A Blackheath nursery “in breach of a number of requirements” has again been rated as “inadequate” by Ofsted.

My Childcare and Me in Blackheath was last inspected on June 27, 2023 and the report was published on October 11.

The nursery was found to be inadequate in all areas: Quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

Back in October 2022, the nursery was rated as requires improvement, and in 2021 it was also rated as inadequate.

Inspectors found that weaknesses in the quality of education and safeguarding impacted children’s learning.

It was also found that leaders do not make sure that staff know the curriculum intent well enough so children cannot make the progress they are capable of.

For example, inspectors found that some children get bored and don’t know what to do throughout the day.

Some babies were even found to be sitting in silence with “limited or no interactions from an adult”.

Ofsted reported: “Leaders do not use self-evaluation systems effectively to identify areas to improve and ensure better outcomes for children.

“Leaders and staff have not addressed the action and all of the recommendations raised at their last inspection.

“The provider is in breach of a number of requirements and the quality of the nursery continues to decline.”

It was also found that leaders and staff do not implement risk assessments robustly enough to ensure children’s well-being and safety.

Inspectors found that staff fail to make sure the premises were secure at all times.

Risk assessing was brought up as an area in need of attention at the nursery’s previous inspection, and Ofsted is not satisfied that the necessary improvements have been made.

For example, during the inspection, an antibacterial spray was left on a windowsill easily accessible to young children, but staff did not spot or address this.

In addition to these problems, inspectors said that there were “weaknesses in the key-person arrangements”.

This means that some “inexperienced staff” have been given key responsibilities, but they do not know how children are progressing and what their next steps in learning are or should be.

The result of this is that planned learning experiences don’t match children’s needs or build on what they know, according to Ofsted.

However, inspectors did find that relationships between staff and parents were “effective” with communication being both face-to-face and over email.

My Childcare and Me said: "Though the results from our latest inspection were both upsetting and disappointing, we are committed to ensuring a culture of improvement.

"Our team have worked tirelessly to plan and implement strategies to offer better provisions for the children in our care, prioritising their safety, learning, and development.

"Whilst we believe some of the comments made were not reflective of our setting, we have put our Action Plans into effect, and we have progressed plenty since June.

"We highly value our partnerships with parents and so we will continue to work with them, alongside Early Years professionals, to strengthen the knowledge of our practitioners, and give our children the best possible outcomes.

"We look forward to our next inspection, where our advancements will undoubtedly be recognised."