The Gillingham Nursery

Happy Bunnies Unit 2, Conqueror Court, Campus Way, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 0RR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 8 February 2017 9 February 2015

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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 have not ensured that staff plan effectively for children's learning and have not identified that assessments of children’s development are inaccurate. The poor quality of teaching results in some children becoming disengaged and lacking the motivation to learn.  Risk assessments are not robust enough to ensure the children are kept safe. The hygiene arrangements are not effective and staff have an inconsistent approach to teaching children about cleanliness and avoiding the spread of infection.  The arrangements in place for children who need additional help in order to catch up in their learning and development are ineffective. This impacts specifically on the progress children make in developing their communication and language skills.  Adults are not deployed effectively across the nursery. This, alongside weaknesses in the key person arrangements, means that children's needs are not met.

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This provision is inadequate

 Staff have a poor approach to teaching children about expected behaviour in the toddler and pre-school rooms. This means that children receive mixed messages and results in some areas of the nursery becoming chaotic and unsafe at times.  The nursery’s complaints procedure and their safeguarding procedure have not been implemented consistently. The weaknesses across the provision have not been identified or addressed. Therefore, the supervision arrangements at the nursery are ineffective.

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It has the following strengths

 Babies shows positive attachments to the adults who care for them.

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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

 ensure that the arrangements in place for the supervision of staff address weakness in the quality of teaching and promotes the interests of children 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 take all reasonable steps to ensure staff and children are not exposed to risks and take action to remove or reduce any risks identified promptly 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 ensure that effective arrangements are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, through accurate assessment and by responding promptly to the individual needs of each child 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 deploy staff effectively in order to meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 put an effective key person approach in place in order to meet all children’s needs and enable children to feel settled and secure 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 ensure staff manage children’s behaviour in an appropriate way to ensure all children are kept safe and that their needs are met 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 ensure that the policy, and procedures, to safeguard children are implemented at all times 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 put effective arrangements in place and ensure that all staff take steps to prevent the spread of infection 03/03/2017

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Due Date

 ensure a written record is kept of all complaints received and that each complaint is investigated thoroughly and the outcome notified to the complainant. 03/03/2017

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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

 assess children's stages of development accurately, take account of their interests and plan activities accordingly in order to support each child's progress across all areas of learning 28/04/2017

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Due Date

 ensure that all children’s communication and language skills are supported effectively 28/04/2017

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Due Date

 support children's understanding of the importance of good health and ways to keep healthy and safe. 28/04/2017

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Inspection activities

 The inspection was conducted following Ofsted's risk assessment process.  The inspector observed the quality of teaching and the impact on children's learning.  The inspector spoke to a parent during the inspection and took account of other parents' views by reading questionnaires and complaints records.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including records of children's learning, safeguarding policies and staff files.  The inspector spoke with staff and children at suitable times throughout the inspection.  The inspector held a meeting with the manager of the provision and provided feedback to the nominated individual on the telephone.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding arrangements are not effective. Procedures to keep children safe are not followed consistently. The inspection was conducted following Ofsted's risk assessment process. Ofsted was informed by an outside agency of a failure to follow the procedure for providing food and drink in the baby room. This resulted in a failure to ensure that babies’ drinks were cooled to an appropriate temperature. The provider later notified Ofsted of this incident and took action to improve the arrangements in advance of this inspection. At this inspection, the inspector found that the safeguarding policy has not been followed and risk assessments are ineffective. Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that the educational programs are effectively monitored. Consequently there are weaknesses in planning, staff practice and assessments. Although there are supervision arrangements in place these are not effective. The leadership team has failed to identify the weaknesses in

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

the quality of teaching, along with the other breaches of the requirements of the early years foundation stage identified at the inspection. Leaders have not ensured that the complaints procedure is followed. This is because they have not investigated, responded to or rectified concerns raised effectively. Some parents provide positive feedback about the nursery through questionnaires.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

Staff have an inconsistent approach to supporting children's learning and extending their thinking. For example, some children go through the morning with very few conversations, discussions or interactions with the adults around them. This lack of support for children's communication and language skills has a negative impact on children's progress. Staff do not assess children's progress accurately or make meaningful plans in order to move them on to the next stage in their development. These weaknesses place limits on the progress children make in readiness for starting school. Although there are lots of resources for children to make choices, poor organisation means that each room becomes cluttered and unsafe.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Children’s safety is compromised throughout the nursery routine. Staff are not well deployed, which means that they do not supervise children effectively. For example toddlers wander into the preschool room which is not equipped to meet their needs or keep them safe. Adults do not notice when some children climb on equipment. This compromises children’s safety. Staff do not teach children to care for their immediate environment or their own health needs. For example, they fail to teach children about wiping their noses and do not have hygienic arrangements for the use of dummies.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Children who need targeted help to catch up in their learning are not well supported. This means they do not make the best possible progress. Babies show that they have formed attachments to adults by going to them for reassurance, but these positive relationships are not sustained throughout the age groups. The pre-school and toddler rooms become very noisy and chaotic and some children are unsettled and, at times, distressed. Children are not provided with opportunities to sustain their interests, concentrate and learn. This results in some children becoming bored. Because adults do not provide children with clear boundaries and expectations some children are not aware of what is expected of them. Consequently, they hurt others and do not learn to share and collaborate. This lack of good quality teaching limits the progress children make in their social and emotional development.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY421060 Local authority Medway Towns Inspection number 1083880 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 67 Number of children on roll 109 Name of registered person Ivata Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 9 February 2015 Telephone number 07515 878736

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reference number

Happy Bunnies Nursery registered in 2011. The nursery is situated in Gillingham and is open each weekday from 7am to 6pm all year except for bank holidays. There are steps up to the playground. The nursery is in receipt of free education places for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery employs 24 members of staff. Of these 18 hold appropriate 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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