The Lighthouse Nursery

The Lighthouse Nursery Halls Farm House, Milk Street, BROMLEY, BR1 5AG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/08/2014 11/07/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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

 The owner fails to ensure all those working on the premises are suitability checked. Children are frequently left in the care of staff who are not vetted or in the care of the owner's children who are both under the age of 15 years.  The premises are not safe and secure. Risk assessments are not rigorous enough to protect children from the hazards that current building works present. Staff fail to teach children how to look after themselves to stay safe and healthy.  Children's hours of attendance and details of key persons are not accurately recorded.  Routines are poorly organised and lead to a deterioration of children's behaviour. Staff also fail to manage children's behaviour consistently.  The provision for children's learning is inadequate and teaching is poor. This affects the progress children make towards the early learning goals.  The documentation required for the safe and efficient management of the provision

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It has the following strengths

 Most children are generally happy at the nursery.

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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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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the main playroom and garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the owner and staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a sample of children's records, planning documents and a selection of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at available documentation regarding staff suitability, risk assessments and attendance registers  The inspector invited the owner to carry out a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

The Lighthouse Nursery is privately owned and opened in 2013. The nursery is in a converted farmhouse and is situated in Bromley, Kent. It has an enclosed garden. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The staff team follow a combined educational approach using Montessori and Highscope teaching methods. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are currently 30 children on roll. The nursery is open from 7.30am until 6.30pm, all year round except for one week at Easter, one week in August and one week at Christmas. A team of 14 staff work with the children.

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must:

 implement effective procedures to ensure the premises are safe and secure

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must:

 deploy staff effectively to ensure children are not left in the care of anyone under the age of 17

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must:

 ensure all staff working with and in daily contact with children are suitable to do so, and make sure those that have not had their suitability checked are not left alone with the children

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must:

 make sure that staff remember to maintain a daily record of all the children being cared for, their hours of attendance and the names of the children's key persons to show clearly who is present

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must:

 ensure rigorous risk assessments are completed to identify any risks that may harm children and make sure that appropriate action is taken to minimise those risks

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must:

 ensure that staff receive appropriate training and support to make sure they have the necessary skills to manage children's behaviour successfully

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must:

 ensure records for the safe running of the nursery are readily accessible and available for inspection, including all staff records to demonstrate their suitability and that qualification requirements are met

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must:

 help children learn to keep safe and healthy by making sure they do not eat food from the floor or run around while eating

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must:

 improve staff's knowledge of the learning and development requirements to ensure they plan purposeful play through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities

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must:

 improve staff teaching skills to make sure that children receive good quality attention to promote their communication and language skills and other areas of learning, and to meet their emotional needs.

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

 review the organisation of routines to increase the amount of time available for children to play and make the most of potential learning opportunities that routine activities, such as mealtimes, offer.

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who attend

The quality of teaching is poor. The limited interaction between the staff and children has a negative effect on all aspects of children's learning and does not allow children to thrive. Poor care and teaching practice is evident in all care groups and affects all children's experiences. Staff fail to motivate children to learn and do not respond to children's interests with any enthusiasm. For example, when children asked to have a story read to them, staff read it, but failed to ask any questions or make it exciting for the children. They did not take this opportunity to promote children's language and thinking. Staff working with the younger children also fail to aid children's learning effectively. For example, they sat with younger children without any form of interaction with them and as a result they became restless and unsettled. Other staff carried children around or left them in highchairs for extended periods of time, without speaking to them or giving them

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who attend

suitable activities to occupy them. This lack of active teaching hinders children's learning and development generally, and their language development in particular. Younger children do not have enough opportunities to be active, and to explore and investigate. This slows children's developmental progress.

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who attend

Staff recognise the need to observe children and assess their learning, and to use information gathered to plan future activities. Staff complete the required progress checks for two-year-old children, and regular developmental reports are shared with parents. However, these do not give parents an accurate assessment of what children know and can do. The owner has failed to identify the significant weaknesses in practice across the nursery, and is unaware of the gaps in children's learning. This is because she currently does not evaluate the provision effectively. Some activities are planned with appropriate learning intentions to potentially help children to progress in their learning. However, in practice, when senior staff or key persons are absent, staff fail to implement intended planning. Children are left to occupy themselves using the available resources, without appropriate adult support. Any progress the children make cannot be attributed to the

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who attend

teaching in this nursery. As a result, children are not well prepared for the next stage in learning or for school.

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

There are significant weaknesses in the provision that compromise children's welfare and safety. The provider has given insufficient consideration to the risks associated with building work that is taking place. This means that the garden is not safe and secure. Staff lack safety awareness. As a result they do not help children to learn to keep themselves safe. Poor deployment of staff also means that children are not always appropriately supervised and behaviour management does not help children to learn the behavioural expectations of the setting.

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

Routines are poorly organised and often lead to unnecessary waiting times when children are not suitably engaged in play. During this time children's behaviour deteriorates. Staff do not interact with younger children as they prepare for meal times. As a result, children are unsure what is happening and become upset. Staff struggle to calm children down. In addition, older children did not understand behavioural expectations and ran around during meal times, while eating. Staff struggled to get the children to sit back down in order to finish their meals safely. It is evident that staff are unable to manage children's behaviour suitably. Staff do not teach children behaviours they will need to display when they move on to school.

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

A suitable menu is provided for children. The older children have regular fresh air and exercise. This promotes a healthy lifestyle for them. Staff follow suitable hygiene routines for nappy changing and make sure that children are changed regularly to ensure their comfort. However, staff fail to teach children about the risks of choking, if they do not sit down when eating. Younger children eat food they have dropped on the floor. Staff see this, but fail to stop the children from doing this. This puts children's health at risk. Staff teach children what to do in the event of an emergency by carrying out regular fire drills.

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

Staff work with the parents to help settle children into the nursery. They gain appropriate information about children's likes and dislikes and use this information to help them to settle when they first attend. This helps some of the children but others find it hard to settle. This is because staff do not provide appropriate support and quality interactions to give children the emotional security they need.

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provision

The inspection took place following a concern raised to Ofsted in relation to safeguarding matters. There were concerns about who was looking after the children, ratios, supervision, information provided to parents and the safety of the premises during building work. The inspection found that the owner is not doing enough to safeguard children's welfare and safety. Notably, staff recruitment systems are not robust. The owner initiates checks on new staff through the Disclosure and Barring Service. However, these staff are frequently left alone with children before these checks have been completed. The provider also fails to protect children from the workmen on site, whose suitability has not been checked. They come into contact with the children when they come into the garden, while children are playing and because of poor deployment of staff the children are not adequately supervised when the workmen are around

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provision

In addition, the owner's children are actively involved in the children's care and are often left alone to look after the nursery children, while other staff carry out nappy changing, for example. They are aged under 15 and the owner fails to acknowledge the risks associated with such practice. The owner's husband had carried out risk assessments. He had taken some action to help stop children accessing the building work from their outdoor play area. However, the safety precautions were not sufficient as children could still easily leave the play area. In addition, gates were open, which meant children could leave the premises unsupervised. The risks were further compounded by insufficient levels of supervision while children played outdoors. Unqualified staff, unchecked staff were left alone with the children. Although minimum adult-to-child ratios were maintained overall, poor deployment of staff failed to safeguard children's well-being.

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provision

The owner is in breach of a number of other requirements. Staff do not consistently complete the record of children's attendance to show children's hours of attendance. Staff do not sign into the nursery. Therefore, it is not clear who is working in the nursery at any given time. Routines are not effectively organised and staff lack the necessary skills to manage children's behaviour appropriately.

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provision

There are systems to carry out staff supervisions. However, the owner was unable to find staff files to show their qualifications and their suitability checks. As a result, she is not able to demonstrate that she meets associated welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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provision

The owner gathers parents' views on the service provided and includes these as part of their self-evaluation. She has some targeted areas for improvement, but fails to identify the significant weaknesses in how well they safeguard children and promote their learning and development. She has not recognised that they are not meeting children's individual needs. This highlights that monitoring of the provision is inadequate and significant improvement is required.

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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 EY455336 Local authority Bromley Inspection number 984662 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 30 Name of provider Antoinette Osahon Date of previous inspection 11/07/2013 Telephone number 0208 464 2553

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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

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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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