Little Stars

Little Stars 12 Dudmoor Farm Road, Unit 3, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 6AQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26 April 2018 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

 Children are at significant risk of harm. Staff fail to take steps to ensure areas used by children are safe. There are times when children are not supervised by adults, or there are insufficient adults directly working with the children. This compromises children's safety.  Child protection procedures are weak. Safeguarding policies and procedures are not adhered to in practice, and recruitment and vetting procedures are not followed rigorously. This puts children at risk of harm.  Staff are not deployed effectively to ensure that children receive adequate support for their care and learning needs throughout the day.  Records, including those that contain vital information about children's individual and medical needs, are not always accessible.  Staff do not have an adequate understanding of how to support children's learning and development. They do not engage effectively with children to enable them to build on

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This provision is inadequate

their existing skills and learn new ones.  Procedures for monitoring and assessing the progress children make are poor. As a result, staff lack understanding of the next steps in children's learning. Planned activities do not reflect children's individual needs and interests and children fail to make the progress they are capable of.

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It has the following strengths

 Children develop warm relationships with the staff and are happy to attend the nursery.

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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 intend to take steps to suspend registration and will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to:

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Due Date

 increase staff's knowledge and understanding of safeguarding policy and practice 10/05/2018

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Due Date

 improve safeguarding arrangements, with particular reference to managing allegations against staff and the use of mobile phones and cameras by staff 10/05/2018

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Due Date

 ensure that risk assessments are completed on all areas and are implemented effectively to help identify and address any potential hazards and minimise risks to children 10/05/2018

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Due Date

 ensure children are well supervised at all times 10/05/2018  ensure rigorous procedures are followed when recruiting and vetting staff 10/05/2018

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Due Date

 improve arrangements for the deployment of staff to ensure children remain well supervised and supported at all times 10/05/2018

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Due Date

 make sure records, that include important information about individual children, and any necessary permissions from parents are in place. 10/05/2018

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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

 improve the quality of teaching and staff's understanding of how to support children's learning 25/05/2018

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Due Date

 improve monitoring and assessment arrangements to help staff to plan and provide a wide range of activities that reflect children's interests and learning needs to help them to make good progress. 25/05/2018

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the playrooms and the outside learning environment.  The inspector completed a joint observation and met with the manager at an appropriate time.  The inspector discussed information about children's learning and sampled welfare records.  The inspector checked evidence of staff suitability and the qualifications of practitioners working with children.  This inspection was prompted following a notification from the provider.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

Safeguarding is not effective and arrangements for protecting children from harm are weak. The manager fails to ensure appropriate procedures are followed if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Allegations are not investigated thoroughly and other agencies are not involved as required. Although a policy is in place with regards to restricting the use of mobile devices by staff, this is not adhered to in practice. Staff use their personal mobile phones to capture images of children which are then used to update development records. However, the manager does not monitor this and therefore, cannot be assured practice keeps children safe. Staff are not provided with sufficient guidance or training to ensure they are confident in all aspects of safeguarding procedures. For example, they are not aware of the correct procedures to follow if they have a concern about a colleague and there are gaps in their understanding of more recent regulations,

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is inadequate

such as the Prevent duty. Although managers complete some checks on staff, these are not comprehensive, and therefore, fail to provide a clear picture of a staff member’s suitability to work with children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

The quality of teaching and learning is poor. Staff fail to provide activities that reflect children's interests or challenge their learning. Staff do not identify children's individual needs or understand how these can be met. They fail to adapt activities to meet the differing ages and abilities of the children with whom they work. For example, during a creative activity all children had the same flower printed on paper which they were expected to paint. Staff did not ensure that sufficient space was available for children to successfully take part in the activity, or ensure there was enough equipment available for all children to be fully involved. This resulted in children losing interest. When children select equipment to play with, they receive little input from staff to encourage them to extend their learning and interests further.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are inadequate

Children's safety is compromised because some areas that they use contain hazards. Staff fail to complete adequate risk assessments to minimise or eliminate dangers. For example, children playing outdoors run around in close proximity to very sharp, corroded metal objects and wooden planks with nails protruding from them. Managers do not consider children's safety when organising staffing. As a result, there are times when children are left alone on the first floor of the nursery when the only member of staff present is on the ground floor. Children fail to be taught about how to keep themselves safe or to learn where it is safe to play. For example, when playing outdoors, they are encouraged to climb on slippery log piles close to the pond, despite a significant risk of them falling in.

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Outcomes for children are inadequate

Staff fail to identify children's abilities and learning needs and children do not receive the support they need to become engaged and involved in learning. As a result, they are not making enough progress and do not acquire the skills needed for the next stage in their learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY547034 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 1134447 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 - 8 Total number of places 18 Number of children on roll 18 Name of registered person Kellie Jane Clare

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reference number

Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07833582646

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reference number

Little Stars opened in 2017. It operates from a building in Christchurch in Dorset. The setting opens Monday to Friday 8am until 6pm all year round. A team of four staff work with the children, two are qualified to level 3, one member of staff is qualified to level 2 and one member of staff is forest school trained. The setting accepts early education funding for children aged two, three and four 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

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

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