Busy Bees Day Nursery at Dorking Chichester Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm and friendly greeting from staff when they arrive at nursery. Those who need extra reassurance, receive this from staff who know them the best. This helps children to settle, feel secure and commence their play. Babies learn about themselves and their friends, such as when they explore photos of each other. Babies recognise themselves and identify others in the pictures, and staff extend this interaction by singing songs. Babies enjoy story times and sit together with staff who read the age-appropriate books. This helps children to develop a keen interest in early literacy and aids their communication and language development.

Toddlers show great perseverance in being independent. Staff understand the individual abilities of each child, which enables them to offer challenge. For example, they know who can achieve putting on their outdoor clothing and who will need a little support. Toddlers receive the support they need to resolve disputes about sharing toys. Staff teach them to use a timer, and toddlers are beginning to do this themselves. This helps children to manage their emotions and to learn to share and take turns.

Pre-school children develop strong relationships with each other and work together. For example, they build a train track, understanding how to connect the pieces with ease. Children delight in sharing the track and they have a clear awareness of others around them as they move their trains along. Pre-school children learn about different shapes, with staff giving helpful hints as to the properties of each. For instance, staff teach children that a circle does not have any straight sides and that a triangle has three sides and angles. These descriptions enable children to successfully identify shapes.

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

• Leaders have a clear intention for the curriculum and a secure approach to learning and sharing information with parents about the areas of learning. They target aspects for improvement effectively, to develop areas of the setting and enhance children's learning and enjoyment.
• There are effective systems in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning more than one language. Staff seek and embrace support from outside agencies and professionals. They use training successfully to devise individual strategies for children, enabling them to be fully included in all aspects of nursery life.
• Leaders have a clear process for observing staff's interactions with children, and are expanding this to offer staff opportunities to observe each other's practice. They recognise the importance of using reflection as a tool to help staff to build training for individuals. This supports staff's ongoing professional development successfully.
• Staff understand what each child knows and needs to learn next. They recognise appropriate levels of challenge for each child and share this information with the team throughout the day. This helps each child to extend their learning.
• Staff plan activities for children that they base on what they know children need to learn next, incorporating their interests. However, they do not always make sure that they plan enough time to successfully enable younger children to fully explore outdoors. For example, they sometimes offer a smaller outdoor area, not consistently supporting young children's development and engagement.
• Leaders support staff well-being and ongoing training successfully. They follow appropriate procedures for recruitment, and staff have a full induction and probation period to help ensure that staff are secure in their roles and understand their responsibilities. Leaders complete regular, individual meetings with staff where they agree ongoing training and development opportunities. Staff comment on the effectiveness of the successful team working.
• Staff remind children about their health and safety, such as being careful or the need to wash their hands. However, staff do not consistently offer simple explanations as to why children need to do so. This does not always reinforce children's knowledge of the consequences to actions.
• Good parental partnerships are evident. Parents receive up-to-date information about their child's learning through daily verbal and online feedback and parents' evenings. They report that staff are calm and reassuring, and that they can see clear progress in their children's development. These effective relationships between home and nursery support consistency in children's education.
• Children preserve at their chosen tasks and help each other to succeed. For example, they complete a puzzle together, and when they begin to struggle, they ask for support. They persist and show a strong sense of pride as the achieve their desired outcome together.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of the importance of providing children with explanations as to the consequences of their actions
• enhance the planning of outdoor experiences for younger to ensure that children remain engaged in their learning.