Children’s wellbeing is being compromised at a Ventnor pre-school, as standards slip, according to a new Ofsted report.
However, the report says caring relationships are being maintained.
Previous ‘Outstanding’ rating
The education watchdog visited Ventnor Community Early Years (VCEY) at the end of June and decided its overall effectiveness had fallen from ‘Outstanding’ (in 2015), to ‘Inadequate’.
Inspectors noted its manager knew each family and worked closely with staff to ensure they were supported and they found staff had caring relationships with the children.
‘Inadequate’ in all four areas
However, each of the four inspection areas were also rated ‘Inadequate’ — the quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management.
Ofsted inspectors reported finding children spending long periods of time with no staff interaction and noted they stood ‘staring out of a window alone’ for some time — something staff failed to acknowledge.
Not all children making progress they’re capable of
Inspectors said, as a result, not all children were making the progress they were capable of and staff failed to prioritise making sure children were safe.
They said staff also failed to recognise the learning environment was not adequately meeting children’s needs.
VCEY has been contacted for comment.
Other findings
Safeguarding arrangements were not effective, said the report, despite regular staff training, adding the manager and staff failed to manage poor behaviour effectively, which meant children were at risk of hurting themselves, or others.
Children attending VCEY were bored, inspectors found, and did not engage with activities.
Staff did not plan meaningful experiences that challenged their learning.
The development of the children’s communication and language was poor, the report says, as staff did not support their vocabulary by talking back and forth with them and the children became disengaged and distracted in their learning.
Staff did not plan meaningful experiences that challenged their learning.
Communication and language development poor
The development of the children’s communication and language was poor, the report says, as staff did not support their vocabulary by talking back and forth with them and the children became disengaged and distracted in their learning.
While younger children at VCEY were found to have secure attachments with staff, supporting their confidence, other children were very quiet and lacked confidence in social situations, inspectors said.
Negative impact on learning
While some children often needed support, it was not always the case and that had had a negative impact on learning.
Parents said they were happy with the care their children had received and said staff were caring and understanding of families’ needs.
Children’s extremely poor behaviour created chaos
Staff though, inspectors said, failed to deploy themselves effectively and often left less-experienced colleagues to manage children’s extremely poor behaviour, creating chaos and allowing for little learning.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
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