YMCA Little Whale Day Nursery

Inspection of YMCA Little Whale Day Nursery H M S Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth PO2 8ER

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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 Good

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The provision requires improvement

Children enjoy their time at nursery and appear happy and settled. Staff support the children to take risk in their play and be physically active and confidently mobile from a very young age. This supports children's health and well-being and encourages a love for adventure. However, not all staff are skilled in teaching them to understand and manage their feelings and behaviour. Children are not supported to develop the social and emotional skills required to form and maintain positive relationships. This impacts on some children's personal development, and children do not always learn to be respectful of each other.

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The provision requires improvement

Despite staff knowing children really well and planning for their next steps of learning, children do not benefit from consistently good levels of teaching. Managers are clear about what they want children to learn. However, they do not effectively monitor staff's delivery of the curriculum well enough. Children do not consistently benefit from positive staff interactions which sustain and develop their curiosity and engagement in learning. Staff do not fully consider ways to promote children's independence. Some activities led by adults do not give opportunities for children to think critically and problem-solve. This does not support all children to make the progress that they are capable of.

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need to do better?

n Leaders have a clear focus on communication and language and this is evident across the nursery. The teaching for mathematics is less successful than other parts of the curriculum. Therefore, children do not make the progress they are capable of in this area. n Children are supported to develop a love for stories, books and rhymes. Very young babies respond with enthusiasm and recognition to familiar songs and action rhymes. They squeal with delight and clap their hands in time with their friends and teachers. Young children are provided with resources to hold and look at during story time to support their understanding and help them learn to sit for a short period of time. This builds their concentration and develops good learning habits. n Children are active in their play and are developing good strength, control and coordination. Very young babies demonstrate perseverance and dexterity when using shape sorters and using cutlery. The manager has supported staff to

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need to do better?

implement more opportunities around the daily care routines for older children. For example, self-serving of food and helping children to safely cut their own fruit. However, these experiences are not consistent and some children, particularly two-year-olds, are yet to benefit from the improvements in practice in this area of the curriculum. n Staff's interactions and engagement with children are variable. At times, leaders

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need to do better?

11 April 2023 need to intervene to remind staff to interact with children and model behaviour management strategies. This leads to children receiving mixed messages regarding expected levels of behaviour. n Children are not clear on the intent of activities and do not remain engaged for any significant period of time. They enjoy spending time outdoors and are encouraged to take risks in their play. However, they do not follow simple rules and these are not consistently reinforced. For example, staff advise that children should wait for an adult to be present before using the large climbing equipment. However, during the inspection, children were not observing this rule. Staff act swiftly and point out that they know they should wait for an adult to be present but do not explain why. n Leaders and managers have systems in place for monitoring the workloads and well-being of the staff team. Such systems have highlighted several issues which

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need to do better?

have been swiftly addressed and resulted in changes to staffing and room arrangements. These changes have not yet had time to fully embed into practice and so their impact on outcomes for children are not known. n Parents feel confident that their children are safe, happy and well cared for by the staff team at the nursery. They value the ideas for home learning shared by the team and feel heavily involved in their child's learning and care. This includes inputting into the two-year progress reviews and termly assessment meetings.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff safeguarding knowledge is secure. They can identify the signs and indicators of potential abuse and know the procedure to follow should concerns arise. There are effective systems in place for the management of individual children's medical and dietary needs across the setting. The manager keeps comprehensive records of accidents/incidents and effective risk management actions are evident in monitoring and review systems. The provider ensures swift management of staffing concerns with appropriate referrals made where required. The provider is aware of safe recruitment processes and has robust systems in place for checking the suitability of those working with children.

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should:

n improve the quality of teaching and interactions with children, so that all staff are able to consistently guide children's learning as they play n strengthen the curriculum for mathematics to further support children's counting and understanding of numbers n support staff's understanding of the setting's behaviour management policy and

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should:

11 April 2023 monitor the implementation of behaviour management strategies across the staff team.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY319060 Local authority Portsmouth Inspection number 10282789 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 62 Number of children on roll 54 Name of registered person YMCA Fairthorne Group

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reference number

Telephone number 02392 547182 Date of previous inspection 1 August 2019

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Information about this early years setting

YMCA Little Whale Day Nursery registered in 2006 and is one of 13 nurseries and pre-schools run by the YMCA Fairthorne Group. It is situated on Whale Island, a naval base in Portsmouth and operates from a purpose-built building. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6pm, for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery receives funding for early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. There are 15 members of staff employed to work with the children; 13 of whom hold recognised childcare qualifications from level 2 to 6.

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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 this 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 intention of the provider's early years curriculum. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. 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 Parents shared their views of the setting with the inspector. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation, including those relating to the safe management of accidents and incidents, and reviewed evidence of the suitability of staff working in the nursery.

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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

11 April 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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