The Garden Nursery and Preschool

Inspection of The Garden Nursery and Preschool 201 New Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4ED

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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

Staff welcome children warmly as they arrive, which helps them settle quickly and feel secure. Children develop positive relationships with the staff, who get to know them well. Staff encourage all children to complete simple tasks for themselves. Toddlers learn to put on their shoes, and pre-school children serve their own lunch. Children grow in confidence and become more independent.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff provide a varied range of experiences that children enjoy. Children are active and play enthusiastically when outside. They are eager to practise their physical skills, as they jump, hop or stamp along a path of 'dinosaur' footprints. Staff plan some activities around popular books, which helps foster a love of stories. However, staff do not consider how to build on individual children's knowledge and skills when they plan the curriculum. At times, activities are not thought through well enough to ensure they capture children's attention and motivate them to learn. Children quickly lose interest and on occasion become bored and restless. This has an impact on their behaviour at these times, as well as the progress they make.

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The provision requires improvement

Despite this, staff make sure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive appropriate support. For instance, they make prompt referrals to other agencies and ensure that these children have suitable learning plans in place.

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need to do better?

n Leaders and managers have taken prompt action to make some improvements to the nursery since the last inspection. There are new routines in place to make sure there are sufficient staff working with children, including when they go out into the garden. Managers now monitor practice more closely to ensure that staff consistently implement appropriate health and hygiene procedures. This has had a positive impact on children's safety and welfare within the nursery. n The manager and staff have some understanding of what they want children to learn during their time at the nursery. For example, staff in pre-school focus on helping children gain skills that will help them when they start school, such as getting dressed. However, staff plan activities broadly for children as a group. They do not routinely identify the precise skills and knowledge individual children are ready to learn next. Therefore, children's experiences are not built well

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need to do better?

enough on what they already know and can do to help them make consistently good progress. n Staff have regular supervision with the manager, and she frequently observes them as they work. This helps staff feel supported and has led to some improvements in practice, particularly in relation to children's care and well-

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need to do better?

19 July 2023 being. However, staff have fewer opportunities to undertake appropriate professional development to help them improve the quality of children's learning experiences. n Overall, staff support most children's communication and language development appropriately. They talk to children as they play and encourage lively conversations. Children thoroughly enjoy listening to stories. Staff make these sessions engaging, for instance by changing the tone of their voice. However, they do not consistently offer children who speak English as an additional language opportunities to hear, share or use their home language. This does not fully support these children's language skills, or help other children value the ways that they are the same and different to each other. n Children understand staff's expectations for their behaviour at the nursery. They sit quietly at circle time and put up their hand if they wish to speak. Toddlers

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need to do better?

know they must take turns to play outside, and staff reassure them as they try their best to wait patiently. Staff respond promptly to help children resolve any squabbles, which helps children learn to manage disagreements by themselves. On the whole, children play together nicely and show care and concern for their friends. n Older children have useful opportunities to develop their self-care skills. Staff organise daily routines, such as mealtimes, to encourage independence. Children choose what they want to eat and dish it up themselves. They clear away and wash their hands afterwards without prompting. Staff also successfully include mathematics within the daily routine to help children practise their skills. For example, children check the board to see how many slices of banana or orange they can have at snack time, and then count them into their bowl. n Parents speak positively about staff and feel welcome in the nursery. Staff share

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need to do better?

daily information with them about the activities their child takes part in. They work well with parents to support children with some aspects of their development, such as toilet training. However, staff do not provide regular updates about children's progress and individual next steps, to help parents continue their child's learning at home.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff understand their role and responsibility to safeguard children. They are aware of how to identify possible signs of abuse or neglect. They know how to report any concerns about a child's welfare, or the behaviour of a colleague. Managers complete checks on staff to make sure they are suitable to work with children. New staff are closely supervised until they have been fully vetted. The manager reviews accident and incident records regularly. This helps to identify any potential hazards in the environment. Staff teach children simple rules to help them learn to keep themselves safe. For instance, children remember they must sit down while they eat.

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Due date

plan and implement an ambitious curriculum based on the individual learning needs of children, to help them build consistently on what they already know and can do 25/08/2023

p.4

Due date

improve professional development opportunities for staff, to help them identify children's learning needs more precisely, and raise the quality of their interactions and the learning experiences they provide. 25/08/2023

p.4

should:

n increase support for children who speak English as an additional language to use their home language in the setting, to further promote their language skills and raise all children's awareness of diversity n provide more information for parents about their child's progress and next steps, to help them support their learning at home.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY449358 Local authority Brighton and Hove Inspection number 10282089 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 96 Number of children on roll 90 Name of registered person Early Education Alliance Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01273 418089 Date of previous inspection 16 February 2023

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Information about this early years setting

The Garden Nursery and Preschool registered in 2012. It is located in Hove, East Sussex. The setting is open between 7.30am and 6.30pm each weekday, all year round. The provider employs 16 staff. Of these, there are 9 staff who hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above. The setting receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years.

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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 setting. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about their curriculum and what they want their children to learn. n The inspector spoke with the nominated individual and the manager about the leadership and management of the setting. n The manager and the inspector carried out a joint observation of a group activity. 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 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

19 July 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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