Bright Sparks Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at the setting, with warm and friendly staff ready to greet them. Children enjoy talking to staff about their morning as they wait to wave goodbye to their parents and carers out of the window. Throughout the day, staff encourage children to develop their independence skills. Children confidently choose their own breakfast cereal, bowls and utensils and serve themselves. Later, children put on their own coats and wellington boots. Where children struggle to put on their own coats, staff provide them with different ways they can try independently. They praise them as they make attempts and finally manage to achieve the task. Children gain a real sense of achievement, smiling as they run off to meet their friends in the large garden.

Staff spend time getting to know children from the moment they start at the setting. They use children's interests to create activities to build on the gaps in their learning. For example, staff provide flowers in the garden for children to cut up and explore following an interest in daffodils. Children enjoy talking about the different flowers and the spikes on the stems before adding water to their pots and making potions. Children work together to pour, scoop and mix their ingredients.

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

• The manager of the setting provides very good leadership for all staff. She models good practice and shares her own skills, knowledge and experiences. This ensures the setting continues to make improvements. The manager supports staff with robust training programmes, embedding new knowledge into practice and having regular meetings with the team. Staff feel involved in the setting plans and any changes. They comment on how much they enjoy working at the setting.
• Children relish in visits around the local community, learning about the world around them. They gain first-hand experiences of taking books from the library and paying for groceries at the shop. Throughout play, staff revisit these trips with children. They talk about what they did and enjoy looking through pictures. This helps to embed learning.
• Staff and children have positive relationships with each other. Children's behaviour is exemplary and they understand staff expectations of them. Staff provide children with the skills and knowledge to manage situations independently. For example, children tell each other to stop pouring water into their jugs as it is not where they want it. This means disputes are rare and children begin to understand their friends' thoughts and feelings.
• The manager and staff are creating an ambitious curriculum for all children. Children enjoy welcoming staff into their play, explaining what they are doing and providing staff with their roles. A wide range of interesting activities are available for the children to explore. However, staff do not consistently extend children's learning and offer challenge within activities. For instance, staff sometimes provide the answers for problems children face, rather than allowing them to think independently.
• Settling-in processes are fluid and individual, providing parents and children with the time they need. Parents share information about what their children can already do and the interests they have at home. Staff use this to create activities to entice children's natural curiosity. The home-from-home environment allows children to create secure relationships with their key person and other staff within the setting. This creates a calm, relaxed feeling around the setting.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who speak English as an additional language well. Staff work quickly with parents to gather information to create plans to support children within the setting. Staff seek advice from other professionals, sharing information and embedding targets into those created at the setting.
• Parent partnerships are strong. The manager recognises the importance of sharing information with parents regularly. Parents speak positively about the setting and the relationships their children have with the staff team. Parents gain daily information about their child's day and use an online platform to share development information.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the quality of teaching to ensure children are consistently challenged in their play to further extend their learning.