Busy Bees Day Nursery at Milton Keynes Browns Wood

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and staff create a very welcoming environment. Children respond by settling quickly and forming trusting relationships with staff. The success staff have in helping children feel safe and secure has a positive impact on children's learning, as well as their well-being. Children's sense of security means that they are confident to explore and learn. This helps develop very positive attitudes to learning. For example, babies crawl away to explore new resources. They know that each time they look to their key person for reassurance they will receive a warm smile and words of encouragement.

Leaders have devised a well considered plan of learning for all children. They ensure that all staff clearly understand what core skills and knowledge they need to be teaching children. This enables staff to focus their teaching effectively. For example, staff ensure that, throughout the day, children are exposed to a wide range of experiences that very effectively support their language development. Staff introduce children to new words through their 'word of the week' programme. They describe what children do and can see, adapting how they do so to children's ages and understanding. Staff give a high priority to reading and singing with all children. All of this strong practice leads to children leaving nursery with an impressive range of communication skills. Where needed, staff create personalised learning experiences to help close gaps in children's progress. For example, children who struggle more with regulating their own emotions receive targeted, effective and empathetic help to do so.

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

• Staff effectively build on children's existing skills and knowledge, and ensure children remember well what they have been taught. For example, starting with babies, staff teach children a range of skills that enable them to become more and more able to do things for themselves. The success of this approach is seen in how well children can use cutlery and help with mealtimes by the time they are due to leave nursery and start school.
• Leaders review children's progress very effectively to identify any 'common themes' of missing skills. They then plan activities to specifically focus on these skills. For example, children are shown how to use scissors and then encouraged to spend time practising and fine-tuning their cutting skills. They are very proud when they master this new skill.
• Overall, staff match their teaching well to the core aims of the curriculum. Occasionally, in their enthusiasm to make activities exciting, they over complicate them, and the main learning intent becomes lost. At these times, some of the information given to children is not fully accurate or clear. At these times children do not always learn what staff intented them to.
• The curriculum for creativity is very well delivered. Staff working with babies ensure there is a strong focus on sensory development. They introduce babies to different textures and materials in highly inviting ways. Toddlers are taught how to use the tools they need to create their own artwork. Staff place a high priority on joining in toddlers imaginative play. They introduce narratives to their play. For example, staff help toddlers use cardboard boxes to be pretend aeroplanes and cars. By the time children are in pre-school they are able to use all of these skills to create detailed artwork and to independently create role-play experiences.
• Children's care needs are met equally as well as their learning needs. Babies thrive in the care of kind and nurturing staff. Routines from home are followed to help babies settle and feel secure. Toddlers and pre-school children continue to receive high quality care. Staff place a high priority on their role as a key person, focusing on keeping children safe, planning for their learning and helping them develop a positive view of themselves as capable, independent and interesting young people.
• Partnership working is a real strength of the setting. Parents report just how well staff know their children and just how welcome they make them feel. Some describe the nursery as 'like family'. Staff build extremely well on these warm partnerships, providing a wealth of information and suggestions for activities for parents to support children's learning at home. Partnerships with local schools and other professionals are equally as effective. These strong partnerships are used extremely well to help children confidently make the move to school. They are also used very well to ensure, where needed, children receive any additional support or funding to which they are entitled.
• The manager is a highly effective leader. Staff feel supported and valued, which helps ensure a consistent staff team. Training is very effective in building staff's skills and confidence to deliver the curriculum. The focus on developing staff's skills in understanding behaviour and language development is seen in how well staff support these aspects of children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen how some activities are planned and delivered, so children can focus more on the main intended learning.