Busy Bees Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the setting happy, confident and ready to learn. Staff place great importance on children's emotional well-being and physical development. This is firmly embedded within the setting's strong curriculum. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and carers are unable to enter the premises. The provider has been proactive in thinking about other ways in which to support parents, such as introducing an online application.

All staff have ambitious expectations for all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Children are making good progress in all areas of the curriculum. Staff analyse what children already know and identify what they need to learn next. Staff have a good understanding of each child's learning journey. Children are thoroughly engaged in a variety of good learning opportunities. They listen attentively to staff's clear and supportive instructions, for example, as they sift and sort and successfully fit blocks together in different colours.

Children's behaviour is well supported. Staff focus on positive behaviour and offer meaningful strategies to help children enhance their turn-taking skills. This also helps children to develop high levels of self-esteem, as well as positive attitudes towards their learning. Children have strong bonds with their key person and settle very quickly in their attentive care.

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

• The well-qualified manager has a clear, ambitious vision for all children, which she shares with her team. She has a secure understanding of staff's development needs. She works closely with them, modelling good practice, and provides good support and coaching. Occasionally, the manager eagerly gives staff instructions before giving them sufficient time to demonstrate their strong capabilities.
• Children are learning how to keep themselves safe and healthy. In preparation for snack time, they discuss the importance of washing their hands to stop the spread of germs. Staff take care to clean and disinfect the tables before and after snack times.
• Children enjoy being physically active. Staff arrange age-appropriate parachute activities indoors for wet play. Children challenge themselves as they crawl, jump and shuffle and roll a ball to each other. The staff encourage the children to participate and take turns.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. They use every opportunity to engage children in conversation. Children learn new vocabulary as staff discuss how to throw a large ball safely during group activities. For example, when throwing the ball to one another, staff teach children to push the ball and demonstrate well how to throw so that children learn the action and the associated words.
• Staff support children with SEND well. The manager plans how she can use additional funding to benefit those who need it most. She tries to use the funding for the benefit of as many children as possible. For example, they have arranged for a physical play specialist to come in every week to teach the children physical skills and develop their agility.
• Parents are happy with the progress their children have made during their time at the setting. Parents are not entering the setting as they would usually. However, staff make the best efforts to ensure that parents are fully involved and informed about their children's time at the setting through informal conversations and messages.
• Staff have high expectations of the children and their development. Staff complete regular observations and assessments of the children and use these to determine any gaps in learning and development. However, these assessments are not always communicated to the parents to enable them to support their children at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• allow staff sufficient time to consistently demonstrate their strong capabilities to raise the quality of education to the highest level
• strengthen systems for engaging parents to understand their children's next steps in learning so that they can support their children at home.