Pennymoor Preschool Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The curriculum is not ambitious for all children and is not fully understood or implemented by staff. Older children sometimes have activities interrupted due to younger children not being able to access these at the same level.

This means all children lose out on beneficial learning, as activities are not differentiated to meet their needs. Staff do not complete the required assessment for children at age two to ensure they identify any delays in their development. Although, the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has some plans in place for children who require further support, this is not always communicated ...to staff who work more closely with them.

Hygiene practices in the pre-school are not suitable. Potties used by children are not cleaned ready for the next child to use, and handwashing equipment is not readily available for children after using the toilet. Before children have snack, they do not use soap to wash their hands, and they dry their hands on the same towel.

As a result, children are not taught about the links between hygiene practices and good health. Regular cleaning is not carried out in the main playroom, leaving the room unhygienic for children to use. Despite weaknesses, staff do comfort children if they become upset.

Children are happy at the pre-school and show they have good relationships with staff who they feel safe with. They enjoy spending time outdoors climbing on equipment and discover how they can fill buckets with water using pieces of guttering.

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

The implementation of the curriculum is weak.

Staff do not always support children to extend their existing knowledge to their full potential. For example, adult-led activities are not differentiated to enable all children to access the curriculum. Younger children struggle to maintain their attention and older children do not have enough time to achieve the learning they are capable of.

Children occasionally show some interest in the activities offered at the pre-school. However, the educational programmes and planned activities do not always motivate children to learn or provide a consistently stimulating environment. As a result, children often wander around the room and struggle to find something to do.

This means that children do not spend sufficient time engaged in purposeful play.Children are supervised effectively to ensure their safety. However, the deployment of staff, at times, means that children do not benefit from quality interactions.

Staff are often completing other tasks such as tidying away or fetching resources. Staff often comment on what children are doing from across the room, but do not always dedicate quality time to enhance children's learning and development.Staff do not complete the progress check for children aged between two and three years.

This is a breach of requirements. This means that any gaps in children's learning are not identified quickly.The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is not fully effective.

The SENCo makes some referrals for children where delays in development have been identified and communicates this to parents. However, staff who work closely with children do not always know what specific targets have been planned for them. As a result, children with SEND do not receive the support they require to make good progress.

Staff do not follow suitable hygiene practices. The environment, including nappy changing facilities, is not always cleaned to ensure all surfaces are hygienic for children to use. In addition, staff do not ensure children have washed their hands appropriately after using the toilet or before eating.

This impacts negatively on children's health.Leaders have failed to provide Ofsted with details of a committee member. This means that Ofsted have not been able to carry out the required checks to ensure that committee members who spend time in the pre-school are suitable to do so.

That said, this has minimal impact on children's safety as all committee members have Disclosure and Barring Service checks in place. In addition, they do not have responsibility for safeguarding or recruitment decisions.Staff access some training to improve their knowledge and skills.

They sometimes seek out training which interests them via an online platform. However, support and training for staff is not focused enough on improving their teaching to ensure it is at a consistently good standard.The newly appointed manager has identified weaknesses in practice.

However, as the manager has only been in place for a short time, she has not yet been able to address all of the current issues. The manager is committed to making changes to drive improvement in the pre-school to ensure children receive high-quality experiences going forward.Parents are generally happy about the care their children receive.

They comment that children are happy to attend, and staff are friendly. However, some parents comment that they do not receive regular information about the experiences their children are receiving.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding which 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 support staff to understand how to differentiate activities so that the curriculum is implemented effectively and all children are able to develop their existing knowledge and skills 02/09/2024 devise and implement an effective educational programme that consistently motivates, engages and stimulates children through purposeful play opportunities 02/09/2024 ensure that progress checks are complete for all children between the ages of two and three and provide parents with a written summary of children's development 02/09/2024 develop staff's understanding of how to support children with SEND to ensure that they are receiving the individual support they require to make the progress they are capable of 02/09/2024 ensure that the premises are clean and fit for the purpose of childcare, including nappy changing facilities to ensure that hygiene requirements are met 31/07/2024 ensure robust hygiene practices are implemented by all staff to promote the good health of children 31/07/2024 provide the necessary information in order for Ofsted to carry out the required suitability checks for committee members 31/07/2024 provide effective, training and support to staff to help them improve the quality of their teaching so it is consistently at a good standard 02/09/2024 ensure staff share information with parents about the experiences their children are receiving.02/09/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove staff deployment to ensure children benefit from quality interactions which meet their individual learning needs.