Bright Horizons Harpenden Luton Road Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The staff are very welcoming at this inviting and busy nursery. Children form strong attachments to staff. This helps babies and children feel secure when they are away from their families. Babies and young children snuggle up to staff for comfort, helping them to adapt emotionally to a range of situations and be ready to learn. Staff build children's confidence with praise for their efforts, helping to foster perseverance. This helps children to take pride in their achievements and they are supportive of their friends.

Staff play with the children from an early age and help develop their communication and language skills well. They use clear words, signs and gestures to make sure children understand questions and instructions. For example, at lunchtime, staff ask children if they would like custard. They show the children the bowl so they know what they are talking about. Staff wait for children's answer by voice or gesture and confirm their understanding of the answer to make sure children have been heard. Staff sit with older children during activities and listen to them talk about events from their home life. They ask questions and are genuinely interested in the children's voices. Older children demonstrate their social skills further when they chat with their friends during mealtimes. These good interactions help children to develop skills to be sociable in a range of situations.

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

• The leadership team has high expectations and an ambitious vision for all children who attend. Staff working with the youngest children implement the curriculum well. However, staff working with older children do not always implement smooth plans. This means that, at times, learning for the older children is not meaningful or challenging. For example, during transition times, staff do not always skilfully engage children in activities. As a result, some children lose focus and sometimes interrupt others' play.
• Despite some recent changes in the team, staff report high well-being and satisfaction in their work. They have opportunities to develop their skills to support children's learning. The extended leadership team has systems in place to develop the nursery. This includes the early stages of developing the practice of staff working with the older children and those staff who have taken on lead roles. However, these plans are not rigorously monitored to ensure the impact is effective.
• Staff provide a broad curriculum of activities to help children make good progress in their learning and development. The key-person approach successfully supports children to make good progress. Staff know the families well and ask parents about their home lives and values. This enables staff to focus on building on children's whole-life experiences.
• Inspection report: Bright Horizons Harpenden Luton Road Day Nursery and Preschool 2 5 August 2024
• Children are learning to understand what contributes to a safe and healthy lifestyle. The nursery serves freshly cooked, nutritious food. Children have ample opportunity to develop their physical skills. They balance on beams to develop core strength. Older children enjoy riding round on bicycles, navigating space and developing their ability to be spatially aware.
• Staff help children understand how to keep themselves safe. They help young children walk down the stairs safely. Staff remind children to hold the handrail and walk at a pace that is safe for children. Older children demonstrate they are beginning to understand the reasons for the reminders. For instance, when serving themselves lunch, children explain to visitors that they know the bowl is hot and they must be careful.
• Partnership with parents is strong. This has a positive impact on children's learning. Staff keep parents up to date with progress of their children's development and share ideas of how to help them learn at home. Parents report that their children are excited to attend the setting and have strong bonds with their key persons. Staff provide opportunities for parents to visit and experience the nursery with their children.
• Staff support children to extend their learning through a wide range of activities. Practical activities support older children to learn about how their bodies work. For example, staff encourage children to roll foam into a ball and talk about how they use their hand and arm muscles to squeeze and squash it. Children laugh with delight as they pop foam bubbles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to enhance the learning needs of all children, and implement the ambitious vision through high-quality interactions, with particular focus on the older age ranges
• monitor staff development plans more rigorously to help them develop their practice and knowledge further.
• Inspection report: Bright Horizons Harpenden Luton Road Day Nursery and Preschool 3 5 August 2024