Bridges Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Effective settling-in procedures help children's transition from home to the nursery. Staff work closely with families to offer personalised stay-and-play sessions tailored to each child's individual needs. This responsive approach helps children to feel secure, build early bonds with staff and become familiar with their new environment. Children arrive happy and separate from their parents and carers with ease. They are eager to play and motivated to learn. Staff plan a well-sequenced curriculum that reflects children's interests, developmental needs and learning styles. Regular assessments enable staff to clearly identify what each child knows and can do. Staff use this information to plan meaningful next steps in learning that build on children's prior knowledge. All children make good progress.

Children listen attentively to familiar stories read by enthusiastic staff. Pre-school children demonstrate a secure understanding of familiar stories. They use expressive language and movement as they pretend to travel through long grass, squelchy mud and swirling snow. Staff support younger children to develop their communication and language. They model single words and use associative sounds in their play to support emerging speech. This helps all children to become effective communicators. Babies sleep peacefully and safely. Staff regularly check on them to ensure that they are safe and well.

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

• Leaders strive to deliver high-quality care and education to all children. They know what they do well and identify areas for development. Leaders promote a culture of well-being and maintain an open-door policy to make sure that all staff feel heard and valued. Staff are happy in their roles. Regular professional development opportunities support staff to build on their knowledge and skills.
• Staff provide a balance of child-initiated and adult-led activities, which generally support children's learning well. However, on occasion, during group activities, staff do not always monitor children's levels of engagement closely enough. Some children disengage because staff do not always consider the length of time activities take. As a result, some children miss out on sustained and purposeful learning.
• The nursery has a key-person system in place. However, key staff in the baby room do not consistently organise themselves or the learning environment well enough to fully support young children's development. At times, they do not review sensory play activities to ensure that they are age-appropriate. Staff do not spend consistent quality and focused time with their key children to build stronger attachments and support their individual learning needs. For example, key persons do not consider the range and quality of activities needed to promote babies' exploratory and investigative skills.
• The curriculum places a strong focus on supporting children to develop independence and learn about healthy lifestyles. However, staff do not consistently embed this into daily practice. At times, staff complete tasks for children, such as wiping their noses, pouring drinks and cutting up their food, without encouraging them to try for themselves. This hinders opportunities for children to build confidence in managing their own self-care. Additionally, staff do not talk to children about making healthy food choices, such as during mealtimes, and the benefits this has on their bodies.
• Children have lots of opportunities for fresh air and exercise. They build strength and coordination as they enthusiastically engage in a range of outdoor activities, such as digging in the mud with spades. This supports children's physical health and development.
• Staff are positive role models. They manage children's behaviour calmly and consistently. Staff model respectful interactions and support children to share and take turns. Staff help children to recognise and manage their emotions. They use visual aids, such as emotion charts, to encourage children to identify and talk about how they feel. This helps children to feel safe, regulate their feelings and build respectful relationships with others.
• Staff encourage children to develop their mathematical understanding, such as when they eagerly fill and empty a selection of different-sized containers with sand and water. Staff introduce mathematical language, such as 'full', 'empty' and 'more', to support children's understanding. Children interact positively with their friends. They use their imagination as they pretend to cook in the outdoor kitchen.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to monitor children's engagement in group activities, to ensure they are appropriately timed and all children remain engaged in purposeful learning
• strengthen key-person practice in the baby room to provide even more age-appropriate activities and purposeful interactions and further babies' exploratory skills
• embed opportunities to develop children's independence and self-care skills, and use mealtimes to consistently promote children's understanding of healthy food choices.