Knutsford Day Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The nursery's safeguarding policies and procedures are not understood by all staff. Furthermore, the nursery's policies and procedures for complaints and children's intimate care are not robust.

This compromises the safety and well-being of children.The provider does not have a robust oversight of the curriculum. This leads to variable understanding from the wider staff team.

Not all staff know the key skills and knowledge they want children to achieve. The provider does not fully understand or do enough to ensure the education and quality of care children receive is consistently good. However, most staff use int...uitive knowledge of child development and how children learn in their teaching.

Staff identify when children need additional support and take steps to provide this. Overall, children make some progress in relation to their starting points.Staff are attentive to children in their play.

Children make bonds with their key person. Staff provide children with praise for their efforts, which helps them to try hard and feel proud. For example, staff tell children how impressed they are when they build a tall tower and role model polite manners.

Children behave well as they transition smoothly throughout the routines and different activities. They show they are happy at the nursery.

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

The provider does not ensure that all staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures.

In particular, who staff should refer concerns regarding the welfare of children to outside of the nursery. However, most staff do know how to identify safeguarding concerns and the different types of abuse. They demonstrate they would report concerns promptly within the nursery.

The nursery does not have secure systems in place to support children's intimate care. Despite the nursery outlining action it intends to take to introduce systems, these have not been implemented effectively. Therefore, there are consistent weaknesses in care practices.

The provider has not ensured that the nursery complaints policy and procedures are followed robustly. The provider does ensure that complaints are investigated within the required time frame and that parents receive a response. However, any outcome or changes made are not fully embedded.

Therefore, there is a recurring pattern of concerns being raised. The provider does not reflect on areas of weakness effectively to ensure sustained improvements to benefit children.Staff do not receive robust supervision to help them to identify their strengths and weaknesses in practice.

Consequently, the quality of children's learning is inconsistent. Staff receive ineffective targets that do not help them to bring about change in their practice. For example, the provider does not consistently identify weaker practice.

They do not fully understand how to devise and deliver an ambitious curriculum. Therefore, at times, staff lack confidence in their knowledge and underestimate their capabilities.Overall, there is a curriculum in place that is broadly appropriate for each age group within the nursery.

However, the provider does not fully understand how to sequentially build upon children's skills and knowledge. For example, some next steps in learning are pitched too high for children's age and stage of development. That said, the provider is engaging with local authority support to develop and embed the curriculum further.

Most staff working directly with the children broadly understand what their key children need to learn next. While some activities are not effective at meeting the planned learning intentions, children still engage well and show enthusiasm for having a go and joining in.Implementation of the curriculum is variable.

Staff do not always help children to problem-solve and develop their critical thinking skills. They do not always consider how distractions in the environment can impact on children's concentration. Staff provide exploratory play experiences such as using hammers to break ice to save superheroes or finding fish in coloured water.

While these activities engage children and appeal to their interests, they do not fully help them to focus on, develop and extend new skills as intended.Overall, staff help children to learn positive behaviours. Staff are alert to ensuring children's behaviour does not impact on others' safety.

The curriculum rightly places focus on supporting children's turn-taking skills.Staff work hard in partnership with external professionals to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make ongoing progress.

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?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date ensure all staff know what action to take when there are safeguarding concerns about a child 10/08/2024 ensure staff know what action is required in the event of an allegation being made against the member of staff 10/08/2024 record and act on information from parents and carers about children's dietary needs 10/08/2024 implement robust monitoring procedures so that children's individual needs, including intimate care, are always fully met 10/08/2024 fully investigate all complaints in relation to the early years foundation stage requirements and ensure improvements are sustained 10/08/2024 put appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision of staff to support and provide coaching for practitioners so they can ensure children receive consistently good-quality education.10/08/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the sequencing of the curriculum to support children to learn new skills and make good progress develop staff knowledge of how to support children to problem-solve and think more critically, for their age and stage of development review the organisation of learning experiences in the environment to minimise disruptions to children's concentration.