Bright Horizons Columbus Courtyard Day Nursery and Preschool

Inspection of Bright Horizons Columbus Courtyard Day Nursery and Preschool 13 Columbus Courtyard, London, Tower Hamlets E14 4DA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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The provision requires improvement

Overall, most children are settled and enjoy their time at the nursery. They behave very well and show appropriate engagement in the activities provided. This is illustrated when children enjoy singing along to a guitar and learning Spanish. Older children have fun participating in science experiments and toddlers enjoy playing colour matching games. Although staff are caring, some children do not have good levels of consistency in their care because there are several staff changes throughout the day, which leads to some newer children being unsettled. The management team expresses high expectations for each child. However, a high proportion of bank staff are currently being used while managers work hard to recruit new staff. This means that not all staff working with children know what they need to learn next. As a result, not all children make the progress that they are capable of. Furthermore, managers are not monitoring the overall quality of

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The provision requires improvement

teaching and staff's assessments of children's progress well enough. As a result, staff are not fully effective in ensuring that children of all ages receive enough challenge in their learning. This is particularly true for younger children. While partnership working with parents is effective, links with other settings that children attend are not strong enough to enable staff to work collaboratively to plan for children's future development.

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need to do better?

n Children enjoy a broad range of activities. There are frequent opportunities to develop their creativity, imagination and physical skills through dancing, art projects and sport sessions. n Staff provide parents with daily feedback and regularly update them about their children's new achievements. Overall, parents express satisfaction with the care their children receive and say that they feel their children enjoy attending. n Children learn skills to support them to become more independent. This is evident when older children prepare their own snack and serve their own food at lunchtime. Staff make good use of these opportunities to teach children the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles. n Children have frequent opportunities to explore the local community and to go on trips. For instance, they enjoy visiting local parks, the farm and shops, which supports their growing understanding of the wider world.

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need to do better?

n Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good levels of support with their learning, and staff work closely with early years professionals to help to close any gaps in their development. However, partnerships with other settings that children attend are less effective in ensuring consistent care and learning opportunities are planned for this group of children to support their future learning. n The management team is highly committed to improving the staffing

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need to do better?

11 October 2019 arrangements. Although staff are warm and friendly, the current staff shortages mean that the key-person system is not fully effective in providing children with good levels of consistency in their learning. In addition, because of the frequency of staff changes, some children are not able to form secure bonds with those who care for them. This limits some children's ability to be confident and ready to play and learn. n The quality of teaching is variable across some age groups. Although children have a generally well-designed curriculum that supports them to acquire new knowledge, staff working with younger children miss opportunities to introduce them to new vocabulary and ideas that will challenge them and extend their learning. n The managers do not make good enough use of performance management to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently good level for all children. While staff complete some observations of children to assess their progress, managers

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need to do better?

do not closely monitor these to ensure that the information gathered is used to plan activities that will help children make good progress in all areas of learning. n The managers regularly seek parents' and children's views to help them to evaluate the quality of the provision. However, they have not been fully successful in addressing some of the key issues that are preventing all children from having consistently good-quality experiences while at the nursery.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

When recruiting staff, the management team follows thorough procedures to help ensure that those working with children are suitable to do so. Staff have opportunities to keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date through initial induction and training. Staff understand their responsibility to promote children's welfare. They can identify possible signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm and understand which procedures to follow to seek additional support. Furthermore, staff carry out frequent risk assessments and daily checks to help to minimise any hazards and to help to keep children safe.

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Due date

improve the key-person system in order for children to be cared for by a consistent team of staff who are able to meet their individual needs and support their overall learning throughout the day 07/11/2019

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Due date

11 October 2019 improve the quality of teaching, especially for younger children, by ensuring that staff make better use of information gathered through assessment to plan challenging learning experiences for children. 07/11/2019

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should:

n strengthen partnerships with other settings that children attend to best support their future learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY543342 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 10126613 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 0 to 4 Total number of places 110 Number of children on roll 112 Name of registered person Bright Horizons Family Solutions Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 020 7513 0505 Date of previous inspection 5 July 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Bright Horizons Columbus Courtyard Day Nursery and Preschool registered in 2017. It is situated in Canary Wharf in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, for 51 weeks of the year. The providers employ 33 staff, 26 of whom hold early years qualifications ranging from level 2 to level 6. The nursery accepts funding for three- and four-year-olds.

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Inspection activities

n This inspection was carried out following a risk assessment. n The inspector and the manager completed a learning walk together. n The inspector spoke to several parents and considered their views. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector observed the quality of teaching and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n The inspector looked at a range of essential documentation, including staff suitability checks and training certificates.

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Inspection activities

11 October 2019 We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

11 October 2019 regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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