Busydays childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's happiness and well-being is at the centre of this small and friendly setting. The staff are exceptionally caring and attentive to the needs of the children. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Children are happy and confident. They welcome visitors into their play and talk affectionately with them. For example, when children make marks in the garden on chalk boards, they ask visitors if they would like a sponge or paintbrush. They are proud of the achievements they make and share these with their peers. For example, they call their friend over and excitedly exclaim that they have drawn a spider.

Children receive a wealth of help and support from the manager, who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of every child and their family. Children receive rolling snacks throughout their time at the setting. This gives them opportunities to choose when they have their snack and helps to develop their independence. Children are well behaved, and routines are well embedded. For example, children know to have clean hands before eating. They show kindness towards one another as they share out snacks with their peers. These positive interactions with their peers nurture children's compassion and awareness of the needs of others.

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

• Staff manage children's behaviour well. For example, children enjoy engaging in role play in the outdoor environment on ride-on cars. When children beep their horns in frustration with the other 'drivers', staff are attentive and encourage children to think of solutions. This helps children to regulate their emotions and supports healthy relationships between peers as they learn to consider how others are feeling.
• The manager provides a broad and varied curriculum for the children to enjoy. The indoor and outdoor environments are well resourced to support learning in all areas. Children benefit from a good balance of adult-led and child-led activities. However, at times, the manager and staff do not focus planning and teaching on the learning priorities for individual children. This means that their teaching is not focused sharply on what children need to learn next.
• Children experiment with sand and water. They pour water onto sand and watch with fascination as the sand absorbs the water. Children also fill and empty containers and are deeply immersed in their play. This helps to build strength in children's arms as they lift and pour and supports early mathematical concepts.
• Children's early language development is well supported. For example, children look into mirrors and copy staff while they move their tongue up and down and side to side. This increases the strength in the tongue, which helps with clear pronunciation of letters and sounds. If children require further help, staff seek guidance from their local speech and language adviser. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff seek the relevant support from external agencies to ensure children access the help they need to make good progress.
• Overall, children engage well in the learning experiences that staff provide for them, particularly in the child-led activities. For example, children choose to use two scooters at the same time and work out how to balance their bodies and control the scooters to travel along. However, during some adult-led activities, staff do not consider how to adjust their teaching to engage all of the children involved. Younger children lose interest and leave the group.
• Parents are very happy with the service that the setting provides. They talk enthusiastically about the progress their children have made since starting. They also appreciate the help and support with potty training. They feel well informed of their child's day at the setting through daily feedback and an online platform.
• The manager offers continual training for her team. She reflects on practice daily and makes changes as and when needed. She highlights a need for further training in speech and language, and staff are receiving the relevant help and support. She is attentive to her staff's individual progression and provides training that matches their passions. She is mindful of staff well-being and offers an open-door policy for talks and discussions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• prioritise children's learning so that the planning for the curriculum and teaching focuses on building on what individual children know and can do
• refine the teaching of adult-led activities for the younger children, so that they are fully engrossed and have high levels of interaction in the learning experiences offered.