Brighter Beginnings Wetherby Street

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children engage well with learning at this inclusive and welcoming nursery. Children who are new to the nursery and those who become upset following extended absences receive warm reassurance from staff. Children have warm and affectionate attachments with staff and demonstrate that they feel emotionally secure.

Staff have a secure understanding of how to support every child's unique learning needs. Children make good progress and thrive because staff have high expectations of them. They show a positive attitude to learning and are motivated to explore and investigate the stimulating learning environment. For example, children access the sensory space which provides calming resources for them to freely explore.

Children have access to a large outdoor area which offers a wide variety of resources, such as a large pirate ship and a tyre swing. These resources help to strengthen children's balance, movement and coordination. Children are creative and imaginative. For example, they take turns pumping up tyres at the pretend petrol station and proudly declare, 'Ready, steady, go!'

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

• Leaders and managers support the staff effectively and ensure their well-being. Staff are happy and committed to their work and speak positivity about the new manager.
• Children's care needs are promoted well. They follow suitable hygiene routines, such as handwashing and nose blowing. Staff act as good role models and also explain to children why good hygiene practices are important.
• At times, staff ask children a lot of closed questions. As a result, children respond with one-word answers. This means they are not consistently given opportunities to develop their thinking and listening skills.
• Young babies benefit from lots of space to explore their surroundings and natural resources. They enjoy exploring the sensory tray with the pretend farm animals, which ignites their interest and eagerness to learn.
• Children's behaviour is managed well. Staff take time to explain their expectations to the children to help them understand the rules of the nursery. Staff also use additional props, such as a talking ball, to help pre-school children understand the importance of taking turns.
• Staff work closely with a range of services and professionals to meet children's individual needs. For example, they support children to make the best possible progress. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff know the children very well. The manager uses additional funding effectively to extend opportunities and experiences available to children.
• Staff provide an extensive range of stimulating activities to inspire children's learning. For example, when children read their favourite story, 'The tiger who came to tea', staff extended this further by dressing up as a tiger who joined them for tea. The children thoroughly enjoyed this innovative experience, which helped them to recall the characters in the book.
• Parents are highly complimentary about the setting. They say that they find staff and the manager very friendly and approachable. Staff work hard with parents to involve them in their children's development. For example, children enjoy choosing books, such as bilingual books, from the lending library to take home and share with their family. This helps to extend their early literacy skills.
• Children are supported to manage their feelings by using books about emotions. They particularly enjoy 'The colour monster' and recall which colours depict which emotions. This helps children to express their emotions within the daily routine.
• Staff support children's early independence well. For example, they provide lots of opportunities for children to serve their own meals and pour their own drinks. This helps children to have a can-do attitude as they get themselves dressed for outdoor play.
• Children enjoy making home-made pizzas for tea. Staff use this experience to help children think about how vegetables grow. This generates lots of lively discussions as children talk about planting pepper seeds in the garden.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop questioning techniques, to support children's thinking and listening skills.