Little Ducks Nursery

Inspection of Little Ducks Nursery Lowestoft College Of Further Education, St Peters Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 2NB

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Inadequate Personal development Inadequate Leadership and management Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety and welfare is compromised as the management team and staff do not have a secure enough understanding of their responsibility to report child protection concerns. Children do not make the best possible progress in their learning and development. Not all staff demonstrate that they know older children well enough. As a result, teaching is often ineffective. Children have variable learning experiences and their attitude to learning is poor. There are times when they are not challenged or engaged well enough and staff do not build on what children already know. Children are sometimes unkind to each other, but staff do not notice. Overall, staff support children's physical development. Children enjoy running around in the garden. However, the learning environment, both indoors and outside, is not organised well enough to meet children's learning needs.

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The provision is inadequate

Children develop close emotional bonds with staff. Staff caring for younger children establish an effective key-person process. They build friendly and trusting relationships with parents and children. Staff continue children's established routines for feeding and sleeping, promoting continuity of care. Staff engage older children in conversation and listen to what they have to say. The gestures and babbles of babies are responded to positively.

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need to do better?

n The management team and staff do not protect the well-being of children. They do not follow their safeguarding policy and procedure to ensure that concerns about children are reported in an appropriate and timely way. This puts children at risk. n The new manager is aware of the weaknesses within the setting and has plans in place to manage this. She is using support from the local authority to bring about improvement to the quality of education for children. Staff are provided with regular opportunities for supervision, to manage their performance and training needs. n Staff are not always able to talk confidently about where older children are in their learning or what they need to do to support their continuing development. The assessment of children's development is not always accurate to ensure that any gaps in learning are identified and managed. This also leads to staff providing activities that lack challenge, which in turn impacts on children's

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need to do better?

behaviour. n Staff do not make the best use of the resources in the pre-school to actively support children's developing independence as they play and learn. For example, the reading area indoors is not presented well to encourage children to want to use it. The reading trolley is not accessible to children as it is pushed behind the coat pegs. Books and print are not routinely used to support children's early

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need to do better?

6 November 2019 reading skills. n Staff do not provide consistently good-quality teaching, to effectively motivate children to play and learn. Staff do not notice when children are not actively engaged in activities that fully capture their attention. They do not adapt activities well enough to support children in playing, exploring and active learning. Children do not develop a good foundation for the next stage of their learning, such as moving on to school. n Staff do not manage children's behaviour well enough to help support children's developing awareness of managing their own feelings and behaviour. Staff often do not notice when children are being unkind to others. This means children's unwanted behaviour goes unchallenged and children do not learn about right and wrong. n Children are helped to understand the importance of good hygiene routines to promote their good health. They readily wash their hands before eating and

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need to do better?

manage their personal care needs relevant to their age and stage of development. n Staff are good at meeting children's care needs. They have effective procedures for changing nappies that limit the risks of cross-infection. Children rest and sleep according to their individual needs. Sleeping children are checked frequently. n Staff demonstrate friendly and trusting relationships with parents. Parents of younger children are given a written record of their child's day. Parents state that they are happy with the service provided and appreciate the 'kind and caring' staff. They appreciate the good levels of communication.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Despite having attended child protection training the management team and staff do not recognise the indicators that a child may be suffering from harm. The designated people for managing concerns about children do not ensure that they respond appropriately. They delay passing on information to the local statutory children's services. This means that children's welfare is not effectively safeguarded. The management team has suitable recruitment and selection procedures in place. This helps to ensure that those working with children are suitable to do so. The premises are secure to prevent children from leaving unsupervised and to prevent unauthorised access.

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Due date

improve staff understanding of their responsibilities to report child protection concerns appropriately and in a timely manner. 04/12/2019

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Due date

improve knowledge of the children cared for to ensure that staff are able to plan for their learning and accurately match this to their abilities 31/01/2020

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Due date

assess children's learning and development more accurately so that any gaps can be quickly identified and managed 31/01/2020

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Due date

organise the environment, both indoors and outside, to meet children's learning needs and interests 04/12/2019

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Due date

improve the quality of teaching, to provide children with meaningful learning and ensure that their learning needs are met 31/01/2020

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Due date

help staff to recognise when children's behaviour deteriorates and support children to learn right from wrong. 31/01/2020

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY563587 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 10129847 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 1 to 4 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 48 Name of registered person Great Yarmouth Community Trust

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reference number

Telephone number 01502 448645 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Little Ducks Nursery registered in 2018. The setting employs 11 members of childcare staff. All hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The setting opens from Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 5.30pm. The setting receives funding to provide free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector and the provider had a tour of the setting to understand how the early years provision and the curriculum are organised. n The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this had on children's learning. n The inspector spoke with staff at appropriate times throughout the inspection and completed a joint observation with the manager. n The inspector held a meeting with the manager and deputy manager. They discussed self-evaluation and their action plan for improvement. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation, such as evidence of the suitability of staff working in the setting, records of children's learning and a selection of policies and other records. n The inspector spoke to a small number of parents during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

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

6 November 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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