Kidstuff Day Nursery and Bottoms Up Baby Unit

Kidstuff Day Nursery 299 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Herts, WD6 1TH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 30 September 2015 8 January 2014

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Inadequate 4

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate 4

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate 4

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This provision is inadequate

 This inspection took place following an investigation into a serious incident that occurred during an outing.  The quality of practice in the preschool room is inadequate. Staff do not manage children’s behaviour effectively and struggle to engage children’s interests. Children behave in ways that are unsafe towards themselves and others. Poor teaching in this room does not support children’s progress and staff do not plan for children's individual needs.  Recent staff changes in the preschool room have disrupted the key person system. Some staff do not know who their key children are so cannot meet their learning needs.  Staff deployment does not meet children's needs, or ensure their safety in the outdoor area and preschool rooms. At times, ratios are not met. Risk assessments have not identified all the hazards to children in the outside area.  Assessments of children’s progress across the nursery are inaccurate. The quality of

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This provision is inadequate

teaching varies considerably from room to room.  Managers do not check staff practice to ensure that they fully understand their roles and responsibilities including in child protection matters. Consequently, opportunities are missed for skill development.  The security of the premises is not maintained as people leaving the setting hold the door open for visitors before staff can check who they are.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff have developed positive relationships with parents and give them feedback about their children every day.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to:

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Due Date

 ensure that staff are able to manage children's behaviour in appropriate ways to prevent them from acting in unsafe towards. This is with particular reference to practice in the preschool room 28/10/2015

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Due Date

 ensure that all staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and have up-to-date knowledge of child protection issues so that they can identify signs of possible abuse and neglect at the earliest opportunity 28/10/2015

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Due Date

 ensure that staff are deployed to adequately supervise all children safely; this is with particular reference to the preschool room and the outdoor area 28/10/2015

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 ensure that risk assessments identify all potential hazards to children in the outdoor area and that action is taken to remove or minimise these risks; this is with particular reference to the kitchen door that leads to the outdoor area 28/10/2015

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Due Date

 ensure that you take all reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised persons entering the premises, this is with particular reference to the security of the front door 28/10/2015

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 ensure that there is an effective system in place to supervise and provide support, coaching and training for staff who have contact with children and families, so that staff offer quality learning and development experiences for children that continually improve 28/10/2015

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Due Date

 ensure that each child's key person understands their role, to make sure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs and to offer a settled relationship for the child 28/10/2015

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Due Date

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

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Due Date

 improve the monitoring of teaching so that each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. This is with particular reference to the preschool room 28/10/2015

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Due Date

 implement a monitoring system to ensure staff make accurate observations of children's progress to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and use this to shape enjoyable learning experiences that develop children’s skills. 28/10/2015

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Inspection activities

 Two inspectors carried out this inspection.  Inspectors spoke to parents to gather their views about the nursery.  One inspector carried out a joint observation of practice with the manager of the nursery.  Inspectors observed children and staff in all rooms of the nursery.  Inspectors reviewed documentation including documents relating to staff suitability and qualifications, children's assessment records, records of staff supervision and a sample of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

The provider is failing to meet a number of requirements of the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. These failings undermine the safety and wellbeing of children in the nursery.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Leadership of the nursery is ineffective. Managers have not tackled identified weaknesses to improve the quality of practice across the nursery, including issues with observation and assessment systems and the number of children cared for by staff in the preschool room. Five months prior to this inspection, staff raised concerns that the high number of children in the preschool room was preventing them from working effectively. This has not been dealt with. Systems used to observe and extend staff practice have failed to tackle poor teaching in the preschool room and managers have failed to minimise the impact of recent staff changes in this room. This has led to a significant drop in the quality of practice. Managers are not aware of the Early Years Pupil Premium funding. This means that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language may be missing out on extra support.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Managers have failed to monitor staff knowledge of child protection. For example, not all staff are aware of signs and symptoms that may indicate that children are at risk. Most staff are able to state appropriate procedures for referring concerns about children in their care. People leaving the nursery hold the door open for visitors which undermines the arrangements for site security. While managers want to improve the nursery, action is not being taken quickly enough.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

In the preschool room, which caters for the largest group of children in the nursery, the quality of teaching is poor. Poor staff deployment means that staff struggle to manage the needs of a large group of children. It is chaotic and staff are unable to engage children's attention. Staff clean and set up mealtimes which takes them away from working with the children. Remaining staff have to manage the large group while tackling very challenging behaviour. Activities are mundane and children choose not to engage in them. For example, children spend much of story time chatting with each other, rolling around on the floor and are not encouraged to concentrate on the activity. As a result, children are not developing concentration and listening skills vital for future learning. There is no effective balance between adult led and child initiated learning in this room. Staff set up some activities that are age appropriate, for example sand play, water play and sticking.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

However, because staff do not support children during these tasks, children become easily distracted and disengaged. This leads to further incidents of poor behaviour.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

In the other rooms the quality of staff interaction with children is appropriate. For example, staff spend time at children's level, singing songs with them, reading stories and these rooms have a calm atmosphere. Toddlers and younger children are praised for things they do well in order to encourage their self-confidence.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

Staff across the nursery struggle to challenge or extend children's learning effectively. For example, staff ask closed questions and complete parts of activities that children could do for themselves. The planning system does not ensure that activities meet children's needs. There is a system to observe and assess children, but the activities planned do not build on what is learned from these assessments. This means that children are not challenged well to encourage them to reach their full potential.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Staff are unable to manage the behaviour of the children in the preschool room. Some children hurt others, throw toys and books and do not follow instructions. Staff struggle to manage the high number of behavioural incidents in this room and do not give children consistent messages about how they should behave. This means that some children’s behaviour does not improve.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Poor staff deployment in the outside area means that staff are unable to supervise children appropriately. Children become over excited and race around on bikes, riding over each other's feet and pushing each other in to walls. Staff try to comfort children who have accidents or are hurt by others but are unable to deal with the high number of incidents. The door leading to the kitchen is left open while children are using the outdoor area. This kitchen is unattended at times and because staff are struggling to supervise children outside, this leaves children at risk of entering the kitchen unnoticed by staff. This has not been identified or managed as part of the setting's risk assessment process.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The key person system is not effective. Some staff are unaware of who their key children are as there have been recent changes to staffing in this room. Some children moved from another room a month ago and effective transition procedures have not been followed. Staff do not know these children's learning and development needs.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Everyday routines are not well managed in the preschool room. Children are waiting for long periods of time while snacks are provided. They become bored and disruptive. Children spit at each other, bang and push tables and get up and run around. Staff do encourage children to pour their own drinks and clear up their own plates to take responsibility for some of their self-care.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Children in other rooms, including babies and toddlers are more settled. Staff are able to distract and comfort children if they become upset. There is some effective continuity between staff and parents to manage children's routines, especially in the baby and toddler rooms. Areas used by children are clean and hygienic. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their personal care.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Teaching in some areas of the nursery is poor and assessment across the nursery is inaccurate. Therefore staff do not know what progress children are making. Some children are not developing the skills they need for the next stage of learning. Children in the preschool room are not making enough progress in their personal, social and emotional development. This is because staff struggle to meet their needs.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY254839 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 1028866 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 96 Number of children on roll 123 Name of provider The Borehamwood Nursery Ltd Date of previous inspection 8 January 2014 Telephone number 0208 953 0077

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Setting details

Kidstuff Day Nursery was registered in 2003 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. It is privately owned and situated close to the centre of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from a two-storey purpose built building and there is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The nursery also offers breakfast, after school and holiday clubs for school children up to the age of eight.

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Setting details

The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round from 7.30am until 6.30pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 123 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery 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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Setting details

The nursery employs 20 members of childcare staff. Of these, 18 hold appropriate early years qualifications. The manager has an early years degree and Early Years Professional Status. The nursery completed the Hertfordshire Quality Standards.

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Setting details

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. procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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

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Setting details

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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

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Setting details

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