Bright Horizons Southborough Springfield Road Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled. They develop strong bonds with staff, which successfully promotes their emotional well-being and helps them to feel safe and secure. For instance, on arrival babies are warmly welcomed by their key person, who supports them to confidently separate from parents or carers. All children are developing their independence skills. This is seen when they confidently move around the bright and stimulating environment choosing what they want to play with.

Children are calm and well behaved. They successfully enhance their social skills, which can be seen when they play together, share resources and take turns. Furthermore, they wait patiently for their friends, while staff help them put on their coats to go into the garden. This helps to prepare them for future learning.

Children are curious learners when they explore and investigate. For example, toddlers are fascinated as they place a ball in a cardboard tube and excitedly scream when it rolls out the other end. Children enjoy many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For instance, babies enjoy crawling in the garden, and toddlers confidently climb a wooden slope in the garden. This helps to strengthen their leg muscles and balance skills.

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

• Staff have a good understanding of the different ways young children and babies learn. For instance, they plan a range of sensory and messy learning experiences for them, such as exploring scented play dough. However, occasionally, small-group activities do not meet the needs of all children. As a result, they lose interest and do not engage in the intended learning.
• The management team have a thorough understanding of what they want children to learn. The curriculum is sequenced well and builds on what children already know. For example, children mix green paint and 'gloop', which is a colour that staff have recently introduced when reading 'The Hungry Caterpillar' story.
• Children successfully build on their language and early literacy skills. They learn new words, such as the name of herbs that staff introduce during play. Additionally, they enjoy listening to their favourite stories and singing familiar songs. This builds on their listening skills and fosters their imagination.
• Staff support children to learn about and respect people who are the same and different from themselves. For example, they share books and talk to children about different cultures and abilities.
• Children enjoy lots of learning experiences that help them to understand about healthy lifestyles. For example, children learn about good oral hygiene when they practise brushing the teeth of the demonstration model. Furthermore, they plant vegetables the garden, which helps them to learn about growing things and their lifecycles.
• Staff ensure daily routines are flexible to help meet the needs of children attending each day. For example, they follow babies' home routines for eating and sleeping which supports them to feel safe. However, sometimes daily routines interrupt learning for older children. For example, children who are engrossed in play outdoors are asked to stop to come in for snack.
• Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They give clear and consistent messages to children in an age-appropriate way. Staff are respectful and act as good role models for children. As a result, children are calm, listen to staff and respond positively to requests, such as collecting a tissue to wipe their nose.
• Staff feel supported well by the newly appointed manager and the deputy. For example, they have regular supervision meetings to discuss their well-being and workload. Furthermore, the manager monitors staff performance regularly to ensure the quality of education is consistently high. The information gathered is used effectively to encourage staff to reflect on areas for development in their practice and identify training needs.
• Parent partnerships are strong. They comment on the quick progress their children have made since starting at the nursery. Parents feel involved in their child's learning, and enjoy the variety of home-learning ideas staff share with them. This successfully supports continuity of learning for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the planning of small-group activities to ensure they meet the learning needs of all children
• review the organisation of daily routines to ensure children's learning is not interrupted.