Sugar Plum Tree Nursery

Inspection of Sugar Plum Tree Nursery 124 Erskine Road, Walthamstow, London E17 6SA

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

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The provision is good

Children arrive happily at the nursery. They are greeted by friendly staff and quickly settle down to play. Books are highly popular with all the children. They sit quietly and look at them independently or enjoy listening to adults read stories. Older children look at pictures and demonstrate strong speech and language skills as they describe what they can see. Dual-language books enable children to see how words look in languages they speak at home. Staff use these well as they value children's differences and cultural backgrounds.

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The provision is good

Children behave well. They play cooperatively, take turns and share resources successfully. Children enjoy being outdoors, where they have many opportunities to be active and to explore. They spend time building castles with sand and take great delight in knocking them down. Children are keen to help. For example, they find sweeping brushes to clear up sand on the floor. Babies enjoy their own garden and practise moving around and pulling themselves up to standing. They also spend time looking at books with staff, who make stories enjoyable and exciting.

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need to do better?

n Staff know their key children well. They gather useful information from parents when children start, so that they can quickly build on children's skills and experiences. Transitions between rooms, and to the provider's other nursery site, are managed very well. Staff make sure that children have lots of visits, and key persons share development information with children's new key staff. These effective procedures support children to make consistently good progress. n Children's health and well-being are given high priority. They benefit from nutritious fresh food which is cooked on the premises. All children in the nursery eat together and it is a highly social time. Children enjoy helping to set the tables and hear staff counting as they lay out plates and cups. They copy the staff and repeat the numbers they hear as children learn to do things for themselves. n Parents' comments about the nursery and staff are highly positive. They state

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need to do better?

that they feel well informed about their children's development and know how to support their learning at home. Parents say that their children feel safe and that staff know and understand them very well. Staff work well in partnership with parents. They are currently reflecting on ways to further develop the two-way flow of information that helps to promote consistency in children's care and learning. n Staff who work with the oldest children plan and implement activities very well. All children enjoy taking part. They listen, follow instructions and use their good language skills to contribute their ideas. Staff continue the same themes through different activities, such as with stories and dough. This strengthens children's

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need to do better?

16 August 2022 learning effectively. However, some group activities are not as strong because staff do not always plan thoroughly enough or think about the age range of the children taking part. This results in some group times being disorganised and children not learning as well as they could. n Children enjoy being creative, for example with construction toys, dough and craft materials. Older children talk about what they make and show how their imaginations are developing. However, at times, some staff over-direct children as they use collage materials and glue. They tell them where to put the glue and what to stick where, and often staff do these tasks for children. This means that some children are not developing their own creativity, which does not give enough value to children's achievements. n The managers and staff regularly evaluate their practice and look for ways to continually improve. They gather parents' views and take account of their ideas

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need to do better?

to further strengthen the nursery. n Staff turnover is very low. Despite this, the provider follows rigorous recruitment procedures to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. The provider has good systems in place to review staff's practice and to help them develop further. Staff regularly undertake training which further enhances their already good knowledge and skills.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a robust knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms that may indicate children are at risk of harm. They know how to report these concerns in the nursery and to relevant safeguarding agencies. Staff regularly complete safeguarding training and give high priority to ensuring that children are safe. Managers continually reflect on their policies and procedures in line with local area intelligence. Daily monitoring of registers means that non-attendance by children is swiftly acted on to make sure that they are safe and well.

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should:

n refine the planning of group activities to ensure that each child's needs are considered, to further support their learning n support all staff to know and understand how to help children to develop their own ideas when taking part in creative activities.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY559068 Local authority London Borough of Waltham Forest Inspection number 10194088 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 38 Name of registered person Sunbeam Family Services Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 07958668415 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Sugar Plum Tree Nursery registered in 2018. It is open from Monday to Friday all year round, except for bank holidays, a week in August and a week in December. Sessions are from 7.30am to 6.30pm. The nursery employs 15 members of childcare staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate qualifications at level 2 or level 3.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and staff and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the nursery. n The inspector and the on-site managers looked around the nursery and talked about the curriculum. n The inspector observed the quality of education and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n The managers and the inspector met to discuss the leadership and management of the nursery. The inspector looked at relevant documents, including evidence of the suitability checks carried out on staff and safeguarding and complaints procedures. n The inspector carried out two joint observations with one of the managers. n The inspector spoke to staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection. She also spoke to a number of parents and took account of their

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

16 August 2022 regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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