Bunnybrookes Day Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff create a warm, welcoming environment that is inclusive for all children. Children explore a wide range of purposeful activities, which are adapted so that all children can take part. Key people are knowledgeable about children's developmental stages. They identify children's individual needs through observation and monitor their progress. Staff are reflective and thoughtfully plan how they can best support the child, based on what they already know. Individual plans are developed for children who require further support, which may involve external professionals. Some children are supported on a one-to-one basis, where staff role model sharing and turn-taking.

Children's preferences are valued by listening to their choices and interests, helping them feel respected, confident and involved in their learning. Staff are knowledgeable about children's likes and dislikes. Children play happily in the outdoor shelter or huddle excitedly under the umbrella when it is raining, with staff who understand they prefer to stay dry when they play outside. This allows all children to be included in the daily routines of the setting.

Leaders work with external professionals, implementing activities and using strategies with the child in mind. However, parents are not always engaged at the earliest opportunity to share information and developmental feedback, so not all children make progress as quickly as others.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision for what they want children to know and learn across all ages in the setting. There is a carefully considered, exciting curriculum, and children are busy and involved throughout the day. Leaders have recently introduced a well-used book-lending scheme to enhance children's communication skills at home. There are plans for a vegetable patch to be added to the garden, which will further the children's knowledge and opportunities for teaching in the outside space.

Activities are designed to support children's overall development, are adapted so that all children can take part and are tailored to each child's age and stage. Teaching is purposeful and focuses on helping children learn the skills they need for their next steps. For instance, children are taught Makaton and use signs accurately as they play to communicate their needs. Staff introduce new vocabulary and ideas to children that build on their existing knowledge. Children have excellent ideas and are confident to try new things. Children have a wide range of opportunities, such as trikes and beams that build strength, coordination, balance and confidence in using their bodies.

Staff use mathematical language in play. Children explore sand and play dough and accurately match numbers to objects. Children successfully sort and group animals. Children spontaneously measure objects and show a keen interest in numbers and what they reveal.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children achieve well from their starting points in all areas of learning, progressing through the curriculum. Communication and language are woven into all activities and embedded in daily routines. Activities are purposefully planned with children's next steps in mind, specifically designed to help them continue to achieve as they progress through different stages of their learning and development and prepare for school.

Children benefit from the opportunities staff provide to develop their independence skills. For example, babies learn to self-feed using spoons, and older children have mastered chopping their food and using cutlery as they practise daily. Younger children use their hands to smear paint onto an ice block, experiencing different sensations, as older children observe and predict its effects. Older children show excellent scissor control as they cut round detailed shapes. They correctly identify letters. Activities are adapted to use training scissors, allowing children to snip paper at their own pace.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders have established a secure and predictable routine throughout the setting. Staff know the children well and, on most occasions, encourage them to become independent within their routines and to begin managing tasks for themselves. Children confidently navigate daily routines, demonstrating well-embedded positive behaviour. Children instinctively hold the rail as they walk down the stairs safely. They know they must wait at the bottom and begin putting on their boots. They understand how to share the play dough and take turns. Children enjoy being praised by staff, which strengthens their understanding of kindness and sharing. Staff model sharing and explain what is expected for children who are new to this or require further support. Staff know the children well and support them to succeed by adapting their expectations and providing individual support. This could be strengthened by involving external agencies more swiftly so that all children are supported in the most suitable way.

Leaders understand the context of parents who work shift patterns at the on-site hospital and how this affects arrival times. Routines allow flexibility to ensure that individual children's needs are met. Children attend regularly, and leaders work closely with families to promote the importance of this.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children's wellbeing is high as they play happily and feel settled in a safe, welcoming space. They have secure attachments to their key person and are confident with other staff, who they go to willingly for support or to play with. Children who are upset are comforted, settle quickly and join in. Staff play alongside children in small groups or one on one, allowing them to feel more secure as they become part of the wider group.

Effective individual sleep routines are in place for children, and parents are supported with weaning. Parents comment that children thrive in the setting because of the care and attention they receive. Mealtimes are well organised and calm, and staff are vigilant about dietary requirements. Parents praise the healthy meals prepared at the setting, and the children enthusiastically eat the yoghurt and fruit puree.

Children are supported to understand risk and to develop a growing understanding of how to keep safe outside the setting. Children hold hands in pairs as they walk sensibly to the garden. On occasion, staff do not promote children's understanding of how to follow the expected routines around developing healthy hygiene habits, for instance washing hands and accessing water to drink. This does not consistently support children to make healthy choices.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the overall setting. They are reflective, know its strengths and have ideas for further development. Staff have high wellbeing. They feel valued and supported, and their ideas and contributions are integral to the setting's overall vision. Staff have a detailed induction programme and ongoing professional training.

Leaders regularly evaluate the service to drive change and positive developments. For example, they are enthusiastic about their ideas to improve the garden and expand the provision with a vegetable patch, which will create further learning opportunities for the children. Leaders have recently introduced a book-lending scheme that focuses on language and communication, linking to different ages and stages. This has developed links with home and a love of reading, and widened children's understanding of the diverse world around them and their personal experiences relating to their families and home life.

Leaders understand the working needs of families attending and have recently implemented a variety of flexible ways for parents to receive feedback, which has led to an increase in parent participation. Leaders engage well with external professionals to provide children with consistent support and strategies. However, discussions with parents regarding children's development do not always take place at the earliest opportunity. This does not ensure that any barriers to children's learning are swiftly identified, allowing rapid, effective support to be implemented.