Smartkiddies Childcare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Leaders lack the capacity to improve the quality of education and care. Leaders have taken some action to tackle areas of weakness identified at the last inspection. However, this has been insufficient to address the issues raised.

Staff do not always have high expectations for children. Staff lack the knowledge they need to identify concerns and take any action required to promote children's best interests. That said, staff develop positive relationships with children and speak to them kindly.

This helps children to settle into their day at nursery. Managers have established a key-person system, but this will ta...ke time to embed and prove effective. There have been improvements to the daily routine.

Lunchtimes are a positive experience for children, who help to lay tables and serve themselves. They eat healthy food and tidy up when they have finished. This demonstrates children's eagerness to participate and play an active role during their time at the setting.

Children do not develop positive attitudes to learning, and they frequently disengage from the activities provided. This is because staff do not consider children's interests or the resources required to implement their plans successfully. In turn, this affects children's behaviour, and they run around or ask to play games on the electronic tablets.

When children play digital games, other children gradually gravitate to the screen. This takes children away from active, stimulating play and opportunities to improve their early communication and social skills.

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

The poorly designed and implemented curriculum does not meet children's needs, although there is a plan in place for daily activities.

When organising planned activities, staff often cannot find key resources required for successful outcomes. For example, during a gingerbread decorating activity, there is no icing to stick the decorations to the biscuits. During a painting activity, children become disappointed, as staff can only find orange and brown paint.

Concerns about the curriculum and its implementation raised at the last inspection persist. This impacts upon children's engagement and sense of achievement.Managers and staff cannot always gain access to the system they use to record information about children or the progress they make.

This includes access to records that evidence the progress checks staff undertake when children are aged between two and three years. Although the access issues are ongoing, managers have not taken steps to address the problem. This causes frustration for staff attempting to review children's progress and plan for their learning.

Children do not get access to daily opportunities for outdoor play. This is a breach to requirements. Children often show a keen interest in extending their physical skills.

They run around the room in circles repeatedly and are uninterested in engaging with staff's efforts to encourage them to join activities.This behaviour makes the environment unsafe for children.Recent changes to the management team by senior leaders are not understood by staff.

Leaders have not made new management arrangements clear, which means staff do not know to whom to report concerns. Furthermore, leaders have not considered the availability of managers, which means unqualified and inexperienced staff run the setting until managers arrive. Nevertheless, there is good rapport between managers and staff.

When they are on site, managers try to support staff to fulfil their roles. Children see the adults who care for them role model positive interactions with others.Changes in leadership and management have had an impact upon supervision arrangements.

Staff do not get the coaching and support they need to improve their skills, as leaders are focused on the reorganisation of the management team. Leaders have not had the capacity to address concerns about supervision raised at the last inspection. Leaders have not been able to apply themselves fully to making the sustained improvement required to improve the setting rapidly and promote children's education to a good level.

This means children are not making good progress in their development in preparation for the next stage in their learning.Managers do not give enough consideration to children's health and welfare to promote their good health and limit the spread of infection. Leaders permit children to attend even when other settings have determined they are too unwell to attend on that day.

Staff do not store toothbrushes hygienically, which increases the risk of cross-contamination. This puts children at risk of illness.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

Staff understand the possible signs and symptoms that might indicate a child is at risk of harm. Staff know how to raise concerns with the management team and outside agencies in order to protect children. However, managers do not fully understand their responsibility to provide support, advice and guidance to staff on safeguarding matters.

Managers are not confident about the steps they would take if there is an allegation made about a member of staff. Leaders have not taken the action required to address safeguarding concerns raised at the previous inspection. Hygiene practice at the setting and efforts to reduce the spread of illness are not effective.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to: Due date ensure records are easily accessible and available to ensure the efficient running of the setting 24/01/2024 ensure all practitioners have a clear understanding of their roles and that staffing arrangements support the effective management of the setting 24/01/2024 ensure supervision arrangements provide support, coaching and training for practitioners, to promote the interests of children and continuous improvement 24/01/2024 make sure staff understand the procedures to follow to ensure hygiene requirements are met to prevent cross-contamination and promote children's good health 24/01/2024 ensure practitioners with a lead responsibility for child protection can support, advise and guide staff on safeguarding matters.24/01/2024 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date consider children's individual needs and interests to plan and implement challenging activities that support all children in their learning and development 24/01/2024 ensure practitioners review children's progress when they are aged between two and three and provide parents with a short written summary of their child's development in the prime areas 24/01/2024 ensure children have access to outdoor activities on a daily basis.

24/01/2024