Arkley’s Little Acorns Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Leaders do not have effective oversight of this setting, which means that the safety and welfare of children are not ensured. There are weaknesses in the induction procedures for new staff, and in the training and supervision of staff, that result in significant gaps in staff's safeguarding knowledge. Leaders have not taken sufficient action to mitigate the risk to children that poor safeguarding knowledge presents.

Staff prepare activities and provide a range of resources in spacious indoor and outdoor environments. Children enjoy choosing where and what they wish to play with. Staff observe this play but fail to use the...ir observations to engage with children in any meaningful way.

Some staff have better knowledge of the curriculum and plan purposeful learning activities. For example, children enjoy washing dolls' clothes together and then use pegs to hang these on a washing line. However, these staff are overstretched and are unable to meet the needs of all children by themselves.

Staff do not work together to deliver secure routines. For example, changes in routines are not communicated to children, so they do not know what is happening next or what is expected of them. There are moments in the day that feel chaotic and are particularly confusing for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

At times, staff take toys away from children or wipe their noses from behind with no verbal cue that they are about to do so. This shows a lack of understanding about how to support young children's behaviour.

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

Staff that work directly with children do not have the child protection training or knowledge required to keep children safe.

They are not aware of who their safeguarding partners are and cannot identify and describe the different signs of abuse. In addition, leaders have not met the requirement to share details of all company directors with Ofsted. This is an offence and means that suitability checks have not been completed for all directors.

Leaders have not delivered robust inductions or effectively monitored staff's practice through supervision meetings and training. As a result, basic procedures are not embedded and weaknesses in practice are not quickly addressed. For example, when children have minor accidents, these are sometimes ignored and not recorded.

This failure to follow simple procedures impacts on the safety of children.Staff lack the confidence or knowledge to effectively support children with SEND. Staff plan some purposeful activities for children.

For example, they encourage children to match small animal figures to where they belong on a giant world map. However, staff do not adapt the activity, or plan an alternative, to include children with SEND. Despite the high ratio of staff to children, children with SEND do not get the individual support they need to meet their next steps of development.

Staff do not work together as a cohesive team to deliver the same strategies and expectations. For example, staff have a set of visual cards to support communication with children with SEND, or those that do not speak English as their first language. However, these are used inconsistently, so they do not have the impact required to support children with communication needs.

The nursery cook prepares healthy snacks, and allergies are well managed through the use of individual placemats for children. Children self-serve using tongs, building their independence during mealtimes. Staff stand and observe children rather than sit with them to model and promote social skills and conversation.

However, stronger staff do encourage table manners and promote the use of polite language.Some staff understand the importance of modelling language to children. They lead discussions about the weather and read familiar stories with enthusiasm.

They encourage and praise children for taking turns to lead a nursery rhyme for their peers, building their confidence and self-esteem. However, other staff have a very limited understanding of the curriculum, or how to implement it, including how to interact with children to build their language skills. These inconsistencies mean that children do not make as much progress as they are capable of.

Leaders send home monthly newsletters and staff make good use of an online platform to share regular updates and observations with parents. Parents comment that their children are happy and settled. They state that they appreciate the spacious setting, the smaller number of children to adults and the regular communications from staff.

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, the provider must: Due date ensure all staff understand safeguarding policies and procedures and have up-to-date safeguarding knowledge 30/07/2025 review induction and supervision arrangements to ensure all staff have a secure understanding of nursery policies and procedures 30/07/2025 implement strategies to include and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to enable them to make better progress towards their individual goals 30/07/2025 ensure staff are consistent in how they communicate with children, so that all children understand what is happening next and what is expected of them 30/07/2025 provide staff with training and coaching to improve their knowledge of the curriculum and how to offer quality learning and development experiences for children.

30/07/2025