Busy Bees Day Nursery at Darlington

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are well cared for by a kind, caring and attentive staff team. Staff focus on supporting children to develop secure bonds with their key person. Children who are new to the nursery and feel unsettled are offered lots of comfort and reassurance. This helps them to begin to feel settled, safe and secure. Children show confidence and behave well as they relate well to the staff team. Babies are engrossed in their play and make good progress in their learning. In the pre-school room, children confidently access activities, indoors and outdoors, that help them to develop their skills across all areas of learning.

Children are supported to develop the fundamental core skills to support their future development. They learn to share and take turns. Children are encouraged to interact positively with their peers. They learn to sit and listen for extended periods of time as they progress through the nursery. Staff help children to learn to vocalise their needs and to recognise and deal appropriately with their emotions. Staff use outdoor play to support children to develop their physical skills. Staff maximise these opportunities to help children to learn how to extend their independence, such as they successfully put on their coats and shoes.

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

• Staff create an environment that is rich in opportunities for children to develop their language skills. Older children communicate confidently with their peers and with adults. Babies babble with delight as they look at books and play peekaboo. Staff work with other professionals to support children's communication skills, when needed.
• Generally, staff plan an ambitious curriculum that excites and motivates children to learn, However, staff do not consistently know and understand about the specific learning intentions for individual children. Therefore, learning opportunities are not fully maximised.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that they are kept informed about every aspect of their child's care and education. They share information electronically, as well as verbally, at the start and end of the day. Parents speak highly of the staff team and comment that they are kept well informed about their children's progress. However, when children first start the nursery, staff do not always gather detailed information from parents about what their child can already do, to ensure staff plan for children's progress from the very start.
• Children eat healthy food, which is prepared on site. Babies learn to use their spoons and drink from open cups. Older children enjoy social mealtimes, alongside staff who support their conversations. When they have finished eating, children scrape their plates and stack them in the basin. Mealtimes are positive experiences, where children learn about healthy eating.
• The management team and staff take time to reflect on the provision and implement changes if required. Staff benefit from regular team meetings, supervision sessions and appraisals. Overall, the manager monitors staff's performance well. However, staff's engagement and interactions are not consistent to fully support and extend children's learning. Staff report very good levels of well-being. They say that the managers support them very well.
• The manager and staff place high focus on supporting children to develop a love of reading. This is evident as children benefit from using attractive and well-resourced reading areas within the nursery. Children frequently borrow books, which helps to extend their learning at home. This helps to support their early literacy skills and interest in the world.
• Staff use lots of language when playing alongside children to support their mathematical understanding. For example, when children play in the water, they use measuring cups to measure capacity. Staff talk about 'full' and 'empty'. They support children to count and subtract as they sing a song about five currant buns.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to be physically active throughout the day. They benefit from time spent outside in the fresh air. Babies have space to crawl, move around and pull themselves up as they begin to stand. Older children practise balancing on beams and master riding tricycles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to further develop their understanding of the curriculum, so that they are aware of the specific learning intentions for individual children
• gather more detailed information from parents about what children already know and can do when they first start at the setting
• develop the consistency of staff's engagement and interactions with children further to fully support and extend children's learning.