The Co-operative Childcare Islington

The Co-operative Childcare Islington 10 Galway Street, Islington, London, EC1V 3SW

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 28/11/2014 11/06/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 4 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff place strong emphasis on children's interests within their planning, which results in children's high engagement with activities.  Staff provide good support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, which helps them to make strong progress.  Staff work well with parents by providing good opportunities for them to contribute to their children's learning.  Children behave in safe ways because staff teach them well about safety awareness.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always maximise children's learning opportunities in the role-play area.  Staff miss opportunities to further extend children's interest in books through a wide range of resources.

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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 inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager of an adult-led group activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the progress of several children by sampling their assessment records and held discussions with staff

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed interaction between staff and children in the indoor and outdoor environments.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation and held a discussion with management.  The inspector spoke to parents and children and took their views into consideration.

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Information about the setting

The Co-operative Childcare Islington registered in August 2005, and is managed by Mid Counties Co-operative, which operates nurseries nationally. It operates from premises in a housing complex near Old Street Station, in the London Borough of Islington. Children have access to an outside play area. The nursery opens five days a week, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, for 52 weeks of the year, and is closed for public bank holidays. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 73 children on roll in the early years age group, attending either full or part-time sessions. The provider receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery currently supports children who are learning to speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs 25 members of

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Information about the setting

staff, including the manager. Of these, 20 staff hold appropriate early years qualifications ranging from levels 2 to 6. This includes one staff member who holds Qualified Teacher Status and two staff members who hold degrees in early years. Currently, five staff members are unqualified.

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

 enhance children's interest in stories further, by using a range of resources to fully engage all children

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

 improve children's learning opportunities in the role-play area, particularly in supporting their early mathematics and writing skills.

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who attend

Staff place strong emphasis on children's interests. For example, they observe children, note their interests and plan activities around this, so that children engage well with and enjoy activities. Children make good progress because staff evaluate regular observations and fully incorporate next steps for learning in plans. Children who have special educational needs make strong progress. Staff form individual education plans for children and work closely with health professionals involved in their care and learning. They review children's progress regularly and work in close partnership with parents to support children. Staff help children who learn English as an additional language to make good progress. For example, they use picture cards of objects to teach children names of objects in English as well as learning key words in children's home languages. This helps staff to understand children's communication needs. Overall, children make good progress

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who attend

and learn new skills for later use in school.

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who attend

Staff provide good learning opportunities for children. For example, children create their own play by selecting from a wide range of accessible resources. This is balanced by adult-led activities, which adds further structure to children's learning. For example, staff develop children's understanding of the world by having pet African snails in the nursery, in which the children show great interest. Staff teach children about the snail's dietary habits and use descriptive language to describe how snails move. This helps to effectively extend children's vocabulary. Furthermore, staff provide good opportunities for younger children to use their senses to find out about different things. For instance, children touch and smell vegetables and taste them. They further experiment with different ways to join materials as they build their own designs using building bricks. Children operate simple technology by pressing buttons on electronic toys to create different sounds.

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who attend

Staff teach children to recognise their names on cards when they arrive at the nursery. This supports their early literacy skills. Although most children show some an interest in books, others are less enthusiastic at times. This is because staff do not use a full range of resources to encourage them, such as puppets and other story props to promote story interaction. Children enjoy taking on different roles in the role-play area. However, staff miss opportunities at times to support children's learning further in other areas during role play, such as develop their early writing and mathematical skills. Nevertheless, staff encourage children to practise their counting skills, for example, by asking them to count and add together the number of snails in the container. Staff teach children to observe things closely, by asking them to compare similarities and differences between the snails. This provides good opportunities for children's to develop their mathematical

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who attend

Staff effectively teach children about food technology and extend their vocabulary as they make cakes. For example, they teach children the names of ingredients and they further discuss the changing texture of the mixture. Children follow instructions well and use a range of physical skills as they scoop, stir, whisk and pour different ingredients. Children effectively take turns during the activity, which develops their social skills. Staff provide opportunities to enhance their physical development. For example, children enjoy practising a variety of physical skills in the spacious garden. They go up climbing walls, balance on scooters and negotiate space skilfully while riding their push bikes. Staff provide other outdoor learning opportunities for children including, a digging area for children to explore the texture of earth, and plant and grow seeds in order to learn how things grow. This helps children to develop their understanding of caring for the natural

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who attend

Staff keep parents up to date on their children's progress by having regular review meetings. They also talk to parents as they arrive at the nursery. Staff encourage parents to take part in their children's learning by providing wow notes so they share their observations of their child with staff. Staff use this information well in their planning to help meet children's needs and interests. Additionally, parents help children to learn about different cultures by sharing their traditions. For instance, a parent brought in pumpkin pie to celebrate Thanksgiving day.

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

Staff warmly greet parents and children, and use a range of unique ways to make they feel welcomed. For example, the manager provides new children with a first day pack to reassure them and their parents, which includes a poem, tissue and other items. Furthermore, staff find out about children's personalities and interests from parents and reflect this well in planned activities. This helps children to feel happy and they settle quickly. Staff ensure the key-person system works well in enabling children to form strong and warm relationships with others. Staff help babies to feel secure, for example, by incorporating their home care routines into the nursery day. This helps to keep things familiar to babies so that they are content. The nursery is well organised and staff display children's art work attractively, which shows that staff value their work.

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

Staff use praise well to encourage children to behave positively. They display and share ground rules with children so that they are clear about staff expectations. As a result, children behave well. Staff use distraction to manage the behaviour of very young children. Children have good awareness of cultural and religious differences because staff celebrate and discuss special events. Children demonstrate good levels of safety awareness. They negotiate space carefully in the garden to avoid accidents and are aware of taking turns to use the slide. Staff encourage children to be safe by asking them to carry out their own small risk assessments of the garden before they use it. Children refer to pictures of dangerous things and look for these while checking the garden. Staff teach children how to behave when walking along the road by discussing road safety. This helps children to develop good safety awareness.

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

Staff promote children's healthy routines. For example, they take children outdoors for daily fresh air and provide physical challenges in the spacious garden, where children practise a variety of skills. Children eat healthily because they are able to select from fresh fruit snacks and have well-balanced meals prepared by the nursery chef. The chef provides meals that cater for children's individual special dietary needs to effectively meet their individual requirements. Staff promote children's independent skills well. For example, children help staff to set tables, serve food themselves and pour their own drinks. Staff offer assistance as needed. Staff further encourage children's independence by teaching them how to put on their coats and shoes to prepare them for their next stage of learning. Staff encourage children to understand the importance of washing their hands and they mostly do so independently, at appropriate times. Additionally, staff

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

change young children's nappies in hygienic and comfortable areas to prevent the spread of cross infection.

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

Staff effectively help prepare children to prepare for their next move to school. For example, they exchange information on children's development with school staff and invite them into the nursery in order that they get to know children. Furthermore, staff ensure that children smoothly between rooms, for example, by inviting children spend time in their new group rooms at the nursery before moving up. This helps them to get familiar with new environments and routines.

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provision

Staff work hard to ensure children's safety. Nearly all of the staff are paediatric first-aid trained, which provides very good assistance in the event of accidents or emergencies. All staff have received safeguarding training and have good knowledge of procedures to follow should they be concerned about a child's welfare. This helps to keep children protected from harm. The nursery building is secure and entry is through an electronic intercom to prevent intruder access. The management closely monitors all visitors by ensuring they sign in upon arrival and departure. Management monitors the safety and well-being of all group rooms through use of closed-circuit television. The manager has good knowledge of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and her responsibilities in relation to this. Staff are checked thoroughly as part of the recruitment process and this adds to children's safety.

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provision

Staff have their training needs clearly identified by management through yearly appraisals. For instance, staff attended a course to help extend their knowledge about the importance of promoting babies' sensory development. They further receive good levels of support through regular supervision where they have opportunities to discuss their performance. The manager effectively monitors the performance of staff. For example, management encourages staff to observe each other and to learn from each other's practice. The management team spends time in the group rooms to gain an insight into the quality of staff practice which allows them to provide feedback to improve performance. Members of the management team review and monitor children's learning and overall progress. For example, they sample children's learning journals regularly and check planning to help ensure that children's needs are being effectively met.

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provision

The nursery works well with a range of professionals to support children's learning. Staff work closely community health workers to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have good links with the local community, such as the fire service and local library, who visit to support children's learning.

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provision

The management team has clear ideas on how to improve the nursery. The team evaluates the service they provide through regular reflection and have identified key priorities for improvement. For example, the manager plans to continue to develop the outdoor area to enhance learning opportunities for children. The nursery continues to improve because previous recommendations have been met, such as the availability of fresh drinking water to children throughout the day. The nursery operates successfully and has good ability to continue to do so.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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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 EY311534 Local authority Islington Inspection number 982397 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 78 Number of children on roll 73 Name of provider Places For Children Ltd Date of previous inspection 11/06/2014 Telephone number 020 7 2513475

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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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