Bar Hill Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive good-quality education at this warm and homely nursery. They arrive happy and eager to learn. Children and their families are enthusiastically greeted on arrival by friendly staff, who are skilled at helping children who are new to the nursery to quickly settle and to feel comfortable in their surroundings. Children of all ages have developed close relationships with the adults who care for them and feel comfortable to approach staff and communicate their wants and needs. Babies' welcome cuddles and close interaction. They enjoy snuggling on staff's knees to look at books.

Children take great delight in participating in the sensory and creative opportunities that are presented to them. Toddlers thoroughly enjoy playing with foam and making handprints with paint. Babies excitedly squish sand, cooked spaghetti and noodles between their fingers. In the pre-school, children re-enact their favourite stories in the garden. They are fascinated by a bee they find in the sandpit. Staff take the opportunity to teach children about bees and their features through a number of interesting activities and rich conversations. Children show great pride in their drawings of bees that they create with their friends.

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

• Staff enthuse and motivate children to learn. They know the children they care for well. Staff plan exciting activities to help develop children's learning based on children's interests and building on what they know and can do. They include parents in this process and encourage them to support their children's learning, for example, by providing items for show and tell.
• The nursery is well led by an experienced and motivated manager who is highly respected by her staff. Staff morale is high. They feel that there is a real positive atmosphere in the nursery and a strong team ethos. The manager meets regularly with staff to help support their professional development. Staff's well-being is given high priority which helps them feel supported and valued.
• Children play in a safe and secure environment. They are encouraged to help staff to identify any risks in the garden before they play. This helps children to become aware of how to keep themselves safe. During an activity with nails and a hammer, staff constantly remind children of the safety rules and ensure they are well supervised.
• Parents are given a good account of their children's day at collection time. Regular information is shared about children's progress through an online application. Parents feel that there is a warm family feel in the nursery and that staff work very closely with them to meet their children's ongoing needs.
• Staff understand the importance of developing children's communication and language. Singing songs and reading stories consistently happens throughout the day, with children of all ages showing a good interest in books. Staff hold meaningful conversations with older children and regularly introduce new words into their vocabulary, such as oval and antennae, when talking about the shape and features of a bee.
• Staff work closely with families and other professionals to provide targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, is used well to support children's needs.
• Children understand the rules of the nursery and their behaviour is good. They use sand timers to help regulate taking turns independently. Older children are able to take care of their own self-care skills in preparation for school and life. They confidently use the toilet, dress themselves and serve their own food at mealtimes.
• Children attend the nursery who speak English as an additional language. Staff help them to learn and to develop their communication skills in English by providing a language-rich environment. However, not all staff understand and promote the benefits for children to be able to use and to see their home language at nursery as well as at home.
• Snack and mealtimes in the babies' and pre-school rooms are not always organised effectively to meet children's needs. Currently, these routine activities do not always promote social skills, good hygiene practice and mealtime expectations for children prior to starting school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build staff's understanding of how to support children who speak English as an additional language
• reorganise snack and mealtimes to ensure the needs of all children are met.