Woodside Children’s Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Staff create an exciting outdoor environment, which children confidently explore. Children use their muscles to safely navigate rope bridges, swing on monkey bars and kick balls to their friends. When toddlers struggle to get tricycles from the storage area, staff encourage them to think about how to reverse.

Toddlers use their feet, pushing themselves backwards, and staff praise them for their achievement. Pre-school children use tools to 'fix' things in the tool shed. Staff encourage children to consider how to hammer nails in wood safely.

Children know they need to keep fingers out of the way. Staff support children to... work together and share ideas. This supports children's early social skills.

While children have some positive learning experiences, not all children benefit from a consistently planned and well-implemented curriculum. Overall, children's play is free choice which restricts the opportunity to build on their prior learning. On these occasions, much of what children learn is incidental.

Staff deployment is not always effective. This results in limited interactions, which sees children lying on the floor not engaging with activities, and others seeking interaction from visitors.Pre-school children sometimes display unwanted behaviour that is disruptive.

Children do not always take staff seriously, repeatedly refusing staff requests. This inadvertently makes a game of the situation, which children find amusing. While some staff do address children's unwanted behaviour appropriately, others do not pursue it, which sees the unwanted behaviour continue.

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

Leaders have taken a positive approach to addressing the weaknesses raised at the previous inspection. They have ensured all staff have received training in safer sleep for children and have implemented sleeping arrangements in line with the latest government guidance. In addition, leaders have created new nappy changing areas to ensure that nappy changing is safe and suitable for children.

Leaders have worked with the local authority specialist advisor to undertake a full evaluation of the setting. This has led to the development of a new curriculum to build on children's existing skills and knowledge. However, this is still in its infancy.

While staff can talk about the learning intentions for the children in their care, they are not always implementing them. As a result, children often disengage from learning and wander around looking for something to do, or ask to play in other rooms.Babies and toddlers behave well.

Staff support them to use their manners, take turns and tidy away resources. In contrast, those working with pre-school children have yet to establish consistent behaviour management strategies. For example, pre-school children are asked to use their manners, not to blow instruments in their friends' ears and be kind to others.

However, at times, children ignore these requests and staff do not pursue this. This gives inconsistent messages to children and does not help them to understand what is expected of their behaviour.There are times when staff are not deployed well.

They spend extended periods of time away from children as they carry out routine tasks, such as preparing for and cleaning away after mealtimes and organising sleep areas. This often leaves one member of staff to supervise higher numbers of children. At these times children have little direction or support, and activities are not engaging enough to capture their interest.

Staff understand the importance of supporting children's good health. They ensure eating areas and bottle preparation areas are clean and hygienic. In addition, staff provide children with healthy meals, snacks and fresh drinking water.

However, mealtimes are not always well organised. Some children become restless due to the length of time they are left waiting. As a result, babies get upset and pre-school children start to display unwanted behaviour.

Staff support children to do as much for themselves as possible. Pre-school children take off their shoes when returning from outdoor play, they access the toilet themselves and they tidy away their water bottles at the end of lunchtime. Babies and toddlers make simple choices about the food they want to eat.

They are supported to use cutlery and they recognise their own drinks cup. This helps to develop children's early independence skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is 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 and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure all staff understand and implement a curriculum that clearly identifies the intentions for children's learning, so all children are offered appropriately challenging and engaging activities and experiences 19/09/2024 implement behaviour management strategies, which support staff to be consistent in their approach, and which build on children's understanding of behaviour expectations 19/09/2024 deploy staff to ensure that they engage with all children effectively, to increase children's enjoyment and extend their learning.19/09/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove the organisation of mealtimes, so that children do not have to wait unnecessarily.