Hamilton House Nursery & Pre-School Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

The overall quality of care and education for children has declined since the last inspection. Children's welfare is not maintained and their learning needs are not met.

Staff do not adequately supervise children while they are eating. They also have an inconsistent knowledge of possible indicators of abuse and referral procedures for child protection concerns. This does not ensure a consistent approach to children's safety and welfare.

Although leaders and managers have identified a curriculum and children enjoy participating in activities, staff do not consider children's individual abilities when planning futu...re experiences. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This results in staff being unable to support every child to make the progress of which they are capable.

For example, staff plan experiences for babies such as learning the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language and letters. This activity is too advanced as many babies have not yet developed their speaking skills. On reflection, staff acknowledge that the younger babies gain little from the experience.

Staff warmly greet children when they arrive, which helps them to feel settled and emotionally secure. However, ineffective deployment of staff and implementation of secure routines, prevents staff from consistently guiding all children's development through positive interactions. For example, all children over the age of two play outside after lunch.

Only two staff oversee the large group of children as other staff are busy elsewhere. This results in some children amusing themselves as they receive no support and some children getting upset when minor behavioural issues are not seen by staff. Staff fail to recognise when children need support as they are too focused on the tasks that they are doing.

This results in children being left to struggle to overcome obstacles in their play.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and managers are aware of weaknesses with staff knowledge and practice in some areas. However, they have not provided staff with enough time and support to help them to develop their skills.

This has resulted in standards of care and learning declining for all children.Staff sometimes prioritise the routines of the nursery over the care and supervision of children. This is to the detriment of children's health and safety.

For example, staff do not consistently ensure children are supervised while they are eating.Children's welfare is not protected. Staff do not have a good knowledge of a wide range of indicators of abuse.

For example, some staff have no knowledge of indicators associated with female genital mutilation or radicalisation and extremism. Some staff also lack a secure awareness of the correct procedures to follow should they identify child protection concerns about a child or a staff member.Ineffective deployment of staff at certain times of the day results in children's needs not being met.

The lack of effective staff supervision of children during these periods results in a chaotic environment. Staff are unable to consistently provide children with quality interactions to support their play and learning.Staff do not make use of their ongoing observational assessments, when planning future experiences for each child.

For example, staff often plan activities linked to themes, currently Halloween, with little thought given to the skills and knowledge being promoted for each child. While children enjoy participating in the activities, they lack challenge. This hinders the progress children make.

Large daily group-time activities are not structured to meet children's varying needs and abilities. Staff fail to support younger children to take part and engage. This results in them showing little interest and gaining nothing from the experience.

Baby room staff make use of an electronic tablet, which plays nursery rhymes for children as they get ready for lunch. There is no quality interaction or support provided by staff at this time, as the focus is on getting children ready for their food.Staff show kindness and consideration to children.

When they do engage with them, they offer support and when poor behaviour is observed they discuss this appropriately with the children. When babies are upset, they are provided with cuddles and reassurance to help them feel secure.Staff help children to become independent as they support children to serve their own meals and pour their own drinks.

However, inconsistent routines means that some children wait a long time before eating as staff only have one serving platter for large numbers of children. Some staff introduce children to counting as they hand the plates out, whereas others do not do this when handing the cups out. These inconsistencies do not support children's ongoing learning and development.

Parents confirm that staff spend time getting to know their children. They explain how they are kept informed through daily chats and through information shared on the online system. Bilingual staff communicate with parents in their home languages when offering feedback about their children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure children are constantly supervised while eating 28/10/2024 ensure staff have a clear awareness of indicators of possible abuse that may occur in the child's life at home or elsewhere 22/11/2024 ensure staff have a clear understanding of child protection referral procedures regarding the action to take when there are safeguarding concerns about a child, or if there is an allegation made against a member of staff 22/11/2024 ensure deployment of staff always remains effective so that children's needs are met and their learning promoted 15/11/2024 ensure staff use information gained from observational assessments to identify and plan challenging experiences for each child, which builds on their prior knowledge and skills 20/12/2024 ensure secure routines for children's play and learning are in place and followed by staff 20/12/2024 ensure effective supervision of staff is in place, which provides them with support, coaching, and training to promote their continuous improvement.

20/12/2024