Tiny Stars Canterbury

Inspection of Tiny Stars Canterbury Printing House, Simmonds Road, Canterbury CT1 3RA

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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 Good

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety is not assured at the nursery. The provider does not have robust recruitment and vetting procedures in place to ensure all staff working with children have been suitably checked to fulfil their role. This is a breach in requirements and compromises children's safety. Staff, including the designated safeguarding lead, do not have a secure knowledge of safeguarding matters and the action to take to ensure children's safety.

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The provision is inadequate

Staff do not know children well enough to enable them to provide sufficient support in their learning and development. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not learn as well as they could. Staff do not have a secure understanding of how to help them learn new skills and make steady progress.

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The provision is inadequate

Despite the recent changes in the nursery, children arrive happy and ready to play. Children choose what to do from a variety of resources available to them, and enjoy listening to stories and modelling with play dough. Children receive regular encouragement and praise from staff. This helps to develop their self-esteem and confidence.

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need to do better?

n Recruitment and induction processes are weak. The provider has failed to follow procedures to assess the suitability of staff. Some staff have not gone through vetting checks to determine if they are suitable to work with children. This has a significant impact on children's safety. Furthermore, the provider does not ensure that new staff receive effective support to help them understand what their roles and responsibilities are. Some new staff do not know what the children's individual needs are and how to fully support them. These weaknesses do not fully support children's welfare. n The nursery's key-person system is not yet effective. Ongoing changes to management and staff in the nursery have a great impact on children's continuity of care and learning. The new staff team has gathered information about children's health needs. However, staff have not found out further information about children's personal care routines and development. This

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need to do better?

means staff do not know children well enough to effectively support their care needs and help them make progress in their development. Additionally, not all parents are aware of who their child's key person is. n Children do not benefit from a curriculum that is tailored to their learning needs. Staff have not taken time to get to know children and their current learning experiences while at the nursery. This means staff do not provide purposeful learning opportunities to help them build on what they already know and can do.

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need to do better?

20 October 2022 As a result, the environment does not offer a sufficient level of challenge or motivate children to learn new skills. Consequently, children will often spend time playing alone. However, when they play together, they play well. They enjoy finding and creating their own games, such as building a tower together. n Children who speak English as an additional language are not fully supported. The manager recognises the benefits of using their home languages in the nursery. However, this approach has not yet been put into practice and staff do not use children's home languages to help encourage them to communicate their needs. n Staff do not support children's personal, social and emotional development well enough. They do not set clear boundaries and expectations for children. At times, staff take away activities that children enjoy and make changes to the routine. This means children are unaware of what is happening next and why.

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need to do better?

For example, staff take children away from activities to put on shoes and coats, without giving them clear explanations of why this is happening. n Parents talk about the recent challenges and changes in the nursery. Overall, they report their children are happy and they feel reassured by the changes in the staff team. However, parents comment that they feel the communication from the nursery needs to be improved so they feel fully informed about their children's experiences and learning while at nursery. n Staff encourage children to wash their hands before mealtimes. This helps them to learn good hygiene routines.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Weaknesses in leadership practices mean that children's safety is not assured. The provider fails to implement robust recruitment and induction procedures. They do not complete essential checks to ensure staff are suitable to fulfil their roles. For example, some staff working in the nursery have not had Disclosure and Barring Service checks. The manager and staff do not have a secure understanding of the nursery's safeguarding policy. For example, the manager, who is the designated lead for safeguarding, does not understand the correct procedures to follow in the event of an allegation being made against a staff member. Staff are able to recognise the signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. However, they do not know how to raise concerns about a child's welfare outside of the nursery. These weaknesses compromise children's safety. Staff have recently completed paediatric first-aid training. This helps them to respond to children's

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Safeguarding

accidents appropriately. Successful risk assessments ensure any potential hazards are quickly identified and removed.

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Due date

ensure all records are accessible and readily available for inspection 17/11/2022

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Due date

implement robust recruitment and induction processes to ensure that all staff working with children are suitable to fulfil their roles and responsibilities 17/11/2022

p.4

Due date

ensure all staff and the manager have a suitable understanding of the nursery's safeguarding policy and procedures to follow if there is an allegation made against a member of staff 17/11/2022

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Due date

ensure all staff and the manager have a secure understanding of how to respond to any concerns about children's welfare, and who to report these to, outside of the nursery 17/11/2022

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Due date

ensure all staff, including the manager, receive effective support, coaching and training to develop their professional skills so that all children consistently receive good learning and development experiences 17/11/2022

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Due date

implement an effective key-person system to meet all children's individual care and learning needs, including children who speak English as an additional language and those with SEND. 17/11/2022

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Due date

improve communication with parents, to ensure they are well informed about their children's development, and are supported at home 17/11/2022

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Due date

20 October 2022 provide a challenging curriculum that takes into account children's individual learning needs, with a stronger emphasis on children who speak English as an additional language 17/11/2022

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Due date

ensure children are involved in the changes to daily routines, so that they know what is happening next and can continue with their play. 17/11/2022

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY489431 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10254522 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 15 Number of children on roll 17 Name of registered person Tiny Stars Day Care Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01227463607 Date of previous inspection 27 February 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Tiny Stars Canterbury registered in 2015. The nursery is open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, for most of the year. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are five members of staff and, of these, two hold a relevant early years degree and three hold relevant qualifications at level 3.

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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 their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together. n The inspector completed a joint observation of staff practice with the manager. n Parents shared their views with the inspector. n The inspector observed staff's interactions with children and assessed the impact on children's learning.

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Inspection activities

20 October 2022 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 October 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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