Small Talk Nurseries

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

There are a significant number of breaches to the requirements set out within the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage'.

Consequently, children are not kept safe and they receive a very poor quality of care and education.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, children are required to separate from their parents at the door as they arrive. They are taken by managers or staff into their playroom.

While some children are happy to do this, others get upset. Although staff are kind and caring towards children, managers have unrealistic expectations of them. Staff are overly stretched in their roles....

Most staff are very new to the setting. They do not receive enough practical support from managers. As a result, although staff really try, they are unable to meet the individual needs of children.

Some children remain upset during their time at nursery. Not enough is being done to support their emotional well-being and help them to feel secure.Children lack motivation to learn.

Staff do not know children well enough to provide them with varied activities that interest them. Some activities are too challenging for children. As a result, children find other ways to occupy themselves for most of their time at the setting.

They chase each other around and push over other children. This puts children at risk of injury. Babies are provided with yoghurt and domestic paintbrushes to explore while outdoors.

However, they repeatedly suck the yoghurt off the brush, which is unhygienic and the brushes are in poor condition. Staff allow them to do this and do not recognise these risks to children's health and safety. When these are raised, staff remove the activity and do not offer an alternative experience.

This leaves children with nothing to do until they return indoors.

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

Leaders and managers lack oversight of the quality of provision. They do not spend enough time monitoring teaching and practice to identify and address serious issues.

The support staff receive does not help to relieve the daily pressures they face, coach them to understand their roles and responsibilities or improve their personal effectiveness. This hinders the setting's capacity to improve.Children are not safeguarded.

Staff do not understand their duty to report child protection concerns as they arise. Managers fail to ensure that any safeguarding information is promptly referred to the correct agency. Furthermore, managers disregard the importance of maintaining clear, accurate and detailed records in response to safeguarding issues.

Other required information and records are not available. This impacts on the safe and efficient management of the setting.Managers fail to ensure that staff are deployed effectively.

Although there are enough staff present to work with children, they are unable to meet children's individual needs. Staff do not supervise children well enough to ensure their safety. They do not notice when a child puts an object in their mouth, which could cause them to choke.

Children's safety is compromised further by additional health and safety risks. Managers do not take swift action to address damages in fence panels. Children can access sharp, broken wood.

Staff do not identify risks to children's safety in the resources they provide for them. This puts children at risk of harm.Hygiene routines are not rigorous enough to promote children's health.

Carpets and toilets are dirty. Staff do not ensure that children have access to toilet roll. Children share drinks bottles without staff noticing.

This increases the risk of cross infection.Children's behaviour is poor. Staff fail to encourage children to focus or engage in any learning experiences.

Children spend their time trying to amuse themselves. This results in inappropriate behaviour, hurting other children or wandering around aimlessly. Although staff intervene with incidents of poor behaviour, they do not redirect children's attention by offering stimulating experiences.

Therefore, the behaviour is repeated.Regular changes in staffing mean that the key-person system is not effective. Children do not always have a key person present to help them form a settled relationship.

In the absence of a child's key person, other staff do not know enough about their individual needs. Therefore, the care and learning children receive does not support them well enough.Managers have identified a curriculum for children.

However, they do not support staff to understand their expectations for children's learning. Staff working with older children are mostly very new to the setting. They do not yet know children well enough to recognise what they need to learn next.

Consequently, planning does not capture children's interests or stages of development. Children are not supported to make progress in their learning and development.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not receive enough support.

Staff do not meet their individual needs. Children spend their time bored, standing around or watching others. There is not enough effort to provide children with tailored experiences that target their needs.

As a result, these children are not being guided to reach their potential.Parents generally provide positive views about the nursery. They say staff are friendly and tell them about their child's day.

However, parents do not consistently receive enough information about what their child is learning or ideas to extend their learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.Children are not properly safeguarded because managers and staff do not understand child protection procedures.

They can identify signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm and explain the procedures to follow to report their concerns. However, managers and staff fail to do this in a timely way when concerns have arisen. This leaves children at risk.

Weaknesses in risk assessment procedures further compromise children's safety. Staff do not adequately supervise children to ensure they do not harm themselves or others. That said, there are appropriate procedures in place to obtain suitability checks for new staff.

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 ensure that managers understand and implement a policy and procedure to safeguard children, including making sure that any concerns about staff or children are reported to the relevant local safeguarding partners in a timely way 08/08/2022 ensure that all staff receive training, so that they understand how to identify and respond to any child protection concerns in an appropriate and timely way 08/08/2022 ensure that all required information and records are clear, accurate and sufficiently detailed and that they are accessible and made available upon request to promote the safe and efficient management of the setting 08/08/2022 improve the deployment of staff to make sure that children are appropriately supervised at all times to ensure their safety 08/08/2022 ensure that the premises are clean, hygienic and fit for purpose to promote the health and safety of children 08/08/2022 improve use of risk assessment to ensure that all risks to children's health and safety are identified and swift action is taken to remove or minimize all risks and hazards to keep children safe 08/08/2022 implement effective procedures to manage children's behaviour, so that they understand how to keep themselves and others' safe 08/08/2022 ensure that the deployment of staff meets the needs of all children, with specific regard to meeting children's emotional needs, so that they build settled relationships in the setting 08/08/2022 improve key-person systems, so that every child receives tailored care that meets their individual needs 08/08/2022 ensure that managers provide staff with effective coaching and support to help relieve the pressures they encounter 08/08/2022 improve hygiene practices to promote the good health of children 08/08/2022 provide staff with effective supervision, which includes identifying and supporting staff to access training, coaching and professional development opportunities, so that they fully understand their role and responsibilities, including how to keep children safe, and to raise the quality of teaching consistently to at least a good level 08/08/2022 improve the two-way flow of information with parents, so that they receive information about their child's learning in order to help provide continuity at home 08/08/2022 ensure that there are effective arrangements in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that they receive appropriate levels of support to reach their potential.08/08/2022 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the curriculum, so that children receive quality learning opportunities that are appropriate and suitably challenging to support their development 31/08/2022 ensure that assessment is used effectively, so that staff know children's levels of achievement and identify what children need to learn next 31/08/2022 improve the use of planning to ensure that activities and experiences provided for children take account of their interests, stages of development and individual needs, so that children are motivated to learn and make good progress in their learning and development.

31/08/2022