Learning Steps Day Nursery

Learning Steps Day Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): EY557229 Address: Hockley, Birmingham, West Midlands, B19 1AY Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 21/05/2018 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Learning Steps Day Nursery Ltd

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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

Children are familiar with routines. They know what happens at each part of the day and demonstrate confidence as they move through the environment. Through the positive relationships formed between staff and children, children understand what is expected of them. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and often remind them of nursery rules. This helps children to take turns and play cooperatively. Staff provide extra support to children who require it to understand the rules. They stay close to them and use gestures and visual aids to increase children's understanding of expectations.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff help children to develop their concentration skills and persevere in tasks. For example, as children learn the skill of pushing pedals on a bicycle to travel, staff pay attention to them and provide continuous encouragement to practise and improve this new ability. Staff praise children's efforts, which offers further encouragement.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders understand the importance of regular attendance. They contact parents and carers swiftly when children fail to attend and encourage them to bring their children to nursery. This helps children to establish a routine of attending an education setting ready for their move to school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure as they approach staff for reassurance and help when they need it. The key-person system is effective in supporting positive relationships between staff and children. Staff recognise when children feel tired and help them to find a suitable place to rest in comfort. Staff help to provide an environment where children can develop their confidence and independence. Children recognise when they are thirsty and freely access fresh drinking water. Staff encourage them to pour their own drinks, providing support if needed. This helps children to develop a secure sense of emotional wellbeing.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders implement robust security procedures for dropping off and collecting children to ensure that unauthorised people cannot enter the building without staff being aware. A strict procedure for visitors being on the premises adds to the assured safety of children.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff generally implement appropriate hygiene practices across different parts of the nursery day. However, there are times when staff do not ensure that these procedures are fully implemented. For example, children share cutlery they have previously put in their mouths, and staff sometimes fail to wash their hands after wiping children's noses. This means that any illnesses can spread more quickly.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff encourage healthy eating. Children sit together at mealtimes and learn to be sociable with others. Staff stay close to children who require extra support, helping them to gradually follow the same routines as others. Children have daily access to the outdoors, and staff encourage them to be active. Opportunities to be in the fresh air and learn how to move their bodies in different ways promote children's emotional wellbeing and physical health.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff identify gaps in children's development and take action to put suitable support in place. They work closely with parents and carers and other professionals to devise suitable plans that outline what children need to help them to make progress. Staff understand children's needs and implement these plans into children's play. They liaise with external agencies to gain further support and advice on meeting the needs of children. Leaders regularly review plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and use a graduated approach to help children to achieve their specific targets.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have made changes to the way they support children who speak English as an additional language. They use online tools to support communication between families. This ensures that they have the necessary information about children before they start at the nursery and can continue to share relevant information with parents. Staff have received suitable training that has improved their knowledge of how to support children who speak English as an additional language.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders ensure that any funding they receive to provide extra support for children is used in ways that make a difference to them. For example, they fund extra hours for staff so that children can be cared for on a smaller ratio. This means children receive more focused support and targeted interactions from staff.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders understand the nursery's context and the needs of the children and families who attend. They have taken significant steps to make changes since the last inspection that have had a positive impact on the experiences for children. Leaders understand there is more to do to raise the quality of teaching in the nursery even further. They reflect on the overall practice so that further areas for improvement are identified swiftly and actioned.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders supervise staff regularly through room observations and one-to-one meetings. They identify professional development opportunities for staff, based on the children they care for. They ensure that all mandatory training is up to date and monitor whether other training staff complete is having an impact on practice. This has enabled leaders to identify where staff still require further development to enhance the experiences offered to children. Leaders consider the wellbeing of staff and ensure they are supported to carry out their roles effectively.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have worked hard to improve their partnerships with parents and carers, particularly adapting ways they communicate to ensure they have the information they need. Leaders welcome ideas from parents and value their contribution to their children's learning. This is evident in parents' positive comments about the staff and the information they receive on a daily basis.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children do make some progress from their starting points and have opportunities to practise the new skills they learn. However, due to some weaknesses in teaching, opportunities for children to develop new skills even further are sometimes limited. As a result, children do not yet make as much progress as they are capable of.

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Achievement Needs attention

The changes that have been made since the last inspection have had a significant impact on the achievements of children who speak English as an additional language. These children learn to increase their vocabulary and become competent and proficient in using the English language. This helps children to build their confidence and become able communicators. Consequently, this contributes to children being prepared for their transition on to school.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders recognise the need to provide a high-quality curriculum. They have worked diligently to make changes since their last inspection. These changes have started to drive the quality of teaching to a higher level. This is having a positive impact on children's learning. However, this is still in the early stages, and therefore, teaching is not consistently tailored to meet children's individual needs and stages of development. In addition, staff do not yet understand how to enhance children's learning even further. For example, as children start to lose interest in the activities on offer, staff struggle to keep them engaged and children move on to something else. This disrupts children's learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Children have opportunities to engage in a variety of adult-led and child-initiated activities. They show enjoyment as staff join them in their play. Staff describe what children are doing and ask them questions to initiate conversation. However, there is a lack of open-ended questioning throughout children's play and routines, which means children often answer with limited language. Staff do not always encourage children to think further and develop their own thoughts and ideas during their interactions. However, there are positive relationships between staff and children, which help children to develop their confidence and sense of self. Children learn to manage their emotions and enjoy spending time with their friends. Staff plan daily routines to enable times for children to be sociable. They teach children how to treat one another with kindness and respect.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Children enjoy spending time outdoors, where they develop their physical skills. They learn to navigate space, use wheeled vehicles and improve their hand-eye coordination as they throw balls into a hoop. Children enjoy matching coloured rings to cones and filling and emptying different-sized containers with water.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff have developed their understanding of assessment and are becoming skilled at identifying what children need to learn next through continuous observation. This is particularly prioritised for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, staff set appropriate learning targets for them to progress on to.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Leaders have made considerable changes since the last inspection that have driven the standards of care and education they provide to a higher level. Some of these changes are still in their infancy, however, and as a result, the quality of teaching is not yet at the expected standard. However, leaders and staff understand what children need to learn during their time in nursery. They know children's individual interests and devise suitable learning targets for them based on their ongoing assessment of children's development. Children have some opportunities to practise the skills they have learned, which supports them to fully embed this knowledge.

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

Children arrive eager to take part in the nursery day. They receive a warm greeting from staff, who make sure children are settled before they separate from parents and carers. Children complete self-registration and hang their photos on a small tree. They develop a sense of belonging and learn to recognise themselves as part of the nursery community. Children form positive relationships with staff who get to know them well. Staff recognise when children are upset or tired and require some comfort from them. They reassure children at times of transition, which helps children to develop their emotional resilience. Children do enjoy being part of the nursery group and join in play with others. They take an interest in what one another is doing and learn to build friendships among their peers.

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

Children who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the support they need to make some progress from their starting points. Staff interact with children during their play and narrate what children are doing. This helps children to hear and understand language.

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Next steps

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

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners and parents and carers 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

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Address:

Hockley Birmingham West Midlands B19 1AY

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Learning Steps Day Nursery Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 17:00

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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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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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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

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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