Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bromsgrove

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's attitudes and behaviour are exemplary. While engaging in meaningful activities, they show the highest levels of enthusiasm and motivation. Staff skilfully teach children how to assess risks and care for their friend's safety. As a result, children's awareness of rules and boundaries is excellent. Children take pride in being the 'safety officer' and use tick sheets to check the environment for hazards. They patiently wait for staff before entering the eating area, and use clear vocabulary to explain the importance of picking up toys from the floor.

Children are fully engrossed during activities. They listen carefully to their friends and clap each other's achievements. Children demonstrate their kindness by asking staff to write positive sentences about their friends on a 'kindness cone'. Children are extremely independent. Young children locate bins for their tissues, while older children pour their own drinks and serve their lunch.

Children's conversational skills are continuously developing to a high level. They exchange new words when they talk about their feelings and have learned that when their friends are feeling 'blue', it means they are 'sad'. Babies babble during their explorative play and confidently crawl to the next inviting activity. They have access to an abundance of activities that ignite their senses. They feel sand and water between their fingers, listen to enthusiastic staff singing nursery rhymes, and peer through brightly coloured shapes.

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

• The manager is an inspirational leader. She has embedded a highly ambitious curriculum that helps children to develop, consolidate and deepen their knowledge and understanding. Staff share her high expectations and motivation for children's learning, and know children exceptionally well. Detailed observations and assessments are completed by staff, who use the information to plan exciting, innovating and purposeful activities that inspire children to learn. As a result, children make excellent progress across all areas of learning.
• The manager places a huge focus on supporting staff's health, well-being and professional development. Staff receive regular supervisions, which highlight their interests, strengths and areas of development. Targets for staff are designed to inspire and encourage them to continually expand and build on their already excellent knowledge. They discuss and evaluate the impact that their ongoing professional development has on the children and the setting. For example, staff have attended baby training to enhance their knowledge about babies and younger children. The excellent care that babies receive is a reflection of this training.
• Children are provided with ample learning opportunities, and staff are talented at recognising when activities can be extended. For example, when older children read books, they learn about the parts of the book, such as 'spine' and 'blurb', which helps to extend their vocabulary. Staff consistently encourage less-mobile children to walk independently between activities to build the strength in their muscles.
• Children have extremely high levels of curiosity and positivity. This is a reflection on the strong staff team, who consistently encourage children to engage in conversations and problem-solving. When children are having their lunch, they discuss the birds that they can see in the garden and learn where eggs come from. Children run their own council, which gives them opportunities to engage in decision-making and learn about respecting the opinions of others.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive outstanding support and encouragement. They benefit from individual, detailed and clear support plans, which outline their targets and needs. Staff follow these plans consistently. They offer one-to-one support as needed and help children to feel secure in their surroundings. Children who speak English as an additional language are given the best possible support, as staff learn words and phrases in their home language. Children receive an inclusive and child-centred experience, which helps them to make excellent progress.
• The manager has established extremely strong relationships with local schools and external agencies. Children's individual development plans are shared with appropriate professionals. As a result, children and parents receive high-quality input from a wide range of professionals to enhance their child's learning. Children meet school teachers to fully prepare them for their transition to school. In addition, staff visit the schools to gather valuable information about the skills that children will need to help them flourish in their next stage of learning.
• Parents are overwhelmingly happy with the communication, care and support that their children receive. They express their confidence about how happy their children are and how much progress they make. They comment on the detailed support that their children receive to prepare them for school, and how strong their relationships are with the manager and staff.