Brighter Beginnings Newton Heath

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are immersed in learning. They are excited, enthralled and spend significant portions of time in awe at this nursery. The manager and staff are determined to provide children with exciting, important experiences that help them to succeed. Pre-school children visit a building site and build a brick wall with real tools, bricks and cement. They carefully consider any risks in their play, ask insightful questions and are captivated by what they see. Babies are absorbed by the different textured toys. They carefully watch as staff demonstrate how to play with resources, smiling as they understand and hurry to explore independently.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) show impressive levels of confidence. They exceed the already high expectations of staff and make phenomenal progress in their development.

Children are resilient. They are determined to discover new things. Children's levels of self-belief are admirable. They thrive under the constant, targeted praise from staff. Children mirror this in their own language. They offer support and respect to peers, and even encourage themselves without support from staff, saying, 'I can do it! I am clever!'. Children have strong, genuine bonds with staff and their peers. They are thoroughly content and secure at this nursery.

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

• The manager and staff securely understand the curriculum they provide for children. Staff are passionate. They share the manager's vision for the nursery, which only serves to embed the effective curriculum even further. Staff recognise the individual needs of every child in the nursery. They tailor their teaching style to support the unique learning preferences and next steps in development for every child. The curriculum is expertly designed to continuously build on what children already know and to support them to reach their future goals. All children make exceptional progress in their learning and development.
• The provision for children with SEND is noteworthy. The special educational needs coordinator and the manager are committed to supporting all children to achieve the best outcomes. They have ambitious expectations for all. All staff go above and beyond to ensure they understand and can accommodate the needs of children with SEND. They provide a challenging, stimulating and purposeful curriculum to aide these children towards their learning goals. This is hugely successful and helps to secure good outcomes for children and their families.
• Staff thrive at this nursery. They feel appreciated and supported by the approachable manager. Staff report that they are encouraged to secure new learning and this helps their own practice to continuously strengthen and grow. Staff in turn use their regular training and knowledge gained from the experienced manager to ensure the curriculum is always evolving. This means children are regularly exposed to new experiences, exciting learning opportunities and fun. This is reflected in children's behaviour as they are keen and curious learners who are eager to give everything a go.
• Children are listened to. They actively contribute to the curriculum and to decisions made about their learning and how the nursery works. Older children make suggestions and the manager and staff respect their voices and implement changes in response. Younger children express themselves clearly and show they feel confident that staff will always respond to their needs. Children are content, relaxed and secure in the nursery. This clearly shines through their impressive levels of confidence and self-belief.
• Partnerships with parents are a key strength. Parents appreciate that the staff and the manager work hard to ensure that they consider not only the needs of children, but the needs of families as a whole. Parents commend the nursery for their proactive approach in supporting families with any difficulties they face outside of nursery. Parent attribute this targeted support as a key factor in bettering their own ability to educate their children at home. They comment that staff 'truly care' and that they are 'astounded' at the progression their children achieve at the nursery.
• Children's communication and language skills are superb. Staff support all children, including those who are not yet verbal, to communicate their needs. All children independently use sign language during their play. Babies show remarkable understanding. They know that when staff blow bubbles, a song or story is about to begin. They giggle with anticipation as they make their way to the carpet area to join in. Older children offer words of encouragement and praise to themselves and their peers. They show a remarkable understanding of their own emotions and make use of 'self-regulation zones' when they feel a need to be calm. Children's emotional well-being is a priority for the manager and all staff.