The Hackney Day Nursery and Pre-School

Inspection of FountNursery Railway Arches 359-360, Westgate Street, London E8 3RN

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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 Outstanding

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety is compromised because leaders do not identify all potential risks to children's safety. This includes no clear risk assessment for the safe management of electric sockets in children's play areas. In addition, the management team does not ensure that all safeguarding concerns are recorded effectively for monitoring and audit purposes.

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The provision is inadequate

Children do not always experience nurturing relationships with staff to help them feel safe and secure. Babies who are on their first day of settling into the nursery do not always have their key person available. This hinders their ability to develop a secure attachment and for staff to tailor their care to meet their individual needs and to communicate with their parents. Although staff are within ratio, their deployment means that they often struggle to provide babies with comfort and reassurance if they become tired and distressed. During sleep time after lunch, staff encourage children, including those who are not ready or requiring sleep, to stay lying down. They try to stop them from moving from their sleeping mats by patting or rubbing their backs. Staff are not clear, even with intervention from the manager, about the length of time they should persist with this before eventually supporting children to get up and join an activity.

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The provision is inadequate

Children are keen to explore the resources on offer in the well-resourced outdoor area. They display reasonable levels of engagement as they participate in physical play activities which help them to develop their movement and coordination. Children run energetically and enjoy riding trikes on the path. In addition, they learn how to respect and care for living things. Children consider with enthusiasm and care the nursery's goldfish and know that they must 'speak gently' so as not to frighten the fish in the tank.

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The provision is inadequate

Older children generally settle easily on arrival and enjoy the activities on offer. They make choices about what they would like to do and where to play. However, the quality of teaching is variable and does not provide consistently good education to all children. Children's learning is variable across the nursery, with some receiving good-quality interaction from staff, while other children spend much of their time entertaining themselves or on the outskirts of activities. Children who require challenge to help them to progress further in their learning are not always provided with purposeful activities and resources to fully encourage their development.

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need to do better?

n The newly appointed manager and senior leadership team have started to identify what they need to improve in the setting. They demonstrate a

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need to do better?

28 March 2022 commitment to continuing to raise the quality of the provision, for example through further training and support for staff. The manager has recently completed a review of children's assessment information. She recognises the impact of changes in organisation and the staff team. For example, she has identified that staff need more support in their planning for individual children's learning and development. n Arrangements for supervision, coaching and mentoring of staff are not yet fully in place. This impacts on staff planning of the curriculum and to ensure all children's care and learning needs are met. However, the new manager has devised robust plans for improvement and is beginning to share these with the staff team. n The key-person system is not effective and does not meet all children's emotional needs. For example, babies who are new to the setting are looked after by agency staff, rather than by their key persons. Consequently, they do

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need to do better?

not receive the consistent emotional support they need to help them feel secure and develop secure attachments. Staff are not able to meet all aspects of their role due to low staffing levels. n Staff working with children do not implement the curriculum consistently. The quality of teaching is inconsistent across the nursery. Not all staff demonstrate an understanding of how to implement the curriculum to which leaders aspire. Some activities lack purpose because staff do not know what they want children to learn. Staff do not always provide children with appropriate resources to use in activities relevant for their age and stage of development. n Older children demonstrate good listening and concentration skills in readiness for school. They are confident to ask questions about stories and share their ideas about what will happen next. When younger children join the circle for story time, they are encouraged to choose musical instruments. Staff explain

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need to do better?

that this helps those children who struggle to settle concentrate and it can be seen that they do enjoy playing the instruments while having stories read to them. n Children benefit from the freshly prepared, nutritious snacks and meals. During mealtimes staff support children to develop their independence and social skills. Children are confident to serve themselves and clear away their plates after eating. They show positive behaviour as they learn to share and take turns, and talk with their friends during the sociable lunchtime gathering. n Parents speak positively about the staff team and have access to an online system for communication about their children. They say that staff share information about their children's learning, but this is not always consistent or specific. Parents say that information is less consistent following changes to the organisation and management of the nursery. They say that they are not given

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need to do better?

up-to-date information about who their child's key person is or when staff have left the nursery. n Staff share information with other professionals, but this is not always communicated so well with all parents. However, they do work closely with relevant staff, including the special educational needs coordinator, should they have concerns about a child's development or to gain guidance in following support plans for children's specific needs and progress.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and managers do not monitor all safeguarding concerns effectively. They do not ensure that historic safeguarding concerns are audited and outcomes clearly recorded. Risk assessments are not thorough enough to identify and minimise potential hazards. There is no clear risk assessment for protecting electric sockets in the play areas. Staff do not have a clear understanding of all their responsibilities. However, they do complete ongoing safeguarding training to update their awareness of the most up-to-date procedures to follow should they have a concern about a child. Members of the management team follow appropriate recruitment procedures to help them continually assess the suitability of staff.

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Due date

keep clear records and improve the arrangements for monitoring safeguarding issues, to ensure appropriate action is taken at all times 11/04/2022

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Due date

ensure all hazards on the premises are identified and implement effective systems to remove or minimise all risks to children's safety 11/04/2022

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Due date

make sure that staff are deployed effectively at all times so that children are adequately supervised to ensure their well-being, safety and learning 11/04/2022

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Due date

establish effective key-person arrangements so that children's individual needs are met and children develop a strong relationship with a consistent familiar person 11/04/2022

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Due date

28 March 2022 ensure that staff receive support and appropriate training so they can plan, organise and provide challenging experiences to enable all children to make good progress in their learning and development 11/04/2022

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Due date

improve partnerships with parents and carers to ensure they are informed about changes in their child's key person, staffing arrangements and children's learning and development requirements 11/04/2022

p.5

Due date

implement a curriculum for children that promotes their learning, meets their needs and builds on what they already can do. 11/04/2022

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY493558 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 10218474 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

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inspection

Total number of places 56 Number of children on roll 57 Name of registered person FountNursery Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 0207 241 5341 Date of previous inspection 14 September 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Fount Nursery registered in 2015 and is situated in London Fields, in the London Borough of Hackney. It opens each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 50 weeks of the year. The nursery employs 14 members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications from level 2 to level 6. The provider receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the setting received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the setting and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n The inspector observed children's interactions in play, indoors and outdoors, and had discussions with staff about learning and development. n The manager took the inspector on a tour of the premises and explained how the curriculum is delivered. n Discussions and meetings were held with the manager, senior leadership team and staff during the inspection. n The manager and the inspector observed and evaluated an activity together.

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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

28 March 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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