Busy Bees Day Nursery at Burchetts Green

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and quickly engage in activities. They benefit from an effective key-person system and this helps them to settle well. Babies sleep, eat and have their nappy changed according to their individual needs, meaning they feel emotionally safe and secure. For example, they cuddle into their key person and gently drift off to sleep. Toddlers and older children are confident, make friends easily and show a positive attitude to their learning. Children acquire the skills and independence they need for the next stage in their learning, including starting school.

Children behave well and understand what the staff expect of them. They learn to stay safe while taking managed risks. For example, children learn to balance as they walk across the planks. They develop a love of books. For example, older children enjoy a favourite story and are delighted to go on a pretend 'bear hunt' in the outside area. They join in with familiar phrases and actions, and scream with excitement when they pretend to find the bear.

Children enjoy learning about the natural world and use natural resources during their role play. For instance, they pretend that sticks, bark and water are the ingredients and use these to make 'meals' in the outdoor play kitchen. The manager successfully monitors the impact of any additional funding used to ensure that children are achieving to their full potential.

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

• The newly appointed manager has a strong vision for the future of the nursery. She continually reflects on the provision to identify any areas to improve. Staff well-being is given high priority. They comment that they feel valued and supported. However, staff have not benefited from regular supervision meetings, to help strengthen their knowledge and improve their individual performance even further.
• Children take part in a wide variety of small-group activities to provide focused learning. For example, a floating and sinking activity encourages pre-school children to consider the properties of objects and materials. Staff introduce new words such as 'heavy' and 'light' to help extend their vocabulary. However, occasionally, staff ask too many questions, and children are not always given enough time to think, consider and respond. This does not fully support their developing language and communication skills.
• Staff encourage children's mathematical development effectively. Children regularly use mathematical language in their play. For example, they proudly explain which dinosaurs are 'taller' and 'shorter'. Children confidently count and identify numbers in sequence as they play.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language have their needs met well. Staff work well with other professionals and have targeted plans in place to meet children's individual needs. For example, they use picture cards and Makaton signing to help children to communicate effectively.
• Staff work well with parents and communicate effectively with them using an online application to share and receive information. Parents comment positively about the success of the online application. They appreciate staff sharing photos of their children playing and learning. In addition, parents speak positively about the good relationships they have with staff.
• Children are safe in the nursery. Staff have strong arrangements in place to minimise risks to children. They manage their environment well and organise toys and resources to enable all children, including those with allergies, to be fully included in all activities. This is demonstrated when staff source ingredients for cooking and for making play dough which do not contain allergens that may affect children's good health.
• Children enjoy a varied menu of healthy meals and snacks. These are freshly prepared by the on-site cook. Staff talk with children about how food can make them healthy. Children understand the routines and know to wash their hands before and after eating. This helps them to understand about living a healthy lifestyle.
• The curriculum is carefully considered to ensure a progression of skills throughout the different areas and age ranges. For example, in the baby room, staff are teaching babies to feed themselves with a spoon. Pre-school children use a fork to eat their meals and pour their own drinks.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop systems for staff supervision, to ensure they happen more frequently and staff receive feedback to improve their performance further
• give children plenty of time to respond to questions and promote their thinking and language skills even more effectively.