Octagon Nursery School

Octagon Nursery School Octagon Nursery School, St. Saviours Church Hall, Eton Road, LONDON, NW3 4SU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19 April 2016 26 September 2012

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3

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Good 2

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This provision requires improvement. It is not yet good because:

 The provider does not ensure that recruitment procedures are completely thorough. She has not obtained new Disclosure and Barring Service checks for some members of staff and has relied on checks from their previous employment. This does not have a significant impact on children as staff do not work unsupervised.  The provider has only recently begun to track groups of children's achievements to clearly evaluate how well they make progress over time.  The provider does not implement fully effective systems to monitor staff practice and target professional development to help staff improve their skills further.

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It has the following strengths

 Partnerships with parents are positive. Staff work closely with them and share information effectively to provide a shared approach to children's care and learning.  Staff provide a positive role model for children. For example, they are calm, speak politely and use good manners. Children behave well. They develop their confidence well, and have good social, and communication and language skills. Children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.  Staff carry out effective risk assessments of the premises to ensure they are safe for children's play and activities.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

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Due Date

 ensure all staff complete Disclosure and Barring Service checks in a suitable time frame. 19/05/2016

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Due Date

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

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Due Date

 develop the tracking of children's progress further to evaluate whether all groups of children make equal progress over time  strengthen the monitoring of staff practice to precisely identify staff's professional development needs to build on their skills further.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors observed children's play and activities, and their interactions with staff indoors and outdoors.  The inspectors completed a joint observation and held a meeting with the provider.  The inspectors spoke to parents, staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.  The inspectors looked at paperwork, including children's records and records of staff suitability.  The inspectors spoke to the provider about how she uses self-evaluation and makes improvements.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

The provider and staff understand how to recognise and manage concerns about children's welfare. The provider's recruitment procedures are not fully secure. She has not yet gained new Disclosure and Barring Service checks for some staff. However, she has followed some effective procedures when employing new staff, such as seeking references and checking new staff's identity. Staff work together and are not left unsupervised with children which minimises the possible risks to them. Safeguarding is effective. The quality of the provider's coaching, mentoring and support for staff is variable. She does not always effectively monitor the quality of their practice to precisely target areas for staff to develop their skills and practice. Self-evaluation includes the views of staff, parents and children. The provider acts on advice and support from the local authority advisor to help identify and make steady improvements. Children's individual progress is tracked well to

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

identify their learning needs. However, tracking of groups of children's progress has only just started to effectively evaluate their needs.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff use their observations to plan interesting activities that engage children and build on their skills and knowledge. They motivate children's learning well, such as through supportive interaction. For example, focused group activities help children to learn about numbers and counting when they use dice. Staff support children learning English as an additional language securely. For example, they use picture cards to aid communication and provide individual support to help children develop their use and understanding of English.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

The provider has not followed the correct procedures for checking staff suitability in a timely manner, leading to a breach in safeguarding and welfare requirements. Children enjoy playing in the well-resourced outdoor area. For example, children enjoy playing imaginatively together with small logs and transport these around in the wheelbarrow and trailer on the toy digger. Children are beginning to learn about healthy practices. They know they need to wash their hands before helping to prepare the healthy snack and before eating. Children treat each other and adults respectfully and use good manners.

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Outcomes for children are good

All children, including those learning English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points. They develop skills in readiness to start school. Children concentrate and listen well, and know and follow routines consistently. They develop good independence skills, such as learning to pour their own drinks. Children learn to recognise their names, such as finding their name cards in the morning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY443642 Local authority Camden Inspection number 1027956 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 2 - 4 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 21 Name of provider Janette Margaret Holding Date of previous inspection 26 September 2012 Telephone number 02075863206

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Setting details

Octagon Nursery School registered in March 2012 and is privately owned. It operates from a church hall in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It is open Monday to Friday from 9am to midday during term times, and also operates a lunch club until 2pm for the older children up to three days each week. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged three and four years. There are a total of eight members of staff, including the provider who is the manager. Of these, the provider and three other staff hold relevant level 3 qualifications, and three other staff hold level 2 qualifications.

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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

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Setting details

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