Ducklings Private Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

There are significant weaknesses in the safeguarding procedures at the nursery. Not all staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe.

Poor supervision means that children cannot always be seen or heard by staff. Leaders and managers have not considered the risks of leaving a door to the nursery unlocked when parents come into the school grounds at the end of the school day. This puts children at risk of harm.

The quality of education is poor. Recent changes in staffing mean that they do not know enough about children's interests and stages of development. As a result, staff do not provide childre...n with an interesting and challenging curriculum.

Children become bored, leave the activity, and wander around the room aimlessly. Children show challenging behaviours because staff do not motivate them to learn and stay engaged. Staff plan some adult-lead activities.

For example, they carry out an activity making 'paper clay'. However, poor teaching does not ignite children's interests and they wander away from the activity soon after it has started. That said, children arrive happily and confidently separate from parents or carers.

They make independent choices about what they would like to play with from the well-resourced environment.

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

The planning of the curriculum is weak. There is a significant lack of exciting and challenging experiences for children.

Staff do not know what children need to learn next. They do not focus on the planned learning intentions of activities. Children do not stay engaged in their learning.

As a result, the progress that children make in their learning and development is poor.Strategies that staff use to manage children's behaviour do not help them to understand expectations. When children display unwanted behaviour, staff simply say 'no, no, no' without offering any explanation of why this behaviour is unacceptable.

This results in children repeating and copying other children's poor behaviours. In addition to this, staff frequently use physical intervention when it is not necessary. For example, when children move away from group story and singing sessions, staff call them back and when they refuse to return staff pick them up and return them to the group.

This means that children are not learning to follow simple rules and boundaries.Although adult-to-child ratios are maintained, staff deployment is poor. Children are not supervised well enough.

For example, staff allow children to repeatably go out of sight and hearing when they play in the larger school playground. This does not ensure their safety.Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff are supported in their roles.

Leaders do not provide sufficient support, supervision and mentoring to enable staff to fulfil their responsibilities. This negatively impacts on the outcomes for children.Parents comment positively about their children's experiences in the nursery.

They say that their children enjoy attending and have made friends with other children. Parents express how well informed they are of what their children are taking part in during the day.Staff promote children's physical skills well.

Children enjoy spending time outside, where they can run around and join in with games, such as 'What's the Time Mr Wolf'. Staff hold children's hands as they negotiate the climbing area, where they learn to balance and climb.Children are provided with healthy meals and snacks as part of a healthy and balanced diet.

Children have opportunities to learn about the importance of keeping themselves healthy, such as learning the importance of washing their hands before eating and after using the toilet.Staff are kind and greet children enthusiastically. Staff offer children cuddles and comfort when needed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.Leaders and managers do not ensure that children are safeguarded well enough. Staff are not deployed well enough to ensure that children are always within sight or hearing of staff.

The premises are not secure enough to prevent unauthorised persons entering. New staff do not have an appropriate understanding of how to report any allegations made against other members of staff beyond senior leaders. This compromises the safety and well-being of children.

That said, staff who have been working at the setting for longer have a better understanding of the safeguarding policies and procedures. Managers follow suitable recruitment procedures to ensure that staff are checked for their suitability to work with children.

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 that all staff understand the procedure to follow to report concerns to external agencies in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff 20/12/2023 ensure that staff are deployed to supervise children effectively at all times 20/12/2023 ensure that unauthorised persons cannot enter the nursery premises 23/11/2023 ensure that staff understand and follow appropriate procedures for managing children's behaviour 20/12/2023 improve the planning of the curriculum to ensure that it meets the individual needs of the children and has a clear learning intention for what children need to learn next 20/01/2024 implement effective support, supervision and mentoring procedures, so that all staff understand and are able to fulfil the requirements of their role.

20/01/2024

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