Flo's Forest School

Flo's Forest School

Unique reference number (URN): 2748887 Address: Barracks Lane Community Garden, Barracks Lane, Oxford, OX4 2AP Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 11/08/2023 Registers: EYR Registered person: People, Place & Participation Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders set clear expectations for children's behaviour. These are clearly understood by staff. This means there is a consistent approach to supporting children as they learn to share, be polite and consider the needs of others. Staff adapt their interactions appropriately to help children of different ages understand what is expected of them. As a result, children behave typically for their age.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff focus on building warm and trusting relationships with children very effectively. There is real warmth in their interactions. Children show they are confident to go to staff for reassurance or help when needed. Staff support children well to play collaboratively. For example, children consider how to ensure there is enough space for other children to join in a game that involves crawling under a table. Staff speak positively to children, encouraging them to have a go and to try to do things for themselves. This helps build secure attitudes to learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders follow up promptly on children's non-attendance. They help families to understand the benefits of regular attendance on their children's learning and sense of belonging in the nursery.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff know children and families very well. They understand the needs of the local community and adapt their provision accordingly. This helps to ensure the provision is widely available to those who need it most. When allocating places, leaders prioritise children who may face barriers to their learning, such as children who are entitled to funding due to economic disadvantage. They use other additional funding thoughtfully to meet children's individual needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders ensure that staff receive suitable training and support in order to identify and support vulnerable children. Through accurate assessments and monitoring, staff identify children who may need extra support to meet their full potential. Staff adapt routines and support accordingly, which helps to close gaps in children's learning. For example, through targeted support, children learn to understand what is going to happen next and to regulate their own behaviour. This helps children to integrate well into nursery life. In addition,

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Needs attention

leaders work closely with parents and carers and other professionals involved in children's care to ensure a consistent approach to children's learning and care needs.

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Achievement Needs attention

There are inconsistencies in the curriculum and teaching and education, which mean that not all children make the progress of which they are capable. For example, there are limited opportunities for children to practise existing skills or learn new ones when they first arrive each morning. However, children develop the vocabulary they need to express their needs and opinions. They develop a suitable range of physical skills and knowledge to help them enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Children who face barriers to their learning receive the support they need to access the curriculum on offer. This means that their rates of progress are typically in line with other children.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Staff adapt routines to ensure some aspects of children's care needs are met effectively. For example, they create cosy spaces where younger children can sleep if needed. They supervise children closely when eating, to help keep them safe. However, staff do not fully ensure that children's care needs are met in ways that promote positive attitudes to learning and play. Staff do not always ensure activities are suitable for the environment or there is enough choice in the environment to keep children motivated and learning. For example, staff encourage children to sit for prolonged periods outside and to take part in activities that mean they need to remove their gloves in cold weather. This results in children's discomfort. Staff are responsive to how children express their emotions at these times, which does help children to feel listened to and helps children understand the need to express their

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

emotions. Staff use regular walks to begin to teach children about road safety.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders do not have a fully accurate picture of the quality of the curriculum. Where they do identify areas of the curriculum that need further development, they support staff effectively to deliver secure teaching. For example, staff have been supported effectively to focus on children's language and personal and emotional development. Overall, staff model language clearly and ensure children regularly hear stories, to enhance their vocabulary and understanding. They use routines, such as walks in the community, to teach children to count and recite numbers. They make accurate assessments about children's progress. The nursery follows a child-centred approach. Children are encouraged to learn through exploration and engagement with their environment.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

However, leaders have not identified that staff sometimes focus more on how they want children to learn, rather than what they want children to learn. As a result, teaching sometimes lacks focus. Some children struggle to join in and stay engaged with activities. For example, staff sometimes teach in ways that do not engage younger children consistently well.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff do plan well for some aspects of the curriculum. They organise activities and experiences that accurately reflect children's different cultural backgrounds, to help all children learn well about the diverse world in which they live. They teach children useful independence skills, such as how to chop food safely and manage their own personal hygiene needs. They adapt teaching appropriately to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have not identified where improvements are needed to the delivery of the curriculum. As a result, these weaknesses have not yet been addressed through fully effective professional development for staff. However, leaders do have clear oversight of other aspects of the provision. For example, they ensure the nursery remains financially viable, meets the needs of the community and that staff feel valued and appreciated. They focus effectively on making the nursery accessible to a wide range of families and to building effective partnerships with other professionals to meet the needs of vulnerable children. Staff find their workload manageable and feel appreciated.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders show a positive attitude to making improvements, in the best interests of the children in their care. Parents and carers especially value the warmth and kindness staff show them and their children. Leaders work in effective partnership with other professionals, such as when children attend more than one setting. This helps to ensure consistency in meeting children's needs.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Overall, staff provide a welcoming environment. Children show a sense of belonging and demonstrate they see staff as adults they can trust. Children look to staff for reassurance and comfort when needed. Staff keep children safe and ensure that they are closely supervised at all times. The relationships between children and staff are positive and warm. Overall, children show they feel at home in the environment, and older children begin to build friendships. Staff provide opportunities for children to work as a team. For example, children work with staff to transport resources from the nursery base to the forest school site. Staff welcome all children equally. They make the adaptations needed to enable children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to be able to join in and achieve alongside their peers.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Some children are less able to get the most from their time at the nursery than others. This is because staff do not consistently focus their teaching on what children most need to learn next. For example, some younger children struggle to engage well with group activities that are not adapted to meet their age and stage of development. In addition, staff do not always ensure there is an inviting learning environment for children to explore independently. This means that when children do not join in with adult-led activities, there are limited other learning opportunities available to them. Although staff generally meet children's care needs well, sometimes they ask children to learn in an environment, where they become too cold to enjoy their learning. That said, children learn effectively from some of the experiences on offer. For example, children learn how stories are structured and to use their imaginations to

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

begin to create their own narratives. Children learn to listen well and to express their opinions. They feel valued for their individuality, be that the language they speak at home or their individual learning needs.

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Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

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About this inspection

The inspection spoke with managers, leaders, staff, children and parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

A quality assurance visit by an additional inspector was carried out at this inspection.

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Address:

Barracks Lane Community Garden Barracks Lane Oxford OX4 2AP

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: People, Place & Participation Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 09:30 - 14:30

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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