Bright Horizons Chandlers Ford Day Nursery and Preschool

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Leaders and staff do not take sufficient action to reduce barriers to children's learning and development. Children who face barriers to learning do not make expected progress as leaders do not ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge needed to reduce gaps in learning.

Staff do not have high expectations for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The needs of children, particularly of those with SEND, are not identified promptly. This means that staff are unable to implement appropriate strategies to support children's learning and development in a timely manner. In addition, children who are identified as having SEND do not receive the support they need. Staff do not regularly assess and review education plans to ensure that these remain appropriate.

Staff do not recognise when to intervene to ensure that children are purposely engaged and, at times, leave them to wander aimlessly around the provision without staff support.

Where additional funding is received, this is used appropriately, such as to provide one-to-one care for individual children. However, leaders do not work with parents to ensure that additional funding is sought for all eligible children in order to further support their development and reduce barriers to learning.

Curriculum and teaching: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff know how to implement an ambitious curriculum for all children. They do not support staff to develop the skills they need to plan a carefully sequenced programme of activities to build on what children know and can do. Much of children's learning and development is incidental.

Leaders do not monitor effectively enough to recognise that teaching is often of poor quality, with interactions between staff and children often being limited. For example, staff stand disinterested in the garden while children wander aimlessly. Staff do not demonstrate an understanding of how to extend children's learning by playing with them.

Poor staff deployment impacts on the quality of interactions, teaching and engagement. Staff do not know children well enough to engage them in meaningful interactions that support their learning and development. While some relevant assessment takes place, not all staff know where to find information about the children and what they need to learn next.

Leaders and staff do not identify and make the reasonable adjustments needed for children who face barriers to learning. As a result, these children do not have access to the same curriculum as their peers. For example, staff do not support children in learning different ways of communicating their thoughts, wants and needs. This means that some children are left unable to communicate with staff or their peers.

Achievement: Urgent improvement

Children do not typically make enough progress for their age in terms of their learning and development. Gaps in their development do not close quickly, and some children are not prepared well for their next stage of learning. Children do not progress well in communication skills. For example, settled children continue to use their dummies during play, which restricts their ability to develop their speech and vocabulary. Children do not have consistent opportunities to develop their mathematical knowledge as staff teaching is limited.

Children do not develop secure attachments with their key person, which impacts on their development and emotional wellbeing. Children do not consistently demonstrate that they feel safe and secure at the provision. Children enjoy playing with their peers and become engaged in their games. For example, children enjoy pouring water back and forth between containers. Children express their creativity as they paint pictures on pieces of foil.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure that staff are appropriately deployed across the provision. This has an impact on children's behaviour. For example, when there are conflicts between children over toys, staff do not witness them, and therefore cannot support children to develop the skills needed to share and take turns. Staff do not support children to develop positive attitudes to learning. At times, children wander aimlessly around the provision or run around in circles without any meaningful interactions from staff.

Staff do not manage behaviour consistently and children do not understand what is expected of them. For example, there are inconsistencies over where bikes can be played with in the garden, which means that children are unsure of the rules, boundaries and expectations. This does not help to develop children's understanding of their behaviour and how to keep themselves safe. When children's behaviour begins to deteriorate, staff do not step in to support children to resolve issues and to engage in purposeful play.

The inconsistent implementation of routines causes children to become distressed. For example, when there is not enough space at the snack table for all children, others sit and watch their peers as they become increasingly hungry and distressed. Staff do not support these children sufficiently as they wait their turn.

Staff and leaders record attendance appropriately and monitor children's absences to help ensure that they regularly attend the provision.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Urgent improvement

The key-person approach is not effective, and children do not develop secure attachments to their key person. This does not support children's emotional wellbeing. Staff focus on routine tasks, such as paperwork, instead of building meaningful relationships with their key children. Children's personal hygiene needs are not adequately supported. For example, children sit down for meals straight after playing out in the garden. Staff do not take action to ensure that children have clean hands before eating. Leaders do not ensure that there are appropriate arrangements in place to minimise the risk of cross-infection. For example, they do not prevent children from picking up other children's dummies and placing them in their mouths without staff intervention.

Staff do not identify potential risks in the environment and do not take steps to minimise these. For example, they do not recognise that sand and water being left on the floor puts children at risk of slipping. Children's care needs are not being met, which impacts on their emotional wellbeing. For example, staff are not aware when children need support in the bathroom, which leads to children having accidents.

Leadership and governance: Urgent improvement

Weaknesses in leadership have a significant impact on the quality of the provision. Leaders do not ensure that all staff, including agency staff, receive an appropriate induction. Neither do they provide the ongoing training and support needed to ensure that staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities. For example, staff cannot build on children's learning and development because they do not understand the curriculum aims or what children need to learn next. Leaders do not ensure that staff understand and consistently follow policies and procedures designed to promote children's health, safety and wellbeing. In addition, staff deployment is not effective. As a result, children are not always adequately protected from risks, and do not consistently receive the support they need to manage their care needs or engage in purposeful learning.

Leaders have reached out for support, and senior leaders have already identified some of the weaknesses of the provision prior to the inspection. They have begun to make some improvements. For example, they have addressed the breach of requirements relating to safer eating, through training and by improving communication between staff. However, the steps being taken by senior leaders are not embedded well enough to be effective in addressing all of the concerns at the provision.