Busy Bees At Selly Oak

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at nursery happy. Parents come into the nursery to drop their children off inside the rooms. Children settle quickly as staff welcome them with smiles and provide activities that children instinctively go to and explore. Those children who need extra reassurance are given comfort and encouragement. Staff are highly effective at supporting children's emotional development. Strong bonds are formed between children and their key person. Consequently, children feel safe and secure. Overall, children behave well. Staff teach children why they can do something or not, so they learn. 'Golden rules' reinforce the overall ethos of being kind to friends.

Children are confident and make choices about their play and learning. Staff deployment is effective so children can choose whether to play indoors or outdoors. This approach means that those children who prefer to learn outdoors can do so whenever they choose. The nursery is a hive of activity. Older children have fun with staff as they do 'animal yoga'. They lie on their backs and do stretches and move their legs in circular motions. Younger children enjoy making animal footprints in play dough. They look at circular discs with a print of an animal and match these to the footprints they are making by pressing toy animals into the play dough. Young babies are helped to settle as they are cared for by kind and attentive staff. They enjoy singing nursery rhymes.

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

• Leaders and staff work well together. Staff report high levels of morale, well-being and support. Access to development opportunities and regular feedback from leaders ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good.
• The curriculum is designed to build on children's skills and scaffold their learning. The aim for children is for them to be confident and independent learners who are equipped with the skills they need to be ready to go to school. High expectations from staff and a good knowledge and understanding of how children learn mean the curriculum is embedded and children make good progress in their learning.
• A strong focus on communication and language means that children become confident communicators. Staff continuously talk and engage with children. They ask questions that encourage children to use and build on their evolving sentence structures. Young children learn new words and add these to describe fruit, such as 'crunchy apple'. However, on occasion, staff do not always use the correct pronunciation of words.
• Children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities as well as children who speak English as an additional language are well supported. Effective assessment of children's progress means that any gaps in learning are swiftly identified. Children have individual support plans, and staff work well with any external agencies and professionals who may also be supporting the child. Staff ask for words in a child's home language and incorporate the country the child originates from into their planning for activities and celebrations. Children make the progress they are capable of.
• Parents speak highly about the nursery and staff. They say their child has made good progress and that staff are excellent. Parents receive regular updates on the progress their child makes. They particularly like the opportunities that are available to come into nursery to see their children in their environment, for example for Mother's Day and graduation celebrations. Parents appreciate the support staff give them with their children at home.
• Children learn self-care skills, such as toileting. They wipe their own noses and wash their own hands before snack and lunch. Staff praise children for doing this, which promotes their self-esteem. They support children to learn about foods that are good for them and how to keep themselves healthy. Children benefit from freshly cooked meals.
• Staff support children's growing imagination skills. They skilfully interact alongside children in their play. A large cardboard box becomes a pirate ship. Staff help children to make their own treasure maps, staining them with tea and coffee. Treasure hunts are completed, and children talk about being a pirate.
• Lots of opportunities for children to be independent are offered. Children enjoy being given responsibilities, such as lunchtime helper. They lay the table for their friends. Older children carry their plates of lunch back to their table. Younger children are supported by staff to learn to feed themselves.
• Early mathematical skills are taught. Colours are a focus in the rooms. Staff sing nursery rhymes with counting and actions to help to support children to learn the concepts of adding and subtraction. Children point to clocks. They are able to read and recognise the numbers.
• Staff plan and provide child-led and adult-led activities using children's interests. The environment, both indoors and outdoors, supports children's growing curiosity and interest in the world around them. However, the younger baby room does not fully promote this as well as it could do. There is less opportunity for children to access the full curriculum to maximise their learning potential.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance children's language skills by staff using correct pronunciation for words
• support staff to create an environment for the youngest children that inspires children's curiosity and maximises their learning potential.