Bright Horizons Milford Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from the caring and nurturing relationships staff build with them. Successful settling-in processes help staff to find out valuable information that assists them to settle children into nursery life. Staff take the time to get to know each child individually. Children go to staff for reassurance and comfort when needed. For example, babies cuddle into staff while sharing books, laughing and smiling as they join in making animal noises.

A well-thought-out curriculum reflecting all areas of learning ensures all children make progress. Staff plan interesting activities and target appropriate next steps to build on what children already know and can do. Children are eager to join in with these activities, which means they generally behave well and develop positive attitudes to learning. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive prompt, tailored and individual support. Staff understand that children learn in different ways. They work closely with other professionals to identify strategies to enhance children's learning and progress.

Children become increasingly independent. For example, they confidently wash their hands, pour their own drinks at mealtimes and put on their coats for outdoor play. These skills support children to be ready for the next steps of their education and for their move to school.

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

• Leaders are committed to providing the best possible care and education for all children. They lead a well-qualified team that shares their vision. Leaders are dedicated to continuous improvement and provide training and professional development opportunities for staff.
• Staff are kind and caring in their approach. They are positive in their interactions with children and are good role models. Children generally show good behaviour. They are beginning to understand the needs of others. Staff ensure children are aware of behaviour expectations in the setting and use some effective methods to manage unwanted behaviour. However, although there are boundaries in place, these are not fully implemented in practice by all staff. For instance, staff do not always support children to quickly resolve conflicts or when they struggle to listen to instructions in group activities.
• Children enjoy the many opportunities to develop their physical skills both indoors and outdoors. Staff skilfully adapt activities to support children to develop their large motor skills. For example, when peddling a tricycle, staff show children how to place one foot on each peddle and rotate. Children follow the instructions. They coordinate their movements and are able to successfully ride their tricycle.
• Staff carefully consider the environment and resources across the setting to ensure they build on children's skills. For example, they ensure furniture is situated in a way that helps babies to become more mobile. Older children benefit from resources that help to develop both gross and fine motor skills.
• Overall, staff support children's communication skills effectively. For example, with babies, they role model good language skills, speaking slowly and clearly so babies can repeat key words. With older children, staff encourage children to share their views and ideas. However, at times, staff ask limiting questions that do not extend children's thinking skills further.
• Staff follow clear procedures to ensure that children's care and dietary needs are met. Information about children's care needs, dietary requirements and allergies are kept under review. Staff provide healthy and nutritious meals to help children learn about healthy lifestyles.
• Staff build strong partnerships with parents. Staff provide families with regular meetings to discuss their child's development and their children's next steps. Parents say that they feel well supported and fully involved in their child's learning and know how to support their children's learning at home. For example, staff provide home learning activities to support children's next steps at home.
• Staff feel supported by leaders. They have regular opportunities to discuss their key children and identify their own training needs. Leaders complete regular supervisions and peer-on-peer observations to support staff's well-being and improve the quality of their teaching. Staff feel valued by leaders and enjoy working at the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff understanding of how to extend children's learning, giving them time to think and respond, especially to open-ended questions
• enhance staff skills to implement a consistent approach when managing children's behaviour to help children understand what is expected of them.