Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Meridian

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive at nursery. Those who are new to the setting are offered flexible settling-in arrangements. Babies who become upset or tearful are given attention and reassurance. Staff softly sing lullabies to help babies to settle. Routines from home are valued and followed. All staff are respectful, kind and nurturing as they get to know the children and their individual personalities. Staff get down to the children's level and play alongside them. They model how to use resources so that children can follow. Children listen to stories, which staff read to them with animation. They have good opportunities to handle books and learn how to turn pages.

Children learn how to behave and to be kind to each other because staff embed consistent boundaries for expected behaviour. Staff extend older children's learning as they ask thought-provoking questions. They help children to explore the difference between a square and a rectangle. Children work out how to negotiate the obstacle course, which they helped to construct. Children use their fingers to count in sequence as they join in with familiar action songs. They handle chalks as they make their own creations on the concrete outside. Children pretend to care for their doll 'patient' in the role-play area, which has been set up as a hospital to replicate children's families' experiences.

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

• There have been changes to the management and staff team in recent months. The manager is building a new team. She is quick to identify and address areas for improvement as they occur. There are clear plans in place to develop practice further. Staff attend a broad range of training and receive effective supervision and support to continuously improve.
• Staff encourage children's independence and build on their existing skills. All children make independent choices about what to play with. Children help themselves to their own drinks and learn to use cutlery. Older children take on more responsibility as they fill up water jugs, wipe their own noses, and persevere at putting on aprons. Children have healthy and balanced meals, and special diets are well catered for.
• Children's progress is effectively tracked and staff are swift to identify children who are at risk of falling behind. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive tailored support. Staff engage and work cooperatively with other agencies. They use some techniques that they have learned to close gaps in children's learning and help them to reach their full potential.
• Parents and carers are involved in their children's learning. They are kept informed through discussions with staff and via online applications. They receive valuable parenting advice through regular nursery newsletters and updates.
• Parents have a voice through a parents' forum, where their input is valued and acted on. They are invited to a wealth of events where they get to experience what their child is learning at nursery, so that they can further support this learning at home.
• Children are appropriately supervised and required adult-to-child ratios are met. Staff deploy themselves effectively to areas, shadowing those children who need additional attention. However, at mealtimes, staff do not engage as effectively with the children, instead focusing more on routines tasks. In addition, transitions at rest time are not well organised in order to support children to gently settle to sleep in a calm environment.
• Staff find out about the children's interests and experiences, and use this knowledge to plan the curriculum. They praise children and support them to play cooperatively, respecting each other and their environment. Older children learn to share how they feel as they select an emotions card, practise their expression in the mirror, and create their own self-portraits. However, staff do not always know how to adapt their teaching to support toddlers to express themselves in more positive ways, such as if they throw sand or push chairs along the floor.
• Older children practise speaking and listening skills during regular planned 'chatterbox' sessions. They are excited as they open their own box and confidently tell their friends about special items that they have brought in from home. However, during other adult-led activities, staff do not consistently provide children who they know are slower to speak with the best opportunities to practise their speaking skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• encourage staff to engage more effectively with children at mealtimes and to model expected behaviours. In addition, support staff to better manage transitions to sleep times, so that all children are helped to rest in a calm, quiet environment
• enhance the quality of teaching further by supporting staff to plan and deliver a curriculum that consistently supports all children, particularly those who are slower to speak, to develop their speech and language skills to the highest level
• enhance the quality of learning by helping staff to understand and use a range of strategies that particularly support toddler-age children to express themselves and begin to regulate their own behaviours.