Alba - Early Years Day Nursery

Inspection of Alba - Early Years Day Nursery London Playing Fields Foundation Pavillion, Birkbeck Avenue, Greenford UB6 8LS

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

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

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety and welfare are not assured at this nursery. Leaders have not maintained good oversight of the provision, which has led to poor practice and breaches of the registration requirements. This compromises children's safety. That said, staff are welcoming and children generally enjoy attending the nursery. In the baby room, children benefit from warm and consistent relationships with key staff. They settle well and show that they feel happy and secure. However, the key- person system for older children is not effective. Children moving on from the baby room are not initially allocated a key person, to help them to feel safe and support their care and learning. Therefore, some children do not receive the individual attention they need to thrive.

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The provision is inadequate

The curriculum is implemented poorly. There have been significant changes to staffing recently. Some new and temporary staff do not know children well enough to understand their needs or teach them effectively. Although they play with children, their interactions do not enhance children's learning or skills. This hampers children's progress, particularly for those children who are disadvantaged and with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Some staff do not have clear or high expectations for children's behaviour. They struggle to support children when they demonstrate unwanted behaviour. This means that, at times, the learning environment becomes disorderly. This impacts on children's ability to focus on activities and does not help them to develop positive attitudes to learning.

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need to do better?

n Leaders acknowledge that there are weaknesses in practice. They have sought external help to address this and describe plans to raise the quality of the provision. However, these are not embedded, and progress is further hampered by recent staff turnover. While leaders describe a broad and ambitious curriculum, staff working with older children do not implement this effectively. Therefore children, including those who are disadvantaged and children with SEND, do not make the progress they are capable of. n Leaders describe how they have improved systems to monitor and support staff's practice. However, it is too soon to assess whether this is effective in raising the quality of the provision. Teaching is not consistently good and, despite training, staff do not implement some nursery procedures. Therefore, not all children receive high-quality care and learning experiences. n Recent changes to staffing have left some children without a key person.

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need to do better?

Leaders do not ensure that there are adequate measures in place to support these children while new staff are recruited. For instance, children with SEND are allocated to agency staff, who are not told about their communication needs or how to support their learning. Therefore, individual plans for children are not

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need to do better?

4 July 2025 followed. This hinders children's development and means that gaps in their learning are not closing. n Leaders explain their high expectations for children's behaviour, but staff do not consistently show that they understand and know how to apply them. For example, staff attempt to distract children when they run around indoors or throw resources. However, they do not help children to understand that some behaviours are not acceptable or suggest ways to resolve issues. Therefore, children do not learn to regulate their behaviour effectively. n Children with SEND are not well supported. Leaders and staff know that some children have gaps in their learning and development. However, while there are written plans setting out how they will close these gaps, staff do not receive effective training or support to implement them. Furthermore, resources purchased using children's additional funding are not routinely used. As a result,

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need to do better?

children who require additional support are at risk of falling further behind in their development. n Although staff know about the nursery's accident procedure, they do not routinely record accidents or inform parents when children have hurt themselves. This compromises children's safety and welfare. n Parents and carers are complimentary about practice in the baby room and the provision for outdoor play. However, some parents are concerned that they have not been kept well informed about changes in staffing. Where children do not have a key person, parents describe a negative impact on their children's care, learning and emotional well-being. n The provider has taken appropriate action to strengthen staff's knowledge of whistle-blowing procedures and how to report concerns about children's welfare.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Due date

implement an ambitious curriculum that considers the individual needs and stages of development of all children, including children with SEND 01/09/2025

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Due date

4 July 2025 provide effective training, supervision sessions and monitoring of staff, to swiftly identify and address weaknesses in their practice 01/09/2025

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Due date

provide an effective key-person system, to facilitate positive partnerships with parents and ensure that children's support, care and learning is tailored to meet their needs 01/09/2025

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Due date

implement effective and consistent strategies to support children's behaviour and help them to understand what is expected of them 01/09/2025

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Due date

ensure that staff understand how to support the care and communication needs of children with SEND and to plan high-quality learning experiences, which are tailored to their individual needs 01/09/2025

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Due date

keep a written record of all accidents, injuries and first-aid treatment given to children at the nursery and share this information with parents 01/09/2025

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Due date

ensure that parents are kept up to date with how staffing is organised within the provision, including information about their children's key persons. 01/09/2025

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2728711 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 10410338 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 30 Number of children on roll 41 Name of registered person AlbaNurseries Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 02085759215 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Alba - Early Years Day Nursery registered in 2023. The nursery is in Greenford, in the London Borough of Ealing. It operates each weekday, from 8am to 6pm, all year round. The provider employs six members of childcare staff. Of these, four staff hold childcare qualifications. One staff member holds qualified teacher status and other staff are qualified at level 3. The nursery offers government funded childcare for children aged from nine months to four years.

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Inspection activities

n We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information received about the provider. n The inspector viewed the provision and discussed the safety and suitability of the premises with the acting manager and the provider's nominated individual. n The acting manager, nominated individual and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The nominated individual and acting manager spoke with the inspector about the leadership and management of the nursery. They ensured that relevant documents were available on request. n The inspector talked to parents, staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views and experiences of the nursery.

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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

4 July 2025 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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