Bright Horizons Blackheath Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff nurture children well. Children are eager to arrive to start their learning. Staff plan an ambitious curriculum with exciting activities that are based around children's next steps in learning and their interests. For instance, younger children enjoy learning about builders. They learn how to make 'cement' with staff, and use this to build with in their base rooms. Staff also plan fun outings to match the topics, such as trips to the local builders' merchant to see builders' tools up close. This helps children to progress with all areas of their learning.

Older children develop key skills to prepare them for their move on to school. Staff teach them self-help skills, such as serving their own meals. Children are highly skilled in knowing what coloured plate they need to have for meals, and which children have allergies, helping to keep each other safe.

Staff teach children of all ages about their feelings. Children show empathy towards their peers and their feelings. This helps children to understand the consequences behind their actions. Children are sympathetic. For example, they apologise when they knock into a friend or interrupt an activity, recalling well what they have been taught. Children behave well.

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

• Leaders are ambitious and share their ambition with all staff, who match it by providing high-quality care and learning for all children. Staff have high regard for safety in the nursery. Leaders have worked closely with staff to retrain them on their knowledge of hazardous cleaning fluids and remove all unnecessary products. This allows staff to keep children safe.
• Staff are not always aware of their positioning in the playrooms and garden. As a result, staff miss what is happening behind them, which means they do not consistently extend children's learning further.
• Recent training has helped staff to look at the root cause of children's behaviour. This has allowed staff to plan individually how to best meet children's needs. Children behave exceptionally well.
• Older children's outside play can be, at times, chaotic as children in both rooms play outside together. Leaders have identified that this needs to be changed. However, they have not yet had the chance to work out what needs to be changed and implemented.
• Staff use children's interests and news events to plan fun and exciting activities. A recent activity saw children 'running for government'. Children wrote their own manifestos with the help of staff, and their peers went to their 'polling station' to vote for their candidate. They then enrolled their new 'prime minister' and 'cabinet'. This helps children to understand what is happening in the world around them.
• Parents give highly positive feedback about the nursery, explaining how happy they are with the quality of care and learning their children receive. They feel safe leaving their children in the care of the staff. Parents are fully aware of who their child's key person is and appreciate the feedback they receive on the progress their children make.
• Staff take time to teach children about the environment and their impact on it. Children form an environment council with staff to learn about the importance of recycling and caring for the world they live in. Children actively use the recycling bins in the nursery and teach new children which bins to use. This enables all children to care for the environment and to recall what they have been taught.
• Staff are kind and considerate to all ages of children. They are close at hand to offer cuddles of reassurance and support. Children cuddle up to staff and, when ready, happily go off to explore and play. This supports children's self-esteem and confidence well.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a key strength in the nursery. Staff are highly skilled in assessing children's needs and working extremely closely with outside agencies and parents to meet children's individual needs. Staff work well to provide tailored care and adapt routines to support children's needs. This allows staff to work towards closing gaps in children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to deploy themselves more effectively to better support children's learning and development
• review the organisation of the outside spaces and how staff plan activities to meet children's learning needs.