Halo Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The manager has not monitored safeguarding knowledge effectively enough to ensure that all staff recognise potential signs of abuse and know the associated reporting arrangements. There are other breaches of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) requirements, including staff who do not hold an appropriate first-aid qualification being included in ratios.

These failings impact on the safety of children. The manager can discuss the curriculum priorities for each age group. However, she finds it harder to articulate how the curriculum is sequenced over time to ensure children make progress from their individual starting po...ints.

Staff do too much for children and overly direct activities. For example, they hold children's hands during a painting activity to produce identical caterpillar pictures, despite children wanting to paint more freely. This places limitations on children's creativity and enjoyment, and it ultimately hinders their learning.

Staff do not communicate with the children, or each other, effectively. This leads to the inconsistent delivery of routines and expectations. Staff give children mixed instructions and do not follow these through.

As such, children do not know what is expected of them, and this results in poor behaviour. Staff have no shared strategies for managing behaviour and do not support children well enough to develop essential skills, such as turn taking. The setting feels chaotic, and this impacts on children's emotional well-being and their development across the curriculum areas.

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

The manager has organised safeguarding training for her staff team. However, she has not ensured that staff have fully accessed or understood this training. As such, she has failed to identify or address gaps in safeguarding knowledge.

In addition, staff who are included in ratios as qualified members of staff do not hold a paediatric first-aid certificate. These breaches to the EYFS requirements compromise the safety of children.The manager has developed a setting that is secure and hygienic.

There is no outside space, but staff take children to local parks every day to get fresh air and be physically active. The manager has ensured that procedures for assessing and managing risks are secure. For example, on arrival to the park, staff conduct a risk assessment before children can play.

Staff focus too much on routine tasks, such as tidying up, instead of engaging meaningfully with children. For example, as they walk to the park, staff hold children's hands but fail to talk to them the entire way. This has an impact on the relationships between staff and children, which are not secure and lack warmth.

Staff know who their key children are but are not clear about their next steps of learning. As such, the key-person system is ineffective.Staff do far too much for children.

For instance, older children are supported with feeding and drinking from open cups, despite being fully capable of doing this for themselves. Staff overly direct children during adult-led activities and interrupt or redirect child-led play. As such, staff show limited understanding of the curriculum and how young children learn.

Staff rarely engage in child-led play to model language and new vocabulary. They ask very basic questions, such as what colour an item is, rather than questions that promote thought or conversation. In addition, staff make significant, repeated speech errors.

Children do not develop into confident communicators in preparation for their next stage of learning.Staff do not communicate effectively with each other to deliver consistent routines. They do not have high enough expectations of children's behaviour or any shared strategies for managing poor behaviour.

They are sometimes unable to get children to follow simple instructions, such as to remain seated during snack time. This fails to prepare children successfully for school.Staff do not have the skills, training or experience to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively.

There is a lack of strategies in place to meet their individual needs. Children with SEND do not make the progress of which they are capable. However, the manager receives support from local authority advisors to help improve their offer for children with SEND and to secure any additional support they may need.

The manager is new to her role and is aware of the weaknesses in the setting. She models good practice to her staff and offers feedback and training to improve their practice. However, the lack of a qualified and capable named deputy impacts on the progress she is making.

This is a further breach of requirements, as there is nobody who can take charge in the manager's absence. However, the manager is aware of this and is actively seeking the right person to fulfil this role. She is committed to addressing the weaknesses and driving improvement.

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 can identify possible signs of abuse and neglect at the earliest opportunity and know how to respond in an appropriate way 16/02/2024 ensure all staff included in the staff-to-child ratios at level 2 or level 3 obtain a suitable paediatric first-aid qualification 16/02/2024 improve the effectiveness of the key-person system to ensure that children's individual needs are met 16/02/2024 provide staff with training and professional development opportunities to improve their knowledge of the curriculum and how young children learn 16/02/2024 improve staff's interactions with children to develop children's communication and language skills 16/02/2024 ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to understand, support and manage children's behaviour in an appropriate way 16/02/2024 ensure there are effective strategies in place to meet the needs of children with SEND 16/02/2024 ensure there is a named deputy who is capable and qualified to take over in the absence of the manager.

16/02/2024