Your Co-op Little Pioneers Nursery & Pre-School Maida Vale

The Co-operative Childcare Maida Vale Essendine Road, London, W9 2LR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/01/2015 24/03/2011

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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 range of activities which help pre-school children to gain early reading and writing skills in readiness for starting school.  Staff provide a well-resourced garden area and an inviting learning environment; therefore, children enjoy exploring and learning.  The management team strives for development and are building strong relationships with parents.

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It is not yet good because

 The deployment of staff does not meet the needs of all children. The key-person system is not fully effective as babies lack individualised attention at times, particularly during and between routine tasks.  Planning systems are not fully embedded. As a result, staff do not consistently plan for children's needs, interests and stages of development to help them make good progress.  Staff do not always provide conversation and running commentary to young children during routine tasks to help them develop strong communication and language skills.

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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 had a tour of the setting with the manager.  The inspector took account of the views of parents.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector observed children's play in each one of the nursery rooms.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a leadership and management meeting with the managers and sampled key records and required documentation.

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Information about the setting

The Co-operative Childcare Maida Vale is one of a chain of nurseries which registered in 2000 and is run by Buffer Bears Limited. It is located in the Maida Vale area, in the City of Westminster. The nursery premises is arranged over two floors and consists of a hall area, four rooms on the ground floor for children under two years, and two playrooms on the first floor for children aged two to four years. There is an undercover enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 84 children on roll. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who are learning to speak English as an additional language. The nursery opens from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and operates all-year round, with exception of bank holidays. The nursery offers full- and part-time places. The nursery employs 39 staff. Of these, 28

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Information about the setting

staff hold relevant early years qualifications, including three staff with early years degrees. The nursery employs a cook and an assistant. The provider receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years.

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must:

 improve the arrangements for deploying staff to meet the needs of children at all times, particularly during daily routines

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must:

 ensure all staff have a good knowledge of how to promote children's early communication and language development, particularly during daily care routines

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must:

 ensure planning is effective and used to fully reflect children's needs, interests and different stages of development to support their next steps in learning.

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

 strengthen the key-person system to ensure staff fully support children's care needs, particularly during routine tasks.

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who attend

Staff provide a suitable range of interesting resources and activities which help most children engage in play and learning. As a result, children enjoy their time at nursery. Staff carry out regular observations of the children and encourage parents' contributions through daily communication and the use of 'wow' vouchers. This enables staff to gain an insight into what children are learning at home.

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who attend

Generally, the organisation of the learning environment reflects most children's interests and needs. For example, in response to children's interest in cars, staff provide different sizes and types of cars and plan printing activities using toy vehicles. However, although staff have a suitable understanding of most children's needs, the current planning system is not fully embedded. Therefore, staff do not always meet the needs of all children throughout the day. For example, babies who are learning to walk do not have access to appropriate resources that promote their physical development, particularly during the first part of the day. This results in some children climbing on furniture. Nonetheless, once staff divide the children into their two rooms, older babies have more opportunities to explore a larger area where they can pull themselves up to stand, play with push-along toys and climb safely on a small climbing frame. Outside, children can access a well-

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who attend

resourced garden, where they have opportunities to extend their physical skills.

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who attend

Staff in the pre-school make appropriate use of questions to encourage children to think and talk through what they are learning. For example, during a printing activity, staff ask children about which colours they can use to make orange. They adequately support children who are learning to speak English as an additional language, using key words in their home language and referring to a multilingual dictionary to aid them. However, staff do not consistently support young children's communication and language development well. This is observed particularly during and between routine tasks, such as at meal times. At these times, staff sit and supervise the children, but offer little conversation or a running commentary on what children are doing. This means staff do not use every opportunity to increase children's vocabulary or support them to use language to communicate in group situations.

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who attend

Staff support older children well in developing key skills for their future learning. There are a number of resources made easily available for extending their skills in mark making, drawing and writing. Staff plan suitable activities to support children who show an interest in reading. As a result, older children develop enthusiasm for literacy and are beginning to read simple words. Children are able to access an interactive whiteboard, which extends their knowledge and understanding of technology. Staff promote children's curiosity for their natural surroundings. For example, children in the pre-school room use microscopes to explore the features of a sensory pond, which contains muddy water with different plastic insects. Staff provide children with adequate equipment to develop their self-help skills, particularly during meal times. Therefore, staff in the pre-school are able to ensure children are prepared for their next stage of starting school.

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who attend

Staff involve parents in children's initial and ongoing assessments and share the required progress check for two-year-old children. Parents highlight that there is now a better two- way flow of communication with the staff. They feel their children are happy and make progress in the nursery.

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

Overall, children form sound attachments with staff and show they feel safe and secure in their relationships. They are happy to attend and settle quickly. Staff are sensitive and respond to children's needs and preferences well. This helps children to manage change, develop confidence to do things independently and have a sense of belonging. For example, staff invite parents to stay and play with their children, particularly if their child is finding it difficult to separate on arrival. Consequently, this helps children to feel reassured and motivates them to join in and play with other children. Staff develop positive relationships with parents, which contributes to meeting children's needs. This means that although there has been much change in the staff team recently, staff have managed to maintain their bonds with the children. However, weaknesses in the deployment of staff results in the key-person system being less effective in meeting the

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

Staff adequately promote positive relationships between the children. They remind children of the importance of sharing and encourage turn taking through daily activities, such as snack time. Therefore, children learn to play cooperatively, show appropriate levels of control over their activities and behave well according to their age. Staff suitably promote children's independence; for example by encouraging all children to eat their meals independently. Older children learn to manage their own personal needs well. For example, they learn to use the toilet and wash their hands independently and serve their own meals.

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

Staff provide nutritious and well-balanced meals for children. This includes fresh fruit and crackers for snack and hot meals for lunch, which are prepared onsite and take into account children's dietary requirements. Children have access to water to drink throughout the day and have milk at snack time. Staff talk to the children about how and why it is good to wash their hands. As a result, children learn good hygiene habits which help them to stay healthy. Children have daily access to fresh air in a well-resourced outdoor space, where they have opportunities to balance and climb on larger structures and ride wheeled toys. In addition, children have access to a large atrium, where they can access quiet activities, such as reading books inside a hut, or engage in large construction activities. Staff provide extra-curricular sessions, such as children's yoga. Therefore, children learn that exercise is good for their bodies and they are encouraged to develop their small and

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provision

The new management shows a positive attitude for development and a have a sound understanding of the learning and development requirements. They are currently in the process of implementing observation, assessment and planning systems. These systems include regular monitoring of children's records to have an overview of their needs and support their individual progress. Children's records and assessments are generally up to date and made available for parents. However, the system for planning is not fully embedded. As a result, children's individual needs are not consistently planned for throughout the nursery. Nonetheless, the managers have developed a monitoring system and are at the early stages of planning targeted support for children. For example, where there are children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, the deputy manager has begun making links with local authority professionals for guidance and support. This

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provision

contributes to having a unified approach to helping all children to learn and achieve.

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provision

The management understands their role in protecting the welfare of the children and have a sound understanding of safeguarding and welfare requirements. They use strong systems for recruitment, induction and supervision, which help the manager ensure the ongoing suitability of the staff. This includes completing the required Disclosure and Barring Service checks and obtaining references for every new member of staff prior to employment. Staff have a sound knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding policies and procedures. They know what to do and who to contact if they are concerned about a child or in the event of an allegation being made against a colleague. There are sufficient staff on site who have received current paediatric first-aid training and are able to respond quickly to an emergency. Risks assessment checks are completed daily in order to assess and address any potential hazards in the environment. There are video cameras

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provision

in the different areas of the nursery and outside, which help staff to ensure children's safety in the nursery. Although management ensures staff meet the required adult-to-child ratios overall, the deployment of staff is not fully effective in ensuring the needs of all children are being consistently met. For example, in the younger age groups, when staff move between rooms during care routines, some children become upset. This affects the ability of the key person to offer individual attention to meet children's particular needs.

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provision

The managers support staff development and provide opportunities for training. This creates a good working environment among the staff and has a positive impact on outcomes for children. The management consider the needs of the children, as well as the views of the parents and the staff, in order to create and implement their development plan. As a result, they have gained a sufficient grasp of priorities for improvement. Parents speak well of the new manager and the staff team and highlight the improvements in the provision. For example, they find the nursery's newsletter helpful and informative. The management aims to build stronger links with other settings and professionals in order to support all children as they move on to school.

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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 135099 Local authority Westminster Inspection number 920056 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 109 Number of children on roll 84 Name of provider Buffer Bear Limited Date of previous inspection 24/03/2011 Telephone number 0207 121 0077

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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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