Bluebell Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and children regularly visit the nursery prior to starting, to help them to become familiar with it. This leads to children settling into the nursery environment very quickly. Children form warm, close relationships with the staff. When needed, they seek comfort and reassurance from the responsive and nurturing staff team. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children are kind and demonstrate care and concern for their younger friends. For example, children stroke young babies' heads carefully. They are curious to learn new information and ask questions about babies growing and developing.

Staff have high expectations of children and know how to prepare them for the next stage in their education. Children experience stimulating learning opportunities. For example, they use coloured ice on lollipop sticks to paint pictures. Children get excited when staff introduce the next activity. They giggle with delight as they work together to pull a large piece of fabric out of a bag. Children enthusiastically hide under the fabric playing parachute games. They enjoy singing songs and rhymes, such as 'Row, row, row your boat'. Children are keen and eager to learn. They learn mathematical language during water play, such as 'bigger' and 'smaller', 'empty' and 'full'.

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

• The manager is knowledgeable and passionate. She is very committed to the ongoing improvements of the nursery. She provides regular supervision for staff, to further develop their practice. The manager encourages staff to reflect and provides them with professional development opportunities to improve their skills.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff build relationships with parents before children join to help them feel reassured. They work collaboratively with parents to support the individual needs of the children. Staff inform parents of children's levels of development and give advice around how to support children's learning at home. For example, they give ideas of activities parents can do to help develop children's mathematical knowledge.
• Overall, children make good progress in their learning and development. However, staff do not always use effective strategies, for instance visual cues and simple language, to support and engage children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). At times, this leads to children being unsure of what is expected of them. This does not support children with SEND to make the best possible progress.
• The manager has developed a well-sequenced curriculum in which children build on what they already know and can do. She has considered the skills children need to learn in order to be fully prepared for the next stage in their education.
• For example, to develop children's early writing skills, staff initially help children to learn how to pick up pegs with their finger and thumb before moving on to threading.
• Children benefit from a range of opportunities in the local community that teach them about the wider world. Staff take them to the shops to buy things for the nursery and to the library to share stories. Staff regularly sing songs and read to children. Children are provided with a language-rich environment which supports their communication and language development effectively. Staff interact with children during their play to further extend their learning. For example, when babies are mark making, staff model drawing lines and circles to encourage them to copy.
• The manager is highly skilled at engaging and refocusing children when they become distracted. For example, she gives them instructions to copy or sings to them. However, other staff do not consistently use these strategies. This means that, on occasions, such as when waiting for lunch, children are not fully engaged.
• Children's behaviour is good. They form close friendships and play together cooperatively. Children are confident and talk positively about themselves and their lives outside of the setting. Staff support children to develop their independence. For example, they are encouraged to put on their own apron and hang their coats on their pegs. This helps to prepare them well for the next stage in their education.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's knowledge further about how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to help children to make even better progress
• strengthen further staff's understanding of strategies that can be used to positively manage children's behaviour, particularly during times when children are waiting or moving on to the next activity.