Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Pineham Village

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Leaders and managers do not take appropriate action to safeguard children. This compromises children's safety and welfare.

Staff, although trained in safeguarding, do not have a good enough understanding of what to do should they suspect a child is at risk of harm. This includes what to do if they have a concern about a colleague's behaviour or practice.Staff do not know how to manage children's behaviour appropriately, which leads to a chaotic and loud, play environment.

Children squabble over toys and equipment and push each other over when they do not get what they want. Staff fail to recognise this or interve...ne. This impacts negatively on how children play and learn.

Children are not learning the rules and boundaries that help to keep them safe.The curriculum is poorly planned, lacks ambition and does not meet the needs of the children. This includes those children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those children who speak English as an additional language (EAL).

The quality of teaching is poor. Staff sit with children at activities, but rarely engage with them. As a result, most children soon lose interest in activities and wander away or run wildly between the indoors and outdoors.

The purpose of activities is unclear, for example staff say that a table-top activity with sawdust and spaghetti is linked to helping children learn about animals. There are no animals available to children, the sawdust and spaghetti are spilled on the floor and consequently no intended learning takes place.Despite these poor practices, children are generally happy to attend and appear to enjoy their time in the setting.

Staff are kind, show children affection and meet their care needs appropriately.

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

Not all staff know what to do if they have a concern about a child in the setting. They know that this needs to be reported to the designated safeguarding lead (DSL), but some staff do not know what to do should the DSL not report this further.

Additionally, some staff do not know the procedure to follow should a member of staff be accused of harming a child. Knowledge of the 'Prevent' duty is not secure. These gaps in safeguarding knowledge negatively impact children's safety and welfare.

Risk assessments are not carried out effectively to identify and minimise all hazards. Windows and gates are not properly secured, which means there is a risk of unknown individuals entering the setting. Staff do not recognise that wires hanging in the sleeping area are a potential hazard to younger children.

The manager has been in her role for a short time. She recognises that many changes are needed to improve the setting and plans have yet to be implemented. Induction of staff, including the new manager, is weak.

There are many new staff at the setting, they have not been supported appropriately to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities. The staff have not been offered supervision for a long time, and the new manager is trying to prioritise this to ensure she can identify gaps in practice. The training needs of staff have not been identified, consequently knowledge and practice are weak.

This has a detrimental impact on the quality of teaching and support children are offered in terms of their learning and development.The curriculum lacks focus and purpose. Most staff do not have high enough expectations for the children.

Although staff are allocated key children and identify some learning intentions for children, the curriculum is not implemented well enough. Staff do not consider what children need to learn next when planning activities. Progress checks for children between the ages of two- and three-years are not completed on time.

This means that gaps in children's development are not identified, and intervention is not provided to help children make the progress they are capable of.Staff sometimes sit with children when they play, but they do not have the skills to help children to build on what they know. Therefore, children become bored and move away from activities as they lack challenge and interest.

Staff are not deployed effectively to meet the needs of all the children at times. On occasion, staff stand around not engaging with the children and do not intervene when younger children are wandering aimlessly with no support.Children with SEND are not well supported.

Staff do not identify gaps in learning quickly enough or make timely referrals to secure additional support. When gaps are identified, staff do not know how to support children effectively to help children catch up in their learning. Staff have not had effective training or support to help children with SEND.

As a result, children who require additional support are falling further behind in their development and not making the progress they are capable of.Staff do not understand how to support children's communication and language development, including children who speak EAL. They do not recognise that some children require more support than other children and the curriculum has not been appropriately adapted.

Staff do not effectively support children who need extra help with their speech and language skills. As a result, some children's speaking skills are not well-developed, and they are not helped to widen their vocabulary or use sentences.Parents express some concerns about the nursery.

They say that staff have been inconsistent and there have been a lot of staff changes. Although most parents know who their child's key person is, staff do not share what children have been learning or what they need to learn next. In addition, staff do not always honestly share how children have been at nursery, for example, if they have had a difficult day.

As a result, children are not getting the support they need as staff do not work closely enough with parents.Staff do not implement consistent rules and boundaries to help children learn right from wrong. They do not provide clear explanations or act as positive role models.

Consequently, children are not supported to learn how to behave well or understand how their behaviour impacts on others. They throw resources on the floor and snatch toys from one another. This behaviour goes unnoticed by staff who fail to address this, simply telling children to have 'kind hands', leading to a lack of support for children's personal, social and emotional development and a chaotic environment, particularly for children aged two-years and over.

Staff are kind and greet children enthusiastically. Staff offer children cuddles and comfort when needed.Children are offered a balanced and healthy diet.

Staff ensure that children's dietary needs are well met, ensuring that they only offer foods children can have to support their good health.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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 all those working with children have a thorough knowledge and understanding of how to safeguard children and be able to identify those children who may be at risk of harm, including what to do should they believe a member of staff has harmed a child 10/06/2024 implement effective risk assessments to ensure that all areas children have access to are safe and suitable for purpose, with particular regard to low-level windows, gates in play areas and wires hanging in sleeping areas 10/06/2024 ensure staff know and understand how to support the care and learning needs of children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to enable staff to plan high quality learning experiences tailored to children's individual needs 10/06/2024 ensure parents are provided with accurate information about the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS) which helps them to understand the progress their children are making 10/06/2024 ensure that key persons plan and provide a learning environment tailored to the individual needs of every child 10/06/2024 ensure all staff understand how to manage children's behaviour appropriately 10/06/2024 ensure that all staff receive thorough induction training to understand their roles and responsibilities in order to to be able to effectively plan and offer every child a unique learning experience 10/06/2024 implement effective supervision to support, coach and train staff in order to bring about improvements in the development of children 10/06/2024 ensure that the organisation and the deployment of staff consistently meet the needs of all children.10/06/2024 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date implement an ambitious curriculum that considers the individual needs and stages of development of all children in order for them to make at least good progress 24/06/2024 ensure staff help every child to develop their communication and language skills effectively, particularly those who speak English as an additional language 24/06/2024 ensure that the progress check at age two is completed in a timely manner to help identify and seek appropriate support for those children who may not be making the progress they are capable of.

24/06/2024