Bright Horizons Southam Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this nursery. The manager and the staff team strive to provide the very best care and education for all the children. They create a stimulating learning environment that encourages children to explore and investigate with confidence. Children receive continuous encouragement and reassurance to succeed and not give up. Therefore, children make excellent progress in their learning and development.

Children fully understand the behavioural expectations. They learn to be kind to their peers, and they build strong relationships with the adults who care for them. The excellent key-person system in place ensures that children make secure attachments. Staff nurture and care for the children and model respectful interactions. Older children learn to express their emotions and explore their feelings. For example, they read stories to help them to understand how to express what makes them feel happy and sad. They use emotion cards linked to colours, which help them to reinforce what they mean. Staff consistently remind babies to use kind hands and turn take when they complete puzzles together.

All children investigate and explore an extensive variety of sensory activities. Babies show confidence as they explore light and music. Children are fascinated as they watch the colours project around the room. They dance excitedly to the music, using a variety of fabrics. Toddlers explore using paint in small spray bottles. They experiment using pinecones and leaves on large sheets of paper. Staff add brushes, sticks and rollers for children to paint with. This enhances children's learning experiences further. Children delight in creative play and investigate the shapes that form on the paper.

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

• The curriculum is strongly embedded throughout the nursery, and the learning intent is clear. The staff team receive excellent support to implement the curriculum. Staff provide an extensive range of activities based on children's next steps in learning and their interests.
• Leadership and management are highly effective. The staff team have an excellent working relationship. They talk with enthusiasm about the support they receive from the manager. The management team monitor the quality of teaching. The manager regularly observes staff's practice. She gives purposeful feedback to help them achieve the highest quality of teaching possible. There is a strong focus on professional development.
• Partnership with parents is exemplary. Parents enthuse about the varied lines of communication they receive from staff, such as daily conversations, regular review meetings and progress reports. Parents of older children comment on the impressive way children are prepared for the transition to school. This includes children acquiring the social skills that will equip them for their future learning. The manager offers extensive support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She identifies their needs and swiftly puts the correct support in place. This enables all children to make considerable progress from their starting points.
• Children develop considerable independence at nursery. Older children line up to self-serve their food using serving spoons. After they have eaten, they scrape their plates and help to tidy away. During the day, staff encourage older children to wipe their own faces and noses. They position tissues and wipes next to mirrors for children to do this by themselves and thereby gain confidence. At mealtimes, toddlers learn to pour their own drinks with support. Staff encourage and praise babies for trying to feed themselves.
• Children make excellent progress in their communication and language skills. Staff join in and play alongside the children. They model language and extend children's vocabulary. The nursery environment provides children with a wealth of books and stories. Storybooks support all learning areas. For example, children explore a sensory tray to support the 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' story. Throughout the day, children delight in sharing books with adults. It is evident that children are developing a love of stories and books.
• Children enjoy a range of activities that enable them to make rapid progress in their physical development. Older children are confident as they explore balancing beams and stepping stones. These develops their coordination and balance. Babies are proactively encouraged to explore tummy time. They practise manoeuvring themselves into the correct position, ready to crawl. Children develop small-muscle skills as they draw pictures, eat using cutlery and complete jigsaw puzzles.
• Children enjoy healthy and nutritious meals. Mealtimes are happy and social occasions. Hygiene practice is meticulous. Staff teach children the importance of good hygiene practice. For example, they model excellent handwashing procedures. They also support children to wipe their own faces after mealtimes.