Busy Bees at Crowborough

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children are settled and confident, and they appear very happy during their time at the welcoming and inviting nursery. Staff have a good understanding of their chosen curriculum and how they successfully implement this. They plan activities and experiences that they know will engage children and ensure that they challenge and motivate them to learn. For instance, younger children paint on a large scale and learn how to be creative as they make a 'teddy hotel' for their comforters. This helps children to settle quickly and have a good sense of belonging. Older children discuss owls. They go on to read books about owls and go on 'an owl hunt'. Staff teach children mathematical language as they play. For instance, when children race cars down tubes, they learn about concepts such as speed and gradients.

Staff teach children about the benefits of following good hygiene practices. For instance, children independently follow thorough handwashing routines. Children learn about the benefits of different food groups on their bodies, such as calcium and protein. Staff provide all children with good opportunities to build on their physical abilities. This is demonstrated when children confidently and safely climb and balance on a wide range of equipment. All staff are positive role models, and children of all ages and abilities know what is expected of them and behave well.

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

• The management and staff use additional funding to support the individual needs of children well. They purchase a wide range of resources and training for staff to support children to develop an understanding of their feelings and emotions.
• All staff establish positive relationships with children. They get to know their individual personalities and understand what makes them unique. Staff plan accordingly, and this supports all children to have a positive attitude towards their learning and make good progress. This includes those who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff have high expectations of all children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff support children with SEND well. They implement helpful and effective ways to support them. For example, they use visual prompts to help children understand what is expected of them and what they are expected to do next. This helps children manage changes in routines well.
• Overall, all children are engaged in their learning experiences, and the level of teaching and quality of interactions is good. Children are generally very independent and confident and happily engaged in their own choice of play. However, on occasion, staff are not always aware of when it would be appropriate to step in to support a child to build on their enjoyment further.
• The management and staff establish positive partnerships with parents who speak highly of them. Staff regularly share information with them about their children's achievements and their next steps in learning. Staff share any helpful information with parents, such as the impact of the use of dummies. Parents comment that staff are nurturing, kind and embed passion to guide and support children.
• Overall, staff support children to develop some good and confident communication skills. For example, staff use signing, and babies are supported by good running commentary, repetitive phases and gestures. However, this is not consistent. There are times when older children do not have enough time to think and respond to questions and, on occasion, some communication does not flow with confidence. Staff do not consistently support all children to develop their speaking and listening skills further.
• The management closely monitors the quality of care and teaching that staff provide children. All staff evaluate their practice daily and discuss what has worked well and what can be done differently next time. The management carries out routine observations on practice and support staff well, including ensuring that their workload is manageable.
• All staff complete regular training beneficial to their practice. This includes learning about how to support children of all ages to learn and develop, including the youngest. As a result, staff understand how their activity plans have a positive impact on children's development.
• Staff teach children about other people outside of their own communities and experiences. This includes different languages. For example, children learn key words in a range of other languages, such as Italian and Spanish.
• All staff have a comprehensive knowledge of all safeguarding policies and procedures, including how to raise any concerns about staff conduct and how they would follow this up. Staff ensure that they support all children to remain safe. This includes fully understanding how they keep children who have allergies safe at mealtimes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to be more vigilant in recognising when children would benefit from adult interaction to encourage their learning and enjoyment further
• build on staff's confidence to consistently provide children with opportunities to extend their developing communication skills even further.