Owl & Bear Daycare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The provider has not addressed the ongoing weaknesses that have been raised at previous inspections, and this remains a concern. The provider is in breach of several safeguarding and welfare requirements.

Staff do not support children's health and hygiene effectively. For example, mattresses and bedding are laid on a dirty floor in preparation for babies and young children to sleep. This compromises children's safety and well-being.

Staff encourage children to engage in a range of activities with friends or independently. For example, young children stack blocks, and other children play with play dough. However, ...the learning programme is not effective and is poorly implemented.

For example, children do not receive support from staff to develop their curiosity through well-thought-out activities and experiences. This does not help children to make progress in their attitudes to learning.Staff welcome children into the setting with warm greetings and smiles.

This helps children to easily separate from their parents when they arrive. Overall, children behave well. They take turns and play together cooperatively.

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

Leaders do not provide the manager, who is new in post, with effective oversight, mentoring and coaching. She is not receiving support to address the ongoing weaknesses in the delivery of the learning programme. In addition, leaders have not put in place effective staff training and coaching for all staff to improve their professional skills.

They recognise that staff supervisions have not been completed. Some staff do not know what they must do to improve their planning, teaching or interactions with children. This has a negative impact on the quality of education that children receive.

Leaders do not implement an effective key-person system to enable staff to support children to become familiar with the setting. For example, during the inspection, there were no arrangements in place to cover the absences of key persons. During these times, children do not receive effective support with their individual learning needs.

Furthermore, it does not help to support and maintain children's settled relationships and strong attachments with adults at the setting.Leaders do not ensure that staff prepare hygienic, clean environments for children. This weakness in staff practice compromises children's health and well-being.

Leaders do not have robust systems and processes in place to gather required information from parents regarding children's dietary requirements and allergies before a child is admitted to the setting. This means that children's health and safety is compromised.Staff do not plan and implement effective learning experiences to support children's long-term education.

For example, during planned focus group activities, staff do not organise resources effectively to support children to embed knowledge and/or practise new skills well. This demonstrates that children are not receiving a learning programme that supports their next steps.Leaders and the manager do not identify and address weaknesses in staff's knowledge and practice swiftly.

For example, staff do not carefully consider how to support children to move their bodies in a variety of ways to develop their gross motor skills. Staff do not implement an effective learning programme for physical development.Children's learning environments are poorly designed.

At times, pre-school children share the same room as the babies and young children. When this happens, the pre-school children do not receive age-appropriate learning and interactions to build on their existing skills. Children do not make good progress in their prime areas of learning.

Staff receive training to improve their understanding of supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to a higher level.Parents receive encouragement from staff to share and read books with their children. Staff sing nursery rhymes and read books with the children, which they enjoy and respond positively to.

Children gain some suitable language skills.The leadership team and staff build friendly relationships with parents. Staff arrange meetings with parents to talk about their children's time at the setting.

Parents comment that their children enjoy their time at the setting. Parents like the healthy snacks and meals that their children receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

The leadership team does not ensure that staff inductions support them to understand their roles and responsibilities. For instance, they do not provide environments that are clean for children. As a result, children's health is compromised.

Staff are trained to know the signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. The manager and staff know how to report any concerns they have about children. The recruitment of staff is thorough, and individual suitability assessments are completed.

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 implement effective supervision and support arrangements to ensure that all staff, including leaders and those with oversight and governance of the setting, are equipped with the skills and knowledge to fulfil the requirements of their role so that children are provided with a good quality of education and care that continually improves 10/11/2023 implement an effective key-person system to enable staff to support children to become familiar with the setting and that supports children's individual needs effectively 10/11/2023 ensure all staff follow the health and hygiene procedures of the setting, including robustly cleaning children's care environments 10/11/2023 ensure staff act on information from parents about children's allergies and dietary information before a child is admitted to the setting.10/11/2023 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date improve teaching practice so staff have a clear understanding of what they want children to learn first and in what order before planning activities and experiences 10/11/2023 create learning environments and a robust learning programme, ensuring resources available and staff knowledge and skills promote children's learning, curiosity and engagement.

10/11/2023