Busy Bees Day Nursery at Sunderland Fulwell

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children respond positively to the warm greeting that staff give them when they arrive. This helps children to feel safe and happy. They positively beam when they interact with the staff and other children. They show consistently high levels of excitement and engage fully in the activities that staff provide for them.

Children make good progress from their starting points. Staff use information gathered from parents and carers to provide targeted support. This helps to fill the gaps in children's learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children concentrate for long periods as they look at light patterns and shadows made with torches, comparing how coloured plastic squares change colours. They are watched by attentive staff who offer encouragement and praise them for their achievements. This helps children with their self-esteem and confidence.

Staff plan activities to encourage children to talk about their emotions and name their feelings. They teach children to understand what makes them unique. Children draw pictures of themselves looking in mirrors, discussing similarities and celebrating differences. Children show positive attitudes to their learning and keep on trying when challenges occur. For example, children think of new ways to cut fruit and vegetables in the play kitchen. They proudly shout, 'We did it!' As a result, children develop emotional security from a young age.

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

• Although the quality of education is good, occasionally, assessments of what children know and can do are not consistently accurate. As a result, staff do not always plan for children's next stage of development.
• Children develop a wide range of physical skills. Babies crawl and walk in the well-resourced garden. Staff support them to climb onto the rocking horse and move down the small slide. Toddlers explore the large garden, where they can run and jump. They make marks with large chalks and walk like dinosaurs as they practise large movements. This helps to develop their large- and small-muscle skills, which helps with early writing skills.
• Staff explain to children what behaviour is expected. For example, pre-school children understand how to walk down the stairs safely. Staff support younger children to understand what is expected by providing gentle reminders. This helps children to behave well and follow instructions.
• Children are provided with lots of opportunities for language development. Staff are constantly speaking to children and asking age-appropriate questions. Staff read stories such as 'Dear Zoo' and 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'. They encourage children to predict what will happen next. This helps to develop children's listening and speaking skills.
• Older children are encouraged to use their investigation skills. They experiment to find out which liquids will create a reaction for an 'explosion'. Staff extend language as children discuss the resources, smells and predict the reaction. They complete the experiment and calculate how many were correct.
• Relationships with parents are strong. Parents say that they feel well informed about activities and routines. They particularly like the online app that staff use to communicate information about children's development. Parents speak very highly of the nursery and comment that the staff team is 'very approachable' and that their children make good progress and are happy.
• Staff benefit from regular support and supervision sessions from leaders. They receive frequent feedback about their teaching practice and are given good opportunities to further enhance their professional development. This helps raise staff morale and improves outcomes for children.
• The special educational needs coordinator has a good knowledge of the children. Staff use funding effectively to meet children's individual needs. For example, they offer children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) one- to-one support in their play. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that children with SEND are well supported.
• Staff provide a broad and varied range of activities for children and skilfully play alongside them to extend their learning. Children practise mathematical skills as they measure out water from container to container, counting how many it takes to fill the largest container. However, at times, staff do not always recognise how to extend and challenge children in spontaneous activities. As a result, learning is not always fully maximised for children to reach their full potential.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise how to use spontaneous opportunities to extend and challenge every child's learning further
• ensure assessments of children's development are consistently accurate, and use this information to support children's learning even further.