14576412
Nelmes Nursery School
Inspection report for early years provision
Unique reference number 118552
Inspect ion date 11/02/2010
Inspector Amanda Gill
Setting address United Reformed Church, Nelmes Road, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 3JA
Telephone number 01708 479613
Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises
2
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) 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 Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.
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This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 3
Introduction
This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years
provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).
Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of
registration.
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 4
Description of the setting
Nelmes Nursery School is privately owned. It opened in 1980 and operates from a church hall, in a residential area of Emerson Park, in the London borough of Havering. The nursery is open each weekday from 9.15am to 11.45am and afternoons from 12.15pm to 2.45pm for 38 weeks of the year. A temporary fence is erected daily to enclose the car park and provide an outside play area.
The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and a maximum of 30 children in the early years age range may attend at any one time. There are currently 73 children in the early years age range on roll. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
The nursery employs eight members of staff; of these, seven hold appropriate early years qualifications and one is working towards a level 3 qualification. The setting receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare
Partnership (EYDCP).
The overall effectiveness of the early years provision
Overall the quality of the provision is good.
Children's welfare, learning and development are promoted well. The children are confident in their surroundings and the regular sharing of information with parents ensures no child is disadvantaged. Practitioners know children well allowing them to make good progress in their learning and development. An initial assessment is carried out in partnership with parents to ensure practitioners are able to
effectively support all children’s individual needs. Regular self-evaluation by the manager and staff ensures that any priorities for future development are promptly identified and acted upon, which results in a service that is responsive to the needs of the parents. This enables practitioners to build on areas for improvement and promote the outcomes for children.
What steps need to be taken to improve provision
further?
To further improve the early years provision the registered person should: further develop procedures to ensure children’s developmental records
consistently identify their next steps to effectively support their learning and development
develop planning to ensure children are able to explore words, text and ascribe to meanings and instructions with marks within their daily routines to further support their learning.
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 5
The effectiveness of leadership and management of
the early years provision
The children’s welfare is promoted well because practitioners have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and procedures. Required polices, procedures and documentation are in place and well maintained to further
promote children’s welfare. Children are kept safe and secure due to the vigilance of the staff and the regular risk assessments undertaken. The children have daily access to a fenced off outdoor play area, where staff closely supervise them to ensure their safety at all times. Staff have a good understanding of the
safeguarding children procedures and are clear about the action required to protect children should the need arise. Full fire drills are in place, recorded and regularly practised to ensure all children have a thorough understanding of what to do in an emergency. All staff have full CRB checks carried out on them and they are recorded so the manager is able to see at a glance the reference numbers and dates they were completed. Resources are deployed well around the setting. This enables children to move freely and to choose from the different activities provided for them. Staff work hard to ensure the sessions run smoothly so children feel settled and confident in their routine.
The setting is fully committed to promoting inclusive practice and is aware of the importance of teaching the children about diversity. Children are taught about equality and diversity at a level that they are able to understand and learn from. Children look at different countries and what festivals they have as part of their culture. For example, the children looked at China and the celebration of Chinese New Year and had great discussions during snack time when they had the
opportunity to try a selection of Chinese delicacies such as, spring rolls and sesame prawn toast. Children have daily access to positive images showing people from around the world. The children also have daily access to small world people showing figures with disabilities and wearing a range of cultural costume. This extends children's learning in this area.
Parents receive daily feedback with the staff about the children's day at the
setting. Staff work extremely hard to make sure parents feel included and are kept well informed about their children's progress and welfare. Parents have access to all the setting's policies and procedures. A parents' notice board is available, which displays some policies and planning for the children and relevant information. This ensures that parents are kept up to date with what is happening daily at the setting. Parents receive an abundance of information about the setting and have regular newsletters to ensure they are kept fully informed of what is happening within the setting. Parent questionnaires are also used to consult parents for new ideas and suggestions and the manager and staff implement these where they can. The staff also have strong links with other professionals and are very committed to inclusion of all children to help promote continuity of care and education for the children.
All staff contribute to the nursery's self-evaluation and this is discussed regularly at team meetings. The self-evaluation form is an extremely effective tool and clearly identifies the setting's strengths and weaknesses. The manager is working hard to
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 6 improve the service offered and has a development plan in place to address all areas that she believes need further development. All resources are deployed very well, they are all stored at a level which enhances children's acquisition of
independence skills. The manager is constantly seeking ideas from parents and staff to improve the childcare practice so that children have enjoyable and challenging play and learning experiences. The manager is extremely keen to continue to drive improvement by attending additional training to improve both her own knowledge and that of the staff team.
The quality and standards of the early years provision
and outcomes for children
The nursery is an extremely warm and welcoming place for children to learn through play. The environment is bright and colourful and full of interesting, stimulating equipment and resources that children can freely choose from. They arrive eagerly at the setting and confidently leave their parents at the beginning of each session, demonstrating trusting and secure relationships are built.
Practitioners have a good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage, enabling children to make good progress in all areas of their learning and
development. The setting operates by a key-worker system and practitioners know children well, enabling them to give key-children individual support. Their
individual interests are known by the staff, who support children in their play and extend their learning by asking them questions to make them think and help them problem solve.
The manager and staff plan and deliver an imaginative and exciting range of activities for the children that cover the six areas of learning. They carry out systematic observations and children’s developmental records clearly identify what they can do. However, procedures have yet to be fully developed to ensure
developmental records consistently identify children’s next steps. As a result, there are missed opportunities to maximise learning potential for all children. The
children benefit from taking part in a good balance of both focus-led and free play activities to support their individual needs, learning and interests. Practitioners plan a varied range of topics to support children’s learning experiences.
Children receive good opportunities to build up a repertoire of songs that they sing with vigour and enjoyment such as, 'Alice the camel' and 'Down in the jungle', both spontaneously and during planned sessions. In addition, children are able to recall songs with clues provided by staff during group time. There is a good range of books within the setting, and children clearly enjoy listening to stories and know how to use the books correctly. Children are afforded opportunities within the setting to mark make, although opportunities are not readily available for them to explore words, text and ascribe to meanings and instructions with marks within their daily routines to further support their learning. As a result, opportunities for children to further explore writing skills are limited. Counting and calculating are a regular feature of the setting. For example, children use number language during singing and play. Simple calculation is successfully introduced through games, where children have to match shapes and colours to those thrown on the dice. Children explore space and shape by taking part in construction activities and
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 7 completing puzzles.
Children are thoroughly protected from cross contamination and infection through effective hygiene procedures that are in place. Staff consult parents to find out what foods the children like and dislike. This information is then fed into the planning for snacks. Children have fresh water available throughout the session and are offered water or sugar free squash at snack time. Staff explain to the children the benefits of healthy eating and physical exercise.
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 8
Annex A: record of inspection judgements
The key inspection judgements and what they mean
Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong
Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound
Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough
The overall effectiveness of the early years provision
How well does the setting meet the needs of the
children in the Early Years Foundation Stage? 2 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous
improvement 2
The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early
years provision
How effectively is the Early Years Foundation Stage led
and managed? 2
The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding
ambition and driving improvement 2
The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and
diversity 2
The effectiveness of safeguarding 2
The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the
steps taken to promote improvement 2
The effectiveness of partnerships 2
The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and
carers 2
The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation
Stage
The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 2
Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation
Stage 2
The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2
The extent to which children feel safe 2
The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 2 Any complaints about the inspection or report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website:
www.ofsted.gov.uk
This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 9
