Little Legs Nursery

Little Legs Nursery 6 Rochford Road, SOUTHEND ON SEA, SS2 6SP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/04/2014 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Teaching is inadequate and staff demonstrate an insufficient understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The areas of learning are not effectively delivered and children do not take part in challenging or purposeful play. As a result, children do not make sufficient progress, given their starting points.  The key-person system is not effective in ensuring that children's learning and development is tailored to meet their individual needs. Staff frequently move around the nursery and this limits opportunities for children to build relationships.  Leadership and management is weak because staff practice is not monitored and the programme for professional development is poor because induction processes are not effective in identifying staff training needs. As a result, children's safety is compromised because staff lack an understanding of the safeguarding procedures to be followed.

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This provision is inadequate

 Children's behaviour is often challenging because they are not engaged in activities which stimulate or interest them. They are not learning about the consequences of their actions because staff do not give consistent messages.

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It has the following strengths

 Children's physical development is supported with daily opportunities for outside play.  Some aspects of partnerships with parents are sound. Parents are warmly greeted by staff and two-way communication is encouraged to promote continuity of children's care.

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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 children taking part in activities inside and outside at the nursery and she spoke with staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of staff suitability and a range of other documentation, including the induction procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents during discussion on the day of inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed the provider's hardcopy self-evaluation form as provided during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector carried out a joint observation with the deputy manager observing children and staff in the outside area.

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Information about the setting

Little Legs Nursery was registered in 2013 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from a converted doctors surgery in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It is one of seven settings privately run and managed by Little Legs Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from playrooms on two floors and there is an enclosed courtyard garden available for outdoor play. The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff. Of these, six hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two staff members hold a qualification at level 2, two staff members hold a qualification at level 3, one staff member holds a qualification at level 4 and another holds a qualification at level 6. The deputy manager is working towards Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are between 7am and 7pm and children attend for a

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Information about the setting

variety of sessions. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four- year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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must:

 provide challenging and enjoyable experiences for children in all areas of learning and development by: developing knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements; using robust observation and assessment of individual children's learning to identify their next steps; planning for individual children, taking into account their individual interests and next steps of learning

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must:

 ensure that each child is assigned a key person and that each parent knows who their child's key person is; provide information to parents, which explains the role of the key person and ensure that individual children's learning and care is tailored to meet their needs

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must:

 ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner; enhance children's understanding of behaviour and the consequences of their actions by encouraging staff to give clear and consistent explanations of why certain actions are not appropriate

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must:

 ensure that all staff are suitably trained to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and have up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding issues

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must:

 ensure that staff receive the necessary training and development, through effective induction and supervision to ensure that they are able to offer a continually improving and quality learning experience for all children.

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

 monitor the learning and development requirements to ensure that children are making progress.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a lack of understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They carry out observations of children at play and use guidance, such as the Early Years Outcomes, to see where children are in their learning but they do not do this robustly. Children are not provided with a range of challenging or enjoyable activities to support or encourage their learning and development. They are not effectively challenged and the next steps in their learning are not sufficiently planned for. For example, children in the room for three- to five-year-olds are provided with activities which are not appropriate for their age and stage of learning. The jigsaws available for them to use are more appropriate for two -year-old children and when they join in with drawing activities they are not encouraged to think or explore further. Additionally, children in other base rooms use the same resources for most of the

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who attend

day. For example, in the room for two- to three-year-olds, children enjoy the feel and texture of the 'moondust' they have made with staff and have opportunities to create faces on paper plates with a range of textures and materials. However, these activities are out for the morning and afternoon sessions and as a result, children become bored quickly. Teaching is inadequate because staff do not have the skills or expertise to incorporate children's next steps into planned activities. As a result, children do not make sufficient progress, given their starting points.

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who attend

Children have daily opportunities for physical play and explore a range of textures and resources in the outside area. For example, they enjoy the feel of the sand, chase bubbles as staff blow these for them to catch and learn how to roll hoops to each other. Children's communication and language development, including those with English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is acceptable. Staff model some appropriate language and encourage children's speech as they read stories to them and on occasions ask open-ended questions. Some children, such as the very young, are praised for appropriately sharing their toys as staff promote their personal, social and emotional development. For example, as children in the room for two- year-olds use role-play resources the member of staff with them smiles and claps her hand as they share the dolls between them. Older children demonstrate enjoyment as

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who attend

they look through their learning journals with their peers. They talk about the things they are doing in the photographs, although their school readiness is not sufficiently promoted because staff do not effectively challenge them to explore or expand their learning further.

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who attend

Partnerships with parents are generally sound and management create friendly relationships with parents who comment that staff are approachable. Settling-in visits are recommended to parents so that they can share what they know about their children with staff and this promotes opportunities to discuss children's learning at home. Resources, such as, the home library and a travelling bear are used to support children's ongoing learning and confidence building. Parents are requested to share their stories from home and discuss basic information during arrival and departure periods, with staff, on a day-to- day basis. Information regarding children's development is shared formally between staff and parents at parent consultations, which the setting is in the process of planning. As a result, parents are generally encouraged to support their children's learning. However, older children have fewer opportunities to explore the specific areas of learning because

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who attend

activities and experiences are not planned appropriately to match their individual learning needs.

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

Children behave inappropriately and staff do not deal with this effectively. Activities put out by staff for children to access are not stimulating or engaging enough and this results in some displays of challenging behaviour. As a result, staff tell children that their behaviour is not welcome but they do not provide a range of exciting or enjoyable activities, to stimulate and encourage children. Additionally, children's understanding of acceptable behaviour is not encouraged because when children do throw toys or push other children staff say 'No thank you'. This means that staff do not explain to children the consequences of their actions or why this behaviour is unacceptable. Children are warmly welcomed into the nursery by staff who smile happily at them, which supports their emotional well-being. However, too much time is spent supervising them rather than joining in with their play.

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

The nursery's key-person system is weak because although children are assigned to a key person the organisation of staffing means that children are not always cared for by their individual key person. For example, children are cared for on a separate floor to where their key person is working. Key staff complete regular observations with part-time staff being encouraged to 'buddy' up, with them so that they can complete observations and feed these back to the child's key person. However, opportunities for children to build effective bonds and attachments with their key person is limited and their personal, social and emotional development, to support their move between rooms is poor. Partnership with parents to support children's care needs is sound and some parents spoken to during inspection stated that their children were happy and look forward to coming each day. Parents demonstrate an awareness of who their child's key person is, although they

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

present a lack of understanding of the purpose for a key-person system. Consequently, opportunities for them to build consistent links, enabling them to promote children's learning and development at home are limited.

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

Opportunities for children to be independent are inconsistent. For example, younger children are encouraged, by some staff, to independently take off their shoes and coats, supporting their ongoing development. However, at mealtimes children are not give any opportunities to be independent. Staff pour children's drinks, serve their meals and give them their required cutlery. This results in many missed opportunities for children to become more independent and demonstrates that staff do not understand the importance of challenging them across all areas of learning. Children eat a range of healthy foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, which is prepared on site by staff with the appropriate food hygiene awareness. Children are encouraged to wash their hands before mealtimes and some staff talk of the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles with discussion around germs and cleanliness. Children are encouraged to access fresh air on a daily

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

basis. They make suitable use of the outside area, which is nicely decorated and provides children with opportunities to develop their physical development as they use a range of equipment. As a result, children are beginning to lead healthy lifestyles and the equipment and resources they use are suitable. Children's understanding of their own personal safety and well-being is sound because staff generally give sufficient explanation. For example, as young children climb on a chair staff remind them of the importance of not doing this in case they fall and hurt themselves.

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provision

This inspection took place following concerns raised about staff deployment, key persons, staff ratios, child supervision, staff qualifications and the premises overall. The inspection found that staff deployment was sound, evidence of staff to child ratios demonstrates that these are met, staff qualifications and the premises overall meet requirements. However, arrangements for safeguarding children are inadequate because staff do not promote or follow the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding and welfare requirements. For example, staff do not receive the necessary training and development, through effective induction and supervision, to ensure that they can provide a continually improving and quality learning experience for all children. They do not have an effective key-person system or sufficient understanding of the safeguarding procedures to be followed in the event of a child protection concern being raised. As a result, some

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provision

legal requirements for both the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register are not met. Consequently, children's safety is compromised. The manager and the deputy manager have both completed advanced training for safeguarding and are able to take designated responsibility if concerns arise. Additionally, there are satisfactory recruitment processes in place, including the checking of references, to ensure that staff are suitable to be employed.

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provision

Opportunities for ongoing staff training are limited and the impact of this on staff practice means that teaching is weak. For example, although the nursery is newly opened there is not enough monitoring of staff practice to identify inconsistencies or training needs. As a result, staff are not encouraged to follow a programme of continued professional development. Additionally, staff demonstrate a lack of knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Teaching is inadequate and the impact on children's learning and development is negative. This means that children are not reaching expected stages of development and gaps in their learning are not narrowed. The leadership and management are beginning to self-evaluate as they start to look at the nursery as a whole during staff meetings and they hold regular planning meetings to support continuous improvement. However, the nursery has rapidly grown in a short

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provision

space of time and this has impacted negatively on the planning and organisation to support continuous improvement because the nursery is not ready for this.

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provision

Partnerships with parents are generally sound because staff share information to support children's care needs with parents. Children's learning journals are displayed in each of the rooms and are available for parents to access as well as daily diary sheets, which are shared with parents to inform them of the activities their children have taken part in. Children's interests are taken in to consideration as staff combine these with activities they are planning and their views are taken in to consideration through discussion. In addition to this, the staff provide opportunities for children and parents to access books, magazines and resources from their lending library as they encourage shared learning. Partnerships with other agencies are not yet established with the nursery being so new and current children do not attend any other settings that provide the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, the manager demonstrates an understanding of the importance of partnership

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provision

working and has begun to build links with local childminder's who drop off and collect children at the nursery. The nursery has built relationships with the local authority development workers who visit regularly to provide the manager and staff with additional support.

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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 children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that children's behaviour is managed in a suitable manner (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 EY472435 Local authority Southend on Sea Inspection number 971991 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 35 Number of children on roll 46 Name of provider Little Legs Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01277621064

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Setting details

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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