Busy Bees Day Nursery at Rotherham

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely well prepared for every stage in their learning, including starting school. For example, staff work very closely with parents to understand babies and children's needs, interests and routines. This helps to ensure new starters settle quickly and smoothly into nursery life and so that children are fully engaged and challenged throughout their time here. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make strong and sustained progress in all aspects of their learning and development. Children learn to be very happy, confident and inquisitive. For instance, they love to explore mixing powder paint, accurately learning to use terms such as 'primary' and 'secondary' colours, to create their vibrant autumn flower pictures.

Children are safe and secure. They are consistently well behaved. Babies build very strong bonds with the experienced and skilled staff who care for them. They rapidly acquire the confidence to explore the vibrant and tactile environment they play and learn in. Children learn to recognise and manage risks and keep themselves safe. For instance, all older children have the opportunity to be in the Early Years Council which, along with other tasks, carefully conducts regular checks that the enticing outdoor play areas are clean and safe. They report back if any toys need repair or attention.

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

• Staff morale is very high. The experienced manager leads her team with passion and drive. She gives robust support and direction to enable all staff to fully contribute to the direction and development of provision. Staff make full use of training opportunities and resources from the Busy Bees company, local authority and national initiatives to enrich the curriculum, particularly concerning, for instance, children's early speaking skills and the care of babies. The manager and senior staff also lead training and support to other early years providers.
• Staff work strongly as a team to plan thoroughly for all children's learning. They engage children in activities which progressively extend and deepen their skills and understanding throughout their time in nursery. For example, babies learn to control their hand movements as they attempt to thread brightly coloured pipe cleaners through the necks of different size bottles. Older children build on these skills by, for instance, delicately weaving finer threads through small holes in pictures of favourite objects or moulding dinosaurs in home-made doughs.
• Staff enrich children's communication skills extremely well. They carefully plan, for example, to ensure children meet exciting new words in different contexts and help make them memorable. For instance, young children exploring dinosaurs in wet, dry and sticky sand feel the 'bony spines' and feed them 'slimy gloop'. Older children enjoy saying the names of the 'brontosaurus and tyrannosaurus' and finding out whether they are 'carnivorous or vegetarian'.
• Staff provide highly effective support to children with SEND. They have a very wide knowledge of children's learning needs. Staff identify gaps in development at an early stage and act promptly to address them. Staff work closely with other professionals in education and medical fields to ensure children achieve their potential. They make very good use of any additional funding to meet children's individual needs.
• Children's love of books and stories is strongly promoted. Staff identify a range of songs, rhymes and books that children experience as they progress through nursery that enrich their language skills and knowledge of the world. Young children learn about feelings of belonging, happiness and sadness, for example, as they play with toy animals and listen to the story 'Owl Babies'.
• Children are very well behaved and self-aware. Staff have very high expectations for every child that are reinforced and embedded through all activities. They encourage children to be determined and independent while considering the needs of others through sharing and taking turns. Children learn to persist in tasks for long periods, for example, and maintain happy, busy and tidy play areas, indoors and out.
• Parents highly recommend the nursery. They comment very positively on the warmth and professionalism of the manager and her staff. They appreciate the openness, regular communication and excellent guidance to support their children's learning at home.