A nursery in Oldham which has been described as "chaotic" has been criticised in its latest inspection report, losing its once "outstanding" badge.

Brighter Beginnings Nursery, situated in the Fitton Hill Neighbourhood Centre on Fircroft Road, looks after more than 50 children aged two to four.

While the nursery was given the highest possible grading in its prior inspection by Ofsted in 2018, when the education watchdog visited the premises this March, inspector Layla Davies found a number of concerning issues.

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Addressing the standard of education, Ms Davies wrote that the nursery fails to ensure staff implement the curriculum, meaning the youngsters are "not supported to make good levels of progress" and are left without the knowledge and skills needed to prepare for their future learning.

When it came to behaviour, it was found staff struggle to enforce its guidelines such as "golden rules" and "walking feet", in which children are "unclear" about what is expected of them.

As a result, the youngsters do not respond to requests to line up "and continue to run across the room or into the office", the report continued.

While staff are turning to new methods, such as shaking a tambourine, which Ms Davies found to work "in practice", she said expectations for their behaviour "are not consistently implemented and rules are not followed".

"Children do not understand appropriate behaviour", she added.

The report also revealed that young children "cry throughout" some sessions and dubbed the nursery as "chaotic at times".

"Children who are unsettled do not play.

"They wander around seeking attention, over-reliant on dummies to soothe them", Ms Davies continued.

Lunchtime in particular was highlighted as a "lively occasion" while the packed lunches that were brought in were criticised as being high in sugar and "contradict the healthy eating policy".

In addition, "children do not sit down at the table when eating and occasionally wander around with food in their mouths", Ms Davies continued.

She added that the children "do not listen" to instructions and "run in areas where only walking is permitted" and that "they throw toys".

Communication and language were also deemed inadequate with the children's speaking skills hindered by the overuse of dummies - and the way in which staff structure sentences and model words.

In the few positives in the report, the inspector did find "despite the weaknesses in support for children's learning", most of the youngsters are happy and enjoy activities such as the book club.

The nursery's active sessions, such as yoga and dance, were found to be popular with the children while further supporting their dexterity and coordination in readiness for the future.

Some of the methods adopted by staff to control the children were also commended as being more successful, such as those who reward good behaviour by giving children a lanyard to show they are a "special helper for the day".

Parents also spoke positively about the nursery and staff to the inspector, highlighting its "stay-and-play" sessions, the lending library and "book of the week" initiatives.

Yet Ms Davies said parents "are not fully aware" of what the youngsters are learning since "limited information" is shared about their skills and next steps.

The nursery had also been subject to a safeguarding incident where staff "failed to act swiftly when worried about the conduct of a colleague".

However, the report revealed leaders have since taken action from the incident and has revisited the safeguarding policy effectively.

Yet supervision was still found to be an issue at the setting.

Despite the additional support staff receive from the wider leadership team and the company's training academy, Ms Davies said staff do not have the confidence to implement the training which hinders their teaching of the curriculum.

When it came to leadership, the watchdog found the manager to be "enthusiastic" and eager to provide the best quality provision.

However, Ms Davies said self-evaluation at the nursery is "over-inflated" and fails to address its weaknesses.

But Ofsted has now instructed the nursery to radically change and has given it a grading of "requires improvement".

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register, Brighter Beginnings Nursery has been told to improve staff training, support and supervision to help them to implement a "precisely focused curriculum that prioritises what leaders intent children to learn".

The report also said staff need help to manage children's behaviour and to support parents - both with updates on their children's learning and with advice for healthy lunchboxes.

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