Ivy League Nursery

Inspection of Ivy League Nursery 237 Selhurst Road, South Norwood, LONDON SE25 6XP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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The provision requires improvement

Children show they are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff are kind and frequently give children encouragement and comment on their new achievements. This helps children to build their confidence. Staff provide children with clear messages about expected behaviour. As a result, children behave very well.

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The provision requires improvement

Pre-school children are confident communicators. Staff are skilled at supporting their learning and encourage them to think for themselves and make links to their prior knowledge. Children show good creativity and mathematical knowledge as they engage in threading activities. Staff support them effectively to name different colours and make comparisons about the different beads.

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The provision requires improvement

Toddlers have fun experimenting with play dough. Staff help children to discuss their ideas and learn about shapes effectively. This positively supports children's language development and awareness of new mathematical concepts. Older babies show good interest as they happily play with trains. Staff enthusiastically play on their level and introduce new words and provide encouragement for them to develop their imaginations.

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The provision requires improvement

Younger babies enjoy exploring musical instruments and playing in a ball pond. Although they have a positive bond with staff, they do not receive good enough support to hear new language and extend their learning. Furthermore, staff do not plan a broad and well-designed curriculum to fully support their overall development.

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need to do better?

n The quality of education is inconsistent. Staff working with older babies, toddlers and pre-school children plan a wide range of activities to foster children's development across the different areas of learning. As a result, these children show positive attitudes towards learning, and pre-school children are well prepared for their move on to school. However, staff working with younger babies do not plan a wide enough variety of activities to help them make the progress of which they are capable. n Leaders speak passionately about building a culture of ongoing improvement across the nursery. They have improved many aspects of practice and have strengthened the information they gain from parents when new children first join. Despite this and their ongoing hard work, self-evaluation processes are not fully effective. For instance, when issues are identified, these are not always prioritised appropriately to ensure that swift enough action is taken.

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need to do better?

n Overall, staff support children to learn about healthy lifestyles. For instance,

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need to do better?

1 November 2023 children benefit from eating a range of healthy and nutritious foods. In addition, older children and toddlers have good opportunities to be active and develop their physical skills in the spacious garden. However, staff working with babies do not always prioritise the health benefits of daily outdoor play. n Staff provide positive levels of support for children who speak English as an additional language. For instance, they plan activities accompanied with visual aids to help children to hear and understand new vocabulary. This helps children to make good progress in relation to their starting points. n Staff working with babies implement a positive settling-in procedure. They are always close by to give new babies encouragement and reassurance. This helps them to settle in well and build trusting relationships with staff. The other children also benefit from kind and respectful interactions. This helps to build

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need to do better?

their self-esteem and develop their interest in learning. n The nursery is highly inclusive. Staff teach children about diversity in a successful way. For instance, staff organise different events, such as 'Culture Week'. This provides children and families with opportunities to dress up in traditional clothes and share foods that they enjoy at home. This supports children's knowledge of the wider world and helps them to develop respectful attitudes about the diverse backgrounds and lives of others. n Leaders and staff have worked hard to make targeted improvements since their last inspection. It is evident that partnership working with parents is now a real strength of the setting. Many parents comment that communication has significantly improved and that they feel much more involved in their children's learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff understand their roles to keep children safe. They know how to identify when a child may be at risk of harm. Furthermore, they understand their responsibilities to report any concerns in order to protect children's welfare. Leaders follow appropriate recruitment procedures and vetting checks to help to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff are well deployed, and children receive good levels of supervision to help to keep them safe.

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Due date

1 November 2023 ensure younger babies benefit from a rich and broad curriculum, and improve the interaction skills of staff working with this age group to help to extend babies' language development and overall learning 29/11/2023

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Due date

ensure babies have daily opportunities to play outdoors to improve their opportunities to develop their physical skills and overall well-being. 29/11/2023

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should:

n improve self-evaluation systems to swiftly identify and address further areas for improvement to raise the overall quality of the nursery.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY456965 Local authority Croydon Inspection number 10269791 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 65 Number of children on roll 48 Name of registered person Ivy League Nursery Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 0208 7681888 Date of previous inspection 10 November 2022

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Information about this early years setting

Ivy League Nursery is owned by Ivy League Nursery Ltd. It registered in 2013 and is located in South Norwood, in the London Borough of Croydon. The nursery is open each weekday, from 8am to 6pm, all year round. There are 13 members of staff, including the cook. Staff hold relevant childcare qualifications ranging from level 2 to level 6. The nursery provides funded early education for children aged three and four years.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the manager and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n The inspector carried out a number of observations, including a joint observation with the manager, to assess the quality of the provision. n The inspector spoke to a number of parents, children and staff and considered their views. n The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, such as staff suitability information and qualification documents.

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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

1 November 2023 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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