2nd Home Childcare Ltd@Barley Mow

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

At this setting, children thrive in a warm, nurturing and stimulating environment where they feel happy and secure. This atmosphere is built on staff's commitment to creating strong attachments. Familiar adults are consistently available throughout the day to join children in their play and learning, encouraging them to share their experiences and ideas with their peers. For example, staff consistently get down to the children's level during interactions. These nurturing practices directly support the ambitious curriculum that leaders have created, which encourages all children to be independent, confident and resilient.

On arrival, children confidently leave their parents at the door, hang up their coats and bags, and settle into their room routines. This smooth start to the day is a result of staff knowing all children well and implementing sensitive, targeted strategies to support new starters and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Children display positive attitudes to their learning and actively engage in the nursery day and activities available. The setting promotes a genuine love of learning and a strong sense of responsibility. For example, older children are given ownership by participating in risk assessing the garden with clipboards and pens, looking for potential hazards. They are becoming capable individuals who are well-prepared for their next stages of learning.

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

• Learning is well sequenced. For instance, younger children attempt to put on their own coats, while older children confidently self-serve at lunchtime. To support this developmental journey, staff create meaningful activities that directly link to children's interests. For example, a seasonal interest prompted a perfume making activity using natural resources, which developed skills such as handling scissors and promoted child-led investigation.
• Staff use observations and assessments, including the two-year progress check, to track children's development. This approach ensures they know what children can do and what they need to learn next, allowing staff to swiftly identify gaps and create clear next steps.
• Communication and language are a priority. Children are introduced to new vocabulary during play, such as 'pollen' and 'absorb'. Staff promote sustained shared thinking and prediction during conversations. To support babies in understanding and learning their first words, staff use gestures alongside spoken language. Staff create a love of reading through engaging story times and the use of a lending library, which encourages families to engage in joint reading at home.
• Inspection report: 2nd Home Childcare Ltd@Barley Mow 30 September 2025 2
• Daily routines serve as key learning opportunities. Children mostly follow these routines with happiness and confidence. For example, staff and children manage transitions between activities or rooms well by singing a song and forming a line, which makes the movement a positive and fun learning experience. However, the organisation of the transition into planned group time for older children is not as effectively managed. As a result, some children become unsettled when staff do not provide consistent emotional support in a timely manner.
• Children have frequent opportunities to develop their physical skills. The well-resourced outdoor area offers a challenging, hilly terrain with elements including balancing on crates and tyres, which helps children develop coordination and gross motor movements. Staff ensure children exercise energetically and explore in all weather. They carefully sequence the development of fine motor skills across the setting. For example, babies make marks in sand while older children use thin pencils to create artwork.
• Staff build strong partnerships with parents, creating a second home for families. Parents report that staff are caring and approachable and that they feel involved in children's development. Staff use face-to-face communication to update parents on children's progress and remain flexible to individual family needs.
• The leadership team is strong. Leaders have created a culture of reflection and continuous improvement. They place a high priority on staff well-being, leading to a confident, settled and motivated team. Leaders ensure secure and consistent practice across the team through regular supervision and targeted training for staff.
• Healthy lifestyles are promoted through activities such as brushing large toy teeth and handwashing practices. Children benefit from nutritious meals and have constant access to fresh water throughout the day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of routine transitions for older children, particularly those leading into group times, to better support all children's emotional needs.
• Inspection report: 2nd Home Childcare Ltd@Barley Mow 30 September 2025 3