Toybox Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Children's safety and well-being are compromised.

Staff take insufficient steps to assess the risk of hazards which pose a choking risk to children. Staff do not supervise children effectively. Consequently, children go unnoticed with objects in their mouths.

Accident reporting is not effective. Staff do not complete accident forms and parents are not notified. This puts children at potential risk.

Staff do not have high enough expectations for children. They do not know how to plan and provide learning opportunities to support children's development and to build on what they know and can do. The support... for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is poor and staff fail to implement targets to close gaps in their learning.

As a result, children do not make the progress they are capable of. However, staff are kind and caring towards the children and respond well to them when they are upset. Children seek reassurance from staff, which is given.

The curriculum is not ambitious and staff do not adapt their teaching style, nor do they provide enough challenge for those children who are most able. Consequently, children's engagement in activities is poor. Despite the weaknesses in the quality of education children receive, some incidental learning does take place.

Staff read stories to children. In the baby room, children select pictures and staff say the name of the picture, for example 'strawberry'. Children try to repeat these words back.

Staff provide some creative activities and children enjoy gluing, sticking and painting or exploring glitter in water and paint. Children enjoy fresh air outdoors. They develop their large-muscle skills as they pedal or push tricycles, climb up apparatus and slide down the slide.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The provider and manager have undergone an extremely turbulent time which has impacted on their ability to have effective governance and managerial oversight of the provision. Due to ineffective management and lack of leadership, standards have slipped.Children are exposed to risks of harm.

Accidents happen and children slip and hurt themselves. While staff respond and ask children if they are okay, they do not complete accident forms or inform parents. This means that parents do not know to monitor or assess their child's well-being in the event of a head injury.

Ineffective risk assessment and supervision of children by staff mean that children are not fully safeguarded. Staff do not undertake effective assessments to remove objects that present as choking hazards. At times, staffing arrangements are ineffective in ensuring the adequate supervision of children.

Children put inappropriate objects in their mouths which could cause choking.Staff do not witness this and therefore do not always immediately take action to stop this from happening. They have not considered children's needs and whether resources are appropriate.

This does not keep children safe.Children's health and well-being are not supported. The premises are not kept hygienically clean and to a good standard.

Some toilets do not function properly, as they are blocked. While the cubicles to these toilets are inaccessible to children, as they are locked, children are still exposed to the smell they are causing as they use adjacent toilets.Staff do not teach children about the importance of making healthy choices.

While fresh drinking water is available on children's request, some children still have sugary drinks which are brought in from home. Meals are not always provided. Staff overlook providing breakfast and tea to children, despite parents requesting their children eat breakfast when they arrive.

When meals are provided, they are not healthy, balanced or nutritious.Staff do not have the training or skills to be able to provide a structured routine or curriculum. While the manager takes some steps to complete staff supervisions and highlights some weaknesses, ineffective action has been given to support staff to improve.

Staff complete some training online but fail to put this knowledge into practice. Consequently, the quality of teaching is inadequate. Children do not receive good-quality care or education.

Much of the children's learning is incidental to the activities being provided.The nursery does not yet have an ambitious curriculum which is implemented and embedded. Communication and language are not promoted well.

Staff do not expose children to a wide and rich vocabulary. They do not provide sufficient opportunities for children to practise speaking. Although the manager models providing a narrative while playing alongside children or providing activities, staff do not yet fully do this.

Questions staff ask of children only require a one-word answer. In addition, effective methods of communication with children who are not able to speak have not yet been fully introduced.Partnership with parents is not good.

Many parents express that communication is poor and their concerns go unanswered. Parents do not know what the early years curriculum is, or what their children's next steps in learning are. They say that parents' evenings used to happen, but these are no longer available.

That said, parents say that staff are kind, and their children enjoy coming to nursery.Staff do not complete accurate assessments on children. In addition, they do not regularly gather sufficiently detailed up-to-date information from parents to be able to plan activities to provide sufficient challenge or meet children's individual learning needs.

Consequently, children are not learning as much as they should be.Support for children with possible SEND is poor. Staff have recently undergone training to support children with SEND.

They are positive and enthusiastic about the changes they want to implement. However, this has not yet happened. Children's targets are not shared with the key person.

Therefore, unrealistic targets are in place and children do not make the progress they are capable of.The manager has introduced a system where staff are expected to declare any personal circumstances which may impact on their overall suitability. Changes have been made to signing in registers, so accurate information is recorded about who is present on the premises.

Despite these positive changes, documentation is still in disarray and is not always kept securely and confidentially, which is a breach of requirements.Positive changes have been made to manage children's behaviour. Staff have sufficient expectations of children and help them to understand how their behaviour affects others.

Children are reminded to use their 'kind words and kind hands'. Overall, children's behaviour is acceptable.The manager receives support to devise a more in-depth safeguarding policy and procedure which meets requirements.

Staff receive training on safeguarding. They know how to identify children who may be suffering from harm and would inform the designated safeguarding officers of their concerns. That said, staff still lack confidence.

The manager prints out information to display around the nursery on the reporting procedures and contact numbers but these still need fully sharing with staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

The provision is inadequate and Ofsted intends to take enforcement action.

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to: Due date keep a written record of all accidents or injuries and first-aid treatment given and inform parents the same day, or as soon as reasonably practicable 10/05/2024 ensure that staffing arrangements meet the needs of all children so they are adequately supervised to ensure their safety 10/05/2024 undertake effective risk assessments and take all reasonable steps to ensure that children are not exposed to risks 10/05/2024 ensure that the premises, including overall floor space, are fit for purpose and comply with requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety and hygiene requirements 10/05/2024 ensure that meals are healthy, balanced and nutritious 10/05/2024 ensure that the provision of food and drink meets the needs of all children 10/05/2024 support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development opportunities to ensure that they offer quality learning and development experiences for children that continually improve 10/05/2024 ensure that the manager and staff enable a regular two-way flow of information with parents and/or carers and, if requested to, include parents' and/or carers' comments into children's records 10/05/2024 ensure that the appropriate arrangements are in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) so that information is shared with key persons and parents to precisely plan activities in line with their abilities and needs so they make the progress they are capable of 10/05/2024 ensure that confidential information and records about staff and children are held securely and only accessible and available to those who have a right or professional need to see them.10/05/2024 To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date develop and implement a curriculum which is ambitious and designed to meet the individual needs of all children so that they make good progress in their learning 05/07/2024 support staff to accurately assess the progress children make and use observations and information gathered from parents to plan and provide activities that continually enhance children's learning 05/07/2024 implement a curriculum for communication and language to provide more opportunities for all children, including those with SEND, to practise their language skills, and communicate and express their needs and feelings.

05/07/2024