robust systems for observation, assessment and planning. The provider has invested in new software, which allows management, staff and parents to monitor children's progress more effectively. This also allows staff to gain a more accurate understanding of children's needs. Therefore, children are making steady progress in their learning from their starting points on entry, although, the quality of staff interactions is variable at times. Nevertheless, the manager aspires for improvement and has implemented much change since the last inspection. The manager has developed the self-evaluation process, which now provides a suitable overview of the nursery's strength and weaknesses. This is because management involves staff and parents in their policy reviews by discussing this through staff meetings and making new

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provision

policies easily accessible to parents. Furthermore, the manager ensures future improvement plans now reflect children's voice and their views. Overall, this shows the staff team have a very positive attitude for improvement.

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provision

The manager has a suitable understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements and organises required documentation well, making them easily accessible for inspection. However, the nursery requires improvement because staffing arrangements do not work effectively at present, because staff-to-child ratios are not maintained at all times. Despite this, the manager implements suitable procedures for the recruitment. For example, she ensures all staff have relevant qualifications and experience and carries out vetting and reference checks for all staff to check their suitability. The manager keeps documentations up to date and follows relevant policies and procedures. The manager implements staff inductions and supervision, and meets regularly with staff. She completes staff appraisals, which help to ensure their ongoing suitability and allows her to identify training needs as part of their professional development. Therefore, staff access a range of opportunities for

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provision

developing their qualifications including in-house training. This is beginning to have a positive impact on staff's practice and on outcomes for children.

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provision

The management understand the importance of partnership working with external agencies in order to secure appropriate interventions for children who need additional support. Partnerships with other professionals mean that staff are able to receive training to support and meet the specific needs of children. This helps in narrowing educational gaps. The provider has developed secure relationships with schools in the area. This helps prepare children for moving on to the next stages in their education. Additionally, information about children's progress and specific needs is exchanged with other providers to promote continuity in learning and to ensure children access any additional support if required.

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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 EY417089 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 966777 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 68 Name of provider Twisty Tails Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 22/11/2013 Telephone number 0208 6170422

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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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