Blackburne House Nursery

Blackburne House Nursery Blackburne Place, Off Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L8 7PE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/09/2014 26/01/2011

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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 are not always sufficient staff on duty to meet the ratio requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, children's safety and well-being is put at risk.  A number of additional requirements are not met which compromise the safety and well-being of children. There is not always a member of staff on duty with paediatric first-aid, the administration of medication is not always recorded and when accidents occur repeatedly on crates in the garden, there continued use is not risk assessed.  Managers have not established effective methods to induct and support staff, most of whom have been in post a year or less. As a result, children do not make good progress because staff do not plan appropriate activities linked to children's next steps and teaching is weak. This is particularly evident for babies and children who speak English as an additional language.  Pre-school children frequently move from one small area to another. Resources are

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This provision is inadequate

limited and space is restricted. As a result, they are not provided with a range of challenging activities to stimulate learning and key-person relationships are not strong.  Managers do not monitor the progress of different groups of children, in order to identify if all children are making equal progress in all areas of learning. Children are only offered a fork to eat with at lunch time and so resort to using their fingers.

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It has the following strengths

 Children develop positive hygiene practices by independently washing their hands.

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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 and care practices in the playrooms and within the outside play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at relevant documentation, including planning, observations and assessment records. She also looked at a range of policies, staff rotas and attendance registers, staff qualifications and training. She verified that suitability checks have been completed for all staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to children and staff throughout the day and to parents and carers when they came to collect children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a sample of organisational and health and safety documentation and held a meeting with both managers who job share.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Blackburne House nursery was registered in 1994 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated within Blackburne House College for Women in Liverpool and is managed by a board of trustees. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a designated nursery area as well as having use of the hall within the building. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery employs two managers who hold appropriate childcare qualifications a level 4 and 12 members of childcare staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3, including one with Early Years Professional status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 52 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides

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Information about the setting

funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language.

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must:

 ensure that the ratio requirements are met at all times to ensure children's well- being and safety is prioritised

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must:

 ensure at least one person who has a current paediatric first-aid certificate is on the premises and available at all times when children are present

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must:

 take all necessary steps to ensure children's safety by reviewing the frequency and location of accidents that occur, in order to review and update risk assessments, with particular regard to assessing the risks relating to outdoor play equipment and specifically the crates

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must:

 keep a written record each time medication is administered to children

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must:

 ensure that all staff receive a robust induction and ongoing support for their professional development in order to, improve their understanding of nursery procedures, their knowledge of how to assess children's progress, plan appropriately for children's learning and development and become more effective teachers

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must:

 plan enjoyable and challenging experiences for children in the pre-school rooms by ensuring that a sufficiently wide range of resources are accessible to them; specifically, review how the space is organised to minimise disruption to their learning and key-person relationships and to allow more space for children to freely move around

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must:

 provide opportunities for children whose home language is not English to develop and use their home language in play and learning, to further support their developing speech and value their unique culture.

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

 analyse the data collated from tracking children's progress further, to monitor the progress of specific groups of children, for example, girls and boys, as well as children's overall progress in each area of learning, so that any variations can be identified and planned for

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

 enhance children's age appropriate independence skills even further, by providing them with knives or spoons in addition to forks, at lunch time.

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who attend

The quality of teaching within the nursery is too weak to adequately promote children's learning. Very little effective teaching is observed as staff supervise rather than engage with children, to extend their learning. On a small number of occasions staff show children how to play through demonstration. For example, staff build a tower of blocks and count each block as they build and they show babies how to use toy cars to make marks with paint. In the toddler room, children enjoy group singing and happily join in familiar songs and rhymes. They enjoy a short trip to a local park to collect leaves and conkers for an autumn display. However, overall engagement is poor. Children are not encouraged to think or problem solve as staff do not ask open-ended questions. Consequently, children are not making good progress in their learning.

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who attend

Staff keep a learning journal for each child and make short written observations in order to track children's progress towards the early learning goals. However, some children are not observed frequently enough and their next steps are not sufficiently challenging or precise. Children who speak English as an additional language are not well supported. Staff do not attempt to learn simple greetings or numbers in their home language and do not actively reflect aspects of their culture. Consequently, children's developing language is hindered and their unique culture is overlooked. Developmentally inappropriate activities are planned for babies. For example, plans include identifying specific numbers, letters and shapes and participating in themes such as, transport. As a result, the gaps in children's progress are not being adequately planned for and any positive learning that occurs is accidental, rather than a result of a thoughtfully planned activity that is well

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who attend

executed. This means that children are not being effectively supported to move on in their learning or to develop the skills they need for future learning such as, starting school.

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who attend

Parents are invited to meet their child's key person on an annual basis to discuss their progress and parents can look at their child's learning file at any time. However, parents are not asked to contribute to an assessment of their child's development on entry to the nursery. Consequently, there are no starting points in place from which staff can begin to plan for each child's individual learning. Staff do chat informally to parents every day and pass on any significant information, which includes any new milestones their child has met such as, saying new words. This helps parents to continue children's learning at home.

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

Children's well-being and safety are compromised as a number of requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register are not met. On occasion, there are insufficient staff on duty to meet the ratio requirements between 8am and 9am. In addition, there are too few staff with paediatric first-aid certificates to ensure that there is always a qualified person on duty. Medication given to children is not consistently recorded and risks are not reviewed when accidents reoccur. For example, staff are unaware of the potential risks when children play on the crates in the garden, as this equipment is not identified in the nursery's written risk assessment. Managers do not review the risks and so accidents frequently occur on the crates. This means that children are not sufficiently protected from possible harm.

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

Children generally settle into the nursery quickly because they are offered flexible settling in visits. Parents complete an 'All about me' document, which details their child's care routines, likes and dislikes, enabling their key-person to get to know them. Staff are warm and responsive to children and so they generally form good emotional attachments and children enjoy their company. However, the organisation of the pre-school space does not effectively promote children's feeling of emotional security and attachment, as they are frequently moved throughout the day. They spend alternate sessions within two small spaces on two different levels, which do not allow them enough choice or freedom of movement. In addition, they eat in another different area. Consequently, they do not have free access to a suitably challenging range of resources to stimulate their learning in all areas of the curriculum.

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

Children's health is sometimes promoted through regular routines such as, hand washing before meals and snacks and regular play outdoors. Older children are adept at washing their hands independently and are encouraged to put on their own apron for meals. Staff sing a hand washing song, which helps to teach children the importance of good hygiene practices. Drinking water is available to ensure children do not get thirsty and suitably nutritious vegetarian meals and snacks are offered. However, staff miss opportunities to teach children age-appropriate self-help skills during meal and snack times as they only offer children a fork to eat with. This means that children cannot learn to cut their noodles and so resort to using their fingers to eat.

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

Behaviour is generally good, children respond positively to staff who ask them to help tidy up before snack time. Children play cooperatively together, for example, they enjoy playing together with a large parachute. They learn to take age-appropriate risks as they challenge themselves to master the stepping stones on the climbing frame. This helps them to develop a 'have a go' attitude, which supports their future learning. Gentle reminders from staff such as, not to push each other, help children begin to learn how to play safely. Parents comment that their children who have very recently moved onto school, have been well prepared by the staff.

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provision

During the routine early years inspection, concerns that were previously raised about the provider's ability to safeguard children in the nursery were considered. The inspection found that the provider has breached several of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Childcare Register. There are occasions when there are insufficient staff on duty to meet the required adult to child ratio to ensure children are supervised and kept safe. Appropriate action is not taken to review risks and implement safety measures when similar accidents frequently occur. Therefore, children continue to have accidents when they use crates outdoors and are continuously at risk of harm. In addition, children's medication records are not effectively and consistently maintained because staff do not record when medication has been administered. There are occasions when there are no staff with a paediatric first-aid certificate present on the premises.

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provision

Therefore, children are not protected in the event of an accident or injury. However, managers and staff are fully aware of the steps to follow should they have any concerns about children's welfare and understand the procedures to take to help keep children safe from neglect and abuse.

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provision

There is a system in place for key people to monitor individual children's progress across all seven areas of learning. However, no overall data has been collated. As a result, the managers do not know if specific groups of children are making steady progress in their learning and so there are no plans in place to address the gaps identified. In addition, the management team's methods for evaluating the teaching and learning of individual children are weak. Staff do not always use the observations and assessment of children to plan effective next steps that will move them on in their learning, when gaps have been identified. Staff have formal appraisals annually, but these are not specific and targeted enough to identify their strengths and weaker areas of practice. In addition, induction processes are too weak to ensure that the largely new staff team are effectively supported to offer children suitably challenging learning experiences. As a result, teaching is variable

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provision

in quality and staff are not effectively coached to improve their knowledge and skills.

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provision

Various methods have been utilised to develop partnerships with parents, both formal and informal. For example, newsletters, parents' evenings and a parents' forum keep parents up-to-date with nursery initiatives and help parents to contribute to their child's learning. Social events such as, graduation ceremonies allow parents and staff to celebrate children's achievements. Consequently, parents say they feel welcomed in the nursery. Staff work effectively in partnership with outside agencies to provide additional support for children and families if required.

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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 at least one person who is caring for children has an appropriate first- aid qualification (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  take all necessary measures are taken to minimise any risks to the health and safety of children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep and retain for two years, records for any medicine administered to any child cared for on the premises, including the date, circumstances and who administered it (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that at least one person who is caring for children has an appropriate first- aid qualification (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  take all necessary measures are taken to minimise any risks to the health and safety of children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep and retain for two years, records for any medicine administered to any child cared for on the premises, including the date, circumstances and who administered

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

it (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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 322362 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 872145

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 46 Number of children on roll 52 Name of provider Blackburne House Date of previous inspection 26/01/2011 Telephone number 0151 709 4356

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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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