Bluebirds Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the welcoming nursery environment. They develop secure relationships with the friendly and nurturing staff. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff know and follow children's care routines, ensuring their individual needs are met. Children enjoy exploring the environment and make their own play choices. Older children confidently access different resources to help them adapt and change their play. For example, they find small toy cars to put inside the tunnels they build.

Children learn the behaviour expectations at the nursery through age-appropriate 'golden rules'. Staff encourage them to use polite language, such as 'please' and 'thank you'. Children play together well. When there are any minor disputes, staff gently remind children to wait their turn and share the toys with others. Children eagerly show staff their achievements and proudly clap and dance when staff praise them. This helps to promote children's confidence and self-esteem.

Children have many opportunities to build on their physical development through play. For example, there are a variety of resources outside, such as a slide, trikes and climbing apparatus, to support children to strengthen their large muscles. Inside, babies use small spades to scoop sand and toddlers pour water into different-sized containers, helping to build their small hand muscles in preparation for early writing skills. Older children enthusiastically join in physical activities such as daily dance sessions, helping to support their physical fitness.

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

• The managers are dedicated and have a clear and ambitious vision for the nursery. They strive to provide high-quality, inclusive care and education for all children. The staff team members place a high priority on getting to know each child and family well to understand their needs. They provide parents with a wealth of information and advice to support them and their children. For example, they have arranged for parents to have access to free online training provided by the local authority.
• The management team members gather the views of parents and staff to reflect on how they can raise the quality of the provision further. For example, plans are in place to provide children with opportunities to learn more about nature in environments outside of the nursery. Staff are encouraged to engage with training opportunities to develop their practice further. The management team places a high priority on staff's well-being, and staff say they feel supported.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported extremely well. Managers work closely with parents and external professionals to ensure children swiftly receive the additional help they need. Individual plans are put in place and shared with staff to help children work towards achievable targets and make progress in their individual learning and development. Additional funding is used effectively to support children's individual needs, such as through the purchase of specific resources and additional one-to-one support.
• Staff know children well and plan a broad curriculum to help them make progress in all areas of learning. They use assessment effectively to monitor children's progress and to identify what they need to know or do next. However, sometimes, staff do not always ensure they consistently provide sufficient challenge for the older and most-able children. For example, while children play with magnetic shapes, staff do not always use this to extend their mathematical knowledge even further.
• Staff support children's language development well. Children benefit from daily singing, rhymes and story times. Staff engage with babies and young children as they play, naming objects and talking about what they are doing, helping to broaden their vocabulary. Older children enjoy engaging in group discussions, helping to promote their confidence.
• Children enjoy a variety of healthy snacks and cooked meals. Babies and toddlers are encouraged to feed themselves with spoons. Older children proudly complete small tasks, such as setting out the cutlery at lunchtime. From a young age, children are encouraged to take off and put on their own shoes and coats to play outside. Children learn good hygiene practices, for example they wash their hands after playing in the garden and before eating. This helps to promote children's independence and to prepare them for the next stage in their learning, including school.
• Parents say their children enjoy coming to the nursery and make good progress. They say staff are 'amazing' and 'supportive'. Parents say that they have regular discussions and meetings and receive information via an online app, including advice on how they can support children's learning and development at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to challenge and extend the older and most-able children's learning more effectively.