Bright Horizons Putney Day Nursery and Preschool

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive the targeted support they need. Children's support plans are not reviewed regularly enough to respond to their changing needs. Leaders do not proactively work with other professionals to implement the specialist advice they provide. Additionally, weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable children, who may be less able to independently identify and communicate their need for adult support.

Leaders are in the process of completing training which will help to improve their support of children with SEND. They speak passionately about wanting to provide children with the right support. However, they do not yet have systems in place to ensure children who experience barriers to their learning are identified.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and be able to do. They understand how children learn and can show staff how to help children think more deeply. However, leaders know that the curriculum is not currently being implemented well because of significant changes in leadership and inconsistent staffing. Leaders are spending regular time in the setting, modelling effective practice. For example, they lead a singing session in which children are highly engaged, supporting their communication and language development. Leaders have started to implement structured professional development plans. However, these have not yet had time to bring about the required improvements.

Staff understand what children already know and can do. However, they do not yet use this information to inform their teaching. For example, staff know that babies are learning to use furniture to pull themselves up to stand. However, some staff lift children and place them at the table, rather than supporting them to do this themselves. The quality of teaching, including staff's interactions with children, is variable. Babies explore their environment. They make marks on the wall using brushes and water. They splash in the water, exploring how it feels. However, some staff ask too many questions that children do not understand. When babies offer staff a toy, staff ask, 'What do you want me to do with this?' At other times, staff use clear single words to name objects, helping children to learn new words. Therefore, the support for children's learning is inconsistent.

Some children who require additional support are rarely spoken to during their play. Staff do not guide their learning. As a result, children wander away and do not concentrate on tasks for long. This means that these children do not make the progress of which they are capable.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children do not make enough progress from their starting points. They do not benefit from consistent, high-quality support to access the curriculum. As a result, they do not make the progress of which they are capable. Children are not developing the attention skills they will need to support their next stage of education. Children become disengaged and wander away. Poor staff interactions do not support children to develop their communication and language skills as fully as they could.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not achieve well. This is because their targeted support plans are not implemented. This limits their opportunities to achieve and make enough progress in their learning and development.

That said, children make some progress in their learning and development. They remember some of what they have learned. For example, when asked, they recall the songs they sang with staff on previous days. Children are developing some independence skills. They have learned mealtime routines and work together to set the table, serve themselves and clear away their leftovers. Babies develop their small-muscle skills, exploring a range of textures such as fabrics and dough. Older children develop their hand-eye coordination as they fill containers. They develop their large-muscle skills as they build with large construction materials.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

Despite significant changes in leadership and staffing, leaders ensure children have a key person they can develop a secure relationship with. However, on arrival, children are sometimes welcomed by unfamiliar staff. This does not support them to settle well into the nursery.

Leaders and staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They demonstrate respectful relationships, for example when they thank children for their help. Children share and take turns with their friends. Staff usually support children when there is conflict. They explain to children how their friends may be feeling and why. They use an egg timer to help children to learn to wait their turn. However, at times, staff do not support children for long enough to ensure they are emotionally ready to go back to playing independently. Leaders have identified this as an area they need to support through staff's professional development plans.

Weaknesses in the quality of teaching mean that children do not concentrate on their learning for sustained amounts of time. Staff do not always deploy themselves where they can best support children's learning. Some staff's interactions disrupt children's play. For example, staff tend to be overly enthusiastic when they sing or when they use complex language. Children move away, which does not help them to develop the skills they need to focus on their learning. Children who need the most support to engage in purposeful play do not receive this. They spend time wandering or chasing their friends.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention

Staff do not teach children to wash their hands after cleaning their nose. Staff do not wash their own hands after cleaning children's nose. This does not promote children's good health or minimise the spread of infection. Children who may face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing are not supported well enough to join in. Staff are not proactive in engaging them, and they wander around without purpose. Their wellbeing is not well supported at these times.

Staff are responsive to babies' care needs. They notice when they need their nappy to be changed and approach them sensitively about this. When children are tired, staff gently rock and sing to them. This makes them feel safe. Leaders provide an environment that children enjoy exploring. Children benefit from time outside. They share a story with staff about 'Maisey Mouse' and her trip to the hospital. Children enjoy pretending that their doll is going to hospital. Mealtimes are used as an opportunity to promote children's social skills and independence. Children know to wash their hands first, collect their plates and cutlery and sit at the table. They talk to their friends and staff about their recent experiences and about their likes and dislikes. However, staff do not use these opportunities to talk to children about the foods they are eating.

Leadership and governance: Urgent improvement

There are significant weaknesses in leadership and governance. There have been incidents where those who hold designated responsibility for overseeing the safeguarding arrangements have failed to act in line with the local safeguarding partnership procedures. However, action has subsequently been taken to ensure children's welfare is being protected. A programme of safeguarding training is underway to continue to improve the safeguarding culture at the setting. There have been several recent changes of manager and deputy manager, and several agency staff regularly work at the setting. Senior leaders from the wider organisation are now attending the setting regularly to provide greater oversight and to improve the quality of care and education provided.

Leaders have the skills required to model effective teaching strategies and to provide regular supervision, training and support to staff. However, this has only recently begun. Arrangements for structured coaching and opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice have not yet been implemented for all staff. Leaders have plans in place to provide a programme of professional development that aims to address the weaknesses in teaching. However, since the last inspection, there have been incidents of poor practice that leaders have not adequately reflected on to improve future practice.

Leaders support staff to share information with parents during pick-up and drop-off times and through an app. However, inconsistencies in leadership have meant that some of these communications have not been shared with parents in a timely way. There are not sufficient alternative communication methods for families who do not access the communication app.