The Meadows Day Nursery

The Meadows Day Nursery 79 Bells Lane, Birmingham, West Midlands, B14 5QJ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/12/2014 02/06/2011

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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

 Children are not always adequately supervised; they do not have access to water throughout the session and they are not always provided with clean bedding at sleep times. Consequently, their well-being is compromised.  Staff have a weak understanding of how to support children's learning. Therefore, the quality of teaching is poor and some activities are mundane and lack appropriate challenge. As a result, not all children make good progress.  Children have few opportunities to learn in the outdoor environment. Staff do not always go outside with children and, therefore, the activities outside are not planned or purposeful and do not cover all areas of learning.  Partnerships with parents are weak. Parents are not invited to be involved in the assessment of their children's starting points or their ongoing progress. Consequently, staff do not have a complete picture of children's abilities and parents are not

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This provision is inadequate

encouraged to extend children's learning at home to help them make swifter progress.  Monitoring and assessment systems are not effective. Managers do not provide sufficient monitoring, support and coaching to identify and address weaknesses in practice, and staff do not plan or assess effectively to ensure children make progress.

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It has the following strengths

 Warm, caring relationships are established between the staff and the children. As a result, children are happy and settled.

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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 all playrooms and the outdoor play area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with one of the owner/managers, spoke to staff and interacted with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of the suitability of staff working within the nursery, the provider's self- evaluation and a range of other documentation.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

The Meadows Day Nursery opened in 2001 and is privately owned and managed. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from six rooms in a converted, detached house in Kings Norton, Birmingham. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm for 52 weeks of the year. There are currently 53 children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age range. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery supports children who speak English as an additional language. The nursery employs 11 members of childcare staff and a cook. Of these, nine hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and two are working towards qualifications at level 2.

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must:

 ensure that children are always supervised appropriately and that they are always within sight and hearing of staff

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must:

 ensure observations and assessments are used effectively, so that next steps in learning are clearly identified for all children and used to inform planning, enabling all children to make good progress

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must:

 ensure that parents are provided with a short written summary of their child's development in the prime areas when they are aged between two and three years, identifying the child's strengths and any areas where their progress is less than expected

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must:

 implement effective procedures for the supervision of staff to provide support, coaching and training for all staff to ensure that they have the appropriate skills, knowledge and understanding to provide a quality learning experience for all children, achieved through high-quality teaching

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must:

 make fresh drinking water available at all times and ensure staff follow hygienic procedures for sleeping children, with particular regard to providing clean bedding

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must:

 improve the monitoring and delivery of the educational programmes to ensure children receive a programme that includes purposeful and challenging activities, both indoors and outdoors, across all areas of learning

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must:

 ensure a two-way flow of information with parents about their child's learning and development, gaining more detailed information about their children's capabilities when they first start at pre-school and sharing regular information about children's progress and next steps, in order to guide learning at home and maximise children's learning potential.

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who attend

Staff do not know enough about the Early Years Foundation Stage to implement targeted activities that support children's next steps in learning and development. Staff complete observations and assessments on the children to recognise their achievements, but do not feed these into planning, so that future activities focus on children's individual next steps in learning. As a result, children do not make good progress in readiness for school. Staff also fail to complete assessments consistently. There are occasions when the required progress check for children aged between two and three years has not been completed. This means there are missed opportunities to review the children's development, identify any areas where progress is less than expected and share this information with parents. Consequently, any gaps in development are not promptly identified or addressed, meaning children are at risk of falling behind. Older children are free to choose where they play and

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who attend

some ask to play outdoors. While children have great fun playing on the ride-on toys, there is little else to choose from. Staff do not go outside with them, which means their learning is not enhanced in any way.

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who attend

Adult-led activities do not always take account of individual children's interests and staff do not monitor children's participation. As a result, children are not always engaged and challenged by the activities provided, and staff are not clear about whether children have benefited from participation. Group activities are not well planned and, subsequently, staff are not able to make the most of teaching and learning opportunities. For example, during a whole group activity, staff hold up picture cards with shapes and colours on, asking children to name them. This activity presents no challenge to the children who can already identify colours and shapes with ease. When staff repeat the same activity with number cards, those children who have not yet started to recognise numerals are not engaged, as the activity is beyond their capabilities. Staff do not always provide sufficient resources to stimulate or inspire learning. For example, staff set out books, threading resources and a

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who attend

construction set in the toddler room. These are the only resources available for over an hour and children soon lose interest and wander around the room. This demonstrates that staff have a poor understanding of the characteristics of effective teaching and learning, and a weak knowledge of how children learn through play.

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who attend

Staff do not gather enough information from parents to maximise children's learning. When children first start at the nursery, some information is gathered from parents about their child's care needs and backgrounds. However, not enough information is gathered around what children already know and can do. Staff do not complete any form of assessments until two or three months after the children have started. As a result, staff do not have the information needed in order to support individual children's learning from the outset. There is also limited information shared about children's ongoing progress and parents are not provided with ideas about how to continue their child's learning at home.

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who attend

Children do enjoy some of their time at nursery. They have fun looking at books in the quiet cosy area, where staff encourage them to participate in the story and interact, guessing what might happen next. Babies delight in making the animal sounds with the staff, who provide books to encourage them to make connections and to find the same animals in the stories. Children sit for some time happily playing with the trains and tracks. Children enjoy playing in the role-play area, and staff support them well here as they encourage them to take part in discussions about what they want for dinner and how they are going to cook this. As a result, children are engaging in some activities that promote learning to some extent. Overall, however, the quality of teaching is variable. Some staff teach instinctively, which does engage children on occasion, but this is not consistent and, therefore, children are not supported enough to make good progress.

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

Children are not safe because managers and staff have not taken appropriate measures to ensure children's safety. The deployment of staff when pre-school children play outside is inadequate. Staff remain inside with the door closed and allow children to play in the outdoor area unsupervised. This means they do not ensure all children are in sight or hearing of staff at all times, which increases the risk of accidental harm.

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

Older children learn to keep themselves healthy through routine care practices. They are encouraged to wipe their own noses and to wash their hands after going to the bathroom. However, the health of babies and younger children is not supported as well. Staff sometimes place younger children to sleep on the same cushions as used by others and this increases the risk of cross-infection. Older children are developing some independence skills as they competently pour their own drinks. Babies are regularly hydrated as staff provide them with their own drinks cups for use throughout the day. However, toddlers are not able to get their own drinks during the day and are only given diluted squash at snack times. This means their well-being is compromised as fresh drinking water is not available at all times.

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

Most children develop appropriate attachments with their key person, who generally gets to know them well because they find out information from parents about their child's needs. Children who speak English as an additional language are given some support as staff ask parents for key words in their home language. Children are emotionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning as they move rooms within the nursery to the next age group. For example, they are introduced to their new key person and given time over several visits to become familiar with their new environment. Staff also contact the teachers in the schools that the children will be attending to request visits to meet the children in the nursery. They provide teachers with relevant information about the children's interests and abilities to ensure a consistent approach to their learning and development. Staff carry out fire drills, so children have an understanding of the

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

procedures to follow in the case of an emergency. As a result, some aspects of children's safety are promoted. Staff are positive role models and use age-and-stage-appropriate explanations to provide children with a clear knowledge of acceptable behaviour. Staff encourage children to share, and use praise and encouragement to value children's achievements. As a result, children's confidence and self-esteem are supported.

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provision

Children's welfare is compromised at this nursery. Staff do not effectively supervise children playing outside. This demonstrates that the managers do not deploy staff effectively at all times, and staff do not have a clear understanding of their roles with regard to supervising children. Also, staff do not ensure that all children have access to fresh drinking water or clean bedding. The lack of clear leadership and monitoring of staff practice means that the nursery has breached a number of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and also breached the requirements of the Childcare Register. Staff do have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities to protect children from abuse. They demonstrate their understanding of the procedure to follow should they have a concern regarding a child's welfare. All staff working within the pre-school are vetted and proof of the checks used to assess their

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provision

Although staff are encouraged to develop their skills, through in-house training and local authority training opportunities, a lack of robust supervision means that weaknesses in their practice have not been identified and addressed. As a result, they lack the skills and knowledge to deliver a high-quality learning experience for children. The managers understand the importance of monitoring the educational programme to ensure all children make progress. Through their own evaluation, they acknowledge that they are not effective in doing so and that monitoring in general is not yet precise or accurately focused. This results in inconsistencies in teaching and the educational programmes not being challenging enough to meet all children's needs, or to support their good progress. As a result, gaps in children's learning are not always identified and staff are not actively planning for children's next steps in learning. Consequently, children are not being

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provision

provided with experiences that help them to make the best possible progress.

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provision

Staff have developed good relationships with local primary schools, which ensure they work in partnership and share relevant information to support children with their future move onto school. Links have been made with other professionals, such as health visitors, which ensures there is some positive communication to supports continuity and consistency in some children's care and education. Friendly and approachable staff are available for daily discussions with parents to ensure children's care needs are generally met. Parents also value the daily communication sheets used in the baby room which inform them about their child's day. Parents speak positively about the care and learning their children receive at the nursery. However, partnerships with parents are not strong enough to help children make the best possible progress.

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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:

 take all necessary measures to minimise any risks to the health or safety of the children in their care, by ensuring children are always within sight or hearing of staff (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure children have access to drinking water (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  take all necessary measures to minimise any risks to the health or safety of the children in their care, by ensuring children are always within sight or hearing of staff (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 257187 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 867069

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 53 Name of provider Michelle Brain and Donna Barrett Partnership Date of previous inspection 02/06/2011 Telephone number 0121 458 2200

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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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