Moreton In Marsh Playgroup

Moreton In Marsh Playgroup

Unique reference number (URN): 101537 Address: St. David's Centre, Church Street, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, GL56 0LT Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 21/04/1972 Registers: EYR Registered person: Moreton-in-Marsh Playgroup Committee

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Safeguarding standards not met

Leaders have not ensured that there is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that adequately protects children from harm. They do not monitor the suitability of staff or understand the procedures that they should follow when concerns are raised about staff. Staff do not demonstrate a secure understanding of their child protection responsibilities. They can identify some instances when a child may be at risk. However, they do not consistently monitor concerns accurately or follow the required reporting procedures set out by local safeguarding partnerships. The failure to follow safeguarding procedures compromises children's safety and welfare. Leaders follow appropriate procedures when recruiting staff.

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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 Urgent improvement

Weaknesses in the curriculum and in teaching mean that children do not gain the skills they need for future learning. Children do not receive the support required to make progress from their starting points, and those with barriers to learning are not given the focused help they need, particularly in communication and language and in their personal, social and emotional development. As a result, many children struggle to understand and follow behavioural expectations and do not develop the skills needed to manage routines. For example, older children do not learn to remain at the lunch table to eat with their peers, leaving the table to play instead. Younger children with delays in communication and language continue to use dummies during play, which further restricts their opportunities to develop their speech, vocabulary and social interaction.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to support children when they struggle to manage their feelings and behaviour. Children do not receive help to recognise their emotions or develop effective self-regulation strategies. As a result, some children become frustrated, which occasionally leads to incidents where others are hurt. Although staff model positive behaviour and encourage children to play cooperatively and take turns, they rely mainly on reminding children of the rules. Staff are responsive when situations occur rather than providing the deeper emotional support children need to understand and express their feelings appropriately. At times, staff find it difficult to gain children's attention, and when children become overexcited, their play can escalate into physical altercations.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement

Staff record attendance accurately and contact parents when children are absent to check the reason for non-attendance. However, they do not work closely enough with parents or other professionals to ensure children can attend and access their full entitlement of hours at the nursery.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Urgent improvement

Children develop warm, trusting relationships with staff and enjoy spending time with them. They are beginning to learn how to collaborate and play alongside others. However, they are not consistently supported to develop the skills needed to manage sharing, taking turns and getting along with their peers without support from staff.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff consistently implement the setting's policies and procedures to promote children's welfare and wellbeing. For example, when children play outside, staff do not always make sure that they are wearing hats or appropriate sun protection. Although a shaded area is available, staff do not talk to children about staying out of direct sunlight, which limits opportunities for them to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Staff follow hygiene routines, but these are carried out in a way that does not help children understand the purpose of good hygiene. For instance, children's play is interrupted as staff take them individually to wash their hands before snack. Children are then told they may return to play while they wait for their turn to eat, which causes further disruption and does not support them to develop independent hygiene habits.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Children form warm and trusting relationships with staff and their key person. Staff talk with parents at drop-off to help children settle. At times, staff support children's developing independence well. Children pour their own drinks and confidently serve their own food at snack time.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders have not designed a curriculum that adequately accounts for what children need to learn. They do not have high enough expectations for what children can achieve and lack the knowledge needed to sequence learning effectively. As a result, children are not supported to build their knowledge and skills over time.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Staff do not understand how their planned activities link to learning outcomes. Although staff set out resources to cover the 7 areas of learning, these are uninspiring, and expectations for children's learning are not high. For instance, during a mathematics activity using a number puzzle that staff say is intended to support children's number recognition, staff do not use the resource purposefully to promote learning. Children are seen to play with the puzzle independently, with little interaction or encouragement from staff to recognise, name or order numbers. Children are not supported in developing a secure understanding of numbers or in building mathematical knowledge in a meaningful and sequential way. In addition to this, staff do not recognise how to extend children's learning as they play alongside them. Interactions do not support children in developing their thinking and problem-solving skills. Although staff are friendly and welcoming, weaknesses in curriculum

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

and teaching mean that children do not acquire the knowledge and skills they need for future learning.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Leaders do not take the action needed to reduce barriers to children's learning. They do not ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge they need to help to reduce gaps and help children to make better progress.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Staff identify some children who require additional support, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Some children with identified gaps in their development have support plans in place, and staff recognise that these children require additional help to make progress. However, the support plans are not implemented effectively, and children do not benefit from the targeted support that they need. Leaders do not ensure that staff assess children's progress effectively to identify barriers to learning. Furthermore, the required progress checks at age 2 are not completed. As a result, staff do not have an accurate understanding of all children's developmental needs and do not identify emerging gaps in learning swiftly enough. This means that children do not receive timely support to help them make the progress they are capable of.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that they work with parents or other professionals in a timely manner to put support in place when they recognise children are not progressing with their learning. Furthermore, leaders do not ensure that additional funding is used for the children it is intended for, to help reduce barriers and improve children's outcomes.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders do not have a thorough oversight of all aspects of the provision or an understanding of their responsibilities. This lack of effective monitoring means they do not meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage statutory framework.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff understand and consistently follow the policies and procedures designed to keep children safe and promote their wellbeing. As a result, staff do not always act on information that indicates a child's safety or welfare may be at risk. In addition, leaders do not fully understand their responsibility to monitor the ongoing suitability of staff or to take prompt action when concerns arise.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff receive the support they need to carry out their roles effectively. For example, some staff do not receive an induction to help them understand their roles and responsibilities, and there is limited ongoing training, guidance or supervision. For some staff, the workload is not manageable, and this affects the overall quality of the provision. For instance, staff do not complete or provide parents with the statutory progress check at age 2, which limits parents' understanding of their child's development and any emerging concerns. Despite these weaknesses, staff work closely with the neighbouring school, and they invite teachers in to meet children as they prepare to start their transition to school. Children appear to be happy, and parents say that their children enjoy attending.

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

The lack of effective oversight in leadership has a significant impact on children's safety and daily experiences. Leaders do not ensure that requirements are understood by staff and met. For example, child protection procedures are not consistently followed, the progress check at age 2 is not completed or shared with parents, support for children with barriers to their learning is not effective, and children do not receive support to learn how to manage their feelings and behaviour appropriately. Leaders do not ensure that staff, including those with additional responsibilities, understand their roles and responsibilities. This includes ensuring that staff have a clear understanding of how to deliver a high-quality curriculum and extend children's learning.

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

Staff are caring and considerate of children, and they respond to children's needs and interests. They set out resources for children to play with, and play alongside them. Younger children enjoy playing with the sand, making sandcastles. Despite this, teaching is weak. Children do not always receive the appropriate support to remain engaged in their learning. They wander off from activities or lose interest, and the environment becomes chaotic as they run around and play becomes physical. At times, this impacts on the focus and interest of other children as their games are disrupted. For instance, as children spend time building with the blocks, other children accidently knock their models over when they are chasing each other around the room.

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

Children enjoy being outdoors. They run around the garden, climb over the roots of the trees and enjoy making potions with glitter and water. Older children form friendships with their peers, and they work together to build with the wooden blocks. Younger children show interest in physical play as they throw and chase the balls around the garden.

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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. 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 that all staff, including those with lead safeguarding roles, know and understand their safeguarding responsibilities, including how to manage and respond to child protection concerns 17/06/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure all staff working with children are suitable 17/06/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that all staff receive induction training and are provided with ongoing professional development opportunities to help them understand their roles and responsibilities and offer quality learning and development experiences for children 03/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that effective arrangements are in place to support all children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) 03/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure that staff use consistent strategies so that children learn to regulate their feelings and behaviour appropriately 03/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure safeguarding procedures are consistently and swiftly implemented, particularly in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff 17/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

ensure all reasonable steps are taken to ensure children are not exposed to risks, particularly when outside in the sun. 17/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

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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Action Completion Date

ensure staff review children's progress at age two and provide parents with a written summary of this, to promptly identify where children may benefit from additional support 03/07/2026

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Action Completion Date

design and implement an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of all children. 17/07/2026

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Address:

St. David's Centre Church Street Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire GL56 0LT

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Moreton-in-Marsh Playgroup Committee

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:00

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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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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.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with staff, the special educational needs coordinator, designated safeguarding lead, parents 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. This data is from 16 June 2026

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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. 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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