Ridgemount Cottage Nursery School

Ridgemount Cottage Nursery School 73 Ermin Street, Brockworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL3 4EH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16 August 2016 13 September 2012

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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

 Staff do not fully understand their responsibility for referring concerns about children's safety, well-being and welfare to external agencies.  The manager has not made sure that risk assessments for all areas accurately identify potential hazards and are used to minimise risks to children to keep them safe.  Arrangements for staff working with the children aged over two years are not effective. Staff meet adult-to-child ratios but sometimes struggle to supervise children and organise activities for them. They are not always able to meet their individual needs or provide suitable challenge to help children make as much progress as possible.  The manager does not monitor and supervise staff effectively. She does not make sure that they understand their roles and responsibilities fully or take steps to improve their ability to support the care and learning needs of children aged two years and above.

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This provision is inadequate

 On occasion, staff do not support children to understand that their behaviour is unacceptable.  Self-evaluation is ineffective. It fails to identify breaches of requirements of both the Early Years and the Childcare Register. The manager misses opportunities to use feedback from parents and children to help identify improvements to the setting.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff help younger children make good progress. For example, they give sensitive support for their emerging communication skills.

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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

 ensure staff fully understand procedures to safeguard children, including when they must take action and notify external agencies of safeguarding concerns and accidents 29/08/2016

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Due Date

 ensure that risk assessments identify all potential hazards in the play environments and take effective action to minimise these to keep children safe 29/08/2016

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Due Date

 ensure that staffing arrangements meet the individual care and learning needs of children aged over two years 29/09/2016

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Due Date

 provide effective monitoring and supervision of staff to ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities and to improve the practice of those working with children aged over two years. 29/09/2016

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Due Date

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

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Due Date

 make sure staff use consistent strategies to support children's understanding of what is expected of them  ensure that self-evaluation accurately identifies breaches of requirements and includes feedback from parents and children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspection was carried out as a result of the risk assessment process.  The inspector spoke with one parent during the inspection.  The inspector observed the quality of the teaching inside and outdoors and spoke with the staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.  The inspector held a leadership and management meeting with the owner/manager.  The inspector sampled paperwork, including children's records, policies and procedures, accident records, risk assessments, planning and self-evaluation.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is ineffective. Staff do not understand that they need to take responsibility for reporting serious accidents or concerns about children's safety and welfare to external agencies in the absence of the owner/manager. They state that they would leave this responsibility to the owner/manager on her return, which would lead to delays. Staff know the possible indicators that a child is at risk of harm. The owner/manager has not fully risk assessed the premises to identify and minimise all hazards, such as missing blocks in the paving outdoors. This does not ensure that children can play and learn safely. Staffing arrangements for children aged over two years, including some who have special educational needs, are not effective. Although adult-to-child ratios are met for this group, children range from ages two to nine years and staff are not always able to offer adequate supervision, support and activities that effectively match the children's individual needs.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

The owner/manager ensures that staff have relevant qualifications and sufficient professional development opportunities, and carries out staff supervision meetings. However, these are not effective in ensuring that staff understand their roles and responsibilities or in improving the provision for children aged over two years. There are sufficient staff with paediatric first-aid qualifications to ensure that accidents and injuries can be dealt with appropriately. The owner/manager evaluates the provision but does not identify breaches in requirement. She also misses opportunities to engage parents and children in reviewing the setting. The quality of the provision has deteriorated.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Staff do not always engage sufficiently with children aged over two years because they are busy setting up activities or clearing away after snack or lunch time. This does not ensure that this age group is well occupied, interested and fully challenged. For example, children left the table as they finished their snack, but there were no activities set out or clear plans for what they would do next. Staff working with the younger children effectively engage them in activities that interest them. For example, they showed them how the frog bubble machine 'drank' the mixture and then made bubbles for them to pop. Young children recited favourite phrases from songs as they chased the bubbles and played with bubbles in a washing-up bowl. Staff make regular observations of all children's progress and this is closely monitored by the owner/manager to identify and close any gaps in their learning. Parents are suitably involved in their children's learning. Staff share

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

information with them to help ensure consistency.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The weaknesses in safeguarding put children at risk. Staff working with the children aged over two years do not provide consistent strategies to manage children's behaviour. For example, when children snatched cups from each other at the water tray, staff did not explain why their actions were hurtful or upsetting to others. Children learn about healthy lifestyles. For example, staff talk with them about healthy eating and involve them in cooking and baking activities. The cook provides nutritious meals using fresh produce where possible.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Children's learning and development are inconsistent. Children aged over two years do not always benefit from experiences and planning that help them to make good progress. For example, when they experimented with rolling balls down the sloped patio, some of these rolled out under the fence. They tried to reach through the gate to get them but gave up when they realised that they could not reach them and staff did not notice what was happening. Babies and toddlers aged under two years develop strong physical skills and confidence. For example, they played peek-a-boo with staff and crawled through the tunnel to reach them.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 101517 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 1067069 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 - 8 Total number of places 47 Number of children on roll 58 Name of registered person M Hendry & L Gerrard Partnership

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 13 September 2012 Telephone number 01452 864107

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reference number

Ridgemount Cottage Nursery School registered in 1993. It is privately owned and is situated in Brockworth, a residential suburb on the outskirts of Gloucester. The setting offers care from 8am to 6pm on Monday to Friday, all year round. There are 12 members of staff; of whom, three have qualified teacher status, one has early years professional status and six hold appropriate early years qualifications. There is one member of staff in the process of gaining a qualification.

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reference number

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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reference number

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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reference number

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reference number

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reference number

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