Bunny Tales Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build strong and caring relationships with children. They value each child highly and help babies to settle well. Staff get to know babies' preferences and interests, and they link these to activities which babies enjoy. They interact with children warmly, for example, by using a gentle tone of voice and lots of eye contact. Staff have high expectations of each child and manage their behaviour in positive ways. Children behave well. Staff help children to understand different feelings effectively. They talk to children and encourage them to choose stickers that represent their emotions each day. Staff read stories about different feelings and children develop a good awareness in this area.

The curriculum is well balanced and stimulating. All children make good progress. Staff support children's physical development effectively. They enable children to move freely between indoor and outdoor areas. Children balance on tyres and steer wheeled toys carefully. Babies enjoy learning to crawl and climb up low platforms. Children gain good physical skills. Staff teach children good early mathematical skills and sorting skills as children place coloured bricks into colour groups. Staff encourage children to count as they play with objects and sing number rhymes and songs.

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

• Staff support children's creative skills successfully. Children enjoy using recycled materials, such as cardboard tubes and paper, to create models. Staff encourage children to make colourful patterns with ribbons on a giant weaving table. Children enjoy making pictures using paint and brushes and develop good creative skills.
• Children gain good communication, language and literacy skills. For example, staff use puppets to interact with children and encourage them to talk. They read a wide range of books to children, who show a great interest in stories and learning new words. Staff question children effectively and teach babies the names of everyday objects.
• Children learn how to do things for themselves, such as pour their own drinks and prepare their own fruit for snacks. Older children learn to put on their boots and coats and staff teach younger children how to feed themselves. Staff teach children how to share and take turns, such as when using outdoor toys and equipment.
• Staff have good partnerships with parents and keep them well informed about their children's progress. They talk to parents each day and send secure electronic messages to give parents regular updates. Staff help parents to support children's learning by offering ideas for activities at home that are linked to the curriculum.
• Managers support staff well. They meet with them individually to discuss and support their work. Managers monitor staff's work effectively, for instance, by observing and providing feedback on their practice. They discuss training needs with staff and provide regular opportunities to attend courses. For instance, staff have attended a course on sleep hygiene for babies, which has led to a greater awareness in this area.
• Managers have a clear insight into the nursery's strengths and weaknesses and set goals for improvement. For example, they plan to continue to enhance the provision to support all children's communication, language and literacy skills in creative ways.
• Children develop good understanding of the world. Staff take children on hunts around the garden to find different minibeasts and encourage children to match them to pictures on a chart. Staff teach children the names of different insects and teach them about their habitats. Staff plant potatoes and tomatoes with children and teach them how things grow.
• Staff maintain good levels of safety for children. They check all parts of the nursery, toys and resources to ensure that they are safe for children's use. However, the provider has failed to notify Ofsted about two persons linked to the nursery, and this is a breach of requirements. However, this has no impact on children's safety and this was rectified during the inspection.
• An external contractor provides nutritious meals and healthy snacks which staff store appropriately for children. However, staff do not develop children's understanding of the value of eating well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop children's understanding of the value of eating well.