Blessings Nursery Fagley

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure staff are able to identify, assess and put plans in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They do not implement adaptations to reduce barriers to children's learning. Staff do not identify and make timely referrals for children to relevant agencies to ensure that swift interventions are made to prevent children from falling behind in their learning. Staff work with the local authority to access support and training from their skills team. They have taken on some of the points from the training and implemented these, such as having visual timetables up in the rooms. However, these aids are not typically used in all rooms, and in some cases they cannot be easily accessed by the children because they are covered by furniture. Leaders do not typically monitor children's progress and review support in place for children with SEND. They are unable to assess the impact on the children. Leaders are not aware of how additional funding is used to best support children with SEND to ensure it has a positive impact.

Curriculum and teaching: Urgent improvement

The quality of the teaching is inconsistent. Some staff are unaware of the purpose of the activities they are carrying out. Leaders do not ensure that the curriculum is broad and ambitious for all children or that it covers all the areas of learning. Leaders have not ensured that recent changes to the curriculum have been swiftly embedded in practice. As a result, children do not make the best possible progress from their starting points.

Parents are unaware of children's next steps in learning, including what they are currently working on in the setting. Staff do not provide parents with ideas to support them to continue their children's learning at home.

Books are on offer for children to support their vocabulary and communication development. However, during story time, there are not clear expectations for the children's behaviour. Children are distracted and appear disinterested in the story session as they roll around on the floor and do not join in. Staff continue to read stories despite this happening. This shows that staff do not demonstrate a clear understanding of how to support children's behaviour.

Staff do not appropriately identify and put plans in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Adaptations are not made to try to involve children and support them during activities. Therefore, these children miss out on adult-led activities and do not take part.

Some staff are aware of their key children's next steps and what they want children to learn, such as supporting children's creative development through sand-play activities. There is explicit teaching of mathematics, for example, through adult-led lessons on naming different shapes.

Achievement: Urgent improvement

Children do not progress well from their starting points, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They do not benefit from tailored support or adaptations to help them to become involved in play and learning. Not all children join in with adult-focused activities. This indicates that leaders have low expectations of what children can and should achieve at the setting.

Children are not well prepared for their move on to their next stage of learning, including school. They are not encouraged to develop their independence. For example, children who require visual aids are not supported to follow these in practice. Timely referrals to the relevant agencies are not made for children who require external support. This means that there are delays in children's learning and development.

Babies do not benefit from a range of activities that cover all areas of learning. Therefore, children cannot make progress in all areas of their development.

Children are developing independence. For example, older children are able to put on their own coats.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

There is not a common understanding about behaviour expectations at the setting. Some staff do not correct unwanted behaviour, and expectations are not shared with the children. Not all children are engaged or focused during some adult-led activities. The impact of this is that some children do not get the most out of learning opportunities. Currently, explicit praise is not used in the setting to reinforce children's positive behaviour. This does not support children to know what is expected of them.

Leaders do not ensure that the support for all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), meets their individual learning needs. For example, staff do not support or encourage children with SEND to join in with adult-led activities. This means some children do not access the full learning offer.

Staff are positive role models. They teach children to be kind and caring towards each other and how to use manners, such as saying please and thank you when giving out food.

Leaders know the importance of punctuality and good attendance and the benefits of this for the children. There are policies in place to ensure that children benefit from regular attendance at the setting.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Urgent improvement

Safer sleeping arrangements, in line with the latest government guidelines, are not in place. Staff lie children down to sleep with bottles in their mouths and a blanket on top of them. Some children sleep on the floor with no cot or sleeping mat. This does not support children's safety or wellbeing.

In addition, staff do not follow safer eating guidance. Children are not always in sight and hearing of staff while they are eating. When staff do sit with the children, they do not position themselves in a way that enables them to supervise children appropriately. For example, they sit with their backs to children or face the backs of children's heads while they are eating. This means that they cannot react quickly in urgent situations, such as silent choking. Children in the older rooms are served small, portioned meals that are not in line with the recommended portion size for children.

Some children are upset when coming into the setting. Staff do not use strategies to support these children to manage their emotions, leading to children being upset for long periods and not having a secure sense of emotional wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Urgent improvement

There has been a change to the management of the setting, which has not been notified to Ofsted. This is a breach of requirements. Leaders are unable to identify or act on areas for improvement. For example, although they are aware that the curriculum is weak, they have not taken action to improve this.

Although staff attend safeguarding training, their knowledge is still weak. They do not know who the designated safeguarding lead is within the setting. Furthermore, they do not understand the procedure to follow if they have a concern about a member of staff or the leadership team. Staff do online training and access the local authority skills team to support some professional development.

Leaders do not ensure that information about children's learning and next steps is shared with parents. Some parents are unaware of what their children are currently working on and where they are in terms of their progression. Leaders do not seek support from other professionals in a timely way to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive the support they need. Funding is not used appropriately to ensure that the interests and individual needs of children are met.

Leaders are aware of staff members' workload. They have plans in place to delegate the workload across the team.