Bright Kids Barley Lea

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are settled and happy. Babies and young children build sound relationships with staff as they seek and receive comfort and reassurance. Older and more confident children enjoy close bonds and secure attachments as they have fun with their friends and the staff. Children respond well to consistent routines, gentle reminders, and clear boundaries. They are learning how to manage their own feelings and behaviour. Children are considerate towards one another and share familiar resources. They communicate their needs, make lots of choices and become increasingly independent in taking care of themselves.

Children thrive in this child-led environment. They are excited and engaged as they use their curiosity to extend their learning by creating purposeful play experiences with the interesting resources available. Children's starting points and progress are accurately assessed, and staff have high expectations for all children attending. All children are developing key skills in preparation for the next stage in their learning and their eventual move on to school. The dedicated management and staff team work well together and actively seek the views of parents and other professionals. This helps them reflect on their practice and procedures. They use what they discover to successfully devise and implement clear action plans and drive improvements forward in pursuit of excellence.

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

• Leaders monitor performance and provide regular support and coaching to help staff to fully understand their joint and individual roles and responsibilities. Staff attend training courses and complete research. They share their increased knowledge with their colleagues to help improve the quality of their practice and enhance the outcomes for children.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents explain how they use the online system to exchange information about their children's learning and development at home and at nursery. Any complaints are listened to and managed appropriately. Parents comment positively about the friendly and caring staff and about the guidance and support that they receive.
• The key-person system is effective, and staff get to know each child well and ensure that their needs are met. Children's health and well-being are fostered well. Staff match routines to those at home and carry out appropriate procedures if children are unwell. Parents are encouraged to provide a variety of nutritious foods for children who bring a packed lunch, or if they prefer the setting provides a freshly prepared, warm meal.
• Staff observe and assess children during play and routines to note their current interests and abilities. They know the children well and adapt their teaching to meet individual needs and to build on what children already know and can do.
• Children respond with enthusiasm and concentrate for long periods of time.
• Children have many opportunities to play outside. Older children access a variety of resources and enjoy the exercise. However, there are too few opportunities for the youngest children. Most of the space and resources available are not suitable for babies and younger children. This means they are not getting the best opportunities to develop their physical skills.
• Staff promote and reflect diversity through well-organised activities and events which involve children and their families. They find out key words and phrases to support communication with parents and children who speak English as an additional language. However, staff are not providing enough opportunities for children to hear and speak their home languages alongside English. This means that some children's sense of belonging and communication skills are not promoted fully.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. Managers and staff complete training and research and work closely with parents. They effectively identify gaps in children's learning and know when to seek early intervention and how to involve external agencies. This helps them to find the best ways to help individual children to keep up with their peers. They consider the individual needs of children and use funding to enhance the environment and resources accordingly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the opportunities available for babies and young children to develop their physical skills
• enrich the experiences for children who speak English as an additional language to help promote their sense of belonging and develop their communication skills.