Bright Horizons Westchester House Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff ensure that there is a child-centred approach throughout the setting. Children arrive with a strong desire to learn. They know that they have an exciting day ahead. Older children greet their friends and together they engage in a range of high-quality activities. Babies hold out their arms to be embraced by their key person. They smile and giggle as staff delight in their arrival. Staff have a genuine interest in the lives of the children. They have strong links with parents which helps them to learn about children's current interests and routines. Staff engage the babies in stories and rhyme which exposes them to new language and helps to develop their imagination. Older children are regularly engaged in meaningful conversations with staff. This helps children to have a sense of belonging and know that their thoughts and opinions matter.

Staff have high expectations for good behaviour. They are strong role models which positively impacts the way in which children treat both each other and the resources. Children demonstrate a keen interest in learning and staff are skilled in supporting children's problem-solving skills. For example, when building rocket ships children are asked to think about the materials to use to make the rocket fly higher. Staff listen attentively as children offer their ideas on how to propel their rockets into space.

Children have a large area in the fresh air in which to run around. They negotiate obstacles as they chase their friends and join in group games. Children are taught how to respect nature and care for living things as they collect berries for a baby bird and its parent. They know they must use gentle voices to avoid scaring the birds.

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

• The leadership team develops successful strategies to boost children's learning. For example, staff are trained to observe and assess children and share progress with parents. Children's interests and existing knowledge is used to plan children's future learning. This approach ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning.
• There is a strong focus on supporting children's self-esteem and confidence throughout all of the provision. Staff have developed a very nurturing approach which supports children's future essential skills. For example, children are encouraged to be independent and to be positive about themselves. Children are confident, have good social skills and are learning how to develop resilience.
• Children with SEND, or who speak English as an additional language, are celebrated and have access to a broad, inclusive curriculum. For example, skilled staff work alongside children to help develop speech and social skills. Staff use recordings and visual aids that promote a child's home language. This helps all children to have an understanding of the world around them.
• Generally, staff are highly skilled in their meaningful interactions with children. However, this can be variable as some staff do not consistently extend children's thinking and learning. Consequently, there are times when some children's learning is incidental rather than purposeful. Despite this, children's overall engagement and enjoyment in activities is high.
• Children develop a good understanding of the boundaries and routines. This helps them transition well between activities and understand what is expected of them. However, the timings of some routines results in children waiting for longer than is necessary for an event to begin. In addition, occasionally, some children have their enjoyment and learning interrupted as they are taken to have their nappies changed. As a result, there are times when some children do not receive the same experiences as others.
• Children are taught to be curious throughout the setting. They use mathematical language and their critical thinking skills. For example, during an outside practical science experiment staff ask children to contribute their thoughts as to why some rockets shoot higher in the sky than others. This sparks children's excitement about chemical reactions, height, speed and direction and helps them to develop a strong love of learning.
• Babies and very young children have plenty of space to move around and their physical development is effectively supported. They crawl to baskets and resources and sit on the laps of the nurturing staff while they look at books together. Staff repeat the sounds and babbles which helps babies begin to understand the concept of communication.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• identify and address any minor weaknesses in teaching, such as supporting staff to enable children to effectively develop their thinking skills
• improve the organisation of routines to reduce unnecessary waiting time and to minimise the disruptions so that children are able to concentrate on their chosen games or activities.