Busy Bees Day Nursery at Salford

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate high levels of energy and excitement as they enter the safe, vibrant and well-resourced nursery. They quickly become immersed in the array of activities and experiences. They concentrate intensely on their chosen tasks and show a passion for learning and exploring. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve. They have an impressive knowledge of children's individual capabilities, learning styles and what makes them unique. For example, staff adapt the delivery of activities to support quieter, less-confident children. They expertly challenge children through superb activities that capture children's interests and what they need to learn next. This helps to ensure that all children make tremendous progress during their time at the nursery. Children's distinct characteristics are warmly celebrated and their heritage and culture are reflected in the environment and learning opportunities.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. Children show kindness and concern for one another as they play harmoniously together. Pre-school children expertly use sand timers to resolve small conflicts. Babies and toddlers have strong emotional attachments to staff, who are very kind and patient. Children know how to share and take turns through the gentle and nurturing guidance of staff as they become familiar with routines and what is expected of them. Children demonstrate impressive independence skills as they serve themselves at mealtimes, manage their own self-care needs and help to care for their learning environment.

Excellent consideration is given to children's physical and emotional well-being, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Children are encouraged to talk about their feelings, understand empathy and express themselves in social situations. Children learn the importance of dental hygiene, and staff ensure that dental packs are readily available for children as needed. Children's well-being is further enhanced through the development of an 'up and active' room and regular opportunities to engage in yoga, which helps them to regulate and manage their behaviour.

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

• Staff plan and deliver an inspiring and wholly captivating curriculum that is informed by their meticulous observations and robust partnerships with parents. For example, when children arrive at the nursery sharing information about a peacock that they saw in their garden, staff embrace this teachable opportunity. Children engage in exciting transient art activities and learn about the characteristics of a peacock. The huge array of opportunities available for children truly ignite their thirst for learning.
• The nursery has an exceptionally warm and welcoming ethos. Leaders have worked relentlessly to ensure that all families are included. Children take home various resources, including an abundance of books and special 'activity jars'. This ensures that there are no barriers to children's learning as the momentum and the excellent progress that children make at the nursery are not lost. Furthermore, even those children who cannot attend due to illness or periods of isolation are carefully considered. For example, sensitive staff ensure that children receive activity ideas, photos and stories from their key person.
• Leaders' and staff's passion for ensuring that every child is given the best possible start in life is notable. Leaders have a very clear and detailed vision that is echoed by the dedicated staff team. Relentless evaluations of practice and provision are conducted continuously to ensure that there are no limits to what children can experience and achieve.
• Leaders are extremely aware of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outstanding consideration has been given to ensuring that no child is left behind. Staff have adapted their teaching to focus relentlessly on supporting children's communication and language development. Each activity that is planned for children has a detailed vocabulary list to ensure that children hear and absorb a multitude of new words. For example, children hear vocabulary such as 'habitat' when learning about different animals. Following a visit to the hair salon, staff introduce words such as 'reflection', 'chop' and 'length'. Children use the word 'podium' as they create structures with wooden blocks. They learn about 'nectar' and 'pupa' in their exploration of the life cycle of a bee as part of their activities to reflect World Bee Day.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is superb. Staff very quickly identify if children need additional support and take swift and appropriate action to secure interventions and guidance. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the waiting list for some services. However, staff have worked tirelessly to ensure that children are not adversely affected. They have attended purposeful training, implemented initiatives and have used their wealth of links with professionals to mitigate the impact to children and their families.
• Parents' comments are overwhelmingly positive. They are extremely complimentary of the efforts of the staff team, the introduction of a dedicated learning application and the frequent parent workshops that they are invited to attend. Furthermore, parent forums ensure that they have a voice on the strategic development of the nursery. Parents fondly describe how much their children enjoy attending and the exceptional progress that their children have made since attending.