Sweethearts Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The quality of education children receive is poor. Leaders and staff are working together to implement a new curriculum following their last inspection.

However, their new curriculum remains unclear and limited. Staff do not think carefully about what they want children to learn. They do not consistently identify areas of learning that planned activities offer.

Play and learning experiences are planned around a weekly theme based on familiar stories. As such, activities do not routinely consider children's own interests or individual learning needs. As a result, children's learning is not well promoted and they d...o not make all the progress they are capable of.

Staff promote positive behaviour. As such, children behave appropriately and respond to staff's instructions. Staff are kind and caring in their approach.

They form good bonds with children who seek them out for comfort when needed. However, children's engagement in activities is fleeting. Staff do not recognise when children are disengaged in the environment, particularly those who are less confident, or who have identified delays in their speech and language development.

Leaders and staff have taken the necessary steps to ensure they have robust procedures in place to assure children's safety. For example, they now have secure processes to respond appropriately to child welfare concerns. They ensure any concerns are referred to local safeguarding partnerships in a timely manner.

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

The new curriculum is still in its infancy at this pre-school. Leaders and staff are beginning to take steps to review and implement an ambitious curriculum for the children. However, they have not made the required improvements following their last inspection.

Children still do not have access to learning that is well planned or sequenced to meet their individual needs. This does not provide children with the opportunity to develop a secure foundation for future learning.Staff plan next steps for children, but these do not precisely focus on what children have already learned and what they need to learn next.

This means children do not have access to appropriate challenge, or receive the targeted support needed to make good progress.Children identified as needing additional support in some aspects of their learning and development have individual educational plans put in place. However, these are not effective.

They are too broad, and often do not cover all the areas staff have identified children need support with. They do not provide staff with specific strategies to support children's well-being and learning consistently and appropriately.Leaders have not taken the necessary action to improve the quality of interactions children receive.

Staff do not consider how they can extend children's speech. For instance, staff do not expand on more confident children's conversations, or challenge and extend children's ideas or thinking processes. Furthermore, children who have identified speech and language delay are not supported to make progress.

Although leaders understand the process for seeking additional support for children with a language delay, this is not carried out in a timely manner. This does not promote children's progress.Staff receive regular one to one sessions.

However, these processes are not effective. Leaders do not accurately identify weaknesses in staff's practice. Consequently, support, coaching and mentoring does not help raise the quality of teaching to a good level.

Children's independence is well promoted by staff. For instance, children participate in making their own sandwiches. They have opportunities to safely cut their own fruit and pour their own drinks for snacks.

Children are given praise and encouragement to succeed. This supports children to develop their own self-confidence.Staff ensure children are kept safe and demonstrate a secure understanding of risk assessment.

However, leaders have not ensured staff improve how they teach children about risk. For example, staff remind children to be careful when cutting with knives, to move the seesaw away from the wall, and not to climb on resources. However, they still do not provide any explanation as to what the risk is.

This means children still do not have opportunities to learn how they can keep themselves safe.Children's health is promoted well. Effective hygiene practices are in place, such as handwashing before mealtimes.

Staff support children to begin to develop their self-care routines. For example, children independently access a 'nose wiping station' that is set up with a mirror and tissues. Staff are respectful of children and ask for permission to help them with self-care.

This helps children to feel valued. Staff work in partnership with parents and local dentists to promote oral health.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that robust safer recruitment processes are in place to ensure staff are suitable to fulfil their roles. Staff have a clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. All staff demonstrate a clear understanding of how to identify a child may be at risk of harm.

They have secure knowledge of how to report concerns to local safeguarding partnerships. They are aware of the procedure to take in the event they are concerned about a colleague's behaviour. Leaders understand the importance of sharing any welfare concerns in a timely manner.

Children are well supervised. Staff effectively identify and minimise risks to ensure children safety.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date improve staff's understanding of how to plan and deliver an ambitious curriculum that builds on children's existing knowledge, skills and capabilities, engages them fully in their learning and is responsive to their individual needs 15/02/2024 ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive consistent, targeted support where required to address any gaps in their development and that referrals for additional support are made in a timely manner 15/01/2024 take action to ensure staff are providing high-quality interactions that consistently and securely promote children's communication and language development 15/02/2024 ensure staff receive effective coaching and mentoring to improve their personal effectiveness 15/02/2024 enable children to understand how to keep themselves safe, ensuring staff provide age-appropriate explanations to support their understanding of risk.

15/02/2024