Bright Bees Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the nursery happily with smiles and giggles. They confidently settle to play, making choices freely from the exciting range of resources. Staff give all children and parents a warm welcome. Leaders design an ambitious, structured curriculum offering stimulating experiences. Children are consistently engaged and active in their play. They concentrate for significant periods relative to their ages and work together to solve problems. One example is when they experiment with resources in a water tray to guess, and then check, which items float and which sink. They talk with staff about how some materials soak up water. Children make marks on a chart to show what they have discovered to their friends.

Children explore the wider community extensively. For instance, staff take children to choose fruit and vegetables for their snacks at the local shop. Children investigate the world around them with great curiosity. They visit parks, woodland and farms and enjoy daily outdoor play at the nursery. Staff help children to learn to care for others. For example, children feed the chickens in the garden and watch with awe as they lay fresh eggs. They learn to keep themselves safe, including thorough handwashing after careful handling of the birds. Staff teach children to understand where food comes from and how to cook ingredients such as eggs.

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

• Staff build precisely on what children know and can do as they play. They take account of children's interests and abilities from the start. They swiftly identify any gaps in learning and take action immediately. Leaders use additional funding highly effectively to support individual needs. Staff work extremely closely with other professionals and settings including schools that children will attend. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language, make rapid progress from their starting points because of the excellent support given by staff.
• There are high expectations of behaviour. Children demonstrate their understanding of the rules to follow when they remind each other to use 'kind hands'. Staff model politeness, saying 'please' and 'thank you'. They show great respect for children and each other. Children cooperate well and take turns. For example, while they mix and pour 'magic' potions into bottles, they willingly share pipettes, funnels and jugs. Staff offer specific praise about children's achievements, such as when they solve the problem of how to fill the bottles using the tools.
• Staff strongly encourage all children's independence. Babies practise using spoons to eat soup. Older children drink water from glass beakers and serve nutritious meals onto china crockery. They learn about portion size and healthy choices. When children pretend to be superheroes, they work out how to put on a cape, with guidance from staff.
• Development of children's communication and language skills is the highest priority across all age groups. Staff repeat new words clearly in conversations. They provide core high-quality stories and songs for children to know and join in with. The repetition of these helps to enrich vocabulary. Young children concentrate well as they access books independently, lifting flaps and turning pages. Older children use their imaginations as they create 'books' with mark making and talk about what their lines and drawings mean.
• Staff use mathematical language frequently during activities. For example, they ask older children to name what shape they want to cut out. Children use scissors safely and confidently. Staff support the development of early literacy skills highly effectively. Children learn to listen intently while playing games. Staff support children to build muscles for gross and fine motor control through physical play. They encourage children to copy symbols representing Chinese New Year, using chopsticks in dough. They are motivated to draw shapes to represent their favourite superheroes because staff know their interests very well.
• Parents access detailed information about children's learning and development. There are frequent updates online, daily discussions and regular meetings. Staff provide fun home-learning bags to support continuity. Parents take part in workshops about healthy eating and self-care skills, such as toilet training. Parents say children make 'wonderful' progress, particularly with socialising, behaviour and language skills.
• Leaders use their observations and discussions to sharply focus on the best opportunities for staff to develop their practice and achieve qualifications. Staff use updated skills to enhance interactions with children and broaden experiences even further. They feel extremely well supported and valued. The aspirational team continuously reflects on ways to make improvements to achieve the very best outcomes for children.