Anker Bridge Nursery

Inspection of Anker Bridge Nursery Anker Bridge House, Bridge Street, Polesworth B78 1DR

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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

There are significant weaknesses across the whole setting and managers and staff do not ensure that children's needs are met. Although children appear settled, there is no evident excitement, happiness or laughter. While some staff give babies and younger children a cuddle when they begin to tire, others demonstrate little warmth towards them. The quality of teaching is poor and staff's expectations for children are too low. They do not spend time sitting and interacting with children in order to support their individual needs. This results in children spending much of their time wandering around.

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The provision is inadequate

The manager is not implementing a curriculum that is helping children to gain skills for the future. Although staff have begun to assess children, they do not use this information to plan challenging activities for them. Despite there being some suitable resources in playrooms, these do not excite babies and children or motivate them to find things out for themselves. On occasions, staff read to older children. However, at times, the routine of the day is chaotic and limits the time staff have available to interact with children. Staff are too busy with tasks such as nappy changing, cleaning or moving furniture around. This, coupled with low staff numbers, means that children receive little attention or support for their learning.

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The provision is inadequate

Most of the time, children play on their own or interact with their peers. Although children enjoy being outside, staff are unable to effectively support their learning because the manager does not ensure that they are adequately deployed. Children show a lack of motivation for learning because staff do not provide any purposeful activities for them. Despite this, children generally behave well.

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need to do better?

n Significant weaknesses are evident in leadership and management. This has resulted in numerous breaches in the safeguarding and welfare and learning and development requirements. Although the provider, who is also the manager, has very recently sought some support from the local authority, too little action has been taken to identify weaknesses or bring about improvement. Despite reoccurring staffing issues and staff vacancies, little progress is being made in recruiting new staff. The many weaknesses have a negative impact on children's experiences at this setting. n The manager does not ensure that appropriate induction procedures are in place for new staff. This results in staff not being aware of their roles and responsibilities. Staff are not provided with appropriate supervision arrangements and concerns about staff practice are not addressed quickly enough. Consequently, staff morale is low and they are not supported to

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need to do better?

improve or develop their knowledge and skills. Staff are under pressure in their

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need to do better?

20 May 2021 roles as they try and manage several responsibilities at once. This significantly impacts on the quality of the provision. n Staff-to-child ratios are not consistently maintained and staff deployment is not effective. As a result, children experience poor levels of adult support and interaction. Indoors, staff do not notice or take action when younger children climb on toys or recognise the risk of them falling. When playing outside, there are not enough staff to support children to play on equipment, such as the swing. Staff rush between different parts of the play area to manage emerging risks, such as spotting a younger child independently climbing up the climbing frame without supervision. n The key-person system is not effective. Children are assigned a key person who gains information about them and liaises with their parents. Parents speak positively about the nursery and say that the staff are lovely. However, some

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need to do better?

staff do not give enough consideration to supporting babies' and children's emotional well-being in order to help them to thrive. Staff do not ensure that their care and learning is tailored to meet their individual needs. n Weaknesses across the setting have a significant impact on children's learning and development. Staff do not provide learning experiences for children that cover all areas of learning. They do not use what they know about children to implement activities that help to close gaps in their learning and prevent them from falling further behind. Children are not well prepared for the next stage in their learning and starting school. n Staff rarely engage in conversation with babies and young children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff do not talk or make eye contact with babies while feeding them and are not skilled enough to hold

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need to do better?

meaningful conversations with older children to challenge their thinking. Their approach does not help to develop babies' and children's communication and language skills and fails to engage some children in activities. Although staff gain professional advice for children with additional needs, this is not followed up in practice. For example, staff do not follow the targeted support plans in place for children to meet their needs. n Babies do not have easy access to drinking water throughout the day. Meals and snacks offered to children are not healthy, balanced or nutritious. The menus available to parents show different foods to those offered on the day of the inspection. Mealtimes are chaotic and babies and young children are left waiting for long periods of time for their lunch to be served. While cutlery is available to older children, they often just have a fork and are, therefore, unable to cut up

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need to do better?

their food. Staff offer no direction or encouragement to children, who eat their food with their hands. n The premises are not organised to meet the needs of the children attending. There are not enough tables and chairs for babies and older children to sit together due to this equipment being shared across the two rooms. Children's opportunity to play and learn is disrupted because staff spend so long moving this equipment in and out of the room before snack and mealtimes. Children are not able to sit comfortably and socially to eat their meals and some babies sit and eat in 'Bumbo' seats. This is not appropriate and does not build the core

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need to do better?

20 May 2021 muscle skills needed to help them progress to sitting in chairs at a table. Pre- school children walk through the baby room after coming in from outdoor play because this is currently the only path for access. This means that they walk in between staff trying to feed babies and this disrupts mealtimes. Furthermore, the procedures for checking sleeping children are not followed consistently to ensure that children are kept safe. n Staff are not consistently managing risks. There is a lack of supervision due to staff not being effectively deployed. Children are not consistently supervised while on the large outdoor climbing structure and swings. Some staff fail to identify risks in the baby room, which does not keep children safe and protect them from harm.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding is not prioritised in this setting. Too many weaknesses in staff's knowledge means that they are not vigilant in keeping children safe. The manager, who is also the designated safeguarding lead, has not ensured that timely action is taken to refer safeguarding concerns to external agencies without delay. Gaps in staff's safeguarding knowledge are not identified or acted on swiftly enough to ensure the ongoing safety of all children. Some staff are not aware of who the designated safeguarding lead is and have not been trained in the safeguarding policies and procedures. They are unaware of the different types of abuse and unsure of the signs that may suggest a child is at risk of harm. Staff demonstrate a poor understanding of the 'Prevent' duty. They are unsure of what signs would alert them to wider safeguarding issues, such as if a child was at risk of their families being drawn into radicalisation or extremism. Vetting checks are not

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Safeguarding

recorded and information relating to recruitment and selection is not available to determine the suitability of all staff.

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Due date

ensure that the person designated to take the lead responsibility for safeguarding has the knowledge and understanding to make timely referrals to relevant agencies without delay 22/06/2021

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Due date

20 May 2021 train all staff to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures and ensure they all have a sufficient knowledge of who the designated safeguarding lead is, the signs of abuse, including wider safeguarding concerns, and 'Prevent' duty 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that all required vetting checks are recorded, including the date the Disclosure and Barring Service check was obtained and who obtained it 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that all staff benefit from an effective induction, and help them to understand their roles and responsibilities and improve the quality of experiences offered to children 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that there are effective arrangements in place for the supervision of staff and offer support, guidance and mentoring to raise the quality of their practice 22/06/2021

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take prompt action to address staff performance issues 22/06/2021

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ensure that all key persons provide care and learning that is tailored to meet the individual needs of every child 22/06/2021

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ensure that staff are deployed effectively so that children are kept safe, consistently supervised and their needs are met 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that children are provided with healthy, balanced meals and that they have access to fresh drinking water throughout the day 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that the premises are organised effectively to meet the needs of the children, with particular regard to having appropriate equipment for children to sit and eat meals safely and comfortably 22/06/2021

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Due date

20 May 2021 ensure that procedures are consistently followed for checking on sleeping children 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that all staff fully understand and take responsibility for identifying and managing risks to ensure children are kept safe 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are appropriately supported 22/06/2021

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Due date

ensure that all staffing and recruitment records are on the premises and available at all times. 22/06/2021

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provide children with a balanced curriculum that covers all seven areas of learning and takes into account what children know and can do to ensure gaps in learning close quickly 23/07/2021

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Due date

make sure that staff give children with English as an additional language opportunities and support to reach a good standard of English 23/07/2021

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Due date

ensure that staff take every opportunity to respond to children's emerging needs and interests and implement activities that will help them to develop key skills for the future in order to prepare them for school. 23/07/2021

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY558599 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 10190707 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 50 Number of children on roll 43 Name of registered person Anker Bridge Nursery Ltd.

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reference number

Telephone number 07903 285262 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Anker Bridge Nursery registered in 2018. The nursery employs seven members of staff, one of whom holds an appropriate level 6 qualification and four hold appropriate qualifications at level 3. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the setting has received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the setting and has taken this into account in their evaluation of the setting. n We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about this provider. n The inspector completed a learning walk with the deputy manager to discuss how the curriculum is implemented and organised. n The inspector observed the quality of education and practice and assessed the impact on children's learning and progress. n The inspector carried out a joint observation with the deputy manager and evaluated the quality of teaching and learning. n The inspector held discussions with key persons, parents and children and took account of their views. n The inspector held a meeting with the manager and discussed the evaluation of

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Inspection activities

the setting. A sample of documentation was requested for review, including recruitment and induction records, safeguarding procedures and other documents relating to health and safety matters.

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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

20 May 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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