Bizzybeez Childcare Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle to play quickly on arrival and the friendly staff support them well to feel secure and welcomed in the nursery. Children go to staff for cuddles and reassurance, when needed, and then happily return to play. Staff are keen for children to achieve through their play. They provide a balanced curriculum that supports children's interests and their next steps of learning well, overall. This helps children make good progress. Children learn how to share and take turns. Staff talk with them about their emotions and help them understand how to manage their feelings. Pre-school children recall the colours used to reflect different emotions in a favourite story and play cooperatively.

Pre-school children have fun making play dough. They wait patiently to have a turn at mixing and kneading the dough. They concentrate well using textured rolling pins and tools to make marks and create patterns in the dough. Toddlers strengthen their small-hand muscles effectively in play. For example, in a water play activity they squeeze small pipettes tightly to fill them up and then show fascination as they release their grip and the water trickles out. Toddlers develop an early interest in the concepts of sinking and floating, when they spontaneously put nature items, such as fir cones and twigs, into a jug of water and see what happens.

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

• The provider has reviewed the provision offered and worked with staff to make improvements since the last inspection. For example, they have re-organised the play areas to give the toddlers and pre-school children separate rooms. This has enabled staff to provide more activities that are focused on the younger and older children's needs.
• The provider has also implemented more effective systems to support and coach staff in their roles. Staff have raised their awareness of how to provide more choices of resources for children, such as in the creative arts and crafts area. This has encouraged children's interest and participation in mark-making activities.
• Staff praise children for their efforts and gently remind children of their 'golden rules', such as using 'kind hands' and good listening. Children behave well, overall. However, staff have not fully considered organising some parts of the session, such as tidy-up and snack times, with toddlers more effectively to ensure they are well supported and not waiting for long periods.
• Staff encourage children's independence skills from a young age. For example, children serve themselves their healthy snack food. Pre-school children develop good control using the lever on the water station to fill their cups. Toddlers learn to put on their coats and shoes themselves.
• Children enjoy counting and do so often within their play. Toddlers begin to join in counting 'How many monkeys fall off the bed' in a song. Pre-school children quickly recognise how many fingers staff hold up to reflect the number of adults present. However, staff do not consider further ways to build on children's knowledge of counting. For example, to reinforce their awareness of how written numbers match to quantity.
• Staff promote children's communication and language skills well. Children begin to use language very well to express their ideas, such as about safety. For example, when on a scavenger hunt outdoors they give a stick to staff and say, 'you must keep it out of reach of the babies'. Toddlers repeat words of favourite songs and start to independently say please and thank you.
• Staff monitor children's progress regularly and plan a range of activities to support their learning. For example, pre-school children start to recognise initial letter sounds from their names. Toddlers show curiosity at the marks they make using different tools in a water play activity. However, staff do not always give more consistent focus to planning for children's individual next steps of development across all areas of learning. For example, to build on children's mathematical awareness and social skills even further within circle and snack times.
• Parents speak highly of staff and say they keep them well informed about their children's activities and achievements. Parents comment that they know their children's next steps of learning and that their children are making good progress since starting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the focus given to planning for children's next steps of development to help them make the best possible progress in all areas of learning consistently well
• make more use of opportunities for children to understand about linking number and quantity and develop aspects of their mathematical awareness further
• improve the organisation of some daily routines, such as tidy-up and snack times to ensure the younger children's needs are met consistently well.