Barney Bears Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children really enjoy coming to this warm and nurturing setting. They benefit from embedded routines, and adults work hard on building strong attachments with their key children. The key persons encourage children to explore and be independent. Children's own ideas are supported and they are frequently praised as they find and use resources for junk modelling, building and painting.

Children communicate confidently and use good vocabulary and language in their play. They enjoy having conversations together and ask questions as they hunt for snails in the garden, make mud mixtures and act out going on a bear hunt. The children are naturally curious; they particularly like going on local trips to the park and are so happy and proud to show their treasures from a nature walk. They confidently explain the things they have collected and what they plan to make.

Children are encouraged to express themselves; they are polite and respectful and adults are good role models for them. They talk about their feelings like the weather and explain if they are feeling 'rainbow happy' or like a 'sad cloud'. Babies are independent and move freely in the stimulating and well-organised environment. They smile as they are learning to walk, listening to music and exploring the ball pit.

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

• Children demonstrate good fine motor skills. They confidently use scissors and mark-making tools to draw, write and paint. Pre-school children form letters in salt and use scissors to cut herbs for their scented play dough.
• Children maintain attention and concentrate well. They are motivated to join in with the activities in the environment and adults interact well alongside the child-led play. The babies listen intently to a story as they tip and pour water, splashing and laughing for long periods of time.
• Fostering children's independence and confidence is a real strength at the setting. Children are well prepared for the next stage of education. They become helpers at snack time, wash their hands ready for lunch and pour their own drinks. Children's confidence really grows as they move into the main nursery room.
• Routines are well embedded and children enjoy having a lot of time to explore the indoor and outdoor environment. They choose resources to add to their play and adults plan and prepare activities based on children's interests. However, opportunities for quality adult-led teaching and experiences are not fully planned and developed. Therefore, children's learning and positive behaviour are not always supported throughout the day.
• Children have well-developed gross motor skills; they make the most of their surroundings and go out on regular visits to the park. They are able to take managed risks as they jump, climb and balance on logs and obstacle courses.
• Lunchtime is well organised and children enjoy hot, nutritious, home-cooked lunches as they chat with the friends and adults at their tables. Children eat independently, serve themselves and often ask for seconds. They learn how to brush their teeth in the baby room and know what foods keep them healthy.
• Staff know their children really well and the way they settle and nurture babies starting nursery is a real strength. They plan the environment with children's interests in mind and the baby room environment is a real highlight, with special cosy areas, sensory resources to enhance exploration, and family photos to make children feel at home.
• All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress from their starting points. The staff ensure they get to know families really well and work with outside agencies to set targets and help each individual child thrive. The experienced special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) helps other staff to understand children's individual needs and how to support them.
• Parent partnerships are strong and parents speak so highly of the care and education the nursery provides for their children. They particularly comment on how they were supported during the settling-in process and staff's help in getting ready for the move to school. Families feel involved in their children's learning as they attend special events. They know what their children are working on and understand how they can support them at home.
• The leaders and managers are dedicated and passionate about improving outcomes for children and being part of their community. They have clear vision of the strengths of the setting and what they would like to improve next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor and support staff further to enhance the quality of teaching and learning so children are even more focused and make better progress
• fully develop and embed behaviour management strategies so expectations are consistent and explained fully.