Buzzbee Babes Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are supported by kind and nurturing staff to feel settled when they arrive at this warm and friendly setting. The effective key-person system supports children to part from their parents with ease because they feel safe and secure.

Leaders have created a setting that promotes inclusivity. They work incredibly hard to support the diverse community in which they belong. There is a strong ethos of connection and support for all families who use the setting. Staff help children to develop an understanding of expected behaviours. They praise children for making positive choices such as sharing with their friends and being kind.

Staff provide children with a wide array of enjoyable activities. The well-established curriculum offers children a wide range of experiences that broaden their knowledge. For example, they help children to learn about how ice changes to water when it melts. Staff further extend this to teach children about floating and sinking. Younger children explore the benefits of dough as they cut out shapes. This helps them to develop fine motor skills that will support later writing. However, interactions in the younger children's rooms do not provide such rich opportunities for children to broaden and extend their knowledge and skills.

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

• The manager has created a unique curriculum that supports children to experience a broad range of information and learning. Staff use 'provocation' based planning which introduces new ideas to children, enabling them to explore and expand their existing knowledge.
• The versatile and adaptable approach to the curriculum means that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive targeted support that helps them to make progress that they are capable of. Effective partnership working with parents and professionals further supports children to close gaps in their learning.
• Children are developing their communication and language skills. They cuddle up close with trusted staff to enjoy a story. Books and songs of the month develop children's interest and enjoyment in favourite stories and songs. Reading is extended outside through the garden den. 'What's in the bag' activities help children to name and describe a range of items that they select from a bag. As a result, children are becoming confident communicators.
• The environments both indoors and outside promote children's development across the seven areas of learning. Outside, children show an eagerness to access the well-resourced space, despite the wet weather. They engage positively in physical activities. Inside, children take part in dance sessions to encourage coordination, strength, and balance. Sensory dens provide children with a calm and quiet space to relax should they need it.
• Children are developing independence. They cut up their own fruit for snack. At lunchtime, children in pre-school serve their own food. They transfer curry and rice from a central bowl onto their plates with increasing skill. Older children manage their personal hygiene very well. For example, they wash their hands independently and wipe their own noses. Younger children help to clear away their plates after snack.
• Children access the wider community regularly. They visit the local church to experience a 'Christingle' service. Children learn about the natural world as they take part in nature scavenger hunts. At the local allotments they take part in pond dipping and learn about aquatic life.
• The manager has ambition and strives to deliver the very best outcomes for children. A range of views from parents and other professionals support leaders to consider improvements. Regular room and peer observations are carried out. However, self-evaluation is not sharply focused enough on improving the quality of teaching to the highest level across the nursery.
• Parents report positive experiences at the setting. They comment that their children are happy and make great progress. Parents rate the communication and support received very highly indeed. They comment that the staff go 'above and beyond' in supporting children and their wider families.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop self-evaluation to be more sharply focused on improving the quality of teaching to the highest level across the nursery
• provide staff with further opportunities to develop the quality of their interactions, particularly with the younger children.