Canopy Children's Nursery

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Leaders do not ensure a consistent and robust approach to inclusive practice. They fail to gather vital information about vulnerable children in their care. This means the support provided is not based on precise information to properly identify and assess the specific individual needs of the children. Furthermore, leaders have not ensured they have shared the limited information obtained with necessary staff. This means staff are not helped to understand the children's experiences to provide the level of care that is matched to their needs.

The steps taken by leaders and staff do not always reduce barriers to learning for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff identify when children need additional support in their development and learning, and work with parents and professionals to support their development. Together they develop resources and activities to support children with SEND, such as pictoral timelines. However, these are used only at set times and are not integrated throughout the day to support a consistent approach, and secure swift progress. Furthermore, leaders do not share updated information about the children's changing needs, to help staff review progress and establish the continued support required. This does not ensure children with SEND receive the correct level of support they need to progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

The curriculum is planned across all areas of learning based on books. However, children do not consistently achieve and thrive due to the variabilities in the quality of teaching and implementation of activities.

Staff do not always identify what they want children to achieve from the planned activities to ensure children's progress. At times, activities for babies are not planned well enough to help them participate. While they show an initial desire to join in, they quickly loose interest as the resources to help them achieve are too large to handle. Books are popular among all children. Babies enjoy stories and songs. All children frequently visit the many book areas to look through their favourite stories. However, children's attention, listening and communication skills are not consistently developed as staff do not use their interactions well, to extend children's vocabulary, thinking and learning.

Staff do not always implement the curriculum effectively to provide purposeful activities for children. This means children do not always sustain interest in activities, when staff do not model how to get the best out of resources, such as in imaginary play. This means children sometimes become disengaged and display unwanted behaviour. Some staff lack knowledge of how to help children progress. This means when young children explore their capabilities on climbing activities they are deterred from reaching the top. Children are not sufficiently supported to extend their thoughts and ideas, for example, in building wooden structures and exploring mathematical calculations.

Staff prepare plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, these plans are not consistently implemented to help children achieve.

When teaching is effective, young children strengthen their focus and dexterity as they carefully paint their hands and swirl paint to create a new colour. Children participate in the 'memory box', where staff teach them to take turns in very small groups and name objects.

Achievement: Needs attention

Weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching means that children do not make the expected progress from their starting points. Children who require additional support particularly in communication and language, engage in specific activities only at set times. This reduces their chances to practise their learning and develop speaking and listening skills as well as possible.

Babies enjoy some interaction with staff but do not hear enough language through modelling or repetition to progress their language skills. Young children enjoy stories and songs. They acquire some physical dexterity during daily outdoor play. Older children persevere in some activities and retain focus to achieve. For example, practising cutting skills and building towers with care. Gaps in staff's knowledge of some children's progress and what they need to learn next means not all activities sustain children's attention, and some children wander off. At these times, children do not benefit from the curriculum aims. When children approach staff with their ideas and questions, their learning is not always sufficiently extended through high-quality interactions and support to help them achieve. Leaders do not ensure the curriculum aims, such as in independence, are consistently achieved. Older children serve their own lunches and tidy away afterwards. However, children have simple tasks completed for them, such as changing into outdoor clothing. This limits children's opportunities to gain necessary skills in readiness for their next stage in learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Urgent improvement

Ineffective routines and low expectations for children's behaviour adversely impact children's ability to retain positive attitudes and develop respect for one another. Leaders have not ensured that clear boundaries for acceptable behaviour are established for children to follow. Staff are not equipped with the skills they need to tackle unwanted behaviour, or reinforce the rules, so that young children learn to manage their impulses. When young children chase one another indoors, staff do not effectively address this to teach children expected behaviour. When their initial attempts are not successful, staff do not persist with supporting children to learn how to behave in line with their expectations. For example, some children line up to go outside but when others jump ahead, the queue quickly disintegrates. Staff frequently comfort children, including those who complain, but do not deal with the unacceptable behaviour appropriately. This means children do not learn how they should behave, or the impact of their own behaviour on others, so that they learn to play safely.

Staff have not established a smooth and ordered routine. Babies become unsettled as they spend too long waiting for staff to manage simple routines, such as preparing their sleep and lunchtimes. Children who face barriers to their learning do not receive consistent support to understand rules or routines. Younger children wash their hands prior to snack but wait at the table with little to do. At these times, they are not purposefully engaged and lose focus. Leaders monitor attendance effectively to ensure parents are aware of the benefits of prompt and regular attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Urgent improvement

Leaders have continued to fail to ensure staff remain vigilant to risks to children in the environment. Staff complete safety checklists, but do not understand how to assess risks to children's safety effectively enough to identify and remove all possible hazards swiftly. The overly lengthy structure of some routines means staff do not remain alert to some risks to children. For example, during mealtimes, they do not consider how to store some equipment properly to keep children safe.

Leaders do not ensure sufficient information is gathered about some children, including vulnerable children, when they first begin at the nursery. This means staff are unaware of important information they may need to support some children's individual needs. Furthermore, systems in place to share information are not fully effective. Leaders do not share ongoing information about the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help staff meet their changing needs.

Children enjoy freshly prepared meals and snacks throughout the day to support their health. At lunchtimes, leaders support staff to better manage the routines. Older and younger children serve their own meals and enjoy staff's company as they eat together. The outdoor area is used to provide opportunities for children to develop their physical skills, expend their energy and learn to keep healthy. Babies sleep in pods and staff monitor sleeping children. Staff share warm, positive relationships with children during individual conversations and one-to-one activities, such as reading stories together.

Leadership and governance: Urgent improvement

Leaders have failed to ensure the requirements of the early years foundation stage are met. They continue to not meet requirements relating to children's safety, wellbeing and learning. Weaknesses in monitoring mean leaders do not have rigorous oversight of the provision.

Since previous visits, leaders have not ensured that staff have received suitable training to help them carry out their roles effectively. Staff continue to lack sufficient safeguarding knowledge and do not remain vigilant in identifying risks to children in the environment. Staff designated to take the lead in safeguarding matters do not have the in-depth knowledge they require to support staff in their roles and responsibilities. They do not gather sufficient information to better understand the needs of vulnerable children so that they can provide staff with the knowledge they need to meet children's individual needs.

However, since the previous visits, leaders have implemented some changes. These include making sure the sleeping arrangements for babies ensure their safety. Procedures for keeping mandatory records, such as when children have accidents, have also been revised. Leaders are now made aware of all accidents and these are shared promptly with parents. Leaders now make sure that the person in charge of the nursery is suitably qualified to do so.

Staff are keen to get things right and support the children well. They attend meetings and some training to support their professional development. Leaders have identified that not all staff have received appropriate supervision to identify how they can be more effective in their roles. This means that the impact of professional development is not accurately measured to ensure consistency and compliance with the safeguarding and learning requirements. Leaders have clear knowledge of the local community they serve. Overall, parents report their children enjoy attending and appreciate staff.