Busy Bees St Neots

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed by warm, friendly staff as they start their day. They separate well from their carers and become quickly engrossed in the inviting learning environment. Staff design a curriculum that builds on children's interests, and values their unique characters. The holistic approach supports children to grow in all areas of learning, with a focus on creating confident learners by the time they leave the nursery. Children are encouraged to be creative, as they show a fascination in ladybirds. After hunting for them in the garden, they create their own interpretation of a ladybird, using paint and a picture for reference. Staff incorporate mathematical language as they count the spots they have painted.

Staff establish strong bonds with children and offer comfort and care when they feel unsettled. This helps them to feel safe and secure in their environment. Staff act as positive role models. They encourage children to be kind to their peers and use polite language, such as 'excuse me', which helps children to behave well. Children have positive attitudes to learning. Helper roles, such as 'garden ambassador' and 'fire ambassador', give children a sense of responsibility and pride, which enhances their feeling of belonging and worth.

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

• Robust settling-in procedures help children to settle well. The nursery gathers information about children and their families when they first start. This helps staff to identify clear next steps and provide a range of sequenced activities that help children to build on their learning. For example, following a topic on life cycles, children learn about growing their own food. They plant seeds and grow vegetables in the garden, which helps them to learn where food comes from.
• Staff support children's communication and language throughout the nursery. They get down to the babies' level as they play and make good eye contact. Babies babble away and staff respond with encouraging words, which helps to promote the early stages of communication. Older children learn more-complex words, such as 'squeeze' and 'pipette', as they engage in water play, which helps them to build on their language skills.
• Transitions are carefully considered to help children to adjust as they move through the nursery and prepare for school. Staff use innovative ideas, such as unique nursery books with pictures of staff and the nursery environment, to support these transitions. Children build relationships as they meet their prospective teachers in readiness for school.
• The garden area offers plenty of space for children to run and jump. Children experience risky play as they climb on a climbing frame, and build on their large muscles when using tricycles to ride along the pretend road. However, some outside areas for older children do not always have a rich range of resources.
• This does not spark children's interest or motivate them to explore the outside area to fully support their outdoor learning.
• Staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with parents, carers and external agencies to ensure that they receive the focused support they need, which helps them to make good progress from their starting points.
• Most staff communicate effectively with each other to ensure the smooth coordination of tasks and duties within the room. However, this is not consistent across the nursery. Some rooms lack a clear leader to coordinate tasks, which results in staff not being able to fully support children's engagement and manage transitions smoothly.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported and fully included within the nursery. Staff find out key words in their home language and use these in their interactions with children, which helps them to understand routines, and provides a sense of belonging. Cultural celebrations, such as Eid, are weaved throughout the nursery, which helps children to learn and understand similarities and differences.
• Partnerships with parents are well established, and parents speak highly of the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to keep them up to date with their children's learning and share activity ideas and tips to extend children's learning further. They signpost parents to additional help at children centres, which supports children to have the best start in life.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enrich the resources available in the outside area for older children, to enhance their outdoor learning experiences
• establish clear leadership roles in each room to improve staff communication, promote children's engagement, and facilitate smoother transitions.