Noah's Ark Community Nursery

Inspection of Noah's Ark Community Nursery Little Oaks Children's Centre, Pelter Street, London E2 7PE

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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 Outstanding

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The provision is good

Children arrive with smiles and are greeted by warm and caring staff. Children separate from their parents and carers and quickly settle into their favourite activities. Children explore the well-equipped nursery with enthusiasm. This shows they feel safe and secure. Leaders create an exciting curriculum and help staff to plan activities to boost children's early literacy skills. They plan activities, such as storytelling, singing songs and saying rhymes. Children join in with actions, familiar phrases and repeated lines. Staff plan activities that help children to strengthen their small-hand muscles. Children enjoy painting outside, messy play and rolling balls. Other children play and pretend in the role-play area. In the pre-school room, staff encourage children to talk about what they are learning and why.

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The provision is good

Leaders set high expectations for children and staff. The ambitious curriculum supports all children. This approach helps all children to make good progress from their starting points in development. Leaders take pride in bringing the nursery community on the journey, with children at the centre. Staff are good role models. They help children to behave well by explaining the rules and their expectations. Staff use strategies to help children to manage their emotions and promote positive learning behaviour.

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need to do better?

n Parent partnerships are positive. Parents are happy and praise staff for their contributions to their children's well-being and education. They say the communication from the nursery about their child's care is good. Also, they comment their children enjoy attending the nursery. Parents describe their experiences as 'exceeding their expectations'. n Staff are happy and work well as a team. Leaders help staff to follow policies and encourage staff to keep learning. They are ambitious and want children to do well. n Staff prepare children for school and teach them independence. For example, they help children to recognise their names on coat pegs. Children pour water and serve themselves at lunch. They enjoy learning and are keen to know and do more. For example, at snack time, staff support children to cut their fruit safely using knives. Children feel secure and ask staff for help when needed. n Staff help children to develop their creative skills in different ways. For example,

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need to do better?

they encourage children to look at autumn leaves. As children stick the leaves to create a picture, staff support them to use words to describe the texture and colour. This helps children to develop their vocabularies. n Staff teach children how to care for living things and their environment. Children help to water the plants at the nursery. They show an interest in growing mushrooms, which they will cook. Staff teach children how to care for the

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need to do better?

29 September 2025 nursery's pets, such as stick insects, fish and worms. n Leaders encourage parents to take part in their children's learning at home. In the pre-school room, they encourage children to bring photos from home to share with their friends. This helps children to gain confidence and develop their language skills. n The nursery prepares meals that are nutritionally balanced for all children. Staff support children to eat safely and enjoy their food. They carefully manage children's allergies using colour-coded plates and display relevant information in each room. However, before and after meals, staff do not consistently manage the routine well. For instance, some children wait longer than necessary for their food to arrive, while staff focus on other tasks. In the baby room, children sit outside waiting for their lunch to be ready. After they wake up, they wait outside again while their friends sleep. On these occasions, staff do not provide valuable

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need to do better?

opportunities for children's play and learning. n Staff assess each child's needs and ask what they want to learn. They create a friendly and supportive environment, which encourages children's creativity, exploration and risk taking. Staff help children to learn new words through language, gestures and repetition. For example, in the baby room, a small group of children listen to a story about farm animals. Staff encourage them to repeat animal names and sounds and to count the animals. This boosts children's communication, language and mathematical skills. n While some staff create activities based on children's individual needs, this is not consistent. For example, some staff are unsure about the children's next steps in learning during some planned activities. On these occasions, staff do not consistently build on what children already know and can do or tailor children's learning to their specific needs.

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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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should:

n support staff to consistently tailor learning opportunities to the specific needs of children n improve mealtime routines to reduce the time children have to wait and to make better use of play and learning opportunities.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY433346 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 10407988 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 56 Number of children on roll 47 Name of registered person The London Early Years Foundation

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reference number

Telephone number 020 7739 2317 Date of previous inspection 22 January 2020

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Information about this early years setting

Noah's Ark Community Nursery registered in 2011. It is based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The nursery is open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, for 51 weeks of the year. It provides government funded childcare. There are 25 staff employed in the nursery. All staff hold appropriate childcare qualifications ranging from level 3 to level 6. The nursery also employs a chef.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector looked at documents and reviewed the suitability of staff working in the nursery. n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n Staff spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The manager and inspector completed a joint observation and compared their findings. n The inspector observed interactions between staff and children. n Parents and carers spoke to the inspector to share their views about the nursery. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and evaluated the impact on children's learning. n The inspector spoke to leaders about the management 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

29 September 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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