Busy Bees at Leicester South Wigston

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies build strong attachments with staff as they follow their routines from home. New babies are supported to settle as they cuddle in with staff and look at storybooks. Toddlers confidently show visitors how they play musical instruments, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure. Older children, including those who are a little unsure, develop their social skills, as they are encouraged to work together. For example, children help to set up boxes and baskets of cardboard. They work together to construct a large model, and staff encourage less confident children to join in. Staff teach children how to use sticking tape and scissors as they secure their model, and staff say they are working together to make something superb.

Children learn to follow instructions as staff explain how to keep safe. For example, children listen as staff explain why they should use the ramp and not climb up the slide. Children build their large-muscle skills and coordination as staff support them to exercise in the garden. Babies practise their early walking skills as staff hold their hands and help them to take their first steps. Staff teach older children how to carefully hold a hoop upright before they roll it down a ramp.

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

• Staff focus on supporting children to develop their hand-eye coordination and strengthen their small muscles. For example, they demonstrate to young babies how to use their hands to rotate a large musical ball. Staff show older children how to squeeze a bottle to fill it with water from a water tray.
• Staff support children to enjoy books and to solve problems. For example, as staff read stories to babies, they encourage them to lift the flaps and see which animal is under them. Staff encourage older children to solve more complex problems. For example, as children listen to stories about little pigs, staff encourage them to think about how they might build a house the wolf cannot blow down. Staff plan and provide activities for children to test their ideas. They support children to build a house and use a ruler to measure it.
• Staff widen children's vocabularies as they play with musical instruments. They help children to understand the concept of fast and slow as they show them how to use the symbols to make quiet and loud sounds. However, staff do not consistently challenge younger children to engage in purposeful play linked to their interests. For example, staff encourage children who want to practise running and climbing to sit and listen to stories. As a result, children lose focus and are not engaged in learning.
• The patient staff support children to share and take turns. For example, staff calmly encourage children to work together to spread out a large roll of paper onto the floor, ready for painting. However, key persons do not consistently share information with other staff on how they can support individual children. As a result, staff struggle to provide a consistent approach to help children understand their behaviour expectations, and some children become frustrated.
• Staff promote children's confidence and emotional well-being. For example, staff compliment children on their beautiful singing as they confidently join in with familiar songs. Babies squeal in delight as they bang on a drum, and staff talk about their lovely music.
• The manager reflects on the quality of the provision and looks at ways to improve. She has regular supervision meetings with staff and identifies targets for them to enhance their practice. For example, she provides training for staff to help them understand children's different learning patterns. Staff state that they feel well supported by the manager.
• Parents speak of the caring staff and state that they teach children how to improve their speaking skills. Leaders meet with parents to share information regarding their children's progress and offer suggestions on how they can support learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• adapt activities more readily for younger children to follow their interests and ensure they are engaged in purposeful play and learning
• strengthen information sharing between staff so that all adults working directly with children have a secure understanding of how to manage individual children's behaviour.