Heathside Day Nursery

Inspection of Heathside Day Nursery Heath Road South, Weston, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 4QR

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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

Leaders and staff do not have a good enough understanding of how to keep children safe. Staff do not understand how to minimise risks of accident and injury to children. In the extensive outdoor area, children are not always directly supervised. There are discarded broken toys, equipment and bags of rubbish that could fall on top of children or put them at risk of suffocation. Children are given food while they still have dummies in their mouths. This puts children at risk of choking. The evacuation cot is not accessible, clean or in sufficient working order should it be required in an emergency evacuation. Indoors, areas of the nursery and some furnishings, such as cushions, are unclean. Despite leaders identifying these issues, they have not been fully addressed.

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The provision is inadequate

Staffing arrangements do not meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety. When children arrive in the morning there are not enough staff working directly with the youngest children. Staff do not have the time to engage with the children and help them settle, resulting in children becoming very upset. This negatively affects their emotional well-being and hinders their learning. Poor supervision of the youngest children results in toddlers climbing on furniture, playing with radiator guards and walking around with fruit peel in their mouths. Children use dummies continuously while at the nursery. Staff show little understanding of the importance of removing dummies so children can develop their communication and language skills. Leaders and staff do not provide children with an appropriate range of learning and development opportunities. Children are not making the progress of which they are capable.

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need to do better?

n On the day of the inspection, the poor deployment of staff for the first two hours resulted in children's care needs not being met. Leaders move staff around the rooms to manage the number of children arriving. Babies and toddlers are distressed by this constant change. n Leaders are not providing staff with effective training and systems to manage risks. Staff show a disregard to maintaining an appropriately safe and secure environment for children. Once this was identified at the inspection, the manager took steps to address some of these issues. However, not enough is done to minimise risks to children on a daily basis. n The provider failed to notify Ofsted of a recent poor environmental health inspection outcome that resulted in leaders needing to take action, including updating the kitchen. The leaders continue to work closely with the environmental health team to ensure basic minimum hygiene standards are met.

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need to do better?

No concerns regarding hygiene were found on the day of the inspection. n Some staff show care and concern for the children. However, other staff ignore

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need to do better?

16 November 2022 children who are visibly upset and require support. Children are not building secure attachments with the staff in the nursery. They do not show that they feel safe and secure. n Children are not supported to develop positive behaviour. Staff do not have high enough expectations of what children can achieve. Pre-school children push each other out of the way as they run down the corridor to the bathroom. They are not developing self-control or respect for others. n Staff are not suitably trained or deployed to support children's learning. Staff complete tasks away from the children rather than providing engaging activities. The environment and activities, inside and outside, are not planned to be sufficiently challenging and do not build on what children know and can do. Therefore, children become bored, wander around aimlessly, and find their own alternative entertainment. For example, pre-school children are left to pile

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need to do better?

cushions up on the floor and roll around on them. n Children are not exposed to quality language structures through back-and-forth interactions. For example, when children are getting ready to go outside, staff tell children to use one word, 'help', if they need assistance. Staff do not model full sentences to help children learn more words. Children do not make adequate progress in their communication and language development. n Despite recent changes in staffing, parents are complimentary about the support provided by the new manager and nursery staff. They share that they are happy with the progress their children make. However, most parents do not come into the nursery beyond the entrance hall when they drop off and collect their children. This means that they have not had the opportunity to see the concerns raised at this inspection for themselves. n The provider and manager are keen to make the required improvements. They

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need to do better?

state that they have plans in place to bring about improvements to the nursery. However, these have not yet been implemented, and appropriate action has not been taken in a timely manner.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff do not ensure that the premises is safe for children. They do not have a good enough understanding of risk assessment. This means that routine checks of the areas that children play in are not carried out and necessary steps to ensure children can play safely are not taken. Consequently, children are at risk of injury and accident. However, the manager and staff have a secure understanding of the signs and symptoms that may indicate that children are at risk of harm or abuse. The staff and leaders have a secure understanding of how to report concerns about a child.

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Due date

ensure staff are always deployed to meet the needs of the children and to keep them safe 30/11/2022

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Due date

ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to minimise risks to children's safety 30/11/2022

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Due date

ensure staff undertake training and professional development opportunities to enable them to provide all children with a broad and sequenced curriculum that supports their good progress. 21/12/2022

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should:

n help staff to develop their understanding of how to support children's communication and language development appropriately.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 303439 Local authority Halton Inspection number 10262216 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 42 Number of children on roll 70 Name of registered person Network Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01928 560243 Date of previous inspection 13 July 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Heathside Day Nursery registered in 1998. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm, 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 their evaluation of the provider. n We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The inspector carried out a joint observation of a group activity with the manager. n Staff spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n The inspector spoke to children, to find out about their time at the setting. n Parents shared their views of the setting with the inspector.

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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

16 November 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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