Brightstars Day Care

Inspection of Brightstars Day Care 97 High Street, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7BS

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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 Not applicable

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The provision is inadequate

The provider has failed to meet a welfare requirements notice served previously. They are failing to meet many other requirements of their registration and, as a result, children may be at risk of harm. Therefore, Ofsted has suspended the registration of the nursery for six weeks. The provider has failed to ensure that staff understand their roles. Staff do not have sufficient knowledge of children's development to meet their learning or care needs. They do not manage children's behaviour appropriately. While the provider is aware of some of the weaknesses in the nursery, she has not taken effective action to address them.

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The provision is inadequate

The provider has failed to ensure that appropriate staffing arrangements are in place. Staff have little time to focus on teaching children or to plan and provide meaningful experiences. The quality of staff's interaction with the children is poor. Children, including babies, have little stimulation and spend much of their time crying. Staff occasionally sing songs to children but do not support their development through planned and purposeful play. Staff do not recognise when children are taking part in unsafe activities. For example, they do not intervene when children walk around with objects in their mouths or notice when children are about to cut their hands with scissors.

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The provision is inadequate

There are inadequate plans in place to identify things that children can already do, to highlight gaps in their learning or to decide what they need to learn next. Staff do not provide children with sufficient, carefully planned experiences to help them make the progress of which they are capable. Children are not developing the skills to support them in future learning.

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need to do better?

n The provider, who is also the manager, does not hold a relevant qualification to fulfil the role of manager. This means that they have been unable to take sufficient steps to assess and improve staff's understanding of how to meet children's needs. This includes improving their knowledge of child protection matters. Staff are unable to demonstrate how to take steps to refer concerns about children in their care. This places children at potential risk of harm in the case of a safeguarding concern. Additionally, there is no named deputy manager to take charge in the manager's absence, and staff do not hold any relevant childcare qualifications. n Staff struggle to meet the needs of the children they are caring for. The poor organisation of daily routines means that children are frequently left in high chairs for long periods of time with little interaction. Some children wait more than an hour for staff to provide them with their lunch. Staff do not check all

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need to do better?

sleeping children frequently enough to ensure their safety. Young children are

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need to do better?

9 April 2024 laid to sleep in buggies in a ground floor room, out of hearing of staff who are on the upper floor of the nursery. This means that children's safety is not assured. n The provider and staff do not recognise, minimise or remove hazards to children. For example, they have blocked fire exits with nursery equipment. The provider regularly leaves one staff member upstairs with all children and has not considered how one staff member would be able to evacuate all children safely in the event of an emergency. n Staff do not follow the necessary steps to care for children appropriately. For example, when a child sustained a head injury, staff did not take care to monitor the child following the injury or follow the nursery procedures to report the incident to senior management. Staff physical handling of children is unsafe. They intervene physically when it is unnecessary, pushing children down by the

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need to do better?

head or lifting them off the floor by one arm. This places children at risk of injury. n The provider and the staff do not implement a robust curriculum to promote children's learning and development. Children do not receive the quality of care and education to which they are entitled. Several children are at risk of falling behind in their learning. This includes children who speak English as an additional language, and children who need support to develop their speaking skills. Staff do not speak to children clearly or often enough to promote children's language skills. Babies do not benefit from effective back-and-forth interactions that help lay firm foundations for their language and cognitive development. n The key-person system is poorly managed and staff are unable to meet children's needs. When some children become distressed, staff do not successfully engage with them to comfort them. This places children at risk of

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need to do better?

emotional harm. n Staff provide limited learning opportunities for children. Occasionally, staff engage with children to play peekaboo as they put scarves over their heads. However, as they struggle to deal with the differing needs of the group, staff are frequently distracted by other children and only engage for very short periods of time. As a result, children spend much of their time aimless, disengaged from learning and are frequently distressed. n Staff do not have clear expectations for children's behaviour. They tell children not to snatch or tell them to share, but they do not show children how to do these things. As a result, children do not understand what is expected of them. n Staff do not supervise children adequately to keep them safe and frequently leave children alone while they are eating. Some children spend up to an hour sitting in high chairs with little interaction from staff during this time.

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need to do better?

Occasionally, staff attempt to read a story with children. However, they do not hold the book where children can see it, resulting in children becoming bored and snatching things from each other. n Children have access to some physical play activities in the nursery garden where they can explore climbing equipment, but staff fail to interact with children outside to promote their development.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Due date

provide staffing arrangements that meet children's needs and ensure their safety at all times, including ensuring that children are always within sight and hearing when eating 26/04/2024

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Due date

demonstrate how you intend to meet the qualification requirements of the 'Early years foundation stage statutory framework'. 26/04/2024

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Due date

ensure that all staff understand and can follow your safeguarding policy and procedures, in line with the requirements of the local area, to identify signs of possible abuse and neglect and to respond in a timely and appropriate way 26/04/2024

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Due date

train and monitor staff to ensure that children's behaviour is managed appropriately and safely, and that staff understand and can implement a policy for the safe physical handling of children 26/04/2024

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Due date

implement procedures to ensure that staff check sleeping children frequently enough to keep them safe 26/04/2024

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Due date

carry out secure risk assessment to ensure that all risks to children and staff are identified, and removed or minimised 26/04/2024

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Due date

9 April 2024 ensure that staff respond appropriately and swiftly to any accident involving children, apply appropriate first aid and monitor to keep them safe after any injury 26/04/2024

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Due date

ensure that you take all reasonable steps to keep children and staff safe in the case of a fire or any other emergency and make sure that fire exits are free from obstruction 26/04/2024

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Due date

implement effective and robust induction procedures to train all staff so that they understand how to meet children's needs, to ensure their safety and to offer quality experiences and interaction that supports children's development 26/04/2024

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Due date

implement effective supervision arrangements to provide sufficient support, coaching and training for all staff who have contact with children and families, to ensure that they can meet children's needs 26/04/2024

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Due date

train all key persons to ensure that they can tailor every child's care to their individual needs, to offer a settled relationship for the child 26/04/2024

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Due date

ensure that you have a named deputy who is suitably knowledgeable and skilled to take charge in the manager's absence. 26/04/2024

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Due date

9 April 2024 ensure that staff consider the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child in their care, and use this information to plan challenging and enjoyable experiences for children in all of the areas of learning and development 20/05/2024

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Due date

implement effective arrangements for the assessment of children's development, to ensure that staff recognise children's progress and understand their needs, and to plan activities and support 20/05/2024

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Due date

train staff to implement a robust programme for children's communication and language development, to underpin children's ability to access all areas of the curriculum. 20/05/2024

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2712013 Local authority Bedford Inspection number 10337422 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 13 Number of children on roll 26 Name of registered person Mason, Simangele

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reference number

Telephone number 07763995396 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Brightstars Day Care registered in 2022 and operates from a property in Kempston, Bedfordshire. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am to 5.30pm. The nursery employs four members of unqualified childcare staff. It 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 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 provider talked to the inspector about what they want their children to learn. n The inspector viewed the provision and discussed the safety and suitability of the premises. 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 with the provider about the leadership and management of the nursery. n The inspector carried out observations of activities with the provider. n The inspector spoke to several parents and grandparents during the inspection

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Inspection activities

and took account of their views. 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

9 April 2024 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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