Busy Bees At Biggleswade

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery very happy. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure as they quickly start to explore the thoughtfully arranged environments. Children thrive and show high levels of curiosity. They make independent choices from a wide range of good quality resources. Babies use all of their senses to explore the texture of large pine cones and leaves with their hands. They experiment making sounds as they gently bang the bristles and handle of a brush on different surfaces.

Younger children work out how to join large square shapes together to create a cube. They use mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'little' to compare the size of toy animals. Children mould dough with their hands to add intricate details to their models.

Older children show a love of books. They listen well as staff read stories in an expressive way which captures their attention. Children develop a good understanding of the wider world. Staff read children a letter received from a child attending a nursery in Poland. This inspires children to share the interesting experiences that they enjoy at nursery with them. Some children are beginning to form letters and words. Their writing is displayed in the nursery. This helps them to have a strong sense of belonging.

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

• Staff have a good understanding of children's previous experiences and focus on providing opportunities to broaden children's knowledge. Staff skilfully use 'Waffle', the nursery's soft toy pet, to inspire children to share photographs of their pets at home. This helps to raise children's awareness of each other's lives and how they care for their pets.
• An effective key-person system is in place. Children have secure emotional attachments with all staff, not only their key person. Babies snuggle up to staff as they wake from their sleep before they are ready to resume their play.
• Staff act as positive role models to children. They listen when children talk and value what they say. Children articulate themselves well and most children are confident communicators. Older children are beginning to recognise some rhyming words, such as 'rice' and 'nice'.
• Staff take into account children's starting points, current interests and what they know and can do. This enables them to plan a rich curriculum to support children in what they need to learn next. Staff work in close partnership with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to make good progress. However, staff do not fully support all children who speak English as an additional language to hear and use their home language, to enhance their understanding and speaking skills.
• Children have a strong exploratory impulse. They enjoy crushing a variety of dried cereal with their hands and experiment making sounds as they push toy farm animals into the cereals. On occasions, staff do not adapt activities so that additional children who express a keen interest are able to join in, to capture their immediate curiosity.
• Children benefit from opportunities to support their physical development and lead a healthy lifestyle. They enjoy healthy foods and spend quality time outside in the fresh air. Younger children take calculated risks as they build their own structures from planks of wood to balance on. Older children develop control of their body as they eagerly participate in daily yoga sessions. Children behave well and play harmoniously together.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. They feel very well informed about their child's progress. Staff work well with parents to prepare children for new experiences in their life. Parents comment how the nursery is managed 'brilliantly' and how staff 'adore' the children who attend.
• The dedicated manager is inspirational. She places a high priority on the well-being of staff. They benefit from regular well-being and supervision meetings. The manager is committed to the professional development of her team. They have access to a good range of training and support to develop their practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff find ways to give all children who speak English as an additional language more opportunities to use and hear their home language at nursery
• continue to develop staff practice to adapt activities in response to children's immediate interests.