Child First Bicester

Child First Bicester

Unique reference number (URN): EY342511 Address: 32 Launton Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 6PY Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 01/09/2006 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Child 1st Nurseries 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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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have high expectations for children who face barriers to their learning and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Regular observations and assessments, including required assessments at age 2 to help to identify any gaps or need for extra support.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Those responsible for overseeing the provision for children with SEND know and understand their roles well. They support other staff, including helping to put in place plans with appropriate targets for children, which they monitor and review regularly. Staff plan learning experiences to support children with SEND, including small group activities that help support children's development of relationships with other children and build on their language skills. Leaders and staff use additional funding thoughtfully and consult with parents about how it should be spent. For example, they agree on resources to purchase that will support children's learning both at home and in the nursery. Leaders monitor the impact of this funding to ensure it benefits children's progress. Leaders and staff work closely with parents and any professionals involved with children's SEND or other needs. This helps to promote continuity and consistency in the approach to supporting children to

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Inclusion Expected standard

promote their wellbeing and progress. Children who need extra support generally progress securely, such as in their language development and social skills.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff and leaders know children's backgrounds and provide activities which reflect their diversity. This helps children learn about their similarities and differences.

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Achievement Needs attention

Although children make some progress in their learning and development, they do not consistently receive the support they need from staff to ensure they make the progress they may be capable of. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning are typically supported well. However, other children do not receive consistent support from all staff. For example, some staff do not manage children's behaviour consistently, which means that some children do not always focus, listen or understand expectations well enough. This also has an impact on children's communication and language development as not all staff provide effective interactions and teaching. However, at times children receive positive support for their language development, such as through regular singing and stories. Children receive some appropriate support to help them build relationships with other children. They generally enjoy the resources and activities on offer

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Achievement Needs attention

and typically show curiosity as they explore and learn.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Staff do not always manage children's behaviour consistently. At times, staff provide different approaches and messages to children. This does not help children learn the boundaries and behaviour expectations. For instance, some staff explain to young toddlers that toys are not for eating while others allow children to walk around and chew on these. Some staff praise children well and encourage collaborate play between children, helping them to learn to take turns. Some staff recognise children who need additional support with their behaviour and provide this effectively. However, not all staff respond consistently to children's repeated unwanted behaviours. As a result, children are not always taught to understand expectations or follow agreed boundaries.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Staff implement effective safer eating routines consistently to promote children's safety. However, staff do not always support other children effectively, such as older toddlers who are waiting to eat or those who have already eaten. This leads to a chaotic environment where children are not engaged or supported effectively as staff are not deployed well. At times, this results in some staff trying to engage with and supervise large numbers of children. Children's behaviour sometimes deteriorates, such as running in and out of doors, which puts them at risk of potential accidents. Leaders do take action when they become aware of issues arising. They recognise that recent changes of rooms children are based in and changes of mealtime routines for some age groups are not yet embedded.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Key persons typically develop warm, trusting relationships with their key children. Parents are encouraged to ensure their children attend regularly and on time for their sessions to take part in the main play and activities on offer.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

There are occasional incidents where staff do not risk assess aspects of the environment or children's needs securely. For instance, they leave hand sanitiser where children can reach it and some repeatedly put this on their skin before staff notice and move it out of reach. Occasionally following children's accidents, staff do not initially thoroughly check for injuries to ensure appropriate first-aid treatment is given more promptly. Children are typically cared for in a clean and well-maintained environment, which is generally well resourced. Staff's supervision of children is mainly adequate to keep them safe and well.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Children typically follow good hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before eating. They are offered healthy well-balanced meals and older children learn about taking care of their bodies and teeth through activities planned by staff. Leaders have provided training to ensure staff have a secure knowledge of safer eating and safer sleeping procedures. Staff are vigilant in these practices to keep children safe and well at these times.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Staff and leaders provide effective settling-in procedures to help them get to know children and families well from the start. Babies receive nurturing care and form positive bonds with their key person. Staff help older children to begin to recognise their feelings and emotions, such as through discussions, books and play with soft toy characters from stories.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The quality of some staff's interactions and teaching is variable. This does not support children's learning consistently. There are times when children are left to their own devices and are not always supported well by staff. Staff do not always recognise and respond to children's behaviours to help address unacceptable behaviour.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have recently introduced a revised curriculum. Staff show understanding of this and how the intent links to areas of learning and activities they provide. Key persons know their key children's next steps in learning securely. Staff responsible for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who need extra help understand their needs well, including areas of learning where children need more support. Staff complete regular observations and assessments which helps them to monitor children's progress. Leaders regularly review information to help them identify any gaps in the curriculum or children who may need more support to help them progress. Leaders consider how the curriculum is sequenced to help children build on their skills and knowledge over time to prepare them for their future learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Although there are some weaknesses in some staff's teaching and interactions, there are other staff who provide better engagement with children. For instance, staff provide warm and responsive interactions with babies while singing and playing musical instruments. Staff incorporate mathematics during play well, such as counting, using positional language and identifying patterns and shapes with children. Staff provide activities and resources that help children to develop their small and large physical skills. For example, older toddlers use their muscles to squeeze water in and out of pipettes and pre-school children develop balance and coordination using tyres.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have been working towards improvements. They recognise that there are areas of staff's practice to develop. Leaders have an action plan in place to help them build on the consistency of staff's practice. Leaders model expected practice, including teaching, interactions and behaviour management. They intervene to provide direction and guidance to staff to help improve practice in the moment. However, leaders do not ensure that staff implement the guidance provided by them in their practice consistently, including staff deploying themselves effectively to meet children's needs.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

A recent provider review of safer recruitment has resulted in robust processes to check new and existing staff's suitability to work with children. Leaders provide a programme of staff training, which has included safer sleep and mealtime procedures. Staff say they feel valued, their wellbeing is supported and their workload is manageable.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders and staff typically form secure parent partnerships. Parents generally comment positively on the staff's communication about their children's care and learning needs. Leaders organise regular parent information sessions to help parents to gain more awareness of how to support their children, such as supporting school readiness. Leaders and staff communicate and work with outside professionals when required. They share relevant information to support children's learning, wellbeing and welfare securely.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has not 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 not 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

Although some staff show understanding of the curriculum and plan suitable activities, others do not provide consistent and effective teaching to children. At times, staff are not deployed well to supervise, support and engage with children. This sometimes leads to children accessing inappropriate items, such as hand sanitiser. Staff do not always provide a consistent approach to managing children's behaviour. This leads to children not gaining a secure understanding of expectations and boundaries. Children generally enjoy their time at nursery. Children and their parents are warmly welcomed on arrival. They separate from their parents with ease and settle quickly on arrival. Leaders and staff offer home visits and multiple settling-in sessions to new children. This helps to build positive relationships so that children feel safe and secure. This is particularly evident for babies. Leaders and staff highlight to parents the importance of

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

attendance, including using the free-funding entitlement to support children's education. Despite some weaknesses in teaching, they work closely with parents and other professionals involved to support children with barriers to their learning or those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They typically promote these children's progress appropriately.

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

Children show confidence in exploring and investigating their environment. For instance, younger toddlers enjoy the slide and happily move to the outside decking area to play. Older toddlers have fun during role play as they pretend to cook and put cold compresses on dolls. This helps children to recreate real-life experiences. Children generally receive appropriate support for their communication and language development, such as enjoying stories being read by staff. Older children recall familiar stories during activities based on these, such as during creative activities. Younger toddlers follow staff's lead and draw shapes in the sand, such as circles and staff encourage them to repeat the name. However, not all staff support children's language development well enough. For instance, staff sometimes sit with the children but do not interact with them. Occasionally too many staff engage in other tasks at

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

the same time, leaving children to play without support. Children are not securely gaining the skills and knowledge they need to fully prepare them for their future learning.

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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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Action Completion Date

ensure staffing arrangements meet the needs of children consistently, including staff being deployed to engage and support children effectively at all times 05/06/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure staff implement consistent expectations and boundaries to help children know and understand what is expected of them 05/06/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure risk assessments are effective in relation to responding and managing incidents to keep children consistently safe and well 05/06/2026

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Action Completion Date

provide support to staff to help them develop the quality and consistency of their interactions and teaching to support children's learning, development and progress 05/06/2026

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Address:

32 Launton Road Bicester Oxfordshire OX26 6PY

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Child 1st Nurseries Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30

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About this inspection

The inspectors spoke with leaders, staff, parents and children and those with roles, such as the special educational needs coordinator and designated safeguarding lead 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

We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this. 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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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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