Spring Cedars

The Cedars Pre School Northbrook Close, Exeter, EX4 8LD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26 September 2017 Not applicable

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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

 Significant weaknesses with staffing arrangements and deployment compromise children's well-being and, at times, reduce the effectiveness of their learning opportunities.  The key-person system fails to ensure that staff meet the individual learning and care needs of all children at all times.  The management team has failed to implement an effective induction programme for all staff so they gain a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and benefit from ongoing training opportunities to increase their teaching skills.  Staff do not organise some group activities, such as singing, effectively to fully motivate all children and support their learning further.  Poor staffing arrangements fail to ensure children have frequent opportunities to benefit from regular exercise, fresh air and a change in environment, to fully support their general health and physical well-being.

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It has the following strengths

 Children benefit from a well-balanced menu of healthy, nutritious snacks and meals.  The management team has recently moved the younger children to different play rooms. Staff assess possible risks and create comfortable play areas.

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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

 improve staffing arrangements and deployment of staff to meet the needs of all children effectively and provide more challenging and motivating learning and development experiences, to help children make the progress they are capable of 31/10/2017

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Due Date

 assign a key person to each child to consistently support and meet their individual learning and care needs and work closely with parents 31/10/2017

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Due Date

 provide all staff with an appropriate induction programme so they have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the support, coaching and training they need to improve the quality of teaching. 11/12/2017

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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

 improve the organisation of group activities to engage and interest children and increase their participation in learning  provide more opportunities for children to play outside and benefit from frequent exercise and activities in the fresh air to fully support their overall physical well-being.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's interactions in play indoors and viewed their learning journals.  The inspector had discussions with the management team and viewed documentation, such as operational policies, procedures, and required records for the suitability of staff.  The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager and discussed children's learning and development.  The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken with at the visit.  This inspection took place following Ofsted's risk assessment process.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is ineffective. The management team has failed to organise staffing arrangements to meet the needs of all children. There have been several changes in staff recently and, although the team meets staff-to-child ratios using temporary staff, there are significant weaknesses with the overall organisation and deployment of staff. For example, not all staff work with the same children each day, and not all children have a key person to help them settle and develop secure relationships. The induction programme is insufficient to ensure all staff understand their responsibilities and all children's individual needs and learning abilities. Staff do not receive the opportunities they need to develop their professional knowledge and meet children's care and learning needs sufficiently. Nevertheless, the new manager has started to implement more regular supervisory meetings that will address these issues. She regularly evaluates practice with

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

the management team. They have identified some weaknesses and set clear action plans for development. For example, they are currently appointing permanent staff. However, although staff are improving the indoor play areas well, overall improvements are limited. The management team and staff understand safeguarding procedures to follow regarding any concerns that arise and they liaise regularly with other professionals involved in children's care.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

The quality of teaching is not consistently good enough throughout the nursery. Staff understand child development, but weak staffing arrangements and deployment mean they do not help all children acquire the interest and confidence to learn and develop effectively. For example, on the day of inspection, there were no clear planned activities for the toddlers and some staff were not familiar with their individual abilities. Although staff interact with the toddlers in play, there is a lack of variety and appropriate challenge in some activities to support the specific next steps of development of all children. For example, staff look at a recipe book with the older toddlers and encourage their discussion, but this does not engage the younger children and they wander off with little else to interest them. At times, poor staff deployment means children do not benefit from daily and regular outdoor play experiences to promote their physical well-being,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

particularly for those who learn best outdoors. This does not motivate all children to gain confidence in their abilities and become active learners. However, older toddlers concentrate well at times, building models with bricks, and they enjoy dressing up as superheroes. Babies show interest in sensory picture books and begin to repeat words and sounds. Significant weaknesses in the key-person system mean parents do not always know who is responsible for their child, to promote a consistent approach to support children's care and learning needs. Nonetheless, staff do inform parents of children's activities each day and respond to parents' communication. The management team has recently introduced a new assessment system to help monitor children's progress more effectively. This is still in the early stages, and staff are starting to use this more consistently to help track children's progress and identify any gaps in their learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Significant weaknesses in the key-person arrangements compromise children's welfare and learning. Some children do not consistently know who will be caring for them and managing their personal care needs each day. This affects how children gain a sense of security and emotional well-being and does not support them in separating from their parents well. For instance, on arrival, some children are unsettled and upset and do not engage in play easily. Staff are caring and friendly, and they comfort these children, but this leaves other children with limited attention. Some stand alone or wander for long periods not knowing what to do. Toddlers have their nappies changed regularly, but not consistently by the same staff member. Weaknesses in staff deployment have a negative impact on children. For example, in the morning, tired babies are not always able to settle to sleep in their main care room when they need to, until all staff have arrived.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Children do not receive the support they need to make the progress they are capable of across all areas of learning. They do not acquire the skills and motivation to learn. At times, there is a lack of variety and appropriate challenge in activities. For example, on the day of inspection, some younger toddlers did not engage in a play dough activity that staff had already provided earlier in the day and they wandered around with little to do. Although toddlers have choices in food, they do not receive consistent encouragement from staff to serve themselves. Children are not stimulated enough to learn and gain the necessary key skills, such as independence, to help them with their future learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY551303 Local authority Devon Inspection number 1114985 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 1 - 2 Total number of places 21 Number of children on roll 32 Name of registered person Action For Children Developments Ltd

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07843642982

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reference number

The Cedars Pre School re-registered in 2017. It is situated in Beacon Heath, Exeter in Devon and is managed by Action For Children Developments Ltd. The nursery is open Monday to Friday from 7.45am until 5.45pm for 51 weeks of the year. There are eight members of staff employed. Of these, one holds a childcare qualification at level 6, one holds a qualification at level 5, and six hold childcare qualifications at level 3 and level 2. The nursery receives funding to provide free early years education for children aged two years.

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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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