Bright Horizons Day Nursery and Preschool Guildford

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children behave well throughout the nursery and respond positively when staff remind them of the rules. For example, children are keen to help their friends sweep up spilt sand from the floor. Other children readily join in to help by offering a dustpan, and they work together to complete the task. Staff strengthen children's understanding of how they are expected to behave by praising them appropriately.

Children are happy and settled in the nursery. Staff step in quickly when children show they are feeling upset or insecure. This gives children the emotional support they need. It enables them to feel safe and develop strong bonds with staff.

Children become confident learners. They demonstrate this in the comfortable way they explore their surroundings and engage with staff. For instance, when children choose to climb on the 'clamber tower', they freely chat with staff. Staff engage warmly with children and support them to use the equipment properly. This promotes children's understanding of how to manage risks for themselves so that they can access their learning environment with confidence.

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

• The manager has a strong understanding of what she wants children to learn during their time at nursery. This is shared with all staff, who demonstrate secure knowledge of the curriculum. Staff assess children's progress, which helps them to identify what they want children to learn next. This enables staff to plan effectively for children's continued development.
• Staff are very positive in their praise for the leadership team, and in particular the manager. Staff enjoy working at the nursery. They say that this is largely due to the strong support they receive from leaders with their well-being and professional development. The manager has built strong relationships with staff, and this enables them to confidently share any concerns they may have.
• The manager ensures that children and their families feel welcome and included at the nursery. Parents compliment the nursery staff for going above and beyond to support each family. This promotes the sharing of relevant information, which enables staff to know their families really well. Staff value the uniqueness of each family, which they incorporate into children's learning. For instance, staff sensitively support children to celebrate similarities and differences between themselves and others. This helps to prepare children for life in modern Britain.
• The manager has successfully implemented strategies to involve parents in their child's learning journey. This includes creating a library area where parents can read to their children. During the inspection, parents freely used this space to share stories with their child. This supports families to spend quality time together and promotes children's interest in reading.
• Staff plan exciting and engaging activities that successfully embed children's skills and knowledge. For instance, they support pre-school children to find out how their bodies work. Children demonstrate that they are highly motivated to learn and actively participate by listening to staff and responding with their own ideas. Staff effectively extend this to encourage children to think about the impact different foods have on their bodies. Staff ensure that all children have a chance to talk and they promote children's confidence by valuing each child's contribution. This helps children to build on their developing language skills.
• Overall, staff effectively meet children's needs, such as offering new babies cuddles and reassurance when they are upset. However, the routines between lunch and sleep are not always managed well by staff in the baby room. At these times, babies are not fully supported to settle for their sleep time, which does not consistently ensure that their care needs are being met.
• The special educational needs and/or disabilities co-ordinator (SENDCo) works closely with families, staff and other agencies involved in children's care. This enables children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to benefit from highly effective support with their ongoing progress. For instance, staff encourage children with SEND to play with their peers, which helps them to develop good social skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review how routines are managed in the baby room to ensure that babies are consistently well supported to settle for their sleep times.