TLC Neighbourhood Nursery

TLC Neighbourhood Nursery and Family Learning Centre T L C College, Dunstall Heights, 1 Dunstall Road, WOLVERHAMPTON, West Midlands, WV6 0LZ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/12/2013 02/07/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 There is a failure to identify and remove significant hazards within the setting, resulting in children's safety being compromised. Risk assessments do not identify all hazardous areas to children. This undermines their safety and is a breach of requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register.  Teaching is variable within the setting. There is ineffective monitoring, supervision and coaching to target weaker staff to improve performance and quality of teaching.  There is an inadequate range of resources and activities on offer for children aged under two years. This results in, children showing poor levels of interest in what is available and a lack of adequate challenge to fully promote children's learning.  Staff working with children aged under two years are not sufficiently trained or supervised to enable them to meet the needs of the children in this age group,

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This provision is inadequate

particularly during meal times, which means the children's safety is compromised.

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It has the following strengths

 Positive relationships are developed with parents and carers, which contributes to children settling into the setting well.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the three playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the manager, deputy manager, registered person and quality manager of the provision.  The inspector looked at children's assessment records and planning documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, the provider's self-evaluation form and improvement plan.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

TLC Neighbourhood Nursery and Family Learning Centre was registered in 2005 and is on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is run by the company TLC College. It operates from one building on a site in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Children also access enclosed outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 82 children in the early years age range who attend on a full and part- time basis. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm, 51 weeks of the year. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The nursery employs 18 members of staff, and all hold appropriate early years qualifications. The nursery receives support from the local authority and receives funding for the provision of the free early education to children aged two, three and four.

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must:

 ensure that the premises and the equipment are suitable and safe for children and that risk assessments are used to include and minimise all risks to children

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must:

 ensure that staff working with children under two are sufficiently trained and supervised so that they are able to meet the needs of children in this age group, particularly when feeding them, so that the children remain safe in the setting

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must:

 provide challenging and enjoyable learning experiences for all children across all areas of learning to help all children make good progress

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must:

 ensure appropriate arrangements are in place for the supervision of staff and to provide support, coaching, supervision and monitoring, in order to increase staff's knowledge and skills and improve performance

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must:

 ensure there is an adequate range of resources and activities for children aged under two years.

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who attend

Overall the quality of provision requires improvement because some staff's knowledge about how to teach, assess and plan to support children's learning is variable. This leads to inconsistent practice that does not ensure that all children make good levels of progress. Although, teaching for the older children is effective in consistently meeting the children's needs, this is not the case for children aged under two years.

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who attend

The focus on helping children acquire communication and language skills and on supporting their physical, personal and social development helps children over two years old make good progress, from their starting points. Educational programmes are effective in covering all seven areas of learning. Staff in rooms for older children make regular and precise assessments of children and use these to plan suitably challenging activities. Parents contribute to initial assessments of children's starting points on entry and they are kept well informed about their children's progress. For example, each day, staff are available to talk to parents about their child's learning and they are invited to more formal meetings at the parents' evenings, held twice a year. The progress check at age two is completed in partnership with parents, which also means that parents are aware of the progress their child is making, whether there are any gaps in development and how these

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who attend

Some staff use the characteristics of effective learning to plan activities. They encourage children to play and explore and be active. For example, children thoroughly enjoy investigating the insects in the outside area. They talk about where the worm has come from and how strong it is as it pushes into the earth. Some staff skilfully introduce mathematics into daily routines, encouraging children's participation as they count and compare the number of children on the register. In the school room children are motivated to learn as they eagerly wait to be chosen to describe the weather outside. The children are enthusiastic and engage in the activity, which also encourages their listening and concentration skills. Staff talk to older children at every opportunity, which helps to consolidate communication and language skills and provides a basis for future development. Children are very confident when choosing their own activities and enjoy

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who attend

playing independently with dinosaurs, glitter, small world figures, dolls, water and dressing up clothes. This shows that children are confident to try new things, can lead their own active play, are suitably placed for developing their learning further and have the key skills needed for their next steps in learning.

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who attend

Older children develop physical skills when they use wheeled toys, suitably negotiating other children and objects as they circle the outdoor play area. Toddlers enjoy kicking balls to adults and other children and playing chasing games that help them to learn their bodies move in different ways and enjoy being energetic. The children are content in the nursery. However, younger children are not always provided with challenging activities that extend their learning. Opportunities for younger children to develop effective communication are not always fully promoted. Staff do not maximise conversation or offer running verbal commentaries. This results in, some children not fully understanding what is happening and detaching themselves from some activities. For instance, a child wants to join in a gluing and sticking activity but is told 'no, not yet'. The child is too young to understand why they are unable to join in and walks away. This means that children are

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who attend

not always encouraged to play, explore and be active. There are insufficient resources in the baby room to provide stimulating and challenging opportunities, which means that children's progression to the next stage of learning is not fully maximised.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Management do not have sufficient knowledge about the Safeguarding and Welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that children are kept safe and their well-being is protected at all times. Management do not ensure that the premises are safe for children to use. This is a failure to meet the legal requirements.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Younger babies are not provided with opportunities to develop their physical skills as the staff's knowledge of how to promote these skills is inadequate. For example, babies who are beginning to take their first steps in walking do not have appropriate equipment in the room to support and encourage them to stand or walk. Babies are taken outside in a pushchair and are not given the opportunity to explore or be active. Consequently, activities do not always provide sufficient challenge to enable children to make the best progress in their physical development. Not all practitioners are vigilant to ensure that children are kept safe at meal times. Younger children are offered inappropriate food for their age, such as, whole grapes, which means that children are at risk of choking. Older children are encouraged to talk about their food and the importance of eating their fruit and vegetables and have regular access to outside play and exercise. This helps children

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

to learn about how a healthy diet and how exercise contributes to their well-being. This means that children's healthy development is suitably supported. Staff remind children to keep their hands on their knees at circle time so that their hands are not stepped on. This helps to develop children's understanding of how to keep themselves safe. Older children learn to manage their own personal needs, such as, washing their hands and putting on their coats.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Sleep time is arranged so that children can sleep with minimum disruption in calm and quiet rooms. Older children have a quiet area where they can sleep or rest and children are happy and confident to go and use this area. Children behave well and play cooperatively. Older children are encouraged to develop independence in choosing activities and children are happy to share their imaginative ideas with the staff and each other. For example, one child at breakfast time says they want to put the dinosaurs on a glitter shining 'planet'. Later in the day, staff provide the resources for the children to build on this concept through further imaginative play.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff have developed close attachments with their key children and the children's parents to promote children's emotional well-being. Settling-in arrangements include 'taster sessions' for new families so that staff can talk to parents about their child's care needs prior to their start date. As children move through the nursery, visits are arranged to help them become familiar with their new room and with the staff who will be caring for them. There are clear arrangements in place to ease children's eventual transition onto school.

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provision

Leadership and management of the nursery is inadequate. There is too little understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements, resulting in breaches that have a significant impact on the safety and well-being of the children. Risk assessments are in place, although, these are not used effectively to safeguard children. For example, the staff had not effectively checked the outside area where several containers of water and mud with water were easily visible and accessible to very young children. Children are at risk of strangulation as strong nylon blind cords hang down to a level that children could reach. Staff feed whole grapes to very young children, putting them at risk of choking and the wires from electric Christmas lights hang down near a sofa that children can access. Staff use boiling water in the vicinity of young children putting them at risk of scalding. This means that management has not planned sufficiently to ensure that the

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provision

nursery meets the legal requirements to help keep children safe. There is ineffective monitoring of staff, resulting in inconsistent teaching practice and poor identification of training needs to meet the needs of the nursery. Some staff working with babies do not have adequate supervision or support to help them to keep children safe. They have a lack of understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which means that children's safety is compromised and progress to their next steps in learning are not fully promoted. Robust recruitment processes are in place to check staff's suitability to work with children and qualifications are thoroughly checked, which helps to ensure that children are cared for by staff who are suitable.

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provision

Teaching is variable and is sometimes sound, particularly for older children and not sufficiently challenging for the younger children. This is because not all staff receive appropriate support or monitoring to ensure they fully understand how to support each child's needs and how to successfully deliver the learning and development requirements. Some staff have a good understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and because of this management are able to show how older children are progressing over time in all areas of learning. Staff hold appropriate qualifications and management support continuous professional development, although this does not have a positive effect on the quality of the teaching for children of all ages in the setting. Management has been ineffective in tackling identified weaknesses within the setting, which means they are not sufficiently

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provision

ambitious about improving practice. Arrangements are in place for supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and the nursery works closely with speech therapists, early years consultants and early intervention teachers.

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provision

Processes for self-evaluation, which involve staff, parents and children, are not in place. This lack of monitoring of the provision has also resulted in some legal requirements not being met. Links with parents are sound and include daily feedback, parents' evenings and half-termly reports. Parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection are positive about the quality of care provided. The setting has established partnerships with local schools and local support agencies to help promote continuity in children's learning.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that the premises and equipment used for the purposes of childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY310537 Local authority Wolverhampton Inspection number 873104

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 82 Number of children on roll 82 Name of provider TLC College Date of previous inspection 02/07/2009 Telephone number 01902 714433

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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