Hornsey Lane Estate Community Association

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy to come into the nursery. They are made to feel welcome as they are greeted warmly by staff. When they need comfort, they confidently approach staff for cuddles and reassurance.

The space indoors and outdoors is well organised, and the children are secure in the environment. Children enjoy whole-group time each morning. They show respect and kindness to one another, are making good progress and are becoming confident communicators.

During focused activities, they hear and repeat words in other languages. They are also given the opportunity to talk about the languages they speak at home and hear words... in their friend's home languages.Children learn to solve problems and develop their sense of curiosity through sensory activities.

They work together as they mix different materials and make their own creations. Outside staff encourage children to manage risks in a safe way as they climb on the frame, ride bikes in a circuit and count how many times they jump on the trampoline. These opportunities support children to develop their confidence and coordination skills.

Children listen to instructions from staff, and their behaviour is good. Staff support children to tell their friends if they do not like something. They help children to talk about how the actions of others make them feel.

This supports children to begin to understand their emotions and how to manage conflicts.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have a clear and focused vision for the setting. As a team, they reflect on practice and strategies learned from training together.

They work closely with the local authority, which has a positive impact on the provision. Leaders are aware that after a period of transition with a new manager and staff, this is a priority going forward.Staff engage in conversations about how to support children, and they are given the advice they need to put strategies in place.

Staff say that they are supported by their managers and are working well together. The new manager works closely with them and has a good relationship with her team.Leaders work with staff to identify any gaps in children's learning and support them to plan what children need to learn next.

Staff work with other professionals to plan targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This supports all children to continue to learn and make good progress.Children gain the skills they need to be able to communicate from an early age.

Staff listen to children. This is fully reinforced when children ask for the afternoon snack to be outside for a picnic. Staff are fully responsive to this request, adapting the plan so they can eat outside.

All children help to move chairs and tables and carry out the snack to the garden. As a result, children feel heard, and they are able to contribute to decision-making and develop their interests with confidence.Staff place an emphasis on building children's language by introducing new vocabulary during circle times and building confidence in small-group work.

Children practise conversation skills and follow instructions from adults really well. However, at times the waiting time for these groups is too long to sustain children's interest, and some children become unsettled.Children have a good understanding of healthy lifestyles.

They can name healthy foods and discuss what keeps them healthy. They enjoy a range of healthy meals and snacks and are reminded to drink water throughout the day by staff.Staff make good use of the small group room, where children can listen and think or practise new skills.

However, this is not always able to be sustained throughout the day. Although the management team is aware that additional support in staffing is an area of focus, this is not yet in place. As a result, some children are not consistently benefiting from planned experiences that are tailored to meet their individual learning needs.

Staff have good relationships with parents and take the time to talk to them. This supports the children's transition from home to nursery with ease. Parents speak very highly of the staff at this setting.

They are impressed with how well the children settle and how much their children want to come to nursery each day.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff ensure that children are kept safe throughout the day through consistent risk assessment processes.

Staff communicate well with each other to ensure that children are fully supervised as they play. Managers with responsibilities as designated safeguarding leads have a good understanding of the processes to follow if they are concerned about a child or member of staff. They prioritise and make sure that staff's knowledge is up to date through regular formal and informal safeguarding training.

Staff are confident in their responsibilities to share any concerns about children with the designated safeguarding leads. There are secure and effective recruitment systems in place to ensure staff's suitability to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review daily routines, especially at transition times, to help to reduce children's waiting times continue to support staff to focus more precisely on individual children's next steps to be able to improve interactions and ensure all children consistently benefit from high-quality experiences to help them make even better progress.