Oak Lane Day Nursery And Pre School

Inclusion: Urgent improvement

Children's emerging needs and gaps in their development are not identified by leaders and staff quickly enough. Leaders do not ensure staff have a clear enough understanding of children's specific developmental gaps. This means staff are unable to ensure the curriculum is precisely targeted to children's individual needs. This is particularly relevant to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning. While support plans are in place for some children, advice given by external professionals has not been incorporated into these plans and acted on in a timely manner. Targets are often too broad, and plans do not provide staff with clear guidance about what should be taught or how to support development. This does not support children to make progress.

Communication and information sharing between the nursery, parents and external professionals involved lacks sufficient clarity and oversight. While leaders are currently working to address some of these weaknesses, oversight of the quality and implementation of support plans is insufficiently robust. As a result, children do not consistently receive the right support at the right time. This is particularly significant for those children who have been attending for some time.

Curriculum and teaching: Urgent improvement

The curriculum lacks ambition and is not sufficiently well designed, sequenced or implemented. Curriculum planning does not include clear learning intentions that are based on the knowledge and skills children need to acquire over time. As a result, learning is not systematically built on what children already know and can do. This does not ensure that children build the secure knowledge and skills they need for future learning and readiness for school.

The curriculum is not adapted effectively to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those who are facing barriers to their learning. Specific learning targets are not identified securely enough. This means that the curriculum is not sufficiently tailored or adapted to children's individual needs. Staff have some understanding of how young children learn which supports some children in their learning. However, the lack of a carefully planned and sequenced curriculum means that the teaching does not always specifically match the children's learning needs and stage of development.

Staff promote children's communication and language effectively through modelling, questioning and responding to children. Staff introduce mathematical concepts and this is particularly evident with children aged two- and three-years old. However, these are often taught and revisited incidentally by staff rather than purposefully through the implementation of a carefully designed curriculum. The curriculum does not ensure that older children, in particular, develop the skills and behaviours needed for the next stage in their learning, such as listening, attention and following instructions. Leaders have started to monitor teaching and recognise they need to prioritise stronger oversight of the development, design and delivery of the curriculum.

Achievement: Urgent improvement

Children do not achieve as well as they could from their starting points in their learning. This is because the curriculum and teaching do not consistently help children build the knowledge they need to be ready for the next stage in their learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to learning do not receive the right support at the right time. Children with specific needs who require more targeted help are not sufficiently supported. Consequently, these children do not make secure and sustained progress.

While some children are developing their language and communication skills, for example, in their interactions with their peers, older children are not gaining the skills or learning the behaviour expectations that they will need for school. For example, they do not develop sufficient perseverance and concentration and are not consistently encouraged to listen and follow instructions. Children are not engaged and challenged well enough in activities, which means they often move between activities without purpose.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention

Children sometimes lose interest and disengage in their learning because activities are not sufficiently challenging. Children's specific needs, targeted support and any adaptations they require have not been consistently considered when planning the curriculum. This is particularly relevant for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face barriers to their learning. Leaders do not ensure an inclusive approach to supporting all children's positive attitudes to learning.

Overall, leaders have focused well on ensuring staff are consistent in managing children's behaviour. From a very young age, staff help children understand behaviour expectations and generally support them well in routines. For example, 'Candy Floss', the nursery superhero, is used throughout the nursery to help children understand the rules. Staff remind children to use their 'kind hands' when they have difficulty sharing.

Staff focus well on encouraging children to express their feelings, for example, using books and stories, including 'The Colour Monster' story. They implement effective strategies to support children with additional needs who struggle with regulating their emotions. Leaders recognise the impact recent staff changes have had on children, particularly vulnerable children or those new to the setting. They have worked hard to ensure some consistency within rooms. This has helped children to form secure attachments with staff working with them.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Needs attention

While children form positive relationships and attachments with staff, the numerous changes to the staff team have impacted on the effectiveness of the key-person role. Leaders do not ensure that children with specific learning needs receive the targeted support they need to progress swiftly. In addition, there is insufficient sharing of information with parents to support them in extending children's learning at home.

Children's care needs are met across the nursery. Babies and young children are cared for in a safe environment. Transition arrangements from home to the setting, particularly for younger children, enable parents to share information about their child when they start nursery. For example, their care routines, likes and interests. Leaders ensure some consistency in staffing within rooms. This means staff build relationships with the youngest children and effective routines are implemented around safer sleeping and eating. Children are supported to understand healthy choices and practices and how to care for themselves. For example, babies and young children become familiar with the routines of washing their hands before mealtimes. Older children are encouraged to be independent and confidently hang their coats and bags up when they arrive.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leaders have made significant improvements in the setting following recent visits by Ofsted related to concerns around safeguarding, risk assessment and managing children's behaviour. While this has been prioritised, leaders have not yet effectively identified and addressed weaknesses in the curriculum and support provided to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning. While there have been significant changes to the management and staff team recently, leaders are committed to improving the quality of the provision. Leaders are keen to build on the improvements they have started to make. For example, they have begun implementing a programme of monitoring staff practice and completing regular supervision meetings with staff. This will ensure staff receive targeted professional development and appropriate support to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to fulfil their roles.

Leaders are clear about their priorities moving forward. The impact of actions they have already addressed is evident. For example, staff consistently manage children's behaviour, which helps children to understand their own emotions and the feeling of others when situations arise. Leaders are committed to working with parents to ensure that any future changes in staff have minimal impact on children. They continue to prioritise fulfilling the important role of the key person effectively to support children's time at the nursery. The wellbeing of staff, as well as ensuring children are safe and well cared for, has been a priority and this is being well managed.