Maggie's Day Nursery Bexhill

Inclusion: Needs attention

Although leaders have secure processes in place for identification of support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and for children facing barriers to achievement, the implementation of the support is inconsistent. Staff do not typically give the support that children need to be able to access the full curriculum. This means that children do not always get the help they need to fully take part in activities. Therefore, their opportunities to make progress are limited. Consequently, any assessments do not accurately reflect the impact of any additional support.

Leaders and staff receive training to support their understanding of how to support children with SEND. They work well with other professionals to gain information and input. However, information-sharing with parents and carers does not typically include more specific information about children's development and progress. Some strategies, that are meant to be in place in the setting, are not consistently shared with parents to support a shared approach.

There are no clear processes to understand children's overall language development for children who speak English as an additional language. As a result, staff are not able to accurately assess children's overall development to understand how to provide further support. Leaders use additional funding for children appropriately to gain additional resources. The impact of this is yet to be seen due to the timescales of when it was received.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Despite the curriculum being planned to cover all areas of learning, the implementation of the curriculum is too variable across the setting to ensure that children fully benefit. The new staff team does not have a clear understanding of the curriculum, including for mathematical development. For example, a key theme of the curriculum is for children to be independent to support their personal, social and emotional development. Some aspects of this can be seen, such as when children get their own drinks during lunchtime and when they choose their own cutlery. However, often, staff complete tasks for children that they are able to do for themselves.

Some children have access to activities that extend their learning. For example, older children carefully use scissors to cut around paper flower petal shapes. They take their time to neatly place the petals on the flower. However, these activities are not consistent enough across all age groups and available for all children to access throughout the day, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who may face other barriers towards learning. The variation in learning opportunities means that children do not typically have key areas of development built on enough, such as in their communication and language development.

Staff give children some learning opportunities through the day to occupy them. However, they do not support children's development consistently through meaningful learning opportunities. Staff do not always purposefully teach children to develop their skills further. For example, staff reflect children's language as they play but do not typically add additional language or new ideas to support children's development further.

Achievement: Needs attention

Due to the weaknesses in curriculum and teaching, children do not have the opportunity to make the progress they may be capable of in all areas of learning. Children have some opportunities to develop their communication and language skills, for example through stories being read to them and group singing times. However, not all activities sustain children's attention, and they become distracted and wander off. These times are not purposeful enough to ensure that children really benefit from the teaching aims. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not fully benefit from consistent implementation of the support they need to access the full curriculum. As a result, all children do not gain key skills to support their future learning, including for when they move to school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

Staff do not focus sharply enough on what they need to do next to ensure that the routine flows smoothly for children. For example, too many staff focus on cleaning up after snack, which does not leave enough staff to support children for the next change of activity. At these times, children become bored and their behaviour deteriorates. Staff are not consistently aware of this, and therefore, they do not offer the support that children need or comfort children who have become hurt by others. Staff do not always recognise what they could do to help plan activities that positively impact on children's behaviour. For example, children continually argue over a pan in the mud kitchen and throw sand in the garden. When staff observe this, they attempt to address the concerns but do not take steps to help to lessen future arguments or support better engagement in play. This leaves children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who may face barriers to achievement, with unclear behaviour expectations or an understanding of how to play better with each other. Children and staff have suitable relationships.

Leaders promote children's attendance at the setting. They follow up with parents and carers if children do not attend to support children and families' wellbeing.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention

The key-person approach is not fully effective. Staff are not always based in the same age group as their key children. This means that they are not able to ensure that the agreed support for children's individual learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to achievement, is implemented effectively. Despite this, children are settled at the setting and enjoy nurturing relationships with staff. For example, young children enjoy cuddles with staff when they feel tired.

Due to weaknesses in how staff support children's behaviour, there are gaps in learning opportunities for children to learn to understand and manage their emotions. Children have an awareness of their own health and know to wash their hands before eating. Staff support children to have daily opportunities to play outside to support their physical development. For example, children show that they like to jump off items in the garden.

Staff are responsive to children and babies' individual routines. For example, they work with parents and carers to establish children's food preferences at home and introduce these in the setting. Babies' personal sleep routines are followed, and staff adapt well to the changing needs of the babies in the setting.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leaders are aware of what it is that they would like to achieve in the setting. However, the impact of these aims is not yet evident. For example, although staff receive direction from leaders day to day, there are not secure systems in place to closely monitor staff practice to identify gaps in teaching to drive improvement. This leads to gaps in teaching that mean that not all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who face barriers to achievement, receive the support they need to succeed. Leaders have plans in place to develop this aspect of their practice.

Leaders make decisions with the best interests of children in mind. However, a recent change of staff team, including some of the leadership team, has posed some challenges for building further development within the team. Parents and carers share that their children enjoy attending and like the staff at the setting.

Staff report effective levels of support from leaders. This takes the form of supervision meetings and training opportunities. For example, staff recently completed safeguarding training to secure their knowledge of reporting procedures. In addition, recent changes to risk assessment procedures have positively contributed to children's safety within the setting.