Bright Starts Day Nursery

Bright Starts Day Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2767136 Address: 39, Chichester Road, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO21 2XH Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 09/02/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Bright Starts Day Nursery Ltd

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Safeguarding standards not met

Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture of safeguarding that adequately protects children from harm. Leaders do not demonstrate sufficient urgency of which to report safeguarding concerns about the unsafe practice of staff. As a result, they have not followed the compulsory procedures to report allegations, which compromises the safety of children. Furthermore, leaders have failed to provide adequate support, training and monitoring of staff's safeguarding knowledge to ensure that safeguarding is robust. This leads to staff lacking confidence to follow whistleblowing procedures. This poses a barrier for staff reporting concerns.

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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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Achievement Needs attention

The weaknesses in staff's practice and the delivery of the curriculum negatively impact children's achievements, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning and/or wellbeing. For example, on occasion, when children move through to other rooms of the nursery, they do not experience nurturing support and care from some staff to help them settle. This does not support children's personal, social and emotional development well enough, which impacts their readiness to learn.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children do not consistently secure new learning over time. Their learning is not consistently built on for them to deepen their knowledge and practise the skills they have learned.

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Achievement Needs attention

Children are able to take part in some activities which they enjoy, such as mark making. They are keen to share what they have drawn with staff. Children engage in circle time, where they enjoy joining in with singing familiar songs. They learn about number names and what numbers look like when written as digits. At these times, children learn some important concepts.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Leaders' and staff's practice in supporting children's behaviour is inconsistent. At times, this does not help children's understanding of the rules and boundaries of the setting. Several children are distressed, disengaged and not having their needs met consistently well. As a result, where teaching is less effective, some children do not behave well and throw toys. Other children climb on furniture and are not swiftly redirected or moved to a place of safety.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

While some staff support children to recognise how they are feeling and to learn right from wrong, other staff do not have the confidence to support children's behaviour. Therefore, on occasion, some staff ignore behaviours, which at times escalates children's negative feelings.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention

Leaders ensure that they know the reason for all children's absence. Information about children's absence is passed from staff to leaders without delay. Staff put in place a supportive routine which helps children to have an understanding of what will happen next. Children respond well to this routine. For example, they go over to the mat ready for group time. Children form good relationships with each other and enjoy playing games together. They also seek out familiar staff to share their experiences with.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders do not provide staff with enough support and guidance to help them provide effective teaching and learning for all children. This leads to inconsistencies in staff's skills and knowledge, resulting in occasions where the curriculum is not delivered well enough. Children's social and emotional needs are not consistently met. This results in some children not engaging in learning activities and therefore not achieving as well as they could. While staff offer positive interactions that support and encourage children to play and learn, this is not the case for all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or others who face barriers to their learning, who are settling into their new rooms do not benefit fully from this.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders plan a varied curriculum that focuses on supporting children's communication and language skills and independence. Where teaching is effective, children benefit particularly through activities that support speaking and listening. Some children benefit from and engage in activities that follow their interests, and are supported well by staff to take part in these. For example, children engage in construction activities, where they take turns and socialise well together. Leaders understand where elements of the curriculum and teaching are not yet secure. However, their actions to correct these are in their infancy and it is too soon to see the impact.

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Inclusion Needs attention

While leaders have invested in training for staff to develop their confidence to support children's individual needs, this does not have the intended impact for children with barriers to their learning. Inconsistencies in staff's practice, skills and knowledge have a negative impact on children. As a result, some staff do not have the skills to provide the right support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those with barriers to their learning well enough. At times, this means that some children do not overcome obstacles to their development as well as they could.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Staff have individual learning plans in place to help close any gaps that children may have in their learning and development. Nevertheless, this is not beneficial for children who are not yet emotionally secure. Staff do not act swiftly enough to make changes and adaptations to

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Urgent improvement

their teaching and the learning environment to help meet children's individual needs as well as they could. Therefore, some children face delays in the support they receive.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Leaders' arrangements for the key-person system are ineffective. Poorly thought-through changes to key persons do not help children well enough to transition through the setting. Some children in the babies' and toddlers' room wander around the room distressed and crying. Staff try to soothe them; however, there are times where children are left crying with no support. While children's key persons are present, staff do not effectively meet children's emotional needs. Children do not develop warm and trusting bonds with their key person, which impacts on their feelings of safety and security.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Leaders fail to ensure that staff follow safer eating practices. Some of the youngest children are not fully supported during mealtimes as staff walk away from the table when children are sitting eating. This means that these children are not adequately supervised when eating. Meanwhile, older children are supported well during mealtimes. This inconsistent practice highlights that safer eating practices are not fully known and followed by all staff, which places some children at risk during mealtimes.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Fire safety standards are not met. Leaders do not have sufficient oversight of what must be in place to ensure children's and staff's safety while in the setting. For example, leaders are not aware of outcomes of their fire safety reports and have not identified that fire extinguishers are out of date. Risk assessments across the setting are poor. Leaders and staff do not take appropriate action to remove or reduce risks in the environment. There have been 2 incidents of rat and mice infestation that leaders have not taken sufficient action to resolve, and have not notified Ofsted of either incident. Staff have not followed procedures to store medication in a secure area away from children. For instance, staff and leaders do not effectively risk assess the environment to ensure items such as medication are stored appropriately. This demonstrates staff's lack of knowledge about keeping children safe. Leaders' risk assessments are not fit for purpose, which compromises children's

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have not ensured that they have robust oversight of the setting. There are several breaches of statutory safeguarding and welfare requirements. The lack of oversight has resulted in many inconsistencies, including arrangements for safeguarding children, maintaining health and safety standards, supporting children's behaviour and implementing an effective curriculum. All of these have a negative impact on children's safety and their ability to thrive.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have not consistently shared information with parents, carers and other professionals as appropriate to ensure all children's needs can be met. For example, when children have been involved in accidents or incidents these are not always shared. This, along with failing to notify Ofsted of notifiable events, highlights concerns around leaders' integrity.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have already identified areas of improvement within the curriculum, teaching and supporting children's behaviour. However, they have not upskilled their staff through coaching and mentoring to improve those areas identified, and therefore this is not having a positive impact on the achievements children can make.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Staff feel supported by leaders and have attended regular training, including first aid, to keep their qualifications and skills up to date. They can ask for help when required and feel their workload is usually manageable.

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

Children are not cared for in a safe and secure environment. Significant weaknesses in leadership and governance impact the quality of provision that children receive. Leaders do not have sufficient oversight to ensure all of the early years foundation stage requirements are met. There are several health and safety breaches, meaning that children's safety and welfare are not assured. For example, leaders fail to properly address pest control measures, fire safety standards and general risk assessments of the premises. Leaders and staff do not fully understand what constitutes a potential risk and, therefore, do not identify or remove hazards to ensure children's safety. For instance, children have access to adult medication, which is kept in the playroom. Children are left unsupervised while eating. Bins are broken and left in the playroom. Fire extinguishers are out of date. There have been several significant events that should have been notified to Ofsted; however, the provider

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

has not done so, which is a requirement of their registration.

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

Children's safety is compromised by a weak safeguarding culture. Leaders do not take appropriate action when allegations are made against staff members. They do not report safeguarding concerns in a timely manner. Staff lack understanding of the setting's whistleblowing procedures. Children do not build warm relationships with their key person. While some children engage well and are happy, others are distressed, disengaged and do not have a trusting bond with their key person. This directly impacts children's ability to feel safe and secure and be in the right place to learn.

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

Children's behaviour is not consistently supported well enough by staff. This means that, at times, children's understanding of the rules and boundaries of how to behave sensibly is limited. Some weaknesses in the delivery of the curriculum have a negative impact on children. This does not ensure that all children, particularly those who face barriers to their learning, achieve as well as they could. At times, children's needs are not sufficiently met due to leaders lack of proactive information-sharing with parents and other professionals.

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

Some children enjoy spending time playing indoors and outdoors. They have flexibility to choose where they play, enabling them to engage well during some activities. Children show an interest in playing together in the nursery's role-play mud kitchen. Others take part in circle times, where they sing familiar songs. Children show a keen interest in practising their balance as they navigate balance beams, showing perseverance.

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Next steps

The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.

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Next steps

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the following actions by the assigned date:

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Action Completion Date

ensure safeguarding concerns raised are acted on and reported to external professionals in line with local safeguarding partnership (LSP), with particular regard to managing allegations against staff members 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure all staff have a robust knowledge of what action they must take in the event of a safeguarding concern, in line with the setting's safeguarding policies and procedures, with particular regard to whistleblowing 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure staff medication is securely stored, and out of reach of children, at all times 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure a consistent and effective key-person system is implemented for all children to enable them to feel safe, secure and settled 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure babies and children are supervised effectively while eating 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

improve staff's knowledge, understanding and implementation of supporting children's behaviour so that children's emotional wellbeing is fully supported 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure appropriate fire detection and control equipment, such as fire extinguishers, is available and in working order 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure risk assessments are fit for purpose and understood by leaders and staff, including being able to identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked and how risks will be removed or minimised to ensure the environment is safe for children 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

leaders must share relevant information with parents, carers and other professionals as appropriate to ensure all children's needs can be met 07/05/2026

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Action Completion Date

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

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Action Completion Date

leaders should review the support that is in place for all children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who face barriers to their learning, so that they have the right support at the right time to improve their outcomes 05/06/2026

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff and children 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

The inspection started on 23 March 2026. Inspectors returned on 23 April 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. Unique reference number (URN): 2767136

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Address:

Chichester Road Bognor Regis West Sussex PO21 2XH

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Bright Starts Day Nursery Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00

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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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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

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