The Malvern Kindergarten

The Malvern Kindergarten 10 Pound Bank Road, Malvern, WR14 2DD

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Inspection dates

Previous inspection date 28 January 2016 - 3 March 2016 Not applicable

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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 Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate 4

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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This provision is inadequate

 Safeguarding is ineffective. Staff do not identify all risks and take the necessary action to keep children safe at all times. The designated safeguarding leads have not completed the required safeguarding training. Nevertheless, leaders took rapid and effective action to address recent safeguarding concerns which placed children at risk.  Managers do not have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the provision, teaching and children's progress. They know children are making progress but do not know exactly how much they make.  Managers are beginning to address the previous lack of supervision arrangements for staff. Leaders swiftly tackle under-performance and are taking action to support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development.  The quality of teaching is not consistently good enough. Staff plan a variety of activities that reflect children’s interests. However, not all children are challenged and supported

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This provision is inadequate

in their learning as well as they could be.  Staff are not always deployed effectively to ensure children’s needs are met. They do not maintain accurate records of staff attendance.  Partnerships with parents are not as strong as they could be. Not all parents are aware of the progress their children are making and how they can support their children's learning at home.

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It has the following strengths

 Babies and children are happy and settled. Kind, attentive staff calmly manage their care, hygiene, sleep and mealtime routines. They skilfully help children to be confident in different situations and to manage their personal care and hygiene needs independently.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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Due Date

 safeguard children by ensuring that all staff, including the designated leads, are suitably trained, have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding issues and are aware of the action to take when there is a safeguarding concern 11/03/2016

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Due Date

 take all reasonable steps to ensure staff and children are not exposed to risks by implementing effective risk assessments that identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis 03/03/2016

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Due Date

 ensure all children make at least good progress through the implementation of robust and effective systems to monitor the quality of provision, staff's practice and children's progress in order to gain an accurate understanding of any gaps in their learning. Take swift action to ensure the provision and teaching is effective and gaps are closing 29/04/2016

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Due Date

 ensure children make the best possible progress in their learning and development by supporting staff to gain further knowledge and skills to improve the quality of teaching, to assess children’s learning accurately and to plan appropriate and challenging activities for them 29/04/2016

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Due Date

 embed the new arrangements for the supervision of all staff who have contact with children and families. Ensure the supervision arrangements foster a culture of mutual support, teamwork and continuous improvement to enable staff to improve their personal effectiveness 29/04/2016

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Due Date

 meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety at all times by the effective deployment of staff 25/03/2016

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Due Date

 ensure the safe and efficient management of the setting and children's safety by maintaining an accurate record of all staff on the premises 03/03/2016

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Due Date

 take all necessary measures to minimise any risks to the health and safety of the children in your care (Also applies to the compulsory part of the Childcare Register) 03/03/2016

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Due Date

 ensure all staff are trained on the written statement of procedures to be followed to safeguard children from abuse and neglect. (Compulsory part of the Childcare Register only) 11/03/2016 To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

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Due Date

 ensure all parents are kept up to date with their child's progress and learning and engage with, and support parents to, guide their child's development at home.

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Inspection activities

 This inspection took place as a result of reports to Ofsted of safeguarding concerns about the safety and well-being of the children in the setting.  An early years inspector carried out an inspection visit on 28 January 2016. One of Her Majesty’s Inspectors completed this inspection visit on 3 March 2016.  The inspectors observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  One inspector completed a joint observation of an activity with the manager.  The inspectors held meetings with the registered providers, the early years consultant, the manager and both deputy managers. The inspectors spoke to staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.  The inspectors looked at relevant documentation, such as the setting's improvement plan, risk assessments, policies and procedures, evidence of the suitability of staff

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Inspection activities

working in the setting, and children's assessment records.  The inspectors spoke to a small selection of parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Inspector

Joy Mumby, Her Majesty’s Inspector, Rachel Wyatt, Early Years Inspector

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Leaders did not have an accurate understanding of the setting’s strengths and weaknesses until Ofsted was notified of safeguarding concerns and visited the setting. The manager’s failure to follow the setting’s safeguarding procedures placed children at risk. Leaders worked effectively with children’s services and Ofsted and took immediate action to safeguard children. Staff were dismissed, safeguarding training was provided for staff, and aspects of the setting were made safe. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO), manager and deputies have recently been appointed. However, several statutory requirements are still not met which have an impact on children’s safety, well-being and learning. Risk assessments are ineffective. Staff have failed to identify and take action to minimise all risks to safeguard children. The designated safeguarding leads have yet to attend training appropriate to their role.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

The CEO knows what is needed to improve the provision. With support from the leaders, she is taking significant steps to address the weaknesses. She is developing and implementing new systems and procedures for the monitoring and supervision of staff. Professional development is being put in place; leaders are prioritising what is urgent to enable staff to improve their knowledge, understanding and practice. The CEO is aware that not all staff are fully secure in the observation, assessment and tracking of children’s learning and that the monitoring of children’s progress is not consistently good enough. Adults’ assessment of children’s progress is not always accurate or carried out frequently enough and the procedures for checking and reviewing children’s progress lack rigour. This means that leaders do not have an accurate understanding of the progress all children make and are therefore unable to fill gaps in their development. Records of all

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

accidents, incidents and medication administered are in place but managers do not analyse these sufficiently to investigate any patterns or risks in order to safeguard children.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Robust recruitment procedures ensure staff are checked for their suitability to work with children. Induction procedures are in place, but are not fully effective to ensure new staff are supported in their work. A range of policies and procedures are available to guide and support staff in their everyday practice. Staff’s confidence and knowledge have improved in respect of what they do if they have a concern regarding a child or member of staff's practice. Staff actively promote equality, diversity and British values through policies and practice. Relationships between staff are strong.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

The educational programmes cover all required areas of learning and staff take into account children's interests when planning for their learning. However, they do not always use what they know about children well enough to plan challenging learning experiences to meet all needs. For example, during group circle time, older children lose interest as they wait too long for their turn to speak and children with additional needs distract staff who are talking with other children. Opportunities for children to learn outdoors is restricted because aspects of the outdoor area are unsafe and staff do not plan learning experiences outdoors. Provision for children in the before and after school room is weak. The room is uninviting and the resources to support children’s learning and enjoyment are limited. Partnerships with other settings and schools that the children attend are not well enough established to share effectively what they know about children to support their

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

The communication skills of children, including those who have a speech delay, are suitably fostered. Staff model clear speech during everyday tasks and activities. Babies and children enjoy learning. They eagerly choose resources and make suggestions for activities. Staff readily follow children's ideas, for example, developing a topic featuring maps and dinosaurs. Staff also make the most of spontaneous learning opportunities, for instance, encouraging children to paint pictures of a fox they see in the garden. Children are given good learning experiences in early literacy and mathematics. They join in enthusiastically with stories and songs. Staff encourage children to make marks to promote their early literacy skills and pre-school children recognise initial letter sounds. Younger children explore shapes and colour in their play. During fun number rhymes, toddlers count and compare numbers. Pre-school children use different methods to check

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

the accuracy of their counting and eagerly tackle number problems.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Staff do not ensure children are safe at all times because hazards are not identified and addressed. Partnerships with parents are generally good. Staff are not systematic in letting parents know what is happening at the setting and informing them about their child’s progress and how to support learning at home. Nevertheless, those parents spoken with speak highly of the care their children receive. They know who their child’s key person is and receive daily feedback about their child’s day. New systems are being introduced, such as daily feedback sheets and appointment slots for parents to meet with their child’s key person to discuss children’s progress and next steps. Babies and children are well behaved. Staff ensure they know what is happening next and what is expected of them. Staff support children in forming positive relationships with other children so they play co- operatively and enjoy each other's company. Children become aware of the cultures and

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

needs of others as staff involve them in different celebrations and fundraising activities. Children learn about different aspects of health and safety. They are well nourished, enjoy warm and comfortable surroundings inside and relish being outdoors. Children balance, climb and move with control on a variety of apparatus. They behave safely and sensibly when they move around the premises and when they use equipment, utensils and tools.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

The majority of children are making at least typical progress from their starting points and are developing the key skills needed for the next steps in their learning, including starting school. However, the older, articulate and more-able children are not always challenged enough and staff are not always able to give children with additional needs the one-to-one support they need. Monitoring of children’s progress is not sufficiently robust to confirm if gaps in attainment between different groups are closing quickly enough. Children are confident, keen, observant, self-reliant and resourceful. They behave safely and sensibly, both indoors and when playing outside. They know the boundaries and know not to climb the steps or go onto the garden when playing outside. They recognise numbers such as 10 and initial letter sounds. They initiate conversations with adults.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY485749 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 1036500 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 0 - 10 Total number of places 45 Number of children on roll 66 Name of provider Malvern Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 01684 893213

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Setting details

The Malvern Kindergarten was registered in 2015. The setting employs 13 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2, 3 or 4. The manager has a level 3 early years qualification and a level 5 in leadership and management status and another member of staff has Qualified Teacher Status. The setting opens from Monday to Friday all year round, except for bank holidays and a week at both Easter and Christmas. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. Support is provided for disabled children, those who have special educational needs and for children who speak English as an additional language.

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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.

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Setting details

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 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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