Ashcroft Nursery

Ashcroft Nursery Ashcroft Day Nursery, Rear of 214, Whitegate Drive, BLACKPOOL, FY3 9JL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 21 May 2018 6 February 2017

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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This provision requires improvement. It is not yet good because:

 Since the previous inspection, consistent monitoring has lapsed and legal requirements have not been consistently met. The quality of provision has not been maintained.  The nursery’s procedure for storing medicine and keeping records of parental consent for their administration, is not consistently implemented by staff. On this occasion, the breach of legal requirement did not have a significant impact on children’s safety.  The current staffing arrangements do not have a consistently good impact on children’s learning. Staff do not make full use of the available space and resources or provide children with a wide range of opportunities which meet their unique learning needs.  Staff do not make consistently good use of information from assessments to challenge children to achieve as much as they can. Planning is not targeted precisely to quickly reduce the identified differences in children’s levels of development.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff are friendly and caring. Children settle quickly and form some strong bonds with them. Children develop confidence and their social skills develop well.  Staff work closely with external agencies to ensure that the most vulnerable children get the support they need.  Staff make effective use of some activities and daily routines to help children gain some of the basic skills they need in readiness for school.  The provider is beginning to take effective action to drive improvement. She is working closely with local advisers to monitor the quality of provision more robustly.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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Due Date

 ensure all staff understand how to implement the procedures for storing and administering medicines, including obtaining prior written parental permission 18/06/2018

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Due Date

 ensure staff are effectively deployed at all times and are able to consistently provide good quality teaching, which meets the learning and development needs of all the children. 18/06/2018

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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

 review the use of space and resources, and increase opportunities for learning which respond to children’s different learning styles  make sharper use of information from assessments of what children can do, to help to plan activities which challenge every child to achieve as much as they can  make better use of information gained through monitoring, to drive improvements in teaching and help to reduce differences in outcomes for children, particularly in relation to boys’ achievement.

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Inspection activities

 Ofsted carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information received about the provision.  The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities and assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector had a tour of the premises with the manager, observed staffing levels and evaluated the effectiveness of the risk assessment of the premises and equipment.  The inspector looked at relevant documentation, such as evidence of the suitability, qualifications and training of staff.  The inspector spoke with staff, parents and children and took account of their views. She held discussions with the provider’s representative, the manager and the local authority adviser.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. Staff have received training, which means that they are alert to child protection issues and can implement local procedures to protect children from harm. Staff supervise children closely to help them stay safe. Most records are satisfactorily maintained. However, on a recent occasion, staff did not obtain written parental permission to administer an occasionally needed medication, or store it securely. On this occasion, the medicine was not needed and children’s welfare was not compromised. Legally required ratios are met. However, the way in which staff are sometimes deployed does not fully support children's learning. For example, activities are sometimes disrupted when staff leave the children to prepare meals or undertake managerial tasks. Leaders are beginning to resume more robust monitoring of the quality of the provision, including some rigorous tracking of children’s levels of development. However, they are not making

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

good use of this information to precisely target ways to improve the quality of teaching.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Staff monitor the progress of their key children. They identify when children are falling behind and they liaise with other professionals to provide additional and relevant support. However, staff do not make consistently good use of their assessments to plan activities which challenge all children to achieve as much as they can. They do not make full use of the accessible resources and learning environment, to help them provide activities in response to children’s different learning styles. As a result, they sometimes fail to engage boys, in particular, in a wide range of activities that promote different aspects of their learning. This includes mathematics. Despite this, staff use their general knowledge of how children learn to provide some appropriate activities which most children enjoy. They encourage babies to handle and investigate natural materials. They demonstrate to older children how to use scissors and use a variety of tools to make marks on paper.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Despite occasional weaknesses in implementing medication procedures, in practice, children's welfare is suitably promoted. The emotional well-being of new children is prioritised and staff support them with plenty of cuddles and reassurance. Staff work closely with parents to find out as much as they can to help them meet children’s needs from the start. They share ongoing records of children’s progress. Staff are nurturing and encourage all children to develop kind and cooperative attitudes towards each other. They use daily routines effectively to help promote some self-care skills.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

The difference in the levels of development of boys and girls is not closing quickly enough. Teaching is also not precisely targeted at improving children’s progress in mathematics. Despite this, children enjoy playing at nursery and develop some of the key skills they need in readiness for their transition to school. Children learn how to join in with expected routines and ways to behave. They sit on the carpet to listen in group sessions and they join in with a repertoire of familiar songs. Mostly, their physical and social skills are developing well.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY420173 Local authority Blackpool Inspection number 1136373 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 - 4 Total number of places 34 Number of children on roll 29 Name of registered person Quality Childcare Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 6 February 2017 Telephone number 01253 695658

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reference number

Ashcroft Nursery originally opened in 1976 and was registered by the current provider, Quality Childcare Limited, in 2010. The nursery employs three members of childcare staff. Of these, two hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and one is qualified at level 2. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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

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