Busy Bees at Riverhead

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and confident to attend this warm and welcoming nursery. They move freely and independently as they choose their resources and activities, directing their own learning. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children with English as additional language, make good progress in their learning and development. Children's interests are fostered and taken into account. Staff use observation and assessment effectively to identify what children do well and how to further support their learning.

Children confidently approach staff for cuddles and comfort. Relationships between babies and their key person are sensitive and nurturing. Babies settle well when they start attending the nursery. They are quickly comforted by attentive staff when they get upset or tired. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.

Children behave well. They benefit from a consistent routine. This helps them to know what happens now and what will happen next. Children listen and follow simple instructions. All children, including the younger children, learn to share and take turns. They become independent as they learn to manage their own self-care, such as putting their coats and boots on.

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

• Staff support children's emotional well-being effectively. They are aware of and attentive to the way children feel and express their emotions. Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings in a variety of ways. For example, in the pre-school, children use an emotion board to put their name under the corresponding emotion picture, indicating how they feel.
• Children have good opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. Staff listen well to children and introduce children to new words, explaining their meanings, such as 'hydrate' and 'dehydrate' to further extend their vocabulary. Staff provide good narrative to describe what they are doing and engage them in meaningful conversations.
• Overall, staff engage well with children. Staff plan activities based on children's interest. For example, they attentively support young children as they dress the dolls. However, staff do not always recognise when some children would benefit from greater encouragement to be more involved in activities to fully extend their learning. For instance, at circle time, staff mostly involve the more confident children in the story, as the quieter children lose interest and concentration. This effects children's attitude to learning.
• The manager and staff have high expectation from the children in their care. They know their key children well. The manager has clear vision and intent of what she wants children to learn and achieve. However, at times, some staff do not use agreed methods to implement the curriculum, such as the intended use of sign language to promote communication.
• Staff support children's physical development well. They introduce children to a variety of exercises, such as yoga. Children develop their balance as they jump on stepping stones. Staff support younger children to take age-appropriate risks. They encourage them to use the climbing frame independently. Staff praise children for their efforts and successes.
• Partnership with parents is a strength. Parents are happy with the care their children receive from staff. They say that they are kept well informed about their children's learning and development. The manager uses questionnaires to gauge parents' views and ideas. For example, following the lifting of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the manager consulted with the parents about letting them back into the nursery. Parents praise the manager and staff for their sensitive and approachable manner. They comment on the good progress their children have made since starting at the nursery.
• The manager is aware of the importance that professional development has on the quality of service the nursery provides for children. She leads her staff team well. Staff say that they feel valued and supported in their role. They comment that they feel part of a team. For instance, staff use the company training program to support and improve their practice. This helps them provide high-quality care and education to children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• target support for individual staff to more effectively implement the curriculum aims, fully embedding them in practice to further benefit children's development
• help staff to recognise when children would benefit from greater encouragement to fully join in activities.