Cottage Day

Cottage Day St. Hildas Church, Courtrai Road, London, SE23 1PL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10 April 2018 12 August 2016

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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

 The management team does not always ensure the staff ratio and qualification requirements are met. During busy periods there are not enough staff to ensure all children are involved in purposeful learning.  Although all staff in the room know the children, not all children in the toddler and pre- school room are assigned a key person. This limits the effective engagement with parents in regards to information sharing and to guide their children's learning at home.  Some staff do not make effective use of the information gathered from observations and assessments to plan challenging enough activities for children. Systems to support and monitor staff's teaching practice across the setting are not consistently effective.  The management team evaluates the provision but the process is not developed enough to monitor quality effectively and ensure all requirements are met.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff are kind and dedicated to supporting children's well-being. Children form good relationships with staff and show they are secure and happy in the setting.  Babies are supported well to develop their communication and language skills. They enjoy looking at books and listening to stories where they have opportunities to learn new sounds and words.  Older children develop skills that prepare them for school and become independent. They dress up for role play and use their imagination to lead their own play.  Children enjoy fresh air and exercise outdoors, promoting their health and well-being.

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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 that staffing ratio and qualification requirements are met at all times 23/04/2018

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Due Date

 ensure that each child has a key person who works in partnership with parents to coordinate their care and learning 08/05/2018

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Due Date

 ensure all staff use information gained from observations and assessment more effectively to plan challenging and purposeful play for each child, responding to their individual needs, interests and stage of development. 08/05/2018

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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

 improve the performance management, supervision and professional development arrangements of staff so that teaching is consistently highly effective and constantly improving  develop further the self-evaluation to identify strengths and priorities for improvement clearly.

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Inspection activities

 The inspection was triggered by concerns raised about the provider, following the risk assessment process.  The inspector observed the quality of teaching indoors and outdoors to assess impact on children's learning.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the deputy manager outdoors and in the toddler area, to assess the quality of teaching and support for children's learning.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation, such as records of children's learning and progress, safeguarding policies and suitability checks.  The inspector took into account the views of parents, staff and children who were present on the day of inspection.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. Managers monitor staff's ongoing suitability to care for children and recruit new staff, using secure procedures. They provide training for staff to ensure they understand the procedures to follow if they have concerns about an adult or a child. The managers have recently implemented new supervision procedures which have not yet shown an impact. They do not accurately identify areas to help develop staff's personal effectiveness and precisely target their individual training needs. Self-evaluation is not effective enough to address areas of weakness promptly. Staff provide parents with information to understand the provision of care for their children. Managers have plans to monitor the progress of different groups of children to help ensure best outcomes for children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

The teaching is not consistently strong, which is partly due to the low staffing ratios. Some staff's engagement with children is not always effective to help build on their learning, such as during self-chosen activities. Most staff make regular observations of children's play and identify the next steps in learning to help plan activities and resources for children. However, some staff do not take this information into account to help ensure they offer experiences that are challenging and interesting enough to engage children fully and extend their learning. Still, children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills, including their hand-to-eye coordination. They enjoy a variety of creative activities, such as painting and making collages, using tools, such as sponges, glue, paper and pens. In the garden children have chances to balance on tyres or use bicycles and hula hoops to help develop their coordination skills.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Staff gather information from parents about children's abilities when they start and use this to support children to settle in. Not all older children have a key person, as required. This means that some children do not receive care that is shaped to their individual needs and their parents are not as effectively engaged in their children's learning. Children learn about good hygiene procedures and develop self-care skills. They are encouraged to wash their hands from as early as possible and feed themselves. Children help one another during activities. For example, when using the tyres to balance, friends hold each other's hand to ensure they do not fall. This also helps them learn about, and respect, individual needs. Children share resources and ideas when playing together.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Overall, children make steady progress and acquire some skills that prepare them for their future learning. Children attain some of the necessary skills in preparation for school. They are supported with their early writing skills. Pre-school children write letters, learning about stamps and purposeful writing. Toddlers learn about measurements when playing with pasta. However, the weaknesses in the quality of teaching and planning mean that not all children make progress as rapidly as possible.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY446805 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 1133791 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 58 Name of registered person Cottage Day Ltd

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 12 August 2016 Telephone number 02082917117

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reference number

Cottage Day registered in 1996 and is in Forest Hill, within the London Borough of Lewisham. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm, for 51 weeks of the year. It closes for one week at Christmas, and public holidays. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. There are 19 members of staff, 11 of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. This includes two members of staff with a qualification at level 5 and five members at level 3.

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reference number

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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reference number

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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reference number

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reference number

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

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