Butterflies Child and Baby Care Services Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to leave their parents at the door as they are warmly greeted on arrival by kind and caring staff. Children feel safe and secure in the nurturing environment of the nursery. They confidently hang up their coats, eagerly seek their friends and explore the activities.

Staff skilfully use group activities to structure children's learning. Children actively participate in conversations and comment: 'I am making couscous and chopping vegetables' and 'Let me help'. Children learn to cooperate and make friendships. Staff support children to develop high levels of confidence and self-esteem.

Children and babies are physically active. They have many opportunities to develop their core strength and fine motor movements in the fresh air. For example, children successfully use large spoons, tweezers, chunky chalks and paintbrushes. As babies climb up a low-level frame, they clap, laugh and proudly say 'yeah' on their achievement. When older children run and balance on tyres, they confidently use climbing equipment and throw up a large ball saying, 'higher and higher'.

Children behave extremely well and show kindness and consideration towards their friends. For example, when sharing resources, children ask: 'Please, can I have the whisk next?' and 'thank you'. Staff are good role models. They are calm, caring and show genuine interest when engaging with children.

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

• Children develop their language skills as they engage in back-and-forth interactions with staff. Children listen attentively to staff's clear and supportive instructions. Children select their own items for an activity. For example, when making dough, children choose the colours and flavours to add. Staff introduce vocabulary such as 'cinnamon' and 'lumpy' as children mix the dough.
• Children develop a love of books and stories, which helps to support their future learning. Older children have great fun in acting out a story. Toddlers share familiar stories independently and in a group. They guess what is coming next. Babies snuggle up with staff to look at books, as staff encourage them to turn the pages. However, when staff ask questions about the story, they do not consistently use questions that challenge children's thinking and extend their knowledge further.
• The manager demonstrates a clear vision for children to achieve their best outcomes and be fully prepared for school. This is reflected in an ambitious curriculum, with a sharp focus on developing communication and language skills. Staff are trained in a language programme to help to successfully develop children's early communication skills.
• Staff work closely with parents, the special educational needs coordinator and external agencies. This helps to ensure prompt support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff differentiate activities, which enables all children to have full access to the curriculum.
• Staff carefully consider children's interests when planning activities. Staff know the children well. They understand how to sequence learning and build on what children already know. For example, during a jelly activity, staff and children reflected on their previous learning of the five senses. Children are enthusiastic and motivated learners.
• Children develop good independence skills. For example, they wash their hands, serve their own food and scrape their plates independently. They make decisions about the activities they want to explore and wait to take turns. This also helps to prepare children for school.
• Overall, the manager and staff actively promote the good health of children. For example, they support children to implement effective hygiene routines, and children receive healthy meals and snacks. However, staff do not always take the opportunity to help children learn about the importance of healthy eating.
• Babies receive a good level of care from the attentive and nurturing staff. They know the babies well and sensitively support their early skills. Babies are keen to explore their environment and experiences available. For example, they pull and prod dough and use tools in cornflour to mix and pour to help to strengthen their hand muscles.
• The manager is highly reflective and strives for continuous improvement. Supervision meetings and regular observations of staff practice help to support them to improve their knowledge and develop their practice.
• Parents appreciate the daily communication, regular digital updates and photos. Parents enthusiastically speak about the huge progress their children make in their learning. They are happy to receive advice staff offer on supporting their children's learning at home to promote continuity of learning. Parents enjoy taking part in celebrations, such as Valentine's day, Mother's day and the graduation ceremony at the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's techniques to ask thought-provoking questions that challenge children's thinking and increase their knowledge to the highest level
• support staff to help children to learn about the benefits of eating healthy foods to promote their ability to make healthy food choices.