Aintree Day Nursery & Kids Club Ltd

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders identify the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) accurately and swiftly. They make effective use of the nursery's settling-in periods and early discussions with parents and carers to find out about individual children's needs. Leaders use this information well to start the process of support for children with SEND, disadvantaged children and those known to social care as early as possible. Leaders make effective use of support from external professionals, such as social workers, speech and language therapists and play specialists. This ensures that, typically, children who need extra help receive the right support from staff at the right time. Generally, children with SEND have their needs met well.

Leaders seek to understand the needs of disadvantaged children and the community in which they live. They gather information about children's lives thoughtfully to make carefully considered decisions about how to use the nursery's additional funding. For example, leaders purchased outdoor nursery equipment, such as a slide, to support children to be physically active when outdoors. Leaders provide extra books for parents to borrow from the nursery's 'Book Club' to read to their children at home. Leaders understand there is further scope to check that their use of additional funding has the desired effect on reducing barriers to disadvantaged children's learning and wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

In some of their work, staff are unclear about why they provide learning activities for children and how this links to leaders' intended curriculum. Leaders have not ensured that teaching places a sharp enough focus on children's language development. This results in some staff asking complex questions of children that they cannot answer. Leaders have taken action to improve the curriculum and teaching. For example, leaders have provided staff with training about devising and delivering a curriculum for babies to pre-school children. However, it is too soon to see the impact of this work.

Staff are caring and gentle with all the children. However, sometimes, staff are too eager to step in and help children's learning rather than support children's own thinking. For instance, staff too quickly provide children with answers to mathematical problems, lift children onto climbing equipment or fasten zippers on children's coats. This limits opportunities for children to explore, make choices, learn from their mistakes or take risks. As a result, children are supported to complete tasks rather than being encouraged to learn and achieve highly.

When staff do provide meaningful learning for children, this is more successful in helping children to develop essential knowledge. For example, when staff read well-chosen stories to individual children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, these children make positive strides forward in their development.

Achievement: Needs attention

Some children do not securely develop the basic knowledge that they need for later learning, such as in mathematics. This is due to the variability in the quality of staff's teaching, which holds back some children's progress through the nursery's curriculum. For example, sometimes, staff do not provide well-considered opportunities for children to develop knowledge and skills, such as in physical development and mathematics.

Children enjoy singing familiar nursery rhymes, such as about the wheels on a bus moving round and round. They sing along with gusto and clearly demonstrate they know all the words and actions. Children confidently explore the nursery garden, running and chasing with their friends, which develops their social skills well. They show curiosity and intrigue when searching for insects in the nursery's digging area. Children develop trusting relationships and are learning to play, collaborate and get along with their peers.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff work well with parents and carers to ensure children's regular attendance at nursery. Mostly, leaders provide well-structured daily routines for all children. Staff ably support children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to understand the routines well. For example, staff adapt their language and use objects to show children what is happening next, such as when it is time for nappy changing. On occasion, leaders do not provide staff with clear guidance on how to manage other parts of the routines of the nursery well. At these times, staff disrupt children's learning, such as when it is time to stop playing, without thinking how best to meet children's needs. This affects some new children's ability to settle into the nursery's routines smoothly.

Staff model kindness and respect towards children and teach them how to play in harmony with others. For instance, staff help children to understand that other children may want to play with the same object as they are playing with. If some children become upset when playing alongside their peers, staff gently demonstrate how to wait for a turn to use resources. Children benefit from the positive praise that staff give to them, such as by telling children how well they have done or by giving a 'high five'. Staff support children's emotional development well.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders and staff provide opportunities for children to run, climb and play in the nursery's outdoor garden. This helps to build children's healthy appetites in readiness for eating the freshly prepared, nutritious meals provided by the nursery. Children thoroughly enjoy serving their own beetroot to add to their freshly made stew. They talk animatedly with staff about eating the foods they like, such as melon. Leaders and staff have a secure understanding of children's allergies and dietary requirements. Leaders also ensure that the preparation and serving of meals is hygienic and prevents any cross-contamination. This helps to ensure children's safety when eating.

Staff provide a gentle and reassuring approach when undertaking intimate care routines for children. For example, when it is time for nappy changing, staff ask children's consent. This provides children with a sense of choice and control and helps them to feel involved in their care. Staff follow proper hygiene routines, such as to disinfect children's potties after each use. Staff's warm and positive approach helps children to feel valued and respected.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leaders hold an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of staff's understanding of the curriculum and the quality of teaching. Leaders recognise that inconsistencies in staff's teaching negatively impact on what children can achieve. Leaders have recently taken action to improve the quality of staff's work. For example, leaders provided staff with training about the curriculum and with coaching on how to teach the curriculum well. However, actions to improve the quality of the curriculum, teaching and children's achievement do not deepen staff's expertise well enough.

Leaders provide necessary, mandatory training for staff, such as about safeguarding and child protection procedures. Some staff have completed other training, such as about the care of babies, safe sleep and the progress checks at age 2. However, the training is overly generic and not precisely tailored to individual staff's professional development needs. These weaknesses limit the usefulness of the training to help staff improve the quality of their teaching.

Following a recent concern about a safeguarding incident, where the provider had failed to act swiftly to make referrals to an external agency when worried about a colleague, the provider has taken action. The provider has made the correct referrals, albeit briefly delayed, and ensured that all leaders and staff understand the safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures to report concerns about a colleague. The provider failed to notify Ofsted of this significant event within the required time frame, which is a requirement of their registration. However, there was no impact on children's safety and welfare because of breaches of the requirements.