Bees Knees Day Nursery and Pre-School

Bees Knees Day Nursery and Pre-School 97 Connaught Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 2UE

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 6 December 2016 24 August 2016

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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

 Weak systems are in place to make sure that all staff are suitable to work with children. There are some missing checks and this compromises children's safety.  Some staff do not have an up to date knowledge of how to keep children safe. They are not familiar with all the signs that children's welfare may be at risk or how to report any concerns.  Staffing arrangements for babies are not effective. As a result, some of the youngest children's individual needs are not met.  The organisation of lunch time routines for babies is poor. Consequently, they have to wait for extended periods before being fed, which impacts negatively on their well- being.  Children's attendance is not always being recorded. This means that some staff do not know when children are present, which compromises their safety.  Staff do not make sure that all children are making good or better progress in their learning and development. They do not work closely enough with parents to find out

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This provision is inadequate

what children are interested in at home or take this into account when planning activities which challenge children and help them to make the best possible progress.

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It has the following strengths

 The parents are very complimentary about the staffing team, who they describe as passionate about the children.  Most children are confident and self-assured.

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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

 improve the systems for ensuring that all staff, are suitable to work with children at the time of recruitment and keep records to demonstrate how their suitability has been determined 03/01/2017

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Due Date

 ensure that all staff have an up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues to enable them to identify signs that children are at risk of harm at the earliest opportunity and respond in a timely way 03/01/2017

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Due Date

 improve the key person system, with particular regard for the babies, so that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs and offers them a settled relationship with designated staff 03/01/2017

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Due Date

 improve the daily experiences of children, with particular regard to babies, in order that meal times routines meet their individual needs and promote their well-being 03/01/2017

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Due Date

 maintain an accurate record of children's hours of attendance. 03/01/2017

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Due Date

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and the Childcare Register the provider must:

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Due Date

 make sure there are effective systems to check that the registered person, the manager and any person caring for, on in regular contact with, children is suitable to work with children, which must include obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register) 03/01/2017

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Due Date

 improve the quality of teaching by using information about what children know and can do, including contributions from parents, to carefully assess children's development and plan suitable challenging activities that help them make good or better progress. 31/01/2017

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching and the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the manager to evaluate the quality of teaching.  The inspector had a meeting with the manager and a senior company representative to discuss the leadership arrangements for the nursery.  The inspector looked at relevant documentation, including planning and assessment records, policies and procedures and evidence of the suitability of staff working in the setting.  The inspector took account of written feedback and the views of parents spoken to on the day of the inspection  The inspector spoke to members of staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding arrangements are not effective. The management team has failed to implement rigorous recruitment systems. This is because they have not completed full checks of staff's suitability. As a result, leaders cannot be confident that all staff are suitable to work and have unsupervised contact with children. This puts children's welfare at risk. Some staff do not have an up to date understanding of safeguarding issues. This compromises children's safety. Staff do not always document children's daily attendance. This means there is no accurate record available of when the children are present. Since the last inspection, the management team has revised the procedures for developing staff performance. The manager spends time interacting with children, whilst mentoring and monitoring staff. All staff now have supervisions meetings and this is promoting a consistent approach to planning and supporting professional development.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

The quality of teaching is variable. Since the last inspection, the management team has revised the range of activities in order to better support children's learning. Staff complete detailed assessments when children are aged between two and three years which are shared with parents. If there are any concerns about children's learning, appropriate support is arranged, including with outside agencies. However, the new range of activities is not fully embedded, and children's development across the curriculum has not yet been fully assessed. As a result, some planned experiences do not offer children sufficient challenge. For example, during an activity for two-year olds, staff did not give children sufficient time to remember the names of the sea creatures they were playing with. Parents are invited to contribute information about what their child can and cannot do, before they start in the setting. Organised meetings enable staff and parents to discuss

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

children's progress. However, staff do not encourage parents to use other means to actively share information about what children are learning at home. Any information that is received from parents is not always recorded, in order to track children's individual progress more accurately.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Since the last inspection, changes have been made to the staffing arrangements so that children are cared for by a consistent staff team. However on the day of the inspection, the arrangements for supporting babies' individual needs were not effective. Whilst all the staff spoke to children kindly and treated them with respect, key practitioners, responsible for building strong bonds with the youngest children, were deployed to different rooms away from their key children. This resulted in some babies being unsettled. The lunch time arrangements for babies were chaotic. After being seated, babies had to wait for up to twenty minutes to be fed. This resulted in some babies becoming distressed.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Children do not make the best possible progress due to the weaknesses in teaching. However, most children are engaged and ready to learn. For example, during story time children excitedly recalled the time-line of adventures. They gain skills that support their independence and begin to learn how to look after themselves. For example, older children carefully tidy away their white boards after a phonics activity. Toddlers are encouraged to wipe their hands with flannels after lunch, whilst babies enjoy investigating a range of wooden resources. Additional funding has been used effectively to promote children's communication and language skills. For example, specific resources have been purchased which reflect children's home lives. These have encouraged children to speak more and develop the range of words they use as they play.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY260405 Local authority Reading Inspection number 1076490 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 57 Number of children on roll 71 Name of registered person Kingsclere Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 24 August 2016 Telephone number 01189 590364

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reference number

Bees Knees Day Nursery registered in 2010. It is one of a number of nurseries owned by Kingsclere Nurseries Limited. It is situated in West Reading, Berkshire and is open Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm, all year round. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are 17 members of staff working with the children. Of these, nine hold early years qualifications.

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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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