Bloomers Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children attending this nursery are happy and content. They settle well into the environment and build positive relationships with their friends and the adults who care for them. Children enthusiastically play an active role when it is time to tidy up, get their coats on to go outside or join their friends for carpet time. Staff role model the kind and respectful behaviour expected of children.

Staff have high expectations of the children in their care. Children behave extremely well. They are confident to express their needs and ideas. Staff help children to understand the impact of their behaviour on others. They sit with children and talk to them gently. This helps children to reflect on their actions and understand that they can make positive choices.

All staff at this nursery play a role in helping children understand how to stay active and healthy. The cook prepares high quality meals freshly cooked on site. Children eat together during social mealtimes where they learn to use cutlery and good table manners. Staff and children discuss how to stay healthy. They enjoy activities like games in the garden, brushing their teeth and sharing their emotions. This contributes to their good physical and mental well-being and prepares them well for the next stage in their learning.

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

• Children feel safe and are confident to explore the nursery environment. They have strong bonds with the adults who care for them. Staff plan exciting and inviting activities which they skilfully adapt depending on the children. For example a messy play activity involving flour and water is adapted across the day to support small and large groups and respond to different children's interests. This helps children develop their concentration and imaginations.
• Children benefit from a language rich environment both indoors and outside in the garden. Staff have attended training to help them support children's early language development. They use their teaching skills to support children to respond to questions, express their ideas and recall past experiences. Children enjoy stories, songs and rhyme at circle time. This helps children to become good listeners and confident speakers.
• Children know the daily routine well. This helps them to transition easily between different activities, mealtimes and sleep times. When it is time to tidy up children are keen to help and they smile broadly when staff praise their efforts to help get ready for the next activity. Children demonstrate their growing independence by fetching their coats and putting on their shoes when it is time to go outside. This helps children to make valuable contributions and become confident in their own abilities.
• Staff use a range of methods to communicate with parents. This includes online communications and friendly conversation at the start and end of the day. Parents provide information about their child when they first start. This helps staff understand what children know and can and helps them settle well into nursery. However, as children grow staff don't always prepare parents and children enough for big changes, such as moving into the next room. This means children do not always transition as smoothly as intended.
• Staff help children to understand behavioural expectations and manage their feelings. Adults demonstrate respectful language and put appropriate boundaries in place. Children learn to understand and develop empathetic responses when their friends are upset. This provides a secure foundation for building friendships and children's future learning.
• The manager has a robust recruitment process in place and the nursery has some long standing staff who enjoy their roles. However, like many early years settings, the manager has faced challenges recruiting to vacant positions. The manager ensures statutory ratio requirements are met by bringing children together at the start and end of the day when numbers are lower. Activity planning for these mixed age groups is less effective than at other times during the day. This means children do not always get the most from the opportunity to learn alongside younger and older peers.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• Consider how the morning routine can be adapted to ensure opportunities for all children to support their stage of development
• Further develop partnerships with parents to promote continuity when supporting children through transitions