Little Heath Nursery Playgroup

Little Heath Nursery Playgroup Parish Hall, Thornton Road, Potters Bar, EN6 1JJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 4 March 2015 29 April 2014

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Requires Improvement How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

The setting meets legal requirements for early years settings

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This provision is good

 The manager and staff fully understand their responsibilities to protect children. They provide a safe and secure environment and know to whom they should refer any concerns about a child's welfare. As a result, children are kept free from harm.  Effective partnerships with parents, other settings and external agencies are an integral part of the provision. This enables children to benefit from a supportive, coordinated approach to their care, learning and overall development.  Teaching is good and all children make good progress. This is because staff know them very well and effectively monitor their learning and development. Staff provide experiences and opportunities to meet children's individual needs and interests.  The manager places a high priority on speech and language development. She motivates the staff to use highly effective strategies to enable the children to extend their communication skills.

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This provision is good

 Children are confident, self-assured and motivated to learn and explore. They form close bonds with the kind, attentive and enthusiastic staff. They are happy, settled and emotionally secure. This contributes positively to their overall sense of well-being.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Resources, such as real and everyday items, are not used to fully promote older children's rich, imaginary and pretend play experiences.  Although systems for peer observations and peer support are in the early stages of development, staff do not always have the opportunity to observe and evaluate each other's practice, to enable them to share their good teaching skills.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 extend older children's opportunities to engage in even richer role play experiences, for example, by providing them with more exciting and stimulating real resources in the home corner area  embed the systems for peer observations and peer support to provide even more opportunities to support staff's professional development, in order to raise children's attainment to the highest level.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed general play and the snack time routine and talked with the staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector held discussions with the manager in relation to observations of the children's play, learning and progress.  The inspector looked at evidence of the suitability of staff members and a range of other documentation, including policies and first-aid and safeguarding training certificates and the provider's self-evaluation.

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who attend. This is good

Staff provide a good range of activities to promote children's learning and development across the seven areas of learning. Children benefit from prolonged periods of uninterrupted time to play and experiment. This means they remain engaged and focused on activities. Children have free access to a wide range of toys and resources that help them develop independence. However, there is scope to provide a greater variety of real, everyday resources to support older children's imaginary and pretend play experiences. Children develop essential skills for future learning. For example, older children learn phonic letter sounds and practise letter formation, while younger children enjoy early writing and gluing activities and completing jigsaws. All children enjoy singing songs with actions and a small group squeal with delight when they are tickled by a spider, as they share a book with their key person. This means that children are well prepared for the

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who attend. This is good

next stage in their learning or starting school. Staff have worked hard to develop partnerships with parents since the last inspection. These are now effective in ensuring that parents are well-informed of what has occurred during the day and of their children's progress. Good partnerships with other professionals and external agencies ensure that children's individual needs are met effectively.

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good

Children behave well, and should they momentarily forget, staff remind them gently about the consequences of their actions and how to behave nicely within the setting. Snacks include healthy options from which the children can choose. Staff promote independence, as the children pour their own drinks and put their dirty plates and cups into a washing up bowl. Children understand the importance of hand washing and are able to wash and dry their hands independently. Staff support children's good health by organising frequent access to fresh air and exercise. Children learn good safety routines so that they understand about risk and hazards. For example, they are all aware of the step outside the back door that leads to the garden and take care to negotiate it safely.

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provision is good

The manager has a clear understanding of her responsibility to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She ensures that there is robust monitoring of children's progress through effective tracking that identifies any gaps in their learning. Self- evaluation, including the views of parents, is effective and ensures that there is an ongoing assessment of the setting's strengths and weaknesses. Staff's professional development is encouraged as they regularly access training and update their qualifications. This means that the children benefit from their improved skills and up-to- date practice. The manager observes staff as they work with the children, and supervision meetings support their ongoing development. However, staff do not yet have the opportunity to regularly observe and evaluate each other's skills, so they can identify strengths and weaknesses and further improve the quality of teaching.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY469837 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 978445 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 26 Name of provider Hajnalka Michael Date of previous inspection 29 April 2014 Telephone number 07737 857990

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Setting details

Little Heath Nursery Playgroup was registered in 2013 and is privately owned. It operates from the parish hall in Little Heath, near Potters Bar. The nursery playgroup employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one at level 2. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, during term time. Sessions are from 9am until 12 noon, with a lunch club until 1pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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Setting details

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

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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