Heathside Day Nursery

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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The provision requires improvement

Leaders have worked hard to make some positive changes since the previous inspection. Staffing arrangements meet the individual care needs of children. New systems for risk assessment are robustly implemented by staff. This means that children are cared for in a safe and suitable environment. Children are happy, settled and clearly enjoy their time at nursery. They have close bonds with staff and seek them out for comfort and reassurance. Children play cooperatively and share their ideas. For example, they help each other to find sticks outdoors, work together to dig a hole, and pour each other a cup of tea in the role-play café.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff know children well and plan some meaningful activities and experiences that they know children will enjoy. However, children do not always receive consistently good-quality education. Staff do not consistently support children's developing communication and critical thinking skills. Therefore, not all children are supported to make the progress they are capable of. That said, babies do benefit from meaningful interactions with staff. Staff are alert to babies attempts at communication. For example, when they gesture that they want to sing, staff invite them to sit with them and sing their favourite songs and join in with the actions.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff do not always have high enough expectations for all children. Although some staff provide positive interactions, this is not consistent. Some interactions with children are weaker and do not allow them to participate fully at their own pace and level of learning. This is because some staff do not skilfully adapt their teaching or consider children's individual learning needs to build on what they know and can do, particularly those working with toddlers and pre-school children. As a result, some children lose interest and do not remain as engaged in planned activities.

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need to do better?

n Leaders have realistic expectations of the nursery. The manager continues to support her staff and has action plans in place to help to develop their practice further. Furthermore, she works closely with staff to support their well-being and morale. Staff say that they feel happy in their work, supported by leaders, and part of a team. n Staff have been provided with training and receive regular coaching and supervision from leaders. This has gone some way to improving their practice. However, these are still in their infancy and not yet having the desired impact to further raise the quality of teaching practice to a consistently good level. n While staff understand that a focus of the curriculum is to support children's communication and language skills, the way that they implement some activities does not allow children to enhance their speaking skills and further develop their

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need to do better?

8 March 2023 vocabulary. For example, during a discussion with children about the life cycle of a caterpillar, staff often just repeat back to children what they have said, rather than providing a broader narrative to further extend the conversation. As a result, children are only required to give a 'yes' or 'no' answer. n Children behave well and their attitude to learning is generally good. Staff use the books 'Colour Monster' and 'Worry Monster' to support children to talk about their feelings. However, staff do not consistently focus their interactions to support children's learning. For example, some staff fail to ignite children's curiosity through modelling, adapting their teaching, and reshaping activities. This results in children becoming disengaged and wandering off from activities. n Children's physical development is supported well. They have access to a large, well-equipped outdoor space and are encouraged to play outdoors in all

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need to do better?

weathers. Children are interested in nature and living things. They excitedly search for bugs in the garden. When they find these, they demonstrate maturity as they handle them with care. In addition, children take part in local festivals and events, and have recently been on a bus ride. For some children, this is their first experience of using public transport. These activities broaden children's experiences away from the setting and help them to gain a wider understanding of their local area. n In the main, children's independence is supported well. All children, including babies, have a go at serving themselves at mealtimes. Older children pour their own drinks and relish opportunities to help staff to set the table and tidy away resources. Older children manage their own personal hygiene needs and confidently put on their own coats and wellington boots. n Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are given timely

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need to do better?

support. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has attended training and has relevant experience for her role. The SENCo helps staff to write targeted learning plans for children. Furthermore, she ensures that these are shared with parents and other agencies involved. The recent introduction of tailored one-to-one sessions and the use of visual cue cards and visual timetables do support children's social and communication skills. However, some children are not making the progress they could because the quality of education is not consistently good throughout the nursery. n Partnerships with parents are a real strength. Leaders and staff have worked hard to include parents in all aspect of the nursery. Parents engage in daily discussions with staff about their children. They attend parents' evening and are invited to share their views on the quality of service they receive. Staff make good use of the electronic application and send out lots of useful information to

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need to do better?

help to support children's learning at home. Parents speak very highly of leaders and the staff. They describe the staff as 'brilliant' and say that they are 'dedicated to their children'.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff have attended safeguarding training. They fully understand their

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Safeguarding

8 March 2023 roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. The premises are safe and fit for purpose. Robust recruitment, vetting and induction arrangements are in place, which ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Children gain an understanding of their own and others' safety. For example, they form a 'train' and wait for staff as they safely walk from the classroom to the bathroom.

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should:

n implement an ambitious curriculum to better support children's good progress, particularly their communication, language and thinking skills n focus staff interactions to build on what children know and can do, so that all children participate and remain highly motivated and engaged to extend their learning n continue to embed the current arrangements for supervision and coaching of staff to help raise the quality of educational practice to the highest levels.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 303439 Local authority Halton Inspection number 10266422 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 60 Name of registered person Network Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01928 560243 Date of previous inspection 16 November 2022

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Information about this early years setting

Heathside Day Nursery registered in 1998. The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, 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 The inspector discussed any continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and the inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n Children spoke to the inspector and told her about their friends and what they like to do while at the nursery. n Staff spoke to the inspector throughout the inspection. n The special educational needs coordinator spoke to the inspector about how they support children and the staff. n The inspector carried out a joint observation of a communication and language activity with the manager. n The inspector held a meeting with with the manager, area manager and nominated individual. She discussed the leadership and management at the nursery and looked at relevant documentation. n The inspector spoke to parents and took account of their views.

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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

8 March 2023 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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