Humpty Dumpty Day Nursery and Pre-School -Lichfield

Inspection of Humpty Dumpty Day Nursery and Pre-School -Lichfield Trent Valley Road, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS13 6HB

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

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

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety is compromised because not all staff have a sufficient knowledge of safeguarding procedures. Some staff are unable to recognise signs of possible abuse, and do not know the procedures to report concerns to other agencies. Furthermore, staff fail to identify risks to children's safety. For example, they serve children large, whole blueberries at snack time. Children roll around on the floor while eating their snack. Staff do not recognise or respond to the risks of children choking. They also fail to identify the risks associated with leaving hot drinks accessible to children. There are no key-person arrangements in place for children who are new to the setting. Children who are settling in become upset. They do not benefit from having a consistent member of staff who can build a secure relationship with them. This does not support the emotional well-being of children.

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The provision is inadequate

The quality of education that children receive is variable. Staff plan and provide activities based on children's interests. However, they do not consider what they want children to learn next during their play. Consequently, activities on offer lack challenge, which impacts on the progress children make in their learning and development. That said, older children do enjoy some of the activities on offer to them. Pre-school children practise their early writing skills by using brushes to make marks in sand. They learn to recognise numerals and begin to use objects to count. Two- and three-year-old children develop some physical skills as they carefully thread large beads on to laces. Younger children use their imaginations as they pretend to cook food in the home corner and take care of the dolls.

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need to do better?

n Leaders and managers have a poor oversight of the quality of provision. They have failed to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage'. Consequently, the quality of the provision has significantly decreased since the last inspection. n Managers do not ensure that staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities. Some staff do not have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding issues, and do not know how to report concerns about children's welfare to other agencies. This means that children are not safeguarded. n Staff lack knowledge and understanding of risks to children's safety. They are not alert to risks associated with choking when providing food for children. When these risks are explained to staff, they do not respond promptly to remove the risks to children who continue to move around while eating. In addition to

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need to do better?

this, staff leave hot drinks in reach of children. This compromises their safety. n Children's health is not supported because hygiene practices are not embedded. Staff do not ensure that children wash their hands after using potties or before eating. Potties used by children are not always clean. Some nappy changing

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need to do better?

5 January 2022 mats and sleep mattresses are in poor condition. They are torn in several places, which increases the risks of cross-infection. In addition to this, babies do not always have the opportunity for daily outdoor play. This means that not all children benefit from fresh air and exercise to promote their good health. n The key-person system is not effective. Not all children have a named key person assigned when they start attending the nursery. This impacts on their ability to settle and form secure relationships with staff. n Managers fail to monitor the arrangements for staffing effectively. At times, there are not enough staff present to meet the needs of the children. Managers do not ensure that there are enough qualified staff working directly with the children. This impacts on the quality of care and education that children receive. n Staff regularly assess children's development. However, they do not use this

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need to do better?

information purposefully to inform their planning. They plan activities around what children like. However, they do not focus sharply enough on what they want children to learn next. For example, staff provide children with a star template on paper to paint. They explain that they have planned this because children like sea animals, and they want to create work for their display board. Staff do not adapt activities to challenge children's learning. This means that children are not consistently supported to make good enough progress in their learning and development. n The quality of teaching is variable. At times, teaching is not flexible enough to allow children to make choices in their play and learning. They are expected to sit down for long periods of time for snack or story time. Consequently, some children lose focus and become bored. n Managers provide regular supervision and training opportunities for staff.

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need to do better?

However, they do not use this to help staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities. The monitoring of staff's practice is not effective enough to identify appropriate training and professional development opportunities to improve the quality of teaching and promote the interests of all children. n There is appropriate support in place for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff use assessment to identify concerns in children's development and set individual targets for them. Staff include these targets in their routines to help meet children's needs. n Parents speak positively about the nursery. They value the advice and guidance staff give them and praise the communication they receive about their child's experiences.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Managers have not ensured that all staff have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding issues. Some staff are unable to identify signs that could indicate a child is at risk of harm. There are inconsistencies in staff's understanding of the safeguarding procedures to follow to report concerns about children to other agencies. Children's safety is compromised because risk assessment is weak. Staff do not recognise and respond to risks associated with choking or hot drinks.

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Safeguarding

5 January 2022 Managers carry out robust checks when recruiting staff to help ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

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Due date

ensure that all staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding issues in order to identify and respond to any issues of concern in a child's life at home or elsewhere 21/01/2022

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Due date

ensure that risk assessment is effective so that all risks to children's health and safety are identified and action is taken to remove or minimise any risks and hazards in a timely manner 21/01/2022

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Due date

improve the supervision and monitoring of staff so that it is effective in providing coaching, guidance and professional development opportunities that raise the quality of teaching to a consistently good level 21/01/2022

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Due date

improve hygiene practices to minimise risks of cross-infection in order to promote the good health of children 21/01/2022

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Due date

improve the deployment of staff to ensure that there are always enough staff present and available to work with children, and that there are enough qualified staff working directly with children, to meet their individual needs 21/01/2022

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Due date

ensure each child has a key person assigned to them in order to meet their individual needs and to build relationships with parents or carers 21/01/2022

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Due date

ensure every child has daily opportunities for outdoor play 21/01/2022

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Due date

5 January 2022 ensure that planning considers children's individual needs and stages of development so that they consistently receive challenging and enjoyable experiences that support them in making progress in their learning. 28/02/2022

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY434118 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 10203243 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 200 Number of children on roll 213 Name of registered person Humpty Dumpty Day Nurseries Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01543416002 Date of previous inspection 24 October 2014

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Information about this early years setting

Humpty Dumpty Day Nursery and Pre-School registered in 2012. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am until 6pm, closing for one week at Christmas and bank holidays. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery employs 47 members of staff. Of these, 29 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above, including three who hold qualified teacher status and one who holds a level 6 qualification.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the setting received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the setting and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n The inspection was carried out following the risk assessment process. n The management team provided a tour of the premises to the inspectors. One inspector spoke with the management team to gather information about how the provision and curriculum are organised. n The manager and an inspector carried out a joint observation to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching. n Parents spoke to one inspector and gave their views of the nursery. n The inspectors observed the quality of teaching indoors and outdoors to assess the impact of this on children's learning. n The inspectors held meetings with the management team and looked at relevant documentation and evidence of staff suitability.

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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

5 January 2022 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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