Farley Sparsholt Outdoor Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Children's welfare is compromised due to breaches of the safeguarding requirements.

Leaders fail to ensure that staff proactively identify risks, in order to keep children safe and protect their well-being. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not consistently ensure that the qualification requirements are met during early morning shifts. At times, there are not enough suitably qualified staff on site working directly with the children.

However, staff sensitively and enthusiastically welcome children. This helps children to settle and feel secure.Children follow their interests as they engage in activities, such ...as climbing, balancing, building or role play.

However, the quality of children's overall experiences are variable. Children are not always sufficiently challenged by the activities that staff provide. On occasion, there is too little for children to do.

That said, some activities for children are planned, with learning intentions that are linked to the next stages in their development. For example, children are encouraged to take part in craft activities. They use their hands to explore sand and water, or different tools to make marks with paint.

Older children sit and listen or make predictions to stories that staff read to them. Babies enjoy many sensory experiences. For example, they are encouraged to mix water and leaves to make potions.

Staff adopt different strategies to promote good behaviour. They regularly remind children of the boundaries, and staff praise children appropriately when they demonstrate their understanding of them. Staff supervise children well, which enables them to respond promptly when children need support.

Children approach staff for cuddles if they need comfort or reassurance throughout the day. Children forge secure relationships with one another. They display positive behaviour and demonstrate that they are happy.

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

The environment is not carefully risk assessed to ensure that it is safe for children, and there are hazards that impact on the safety and well-being of children. For example, staff fail to identify a hot portable radiator in the baby sleeping area as a risk. Furthermore, there are vacuum cleaners and trailing wires in areas that are accessible to the children.

Failure to identify potential risks compromises the safety of children and staff.Leaders do not ensure that the mobile phone policy is robustly implemented. Staff fail to recognise the risk posed by using mobile phones when walking through the garden area that is used by the children.

Consequently, children's welfare is not safeguarded effectively.Children do not benefit from consistent staffing. There have been a number of changes in staffing in recent months and, on occasion, the leadership team has failed to secure sufficient qualified staff to work directly with the children.

This has had in impact on the quality of interactions and expectations of children's learning. Although an action plan to address weaknesses in the setting has recently been implemented, this has not yet had time to become fully embedded in practice. However, leaders are working hard to meet ratios and recruit new staff.

Children have regular opportunities to be creative. They mix paint to make new colours and explore the feeling of sand and water. Children enjoy listening to stories, which helps them to develop a love of reading.

Older children attentively listen to stories and recall words and phrases in familiar books, such as 'The Three Little Pigs'.Leaders do not monitor the quality of staff's teaching and practice closely enough. There is an open-door policy and staff receive mandatory training.

However, staff have not been supported enough and weaknesses have not been identified in order to raise the quality of care and education that children receive.There is an identified special educational needs coordinator. They work closely with staff to put targets and plans in place for children, and liaise with other agencies to seek any additional support that children need.

Leaders are aware that the staff have been through a time of turmoil. They have recognised that staff need more support through the many further changes. Leaders have a clear vision and demonstrate that they have the capacity to make improvements.

For example, they understand the importance of ensuring that all staff receive more-effective supervisions and training in order to successfully raise the quality of the provision.Partnerships with parents are not fully effective. That said, many parents express that they travel to the setting for their children to enjoy this unique outdoor nursery, and their children enjoy attending.

They have seen many changes and, as a result, they do not receive enough communications about their children's learning and development. This does not fully support children's learning at home. Despite this, parents say that staff are hardworking, enthusiastic and dedicated.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.Safeguarding arrangements are not sufficiently robust. This is because staff do not effectively identify and remove hazards in the environment.

As a result, children's safety is compromised. Despite this, staff are aware of the possible signs and symptoms that might indicate a child is at risk of abuse. Additionally, staff know the procedures to follow if they are concerned about the welfare of a child or a colleague's conduct.

The management team has effective recruitment procedures to check the suitability of staff working with children. The premises are secure, and there are systems in place to make sure that unknown persons cannot enter.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date take action to implement robust risk assessments to identify and remove the risk of harm to children and staff 22/12/2023 make sure that the mobile phone policy is implemented robustly to promote children's safety 22/12/2023 ensure that staff working with children have appropriate qualifications, training, skills, and knowledge to be able to provide children with quality learning and development experiences 05/01/2024 implement a stimulating and ambitious curriculum that inspires, challenges and fully supports children in their individual learning experiences to help them to make consistently good progress 05/01/2024 ensure that there is a robust management system in place to mentor, coach and offer staff regular support, to further develop their skills and to help enrich their practice 05/01/2024 improve and build stronger partnerships with parents to help parents to further support children's learning at home.

05/01/2024