Busy Bees Day Nursery at Hertford Hartham Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited and eager to learn in this inspiring nursery. They become deeply engaged in activities and show high levels of concentration. Older children thoroughly enjoy discovering minibeasts in the garden. They turn over stones to discover worms, and mark them off on their work sheet. Young children explore a range of sensory activities. They giggle as they pop bubbles and splash water in a tray.

Children develop extremely strong bonds with practitioners in this caring and nurturing environment. Babies settle quickly, enabling them to feel safe and secure. They confidently crawl to the sandpit and squish sand in their hands. They receive warm cuddles when they become unsettled. Children form strong friendships as they play happily alongside each other. They respectfully take turns to play with superheroes in the garden, and involve their friends in tea parties.

Children have a strong voice in the nursery. Practitioners work hard to enable even the youngest of children to have choice in their play. Toddlers choose wooden discs to indicate what song they would like to hear. Pre-school children become council members where they have opportunities to discuss the activities they like and what they would like to do next. This empowers children and raises their self-esteem and confidence to exceptional levels.

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

• The quality of teaching is exceptional. Practitioners are extremely skilled in setting up an environment that ignites children's natural curiosity. Practitioners have an excellent understanding of how each child prefers to learn and their next stages of development. Experiences are consistently built on and tailored to children's specific needs and interests. As a result, children make outstanding progress.
• The management team is inspirational and passionate about their service. They continually review and reflect on the provision to ensure that children consistently receive a set of rich learning experiences. Practitioners are extremely well supported, and their well-being is a priority. They receive highly focused professional development. This ensures that the quality of teaching remains at the highest level. Practitioners demonstrate huge commitment to their roles and say they are proud to be part of a remarkable team.
• Partnerships with parents are superb. They are actively involved with the nursery to support children's learning. Parents come in to share topics such as 'space' with the children. Parents report that communication is excellent. They are kept up to date with their children's learning and are offered practical support to build on it at home. Parents value the nurturing environment that the nursery provides for their children.
• Children are extremely independent. They attend to their own self-care needs and learn to pour their own drinks at the drinking stations from an early age. Babies learn to hold spoons to feed themselves. This helps children to develop the skills they need in readiness for school.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported. Practitioners fully understand the needs of these children. For example, they use focused skills, such as signing, to develop children's communication skills. Detailed care plans and cohesive working with other professionals provides children with SEND expert support to help them make the best possible progress.
• Children are very confident in using a wide range of vocabulary. Practitioners skilfully build on this through discussion with children. They introduce new words, such as 'cement', as they make houses with sponges. Children recall familiar sayings from books, such as, 'I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down'. They enthusiastically find characters, such as a wolf, to retell the story. This provides children with a secure foundation for future learning.
• Practitioners provide extensive opportunities for children to learn about cultures different to their own. They use specially created family books to explore similarities and differences. Children hear various languages using 'talking tins' and enjoy learning French. Children learn about people in their community. For example, children visit a residential care home. They read stories and draw pictures with the residents. This means children without extended families can experience having older adults in their lives and learn how to interact with other generations.