First Friends PDN

Inspection of First Friends PDN 141 Chaddesden Park Road, Chaddesden, Derby, Derbyshire DE21 6HP

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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 going to nursery and have a warm welcome from their key person. Children know where to find all the toys and equipment and know what they like to play with. Staff provide children with activities that appeal to their interests. However, staff do not consistently manage behaviour well, which disrupts the delivery of the curriculum for the older children. For example, staff do not tell children what needs to be done next. This impacts on children's understanding of the nursery routine and their behaviour is affected.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff remind children of the rules of the nursery. Younger children follow simple routines well. For example, when singing the washing hands song, babies instantly react and come to find the table area to have their hands wiped. However, within the pre-school, staff do not ensure all the children join in at tidy up at tidy-up time. Therefore, some children still actively play while others are work together and staff do not challenge this. Staff put in place opportunities for children to become independent, for example stations for children to learn how to blow their nose and to do this alone. Staff give children choices, such as whether they would like butter on their fruit bread. Children then independently butter their own fruit bread if they wish.

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The provision requires improvement

Children show kindness and concern towards each other. They know that they can turn to adults in the nursery if they need comfort or reassurance. This helps to make them feel safe and happy. However, some children with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not receive the intervention they need to help them to make progress.

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need to do better?

n There have been many recent changes to the nursery staff team. The manager wants all children to experience the ambitious curriculum they have developed. Younger children learn and access the curriculum well. However, the curriculum for the older children is not always supported by staff who know what they need to learn by the time they leave the nursery. Staff consider children's interests when planning activities, however, teaching does not focus sufficiently on making sure that children learn specific knowledge and skills. This is because the knowledge and skills of the staff team are not well developed. n The management team and staff work together to identify children who need extra help with their learning. Staff identify and try to use children's interests to develop activities. However, staff struggle to adapt their practice with mixed-age groups and, as a result, extension for mathematics for the most-able children

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need to do better?

does not happen. n Staff support the older children who speak English as an additional language

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need to do better?

28 June 2023 well. They have information packs to enable them to use simple words in children's home languages. However, the younger children are not supported in this area and children are left for periods of time without any adult play interactions or communication. n Staff try to ensure that children's behaviour is appropriate. For example, they support children when they need to resolve disagreements within the garden or to wait in a line to get water from the water butt. However, when children show increasingly challenging behaviour, the techniques used to manage this by staff are not consistent. Staff do not support children well enough to ensure that they learn to manage their behaviour safely. Children become very distressed when they do not understand what is being asked of them. At times, this creates a learning environment which is disrupted and does not support children's learning. n The management team are considerate of their staff's workload and well-being.

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need to do better?

They make decisions about what paperwork is essential. Managers ensure that extra training is put in place to support staff. However, at times, meetings about children's development are not given the priority they need. Therefore, children's learning and development needs are not based on the most up-to-date information staff have about them. n The management team has plans to improve on the practice of the staff and has set out actions and timescales to make necessary improvements. Managers have struggled to provide time for staff to fully engage with the improvements and meet the targets set. This has made it difficult to check the success and staff knowledge of how to meet the needs of all children in the setting is limited. n Parents speak highly of the nursery and state that their children have formed lovely relationships with the staff. Parents are happy with their children's progress, involved with children's starting points and are aware of their next

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need to do better?

steps. They report that their children enjoy attending and are well cared for. n Children show that they have positive friendships within the nursery. Children hold hands when playing in the garden and staff provide activities that support teamwork in play. For example, when children imagine being cooks in a restaurant, staff provide enough resources, so that children can all join in. n Staff provide young children with opportunities to explore freely within a small space. However, at times when children are not encouraged to tidy away, their development of physical skills are hindered due to the amount of unused resources that are left on the ground. Children are not able to freely move around because of this. n The management team and staff have worked together to identify children who need extra help with their learning. However, once children are identified, individual plans are not supported quickly enough. Some staff do not recognise

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need to do better?

that progress can be speeded up with appropriate prompt support.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a secure knowledge of safeguarding. They know the signs that indicate

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Safeguarding

28 June 2023 a child may be at risk from abuse or harm. Staff demonstrate their understanding of the 'Prevent' duty, county lines and the whistle-blowing procedure. All staff have been through a robust recruitment procedure to ensure they are suitable to work with children. Staff understand the actions to take in the event of them having a concern about a staff member. Leaders are committed to a multi-agency working approach, ensuring families are supported. Staff ensure that children have a safe and secure space to explore.

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Due date

ensure staff take prompt action to address all children's individual learning needs, especially those children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities 28/08/2023

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Due date

ensure that staff training and development is effective, so that they have the confidence, skills, knowledge, and capabilities to fully understand how to support children's learning to a consistently good level 28/08/2023

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Due date

ensure all staff have an understanding of the setting's behaviour management policy and monitor the implementation of behaviour management strategies across the staff team 28/08/2023

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Due date

ensure managers create clear action plans to support the whole team to continue to develop their practice and further improve outcomes for children. 28/08/2023

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should:

n review the organisation of routines, so that children, in particular in pre-school, are better able to fully understand what is happening next n improve the learning environment, ensuring it is free from clutter, to ensure babies and very young children have space to play and move freely

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should:

28 June 2023 n strengthen the curriculum for mathematics to further support children's counting and understanding of numbers.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 206106 Local authority Derby Inspection number 10289027 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 36 Number of children on roll 80 Name of registered person First Friends P.D.N. Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01332 677660 Date of previous inspection 9 November 2017

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Information about this early years setting

First Friends PDN registered in 1999. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, one holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 5, one at level 4, one is unqualified and 10 staff hold a qualification at level 3. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round, closing for bank holidays. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. 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 nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager and deputy gave the inspector a tour of the premises. n Documents were presented, such as first-aid certificates and Disclosure and Barring Service checks. n The inspector spoke to the manager, staff and children at appropriate times during the inspection. n The inspector and manager observed children during a joint observation. n The inspector spoke to parents to get their views on 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

28 June 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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