CrackerJacks Day Nursery

CrackerJacks Day Nursery Crackerjacks Day Nursery Ltd, Upton Court, Datchet Road, SLOUGH, SL3 7LR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19 July 2017 18 February 2014

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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

 Recruitment and vetting procedures are weak. The provider does not ensure new staff's suitability to work in the nursery.  The provider fails to ensure there are enough qualified staff to care for the children.  Staff supervision is not sufficiently rigorous to address variations in teaching and help staff, including those new to the nursery, to understand their roles and responsibilities.  The provider does not always monitor the delivery of the educational programmes closely enough. Staff remain overly focused on care routines and fail to provide challenging learning and development experiences based on children's individual needs and their stage of development.  Assessments are inaccurate and fail to reflect what children do well and what they need to do next. Young children do not make the progress they should.

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It has the following strengths

 The provider has accurately identified many of the weaknesses in the nursery and is taking steps to make the necessary improvements.  Staff have a secure knowledge of the procedures to follow if they have a concern about a child in their care.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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Due Date

 implement effective recruitment systems to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children, including a suitable Disclosure and Barring Service check 13/09/2017

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Due Date

 implement relevant ratio requirements at all times to ensure that children are appropriately supervised and supported 13/09/2017

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Due Date

 ensure there are effective arrangements for the supervision of staff to provide support, coaching and training to promote the interests and well-being of children, and provide good-quality learning and development for children 13/09/2017

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Due Date

 monitor the delivery of the educational programmes to ensure that identified areas for development are effectively targeted and improvements made, to check that all children make good or better progress in their learning 13/09/2017

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Due Date

 ensure staff use observation and assessment to accurately identify where children are in their learning and what they need to learn next, and keep parents and others involved in children's care and learning regularly informed about children's progress 13/09/2017

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Due Date

 take full account of the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child and use this information to plan challenging and enjoyable experiences that cover all the areas of learning effectively. 13/09/2017

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector spoke with staff and children during the inspection.  The inspector completed a joint observation of teaching with the owner.  The inspector held a meeting with the management team.  The inspector spoke to a parent during the inspection and took account of their written views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is ineffective. The provider does not assure all staff's suitability through secure recruitment procedures, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks. On occasions, new staff who are still waiting for their suitability checks care for children for short periods on their own. In addition, there are insufficient qualified staff to care for the children and those staff who are qualified deploy themselves ineffectively. For example, qualified staff undertake routine tasks, such as nappy changing, leaving unqualified staff to interact with the children, where they fail to support their learning adequately. The nursery has very recently undergone a period of change in staffing. Monitoring has not been effective in ensuring that more senior staff are effective in fulfilling their responsibilities to mentor new staff. Staff do not benefit from a robust induction procedure and are not always clear on how to follow nursery procedures. Staff supervision does not

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

help staff to improve their teaching practice. The provider fails to ensure that staff build effective relationships with parents to help support children's individual needs. For example, staff give parents an inaccurate summary of children's progress. The provider has an accurate understanding of the weaknesses and is steadily working through an action plan for improvement, although it is too soon to see the impact of this. Staff suitably risk assess the environment to help ensure children's safety. The provider responds appropriately to any complaints.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

The lack of qualifications and the weaknesses in how staff manage their time impact negatively on the amount of progress children make. Staff do not always plan activities that challenge and match the age and stage of development of all children. Younger children frequently play without adult interaction and wander around without engaging in purposeful play and learning. When staff do plan activities, for example, arts and crafts, children's choice is limited as staff over direct and spoil their enjoyment. For example, babies start to explore paint but staff put their own handprints on the children's work which devalues the children's attempts. Teaching does, however, support the learning needs of the older children. For example, staff help pre-school children to count out and calculate one more or one less as they sort counting cubes. Older children enjoy matching magnetic letters to the sounds in their names. Staff do not assess children's learning

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

accurately. For example, children's assessments contain information that relates to other children in the same age group, rather than focusing on children's individual next steps in learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

The provider is ineffective in ensuring children's welfare and the weaknesses in safeguarding put children at risk. The provider fails to ensure that new staff, who are waiting for suitability checks, follow the nursery procedure for unvetted staff. For example, they escort a group of children from the garden on their own to wash berries inside and are left unsupervised with this group for a short time. Staff do not foster children's personal, social and emotional development adequately. Routines are poorly organised and often lead to unnecessary waiting times when children are not suitably engaged in play. For example, staff leave babies and young children to wander while they engage in daily care tasks. Older children have to wait for long periods in the hallway before they go outside as staff have difficulty finding their wellies. This interrupts their learning time and some children find this wait unsettling. Staff suitably meet children's care needs. For

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

example, children enjoy healthy, freshly cooked meals. Staff are qualified in first aid and act appropriately when an accident occurs. Staff in the pre-school room support children's understanding of turn taking and kindness. They consistently implement simple rules, such as tidy up times and listening to others at group time.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Children aged two years and under make insufficient progress given their starting points due to weak teaching and the poor range of activities. They are not motivated or sufficiently challenged in their learning. Older children make better levels of progress in readiness for school. They follow simple rules and concentrate for long periods. They show a wide range of physical skills, for example, they balance and climb outside.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY438176 Local authority Slough Inspection number 1108783 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 90 Number of children on roll 69 Name of registered person Cracker Jacks Day Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 18 February 2014 Telephone number 01753 303406

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reference number

CrackerJacks Day Nursery registered in 2012. It operates from a listed building in Datchet Road, Slough. The nursery is open five days a week, for 51 weeks of the year. Session operate from 8am until 6pm with part-time sessions from 8am to 1pm, and 1pm to 6pm. The nursery currently employs 13 members of staff to work with the children, six of whom hold relevant childcare qualifications. The manager has a relevant early years foundation degree. In addition, the nursery employs a chef and a full-time maintenance manager.

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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

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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