Stand Farm Nursery

Inspection of Stand Farm Nursery Fir Tree Drive South, Liverpool, Lancashire L12 0JE

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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The provision requires improvement

Following COVID-19 (coronavirus) procedures to limit the number of people entering the nursery, children leave their parents at the door. Children have adapted well to this change and enter with confidence, ready to start their day.

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The provision requires improvement

Overall, children are well mannered, behave well and develop the essential skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for school. Children are keen to learn, concentrate well and enjoy a range of interesting activities. Some of the activities are not sufficiently planned or resourced to help children to gain the most learning from them. However, children are happy, self-assured and emotionally secure.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff purposefully link activities to familiar and new stories. This helps to raise children's interest in books and supports their learning in other areas. For example, children talk about healthy eating while tasting a variety of fruits linked to a story about a hungry caterpillar. They explore their feelings and emotions while listening to a story about an owl.

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The provision requires improvement

Babies have plenty of safe floor space to crawl and take steps when learning to walk. Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop their co-ordination, control and movement. Older children use their imagination well to invent games and explain the rules to others. For instance, three-year-old children excitedly explain that they are not to touch each other as they balance on and move in different directions around a large tyre in the garden.

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need to do better?

n Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursery has closed a couple of times, the management team has changed, and staff have left and been replaced. Changes in staffing have had an impact on the leader's ability to monitor staff's practice and ensure that they have received all the relevant professional support to make them fully effective in their role. However, meetings with individual staff are beginning to identify their training needs and where improvements need to be made. n Leaders have recently evaluated all aspects of the nursery, including policies, procedures, record-keeping systems and staff's knowledge and practice. They have a clear view of their strengths and are realistic about the challenges that remain, which they are beginning to address. Leaders are increasingly consulting with staff, parents and children to help to identify further areas to improve. n Parents comment that communication with the nursery has much improved

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need to do better?

recently. They feel more informed about staffing and their child's day through the newly introduced newsletters and use of social media. They increasingly exchange useful information about children's learning and development

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need to do better?

1 June 2021 electronically with staff. Staff provide them with some information to help them to support their child's learning at home. n One of the nursery's strengths is their commitment to a programme to prevent obesity. Staff encourage physical activity and promote children's physical health well. n In the baby room, staff help children to feel safe and secure. They provide cosy, calming areas for babies to sit closely with staff to look at books and investigate toys. n Staff frequently read stories and sing with babies and children. This helps to improve their speaking and listening skills and develop their interest in books. Children manipulate dough and run their fingers through a range of sensory substances, such as paint and foam, to develop the finger skills needed for later writing. n Children enjoy the activities provided for them. However, when planning, staff are not always clear on what they want children to learn or what resources they

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need to do better?

will provide to ensure that activities are sufficiently challenging. They do not sufficiently replenish the resources in each area during the day to keep children engaged in planned learning. n Staff work effectively with parents to seek support from other professionals. This includes speech and language therapists and health visitors for children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Information, such as how staff support children who are toilet training, is clearly shared to ensure consistency between home and the nursery. n Each key person in the newly formed staff team has recently reviewed the accuracy of their key children's assessments. They now have a clear view of each child's abilities and an improved ability to begin to identify any gaps in their learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Robust recruitment, vetting and induction helps to check the suitability of staff working with children. All staff know the signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm and how to identify and report child protection concerns. However, processes to keep staff's knowledge refreshed have lapsed. Some staff are less aware of wider safeguarding concerns, such as the 'Prevent' duty guidance. All the records, including those for children's details, attendance and accidents, have been recently reviewed, contain all the required details and are kept confidential. All the safety procedures, including for the collection of children, evacuations and electronic equipment testing, have been reviewed and improved.

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should:

1 June 2021 n link the professional development of staff more closely to their individual learning needs and those of the nursery to raise their safeguarding knowledge and the quality of education provided n identify what is intended for children to learn and ensure that resources are suitable and available to enable children to purposefully engage with activities and to support their planned learning.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY556245 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 10174949 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

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inspection

Total number of places 113 Number of children on roll 94 Name of registered person Alt Valley Community Trust Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 07468421211 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Stand Farm Nursery registered in 2018. The nursery employs 25 members of childcare staff. Of these, five hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 2, 15 at level 3, one at level 4 and two at level 6, who hold qualified teacher status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 5.45pm, all year round. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in the evaluation of the provider. n We carried out this inspection following our risk assessment process. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk together. n A joint observation was carried out by the inspector and the nursery manager. n The inspector held discussions with staff, children and parents at appropriate times during the inspection. n The inspector looked at a sample of the nursery's documents. This included evidence about staff's suitability and training.

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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

1 June 2021 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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