Bright Horizons Didsbury Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish at this nursery. All children are supported by high-quality staff to make the best progress they are capable of. Children become explorers, scientists and artists. They deeply engage in the exciting activities that staff provide. For example, babies gently wash dolls. They brush the dolls' teeth and change their nappies with great care and attention. Children gain a rich set of experiences that broaden their knowledge and skills. Pre-school children learn complex vocabulary as they dissect flowers. They extend their physical skills as they cut and pick the petals. Children develop close relationships with staff, which helps them to feel settled and content.

Children explore the stimulating environment with confidence. They make choices about how they spend their day. Pre-school children and toddlers flow freely from indoors to outdoors. Children are safe. Every interaction with staff extends children's learning. Children are taught through their own interests, which helps to develop their character. Staff set the highest expectations for children. Behaviour is impeccable. Children are eager to listen to staff and follow instructions. They show a high level of respect for staff and each other. The nursery is wonderfully inclusive. Every child is a valued member of the nursery community. Children are taught about each other's unique culture and heritage, which are meaningfully celebrated. Children collect food for a foodbank in a nearby area. This helps them to learn about the needs of the community they live in and how these differ between communities. This helps children to gain a deep understanding of the wider world and their place within it.

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

• The nursery delivers a well-thought-out and unique curriculum which is tailored to each individual child. It is broad and gives children a firm foundation for their early learning. Challenging programmes for science and music enhance children's learning further. Teaching is of the highest quality. Children make outstanding progress from their starting points.
• Staff use highly effective strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They make small adaptations to daily routines so that all children can access them. Staff have excellent partnerships with a range of professionals and services. This ensures children with emerging needs are quickly identified through rigorous assessments. Children with SEND make the best progress they are capable of.
• Activities captivate children because they are engaging and exciting. For example, babies beam with delight as they drive toy cars through paint and make marks. Toddlers become immersed as they explore their senses as they make their own creations with dough and herbs. Pre-school children show great concentration as they skilfully recreate famous portraits. Children demonstrate extremely high levels of learning for extended periods.
• Children are encouraged to take appropriate risks in their play. Pre-school children show incredible confidence as they wobble and balance on the obstacle course they have made. Staff encourage children to keep trying. Children develop a strong sense of resilience and self-esteem that enables them to confidently challenge their own abilities.
• The nursery provides a wealth of support for children who speak English as an additional language. Many staff members use their own home language to support and settle children who speak the same language as them. Toddlers learn to count and sing in Spanish. Parents have been invited into nursery to share stories in their own languages. All children are learning about the different languages that their friends speak.
• The nursery has a passionate senior leadership team that provides superb support for the new manager. As a team, they continually evaluate and reflect on everything in the nursery. They make changes as necessary to ensure the biggest impact on children. Children are truly at the heart of everything they do.
• There is a comprehensive package of training that all staff members engage with. Staff complete mandatory training before they begin their roles, and they continue to develop their knowledge and skills regularly. Supervisions are highly effective at identifying training needs. Leaders set high expectations of staff. They monitor their practice to help ensure the highest standard is consistent across the nursery.
• Parents are highly engaged and praise the setting enthusiastically. They comment that staff provide 'loving care' and that children's 'development is fantastic'. Parents come into the nursery to attend workshops about toilet training and managing behaviour. They are invited to join webinars each month about different areas of children's development. This helps to ensure absolute consistency between learning at home and nursery.