Bright Horizons Potten End Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the welcoming nursery. Children take part in activities that they enjoy. They explore sand and paint and other sensory activities, such as dough and water. Toddlers wash dolls, and roll out and press dough as staff encourage them by saying 'Ready, steady go, roll roll, roll'. Staff ask questions such as 'What are we doing?', to help children to respond and learn conversational language. They discuss with children how they made their own dough to help them explain things that have happened. Staff echo things that children say to help them learn correct pronunciation and to promote their language. Children show their developing imaginations as they make dough 'cakes' and 'cook' them in the play oven.

Children use recognisable words as they talk about 'rolling' and 'making a big butterfly' with dough. Children in the pre-school room are confident and talkative. They use a large range of language to explain their feelings, thoughts and ideas. They show that they understand real-life experiences as they pretend to fly an aeroplane from an airport they have built from large blocks. Children show resilience, for example, as they rebuild parts of the structure when it falls down, then review and improve it.

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

• Leaders and staff understand the established curriculum in place that reflects how individual age groups develop and learn. Leaders successfully communicate to staff how to assess children's development and then build on what the children can already do. The manager knows the children in her nursery well, including those with specific needs, which helps her to have clear oversight of the quality of teaching. She manages the staff team well. Strong recruitment, induction and training systems are in place, so that all staff know what is expected of them. Staff report that they feel well supported and enjoy working at the nursery.
• Staff support children's confidence as they praise and value their achievements, especially when they are kind to their friends. Staff are strong role models and show children how to manage minor disagreements. Staff are aware of children's care needs and work together to make sure these are met. However, at times, in the morning session in the baby room, staff focus more on supporting babies' care needs and do not take all opportunities to support their learning. Overall, babies develop close bonds with the caring staff. They have positive interactions with them and feel safe and secure. Babies explore the outside area with interest. They touch soil with their hands which provides them with interesting sensory experiences. They develop their large muscles as they crouch down to play peekaboo in the tunnel with staff.
• Children who soon move to school readily discuss what is coming next. For example, they tell visitors that they can put on their new uniform, and that they will meet their teachers soon. Staff have the same high expectations for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They give them the same secure move to school as their peers. Staff also adapt activities to help all children take part equally in activities and ensure they have the equipment they need to support their specific needs, such as devices to support their speech development.
• Parents are positive about the nursery. They praise the regular communication that they receive from staff and appreciate that they have activities sent home to promote children's development. They feel well informed about things that their children have achieved. Effective working relationships with other professionals involved in children's lives support a collaborative approach towards children's care and learning.
• Toddlers, generally, spend their time at nursery involved in busy and purposeful play. However, some intentions for children's learning are not commonly understood by all staff. This means that, on occasion, staff interrupt children's learning. For example, some staff tell children that they can transport sand from one area to another, when other staff tell children not to move this and start sweeping it up. This means that some children are not able to follow chosen learning activities through to their conclusion.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff who work with younger toddlers, to judge more successfully when to engage in children's play and when to step back and give children time to develop their own ideas
• review the deployment of staff in the baby room at the beginning of the day to enable staff to focus more specifically on babies' learning needs while they also support their good care.