Bambini Childrens Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and demonstrate they feel safe and comfortable in the care of the friendly staff team. Relationships between staff and children are positive, and children form strong bonds with their key person. They interact in positive ways with children. For instance, they smile and use lots of eye contact. Children demonstrate they feel settled and secure.

Staff make effective use of assessments and plan to ensure that children are meeting developmental milestones and are ready for their next stages in learning. For example, children practise their small-muscle skills. Younger children have a range of materials to make marks on paper and older children are skilful completing puzzles. This supports their next steps in writing. Children learn about different countries and their cultures, such as Japan. Staff teach them different songs in various languages, which supports children's understanding of others. Children thoroughly enjoy this and join in with action songs.

Children understand the daily routines and staff's expectations for their behaviour. They follow staff's instructions and show respect for the learning environment. For example, when staff sing to indicate it is time to tidy up, the children help to pack away the toys straight away.

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

• The manager and her staff provide a well-planned early years curriculum that supports all children's learning and development, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff carry out their own observations to find out what children like, and what they know and can do. They use this information, along with a theme of learning, to develop children's knowledge. For example, currently they are focusing on growing. However, during some creative activities, the outcomes are too adult-directed. This means children are not always able to develop their imaginations through craft activities.
• Children's independence is promoted from the outset. Babies begin to confidently move around and choose play items. Toddlers put their shoes on ready to go for their daily walks, they learn to use cutlery to feed themselves. Pre-school children serve their own lunch and know how to wash their hands before mealtimes. This supports children's knowledge of healthy practices.
• Staff support children's language and communication well. Throughout the day, staff provide children with regular opportunities to sing songs and read books. Babies giggle and babble with staff. Toddlers name different ducks, such as 'coots', that they have seen on their walks. Pre-school children are articulate and are starting to use their memory and recall skills to anticipate the events in their favourite stories. However, in some group activities this is not as successful, as staff do not always recognise that these sessions are too long for some children, which means they lose their focus.
• Staff teach children early mathematical language. They model mathematical language and extend children's understanding of shape vocabulary. For example, when children fill their containers with water they are curious and compare the different amounts collected, while staff talk about full and empty. Older children use two-dimensional magnetic shapes to make three-dimensional shapes out of triangles and squares.
• Staff support children to behave well. They encourage children to understand how to line up in pairs and walk to the garden safely. Staff use praise well to promote positive behaviour. Children are well mannered and say please and thank you.
• The manager identifies staff training needs effectively through supervision meetings and mentoring. Staff access a range of training offered by the local authority. They use this to raise the quality of teaching and care. Staff work effectively as a team. They say they feel very well supported within their role.
• Parents are extremely complimentary of the education and care the nursery provides. They comment that their children are happy and often enter the setting without saying goodbye in their haste to greet their friends and staff. Parents also say that their children's learning is 'evident' through the well-planned curriculum that the nursery offers.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff teaching strategies to support children's creativity and imagination during planned activities
• adapt group activities to ensure all children fully engage and benefit from the learning opportunities.