Once Upon A Time Pre- School/after School Club

Inspection of Once Upon A Time Pre- School/after School Club Cherry Orchard Day Centre, 171 St Jamess Road, Croydon CR0 2BY

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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 Outstanding

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The provision requires improvement

Children arrive happily and settle quickly. Toddlers form strong bonds with staff. They enjoy one-to-one time with staff during care routines. The provider is ambitious for all children to be confident and independent. Staff use their understanding of children's interests and information gathered through observations to plan the curriculum. However, this is not consistently implemented, which means that children's learning is not always well promoted. Children's behaviour is often not well managed. Staff do not help them to understand risks. For example, children practise using safety scissors. When they grab the scissors from one another, staff do not support children to resolve their conflict or teach them how to use scissors safely. Therefore, the impact on children's learning is limited.

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The provision requires improvement

The provider knows the local community well and organises the nursery to meet the needs of local families. Many children in the area do not have access to outdoor spaces. The provider, therefore, makes sure that children spend plenty of time outdoors in the fresh air, practising their physical skills. Children develop a love of nature. They help to grow sunflowers and vegetables in the nursery garden. Children are active and curious. They are fascinated by spider webs in the bushes and sing a nursery rhyme about a spider.

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The provision requires improvement

Children enjoy books and stories. Staff read with expression, which inspires children's interest. Children learn about their own and other cultures. There are resources around the nursery that depict different cultures and languages reflected in the nursery. Children discuss the festival of Eid and know that some families celebrate Eid and others do not.

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need to do better?

n The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the setting. The provider uses additional funding effectively to support children with SEND. Staff receive specialised training to enable them to meet children's medical needs. Staff get to know children well. They work with parents and other professionals to implement support plans. n Staff support children's language and literacy well. They comment on what children are doing and echo back what they say. Pre-school children use their rapidly growing language skills to ask questions and express their ideas. Toddlers demonstrate their growing vocabulary. They repeat 'bubble, bubble' when staff set up the bubble machine. Staff introduce children to a variety of songs and rhymes. Children sing loudly and join in with the actions. n Children's ability to regulate their behaviour and resolve conflicts is limited. Staff

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need to do better?

do not manage children's behaviour consistently. Some staff help children to

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need to do better?

18 October 2024 learn how to share and take turns. However, other staff tell children to use 'kind hands' but do not offer support or explanations. Occasionally, children are discouraged from taking part in activities when children snatch equipment from them. This limits children's access to the full range of learning opportunities. n Staff promote children's physical development well. Children demonstrate increasing skills as they run, jump and climb in the garden. Children enjoy squeezing slime through their fingers. This helps to strengthen their small muscles and support the development of early writing skills. n Parents are welcomed into the nursery. They receive support from staff and report that children quickly develop in confidence when they start. Parents receive daily feedback about their children's progress and have regular access to their children's learning records. n Managers support staff's welfare. Staff receive regular appraisals and training.

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need to do better?

However, managers have not identified weaknesses in staff's understanding of how to help children learn to keep themselves safe. Children have some understanding of how to keep healthy. They know they must wash their hands before lunch. However, they are not supervised adequately at mealtimes. Staff stand in a group nearby but do not notice when children put food into each other's lunchboxes. This does not support children to understand fully the risks to their health. Consequently, some children do not learn how to keep themselves safe. n Children are generally well engaged by the interesting activities that staff plan at each session. Toddlers join in enthusiastically with activities. They squeal with delight as they play hide and seek with staff. However, transitions between routines in the pre-school room are sometimes disorganised and children are not always engaged in stimulating learning activities. When children come in from

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need to do better?

the garden, staff do not work as a team to support all children to settle into activities. Consequently, children become restless and begin to demonstrate unwanted behaviour.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Due date

18 October 2024 support staff to manage children's behaviour consistently so that children understand how to regulate their feelings and resolve conflicts 18/11/2024

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Due date

ensure that staff support children to learn how to keep themselves safe 18/11/2024

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Due date

make sure that staff deploy themselves effectively to support children's understanding of how to stay healthy at mealtimes. 18/11/2024

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should:

n review transitions between activities to ensure that these happen swiftly and children are always engaged in meaningful learning experiences.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY541860 Local authority Croydon Inspection number 10354792 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

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

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inspection

Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 80 Name of registered person Arnold, Kalpana Isabel

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reference number

Telephone number 07918106745 Date of previous inspection 6 November 2018

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Information about this early years setting

Once Upon A Time Pre-School/after School Club re-registered in 2017 and has been operating since 1995. It is located in the London Borough of Croydon. The nursery is open during term time, from 8.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. It provides government funded childcare. There are currently 18 staff working with children. Of these, sixteen staff are qualified at level 2 or above and two members of staff hold early years professional status.

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Inspection activities

n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n Staff spoke to the inspector about how they support children with SEND. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n Parents shared their views of the nursery with the inspector.

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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

18 October 2024 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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