Bright Kids Studley

Bright Kids at Studley Briarwood, The Slough, STUDLEY, Warwickshire, B80 7EN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21/01/2014 10/01/2012

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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

 Children's safety is compromised because risk assessments do not identify all hazards that children are exposed to or how these are minimised. Records relating to children's hours of attendance are not always accurately maintained. Staff are not effectively deployed and therefore, children's safety and well-being is compromised.  Teaching is ineffective as staff do not engage with children well or ask open-ended questions to support their learning. Too often, children are left to their own devices with little interaction from staff.  Staff do not consistently reinforce expectations and behaviour and as a result, children do not learn what is acceptable behaviour.  Observations and assessments of children's progress are not carried out regularly to enable staff to accurately plan for the next steps in children's learning and build on what they know.  Resources and activities, both indoors and outdoors, are not always well-planned so

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This provision is inadequate

that children can explore all areas of their learning.  Packed lunches are not always healthy and compromise the otherwise healthy ethos of the nursery.

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It has the following strengths

 Children are happy and settled and go to staff for cuddles and reassurance when required.

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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 nursery playrooms, the out of school club and the outdoor play area.  The inspector had a tour of the nursery and spoke to staff and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation including a sample of children's learning and development files, risk assessments, a selection of policies and procedures, accident records and registers.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the senior management team and the manager to discuss recruitment, selection and vetting procedures; evidence of suitability and qualifications of practitioners working with children, monitoring and supervision of staff and staff deployment.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the nursery manager.

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Information about the setting

Bright Kids at Studley is one of several early years settings within the Millennium Bright Kid Company. The nursery was registered in 1999 and is on the Early Years Register and compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a converted detached house in Studley. The nursery is accessible to all children and there is a fully enclosed area available for outdoor play. The setting offers provision in the main building for children aged under five years. An out of school provision operates in a single storey building for out of school and holiday care. The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. Children are able to attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 45 children attending who are in the early years age range. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year- olds. The setting employs 11 members of childcare staff. All hold appropriate early years

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Information about the setting

qualifications to National Vocational Qualification Level 3. Two members of staff hold the Early Years Professional Status and one member of staff has a Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Studies. The setting receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure that the risk assessment policy is clear, understood and implemented effectively by all staff so that hazards to children are minimised

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must:

 ensure staff are deployed effectively, with specific regard to routines, activities and mealtimes so that children's individual needs are met

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must:

 ensure that staff carry out regular observations and assessments and use these to accurately track children's progress, plan a suitable range of activities and build on the next steps in children's learning

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must:

 ensure that teaching is effective so that staff engage with children, ask open- ended questions and support all areas of their learning and development, with particular regard to children's speech and language acquisition

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must:

 ensure that staff consistently make their expectations of behaviour clear and apply these at all times so that children learn how to play and behave appropriately

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must:

 ensure that attendance records are accurately maintained

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 develop and plan outdoor play experiences for children to extend their learning and development across all areas of learning

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 review the environment to increase resources with regard to role play areas so that children are encouraged to move, use and combine resources in different ways to extend their imagination and creative ideas

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 extend ways of promoting a shared understanding between staff, parents and children regarding the benefits of healthy eating so that this is consistently implemented to support children's well-being.

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who attend

Staff have an appropriate understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and plan different activities for children to promote their learning and development. Parents views with regards to their children's learning are sought and staff share information about what the children have done on a daily basis. However, observations of children's learning are not sufficiently up-to-date to enable staff to accurately assess their progress, identify gaps in children's learning and plan for their next steps accordingly. Teaching is not consistently good enough because staff do not always engage with children well. For example, some children are frequently left to their own devices and while staff talk to the younger children, this interaction is more an affirmation of what they are doing and not used well to extend or enhance learning. Staff ask questions, such as 'are you building blocks?' or 'have you put the fish in there?' rather

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who attend

than reinforce and encourage children to learn new words and engage in open-ended dialogue. Questioning and discussions are not used skilfully enough to extend children's thinking, broaden their vocabulary and consolidate their understanding. An example of this, is when older children are provided with a choice of strawberry or mixed fruit jam to make their own sandwiches. However, staff do not clarify children's understanding of 'mixed fruit ' or reinforce their mathematical language and understanding as they cut their sandwiches in half and then quarters. Despite this, children's independence skills are fostered well. Rather than intervene, staff encourage children to carefully spread the butter and jam for themselves. Children decide when they have the required amount and then proceed to eat their sandwiches with great enjoyment. At these times, when the quality of teaching is better, social interaction is positive as children engage with each

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who attend

other well. Staff take an interest in what the children have to say and conversations flow. Children recall and share their own experiences, such as a visit to the shops with their parents or talk about when they made cakes at home, helping to develop a sense of community and their world. During painting activities with younger children, staff ensure that all children join in well. Staff name and reinforce the colours as children make their choices and help to pour the paint in the tray. Children explore the paint with their hands and squeeze it between their fingers, helping to develop their sensory experiences. They experiment as they mix colours together and then pat, dab swirl and use brushes to make marks on the paper. This helps to develop their future writing skills.

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who attend

In contrast, children are asked to sit and join in singing various nursery rhymes and songs but this is poorly organised. The timing of this activity before lunch, means there are too many disruptions as children come and go to visit the toilet and wash their hands. Staff do not encourage an atmosphere whereby children are enthused and motivated to participate. As a result, several children wander off or become otherwise distracted. This means they are not acquiring good sitting and listening skills. This in turn impacts on their acquisition of some of the relevant skills and attitudes to support the next stage in their learning and their transfer to school. Some children play in the role play area and for a brief time enjoy making 'toast and tea'. However, there is little communication from staff and therefore learning is minimal. In addition, these activities are hindered due to a lack of suitably stimulating resources. As a result, children are unable to use their imagination

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who attend

and extend their ideas and thinking. Children's progress in early literacy skills requires improvement. Some activities are planned to help children learn the sounds that letters make. For example, in the pre-school room children listen to the initial sounds in their names and use the computer to type these out. However, activities are not consistently planned or managed effectively to help children develop their concentration and stay focused. For example, a small group of children are asked to recognise simple rhyming words but some become disinterested and bored, distracting the remaining children. They roll around on the floor and then wander off. Rather than bring the activity to a natural and timely conclusion, staff say to the children 'is that it then' and the activity abruptly ends.

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who attend

Despite having a large outside play area with many different facets and areas to play in, the garden is under used. Children only go out for short periods of time and babies and younger children rarely go outside at all as their roof garden is currently unsafe. However, staff have not planned how they can compensate for this. When children do play outside, they have access to various equipment and resources. They use large fixed play equipment to climb and various wheeled toys to develop their balance, control and coordination as they move around objects and stop when necessary to avoid a collision. Children run around exuberantly and expend lots of energy as they play hopscotch and other games. However, staff do not consistently plan how to support children in making the best use of the potential that the outdoor learning area provides. For example, children have few opportunities to become investigators and explorers. Staff recognise this

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who attend

as being an area for improvement an action plan is in place to address this.

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

Overall, children are happy and settled-in the nursery. Children are assigned a key person who liaises closely with parents on a regular basis. Information is shared so that there is consistency in the approach to all aspects of children's care. This helps to ensure that transitions from home run smoothly and children settle happily. However, the nursery's practice regarding staff deployment, supervision of children, attendance records and risk assessment are not sufficiently rigorous. This means that children's safety and well-being is severely compromised and the nursery is breaching several safety and welfare requirements.

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

Routines are not always timely or consistently organised well to meet the needs of all children, particularly during some mealtimes. While all children sit down at the same time, many children have to wait for their food, particularly those who have hot meals brought in by the outside caterers. Staff do not deploy themselves effectively to sit and engage with the children and as a result, several children become agitated and upset as they watch children who bring packed lunches eat their food. Some of those children waiting, take food from the other children's lunch boxes. Children become disruptive and bored as they wait nearly twenty minutes for their meals. This is because it is not at the correct serving temperature so staff have to re-heat the food. The food provided is healthy, varied and nutritional although staff give little consideration as to how it is presented to make it look appealing. Everything is piled into a bowl so it is difficult for children to distinguish

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

between the different foods they are eating. Staff do not closely monitor lunch boxes brought from home, many of which include a range of confectionery and crisps. This compromises the healthy eating ethos promoted by the nursery and children's understanding of a healthy diet. Despite this, children eat a range of healthy snacks and can help themselves to fruit throughout the day. Water is also freely available so that they can quench their thirst. Generally children learn appropriate hygiene practices and wash their hands before eating. Children from an early age are encouraged to help themselves to tissues when they need to wipe their nose. After gentle prompting from staff, they remember to dispose of the tissue in the bin provided. Staff also reinforce children's understanding, for example, a member of staff says to a child before engaging in a food activity, 'can you wash your hands again please, as that finger has just been up your

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

Staff lack understanding with regards to the distinction between children's acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, or how to help children to behave properly. Consequently, some staff allow children to run around and become boisterous and when they ask children to do something, it is not followed through. For example, children leave the lunch table before washing their hands, running and hiding from staff who pursue them with a flannel. However, after several attempts the member of staff gives up. Children stand and clamber on chairs, at times nearly falling off, unnoticed by staff as they are too preoccupied with other tasks. This means children are not given appropriate explanations as to why these practices are unsafe. In addition, behaviour is not always managed effectively to avoid disruptions to children's learning.

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provision

Leadership and management are inadequate and this inspection found that the nursery does not have suitable arrangements in place to meet a number of legal requirements. This is because staff fail to promote children's learning and development effectively, children's attendance is not accurately recorded and risk assessments are not robustly implemented. For example, windows upstairs are not locked and can be fully opened and extended. Tables and chairs are positioned directly underneath, whereby children can climb on to these and then on to the window ledge above. Blind cords are left trailing, despite instructions attached, clearly outlining the potential dangers this poses to children. A kettle is placed on a work surface within children's reach. In addition, monitoring of the environment by managers and staff have failed to notice a broken pane of glass in an internal door. Consequently, children's health, well-being, safety and learning experiences

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provision

are compromised. Additionally, the nursery is not meeting some requirements of the Childcare Register.

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provision

Monitoring of the provision has identified many of the weaknesses highlighted at this inspection, along with the observations of the local authority. An action plan with clear targets and priorities has been put in place. This includes the arrangements for mealtimes. There have been changes to staff and a reorganisation of roles and responsibilities has led to training has being identified, specific to their new role. The senior management team recognise the current weaknesses with regards to observing, assessing and planning for children's learning. They are in the final stages of completing training so that this can be rolled out to staff. They aim to improve their knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements so that it is delivered consistently. Improvements for the internal layout of the nursery have been drawn up by an architect and are due to commence shortly. With regard to the garden and the views of children

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provision

and parents have been sought so that their ideas are incorporated into planned changes. However, these initiatives are still in their infancy and as yet, have had little impact in improving the quality and care for all children. The management team have not planned how staff are deployed effectively to meet the needs of children and ensure routines run smoothly. Although correct staffing ratios are maintained, some staff are at times left to work on their own, placing them in a vulnerable situation. The management team are keen to seek help and advice and are fully receptive to any guidance they receive.

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provision

Some aspects of children's welfare are suitably promoted. A written child protection procedure is outlined for nursery staff and this is also shared with parents. The nursery fully recognises their responsibility in notifying Ofsted of a significant event and did so following a recent safeguarding concern. A full external investigation took place involving all relevant agencies and no further action was required. Staff recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and are fully aware of the statutory agencies to whom any concerns should be reported. Staff are fully aware of the whistleblowing policy within the nursery and their responsibility to report any concerns regarding the conduct of their colleagues should this ever arise. They are familiar with the role of the 'Position of Trust' team, if any allegations are made against themselves. Mobile phones are not permitted to be used in the proximity of children and staff lock these away in the office while on duty in-line with

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provision

nursery policy. Staff suitability is assessed through robust recruitment procedures. Appropriate vetting procedures are undertaken including, references and qualifications are verified before any new member of staff takes up post. All staff have Disclosure Barring Service checks, details of the disclosure number and date of issue is maintained and available for inspection. Appropriate questioning during staff supervision and appraisals check their ongoing suitability. This ensures that all staff working with children are suitable to do so. There are sufficient staff working with children to ensure correct ratios are maintained. However, they are not always suitably deployed to ensure individual children's needs are met. Staff establish positive relationships with outside professionals so that children receive any necessary intervention to support their individual needs. Parents' views are encouraged through questionnaires and forums so that they are fully included

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provision

and help to shape the future of the nursery.

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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:

 undertake a risk assessment of the premises, immediately where the need for an assessment arises to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure an accurate record of children's hours of attendance is maintained (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  undertake a risk assessment of the premises, immediately where the need for an assessment arises to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure an accurate record of children's hours of attendance is maintained (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 200530 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 949094

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 76 Number of children on roll 45 Name of provider Millennium Bright Kid Company Limited Date of previous inspection 10/01/2012 Telephone number 01527 852165

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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

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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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