Footsteps Nursery

Footsteps Nursery Shrewsbury Road, Oswestry, SY11 4QB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12 September 2016 16 December 2013

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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

 Leaders at all levels have failed to work together to create a positive safeguarding culture; they do not meet all relevant safeguarding requirements. Staff have a poor understanding of wider child protection issues. Leaders do not complete, or record, all the required investigations and checks to ensure the suitability of staff.  Poor communication between leaders at all levels has led to ineffective leadership, inadequate safeguarding arrangements, poor self-evaluation and a clear lack of oversight of the quality of care, teaching and learning at the nursery.  Supervision and performance management arrangements lack impact and do not lead to improvements in the quality of teaching and care practices. The weak curriculum, planning and teaching results in children not making enough progress in their learning and development.  Children who do not have the skills and abilities typical for their age do not access early

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This provision is inadequate

help and support in a planned, coordinated or timely manner. Consequently, they make limited progress in their learning and do not catch up.  Leaders have not put in place effective arrangements to ensure the cleanliness of the setting, indoors and outside. The lack of cleanliness and hygiene puts the safety and welfare of young children and babies at risk.

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It has the following strengths

 Parents hold the nursery in high regard. They appreciate the rigorous security arrangements in place that protect their children from unauthorised visitors.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to:

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Due Date

 create a positive safeguarding culture and ethos by ensuring the content, application and effectiveness of safeguarding practice, policies and procedures, and safe recruitment and vetting processes; and by improving the quality of safeguarding practice 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 ensure that safeguarding practice is of a consistently good standard and that staff are aware of the signs that children may be at risk of harm either within the nursery or in the family or wider community 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 record and maintain accurate information about staff working at the nursery and the identity checks and vetting processes that have been completed; including all required evidence of the individual's right to work in the United Kingdom, interview questions and applicant's responses in respect of their knowledge of child protection 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 build strong professional relations between the nursery manager and the student services faculty of North Shropshire College to improve the professional leadership, oversight and effectiveness of the nursery and to drive up the quality of provision 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 put appropriate arrangements in place for the supervision and performance management of all staff who have contact with children and families; provide support, coaching and training for the practitioners to promote the interests of children and hold staff to account for improving outcomes for children 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 improve outcomes for children with special educational needs or disability and those children that require additional support by ensuring they receive the help they need without delay through improving communication and partnerships with key agencies and other professionals 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 improve outcomes for children and increase their rates of progress by implementing an effective system of leadership, performance management and good quality teaching; evaluate the effectiveness of the nursery and take appropriate action to overcome weaknesses 12/12/2016

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Due Date

 ensure that the nursery, inside and outdoor spaces, are clean and hygienic, fit for purpose and are suitable for young children and babies. 12/12/2016 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage the provider must:

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Due Date

 use the information obtained from observations to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development, ensuring their individual learning needs are consistently well met. 12/12/2016

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Inspection activities

 This inspection was brought forward as a result of a risk assessment and concerns that safeguarding arrangements may not be secure.  The setting belongs to North Shropshire College. The college was inspected in January 2016 and was judged to be inadequate. Its arrangements to assure the safety and welfare of young people and vulnerable adults were found to be ineffective. The college was monitored in March 2016. At that time, gaps in staff pre-employment checks were identified.  The inspector reviewed the improvements that this nursery has made since its previous inspection in 2013 and the plans for future improvement.  The inspector observed babies and children during a range of play and learning activities in the designated play areas, including outdoors. The inspector carried out a joint observation with the nursery manager.  The inspector held meetings with senior leaders, the nursery manager and staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documentation including children's learning journals and staff's planning of children's learning and development activities.  The inspector checked evidence of the suitability of all staff working at the premises, the nursery's single central record and the professional qualifications and training of the leaders and staff.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and those of children spoken to on the day of the inspection.  The inspector explored the safeguarding arrangements, the cleanliness and security of the premises and how effectively the leaders have identified and taken steps to minimise any potential risks.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

North Shropshire College (the provider) has failed to learn essential lessons from its own previous inspections when safeguarding arrangements were found to be of serious concern. The arrangements to safeguard children in the nursery are ineffective. The single central record does not include information about the suitability of all staff and adults who work at the nursery or those who complete their student placements there. The ability of applicants to safeguard children effectively from the day they start work at the nursery is not well investigated during interview. Leaders have not addressed the revisions to the safeguarding requirements and have failed to ensure that staff have a secure awareness of wider and more current child protection concerns. Staff do have a secure awareness of how to report child protection concerns when they are identified and what happens if an allegation of abuse is made against a member of staff. Infrequent staff appraisals have

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

not helped to improve staff’s safeguarding practice or the quality of teaching and welfare. Staff do not benefit from regular and consistent good quality supervision, support, coaching and direction in order to drive up the quality of standards at the nursery. Leaders have failed to put in place appropriate systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of staff performance and to ensure that the individual learning and development needs of children are met. Consequently, the weaknesses in teaching, care and the environment have all gone unnoticed and unchallenged by the college leaders. Parents who made their views known say staff keep them well-informed of their child’s learning and development. They are warmly welcomed in this inclusive nursery.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

There is no effective plan, coordinated approach or targeted intervention in place to support the learning and development of children with additional needs. Staff assessments of children's development are predominantly accurate and highlight where children are falling behind in their learning. However, staff are not assertive enough to pursue external support from other professionals to ensure that children access the early help they need. As a result, children do not make strides in their learning and are allowed to fall further behind. Staff do not demonstrate that they have the knowledge and expertise to improve outcomes for less able children. When asked, they could not explain how to support individual children's learning or how they plan to meet the child's needs. The children are predominantly self-motivated in their learning and most engage in the available activities, even though they are not successfully planned. Staff do not effectively incorporate the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

children's next steps in learning in activities. During one observed arts and crafts activity, staff did not provide enough resources for the children. This meant that six pre-school children had to share one glue pot. The children patiently waited for their turn but after a while they confidently asked staff for more glue pots. However, no new learning took place during the activity and staff spent more time organising additional resources and less time supporting children's learning and enjoyment. In the toddler room, staff do not help children to develop the habits and behaviours that they need to listen attentively. As a result, the toddlers are quick to lose focus at story time. They fidget and disrupt other children's attention. Key persons make judgements about the children's next steps in learning but these are not consistently incorporated into the planning and provision of activities. The combination of poor quality teaching, the weak curriculum, staff's lack of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

knowledge and their inability to promote good progress means that children's future learning is not secured.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The lack of cleanliness, indoors and outside, puts children's safety and welfare at risk. The premises are not appropriately cleaned in readiness for the young children and babies attending. Children’s chairs are not clean and some could not be used. The low level tables in the play rooms had evidence of previous arts and crafts activities on the surfaces. In the toddler room, the nappy changing mat was not clean: dust, sand and other debris had gathered in the creases on the mat's surface. The surrounding area showed significant amounts of similar dirt. The provider has failed to ensure that the premises and play and personal care resources are appropriately clean and acceptable for use with very young children and babies. The improvements to the outdoor learning environment, made possible by the use of early education funding, were overshadowed by the messy appearance created by leaves, gravel and other debris that had not been cleared.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Children’s good behaviour and consideration for others is not always well promoted. For example, activities do not always hold children's attention and consequently they lose focus and become bored. The key person system is well-established and embedded in practice. Key persons provide individual children with emotional support and security. Relationships between staff and children are strong. Babies receive good physical and emotional support when being bottle fed. Staff cradle babies gently and securely in their arms. They hold the baby's gaze, use smiles and changing facial expressions to support emotional and physical bonds. Staff speak to the babies using softly spoken tones. Settling in arrangements are successfully planned and are respectful of the needs of the child and family. As a result, children settle quickly as they become familiar with the staff and get to know the nursery routines. The older children are excited and happy to be at the after

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

school club. They engage with the art and craft activities and play together cooperatively. They talk enthusiastically about the Paralympics and the amazing performances of the individual athletes. Children’s positive health is promoted and children learn about the importance of healthy eating during food tasting activities and when staff talk to them about foods that are healthy.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Learning outcomes for children are not good enough. Some children make no discernible progress over time. Leaders and staff do not make concerted efforts to ensure that those children who are falling behind in their development and those with additional learning needs get the right support and external professional intervention to help them catch up. There are a number of children for whom their learning outcomes are not improving because of the poor quality teaching and weak links with other key professionals. Children's good attendance is promoted. Most arrive on time and are eager to learn. However, children are not well prepared for school because they do not make the progress they are capable of achieving.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY257595 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 1072011 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 - 12 Total number of places 62 Number of children on roll 100 Name of registered person North Shropshire College

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 16 December 2013 Telephone number 01691 688007

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reference number

Footsteps nursery was registered in 2003 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in purpose built premises on the college campus in Oswestry, Shropshire and is managed by North Shropshire College. The nursery employs 19 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above, including one with Early Years Professional Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. There are currently 72 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children, and an after school club.

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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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