Accreditation Summary

Date: 18/07/2022



Summary:

Kidz 1st Day Nursery was registered in 2009 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is privately owned and offers day care provision for the under-fives. It operates in purpose-built premises on the ground floor with private dwelling above within Harlesden. Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, Northwest London. The facilities are ideally set up for contact sessions and this is their first enhanced accreditation. The centre is located a 5-minute walk from Harlesden tube station and a 20 minute walk from Willesden Junction overground and tube stations. Many buses stop outside the centre and there is a couple of parking spaces outside the centre. Metered parking is available on the main road. There are local parks with swings and large playing areas within a 5–10 minute walk and a good selection of shops and local cafes for families to use if community contact is in place.

A secure entry system is used to enter the building and once in the building there is another secure entry system before you enter the actual facilities. All entering the centre will be signed in and out by the administrator on duty at the reception area. The centre has a good selection of playrooms, toilets (including a disabled toilet) that meet the requirements for NACCC. There is an excellent variety of equipment that children can use during their contact sessions and a good selection of toys available for older children including table football, ps4 and table top games. Children’s toilets are available off the main rooms with changing facilities. There is a kitchen that can be used by parents if they wish to heat up food or prepare bottles for babies – under the supervision of a contact supervisor. Children are not allowed in the kitchen. Staggered arrivals and departures will be in place when the centre begins to operate. The centre is able to cater for people/families where they may have a disability or use of a wheelchair for contact sessions as all rooms are on ground level. All rooms are brightly decorated, and equipment is regularly cleaned and recorded on the centre’s cleaning rota. There is an enclosed area for outdoor play.

The centre has produced a clear leaflet for families. During the pre-contact meeting, families will be informed of the processes and services they will be getting and by whom. All families/referrers will be clear about charges, opening hours, contact numbers, email address, location of premises where contact sessions are held along with signed rules for service users. This information along with a map of the area and transport links will be available on the centre’s website.

The service will only be conducting contact sessions in the centre to begin with until contact supervisors become more experienced with facilitating sessions in the community. The centre has decided that as they are a new service starting out staff will not be transporting children or completing home visit where contact has been requested in the home. Children will either be brought to the centre by the resident parent or if the centre is facilitating a contact session for the local borough, children will be brought to the centre by their foster carer or use the allocated taxi firm registered with the local social services borough. The centre will encourage whenever possible for children to visit the centre before contact starts as it is very important that they know what the centre looks like, where things are and hopefully get a sense of the centre’s facilities. This will be conducted when the contact pre visit planning meeting is arranged. The centre has in place child evaluation forms for feedback.

The Director of the new contact service will have overall responsibility of the management of all the service. They have experience of facilitating supervised contact sessions in previous roles. The nursery employs 15 members of childcare staff with an additional full time administrator whose duties will include taking referrals for the contact centre and working alongside the centre co-ordinator. The centre has experienced staff members who are skilled with working with families and children and four of these staff members have shown an interest in the contact service. The staff team have completed training in management of a contact centre along with supervising contacts and report writing.

Any recommended actions following the visit are now complete meaning the service meets the standards for enhanced (supervised) accreditation.