Bookie's Babes

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children at this setting thrive, as they form strong bonds with caring staff. Staff fully understand the importance of secure attachments for children's emotional well-being. Children feel safe and secure as they benefit from a well-established key-person system. For instance, babies snuggle into their special person for reassurance when they need it. Staff seek information from parents about children when they start. They offer individualised settling-in sessions, and use these to get to know children and families. This contributes to the home-from-home environment that staff strive to create for children.

Children learn through carefully planned activities that are suited to their age and stage of development. Children learn through a balance of adult-led activities and child-initiated play. Staff know the children well and work with parents to plan effectively for children's learning and development. Staff assess what children know and can do and provide a good range of activities to stretch and challenge their development. As a result, children make good progress.

Children are starting to develop their independence skills. They enjoy carrying out tasks throughout the day that enable them to make independent choices. For example, children put their jackets and shoes on to go into the garden and wash their hands in preparation for their meals. Interactions between children and staff, and children and their peers, are warm and caring. Staff create an environment where children are learning to manage their own behaviour.

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

• Leadership and management are strong at this nursery. The leader and manager work well together and strive to make continuous improvements. They each have an understanding of their different roles and responsibilities. The leadership team is committed to developing practice and they seek effective support from the local authority early years team.
• Staff gather information about each child when they start at the nursery. They carry out regular assessments of children to gain a better understanding of their development. Staff use this information to plan activities and experiences to ensure that children are meeting their expectations in all areas of their development. Children make good progress from their starting points and staff share information regularly with parents to keep them updated with their ongoing achievements.
• Transitions between rooms in the setting are individually arranged for each child, based on their stage of development. A close relationship exists with the on-site feeder nursery. This ensures that for children who progress to this setting, the move is a planned and smooth transition, with children who are prepared and well supported.
• Leadership from the manager is effective. Staff report high levels of support for their well-being. There is effective engagement with staff through supervision and focused actions for professional development. There is a strong emphasis on teamwork and developing a nurturing environment; this fosters newer and less experienced staff to become more confident in their work with children and parents.
• Overall, children's communication and language skills are supported well. Staff sit alongside children at mealtimes and join in with their play. However, on occasion, some staff miss opportunities to engage with enthusiasm during activities with children, resulting in them moving away or become disengaged.
• Children have a wide range of resources available to them inside and outdoors. Resources are on low shelves or containers so that children can access them easily. Staff support children to investigate and explore different resources as they play. Staff provide children with a good range of opportunities to explore the outdoor area. From a young age children can choose whether they want to play indoors or outside. They learn to climb up the steps on a slide and develop their skills on ride-on toys, such as tricycles.
• Staff carefully nurture children's emotional well-being. Children are sociable, confident and secure in their relationships with staff. They happily turn to staff for help or comfort, if needed.
• Parents praise the work and dedication of the manager and staff and appreciate that this is reflected in their children's progress. They say that they have noticed progress in their children's speech and language ability since they have started at the nursery. They remark on how their children benefit from the secure relationships they have with the staff, who know the children very well. They say the staff are kind and welcoming in their approach, including the support they provide for parents throughout the year.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve staff interaction with children to model the use of language, extend vocabulary and support their communication and language skills.