Busy Bees Day Nursery at Harpenden Leyton Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and are keen to come into the nursery. They are warmly welcomed by the friendly and nurturing staff. Children quickly form secure and trusting relationships with the staff who care for them. Babies who are new to the nursery, snuggle up to their key persons for comfort, while others share books with other members of staff. Older children form good friendships with their peers. Staff give them daily responsibilities as 'ambassadors'. Children are proud to welcome visitors to their nursery and talk about the health and safety checks that they carry out.

Children benefit from a well-planned and sequenced curriculum, which builds on what they know and can do over their time in the nursery. Staff use children's interests well and engage them in meaningful learning experiences. Toddlers enjoy taking part in creative activities based on their favourite nursery rhymes. They use words to describe what they are doing, such as 'dip'. Attentive staff acknowledge and build on toddlers' emerging language, for example, by replying 'yes you have dipped the brush in red paint'. Children thoroughly enjoy being outdoors, where they have many opportunities to be active and explore. The weekly sports session is especially popular with pre-school children. Children play cooperatively. They listen to and respect staff. Children's behaviour throughout the nursery is very good.

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

• The strong leadership and management team has a clear vision for continual improvement. Managers observe staff regularly and give them feedback on their performance. These reflections feed into regular supervision meetings, where ongoing professional development needs are identified. This has a positive impact on staff's teaching, knowledge and skills.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills effectively. Those working with younger children sing nursery rhymes and share books throughout the day. Older children enjoy listening to stories and engage in meaningful conversations and discussions. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They take the time to get to know some words in their home language and use these to aid communication. Staff find out what festivals children celebrate at home and plan activities around these themes. This allows children to learn about each other's families and customs.
• All staff show enthusiasm and commitment to their role. Overall, they interact well with children and are skilful at responding to them during play to build on the learning they observe. However, some staff are less confident than their peers. Therefore, at times, not all children benefit from the highest quality interactions to help them to remain fully engaged in play and learning.
• Children are developing many skills that support their future learning at school. They are learning how to write their names, and consistently use books for pleasure and to gain information. Staff plan exciting science activities, which children thoroughly enjoy. Children have a strong understanding of cause and effect. They demonstrate this as they explain how putting two ingredients together will cause 'a reaction' and understand what this means.
• Parents speak very highly of the care and education that their children receive. They state that they feel well informed about their children's development and know how to help with their learning at home. Parents use words such as 'nurtured', 'thriving' and 'loved' as they describe the experiences and care that their children receive.
• Overall, staff promote children's good health effectively. The environment is clean and suitable. Children are provided with freshly prepared meals and snacks that are in line with their individual dietary needs. Most staff follow the provider's good hygiene policies and procedures, such as reminding children of the importance of washing their hands before eating. However, this is not always consistent throughout the nursery. Furthermore, at times, some staff choose to check children's nappies in the rooms rather than taking them to the bathrooms. This does not respect children's privacy. However, the manager is quick to act on these lapses in practice to make sure that all policies and procedures are followed.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the quality of staff's teaching so that all children consistently receive the highest quality interactions to inspire their play and learning
• continue to ensure that the good policies relating to hygiene are fully embedded across the nursery.