Happy Valley Pre School Brighton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The manager has not made the necessary improvements required since their last visit.

In addition to this, she has not sustained all improvements that they had previously made. There are weaknesses in safeguarding practice. The manager does not take appropriate action to ensure all staff are able to identify or take action to eliminate risks as they present in the environment.

This compromises children safety. However, all staff do demonstrate a sufficient knowledge of how to report concerns regarding a child's welfare or a concern regarding a colleague's behaviour.Children receive a poor quality of education, tha...t does not meet their individual needs.

Overall, children are not receiving a sufficient level of support to make the good progress they are capable of in their learning. The quality of teaching is weak, and staff do not plan a broad and well-balanced educational programme. This means children are not well prepared for their next stage of learning.

Children spend long periods of time wandering the environment aimlessly without engagement in purposeful activities. Staff do not provide children with high quality interactions. As a result, children's behaviour is affected as they become disengaged and bored.

Children are not receiving the level of early education they deserve. Despite this, staff are kind and have caring relationships with children. Staff are respectful as they ask permission to change their nappies which helps children to feel valued.

Children do enjoy some activities such as making playdough cakes, and exploring sand in the garden.

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

There are significant weaknesses in leadership and management. The manager does not identify gaps in staff's knowledge or ensure that they fully understand their roles and responsibilities, including how to identify hazards.

Although the manager has made some changes to staff supervision sessions, they remain ineffective. The manager does not provide the coaching and mentoring that staff need to raise the quality of education and teaching. For instance, staff do not have a secure understanding of how to implement an effective curriculum.

Staff do not always know what areas of learning activities promote, or how they benefit individual children's learning. As such, children do not benefit from a board and varied curriculum to promote their learning. This impacts on the staff having the knowledge and skills they need to fulfil their roles and responsibilities effectively.

All staff have recently completed behaviour management training. However, the manager has not ensured this has had a positive impact on staff's practice. Children are not supported to develop a positive or motivated attitude to learning.

They lack sustained and meaningful engagement with staff as the interactions they receive are very limited. This directly impacts children's behaviour as they have repeated minor disputes that often go unnoticed or unchallenged by staff. This means children struggle to understand their own emotions.

They do not always receive the support they need from staff. On occasion, this results in children snatching, pushing, and throwing things across the room. Furthermore, staff give children mixed messages.

For instance, some staff ask children to stop running inside, while other staff do not challenge this behaviour. As a result, children are unaware of the behavioural expectations.The manager, alongside the special educational needs coordinator have taken some action to improve arrangements in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Children's individual support plans now include strategies provided by other professionals and are shared with staff. opportunities. However, the needs of children with SEND remain unmet.

This is due to the poor quality of education and because staff do not interact with children enough. Staff are not deployed well enough to make sure all children, including those with SEND, have their individual needs met and access appropriate learning opportunities. Often children are disengaged and spend time wandering the environment on their own.

Staff share that some children, including those with SEND, have talents in particular areas of their learning, yet these are not appropriately challenged or incorporated into their daily experiences. This inhibits children from making good progress.There is a separate space for children under the age of two.

However, it is not regularly in use or secure for younger children. The youngest children spend most of their day in the main play area alongside the other children. Here, they do not have access to age-appropriate resources and activities or stimulating and purposeful play opportunities.

At times, staff sit the youngest children on inappropriate chairs to access activities, where they receive no encouragement to take part. As such, the youngest children to not have their needs appropriately met.Although the manager has taken some action since the last visit to minimise and eliminate previous risks identified, risk assessment remains ineffective.

The manager and staff do not take appropriate steps to identify and minimise risks to children as they arise. For example, children have access to stinging nettles in the outdoor provision. Furthermore, staff give children whole grapes from their lunch boxes that have not been cut.

The staff and manager fail to recognise the choking risk this presents. In addition, the manager has failed to take appropriate action to ensure concerns regarding health and safety have been promptly addressed. The manager has failed to have oversight of risk assessment and the impact it is having on children.

This does not ensure children's safety.

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?

The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to: Due date take action to ensure all staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, including how to recognise health and safety issues 19/04/2024 ensure staff supervision arrangements are effective in identifying gaps in staff's knowledge and practice, to help improve their personal effectiveness 19/04/2024 ensure staff deployment arrangements are effective in consistently meeting the individual needs of the children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities 19/04/2024 provide staff with support and coaching so they can implement appropriate and consistent strategies for managing children's behaviour, to help all children to feel safe and understand how to manage their own feelings and behaviour 19/04/2024 ensure a separate baby room for children under the age of two is used appropriately to meet these children's needs 19/04/2024 take action to implement a rigorous system for risk assessment to ensure hazards are identified and managed effectively and promptly, so that children are not exposed to risks.19/04/2024 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date plan and deliver an ambitious curriculum that builds on children's existing knowledge, skills and capabilities and engages them fully in their learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities 19/04/2024 take action to ensure staff provide high-quality positive interactions that consistently and securely promote children's learning.

19/04/2024