Honey Bee Nursery Leeds

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children excitedly enter the welcoming nursery and quickly settle after staff warmly welcome them. Children play happily, demonstrating how safe and secure they feel. For example, children play imaginatively with construction blocks alongside enthusiastic staff. They put on a safety helmet, and staff introduce early mathematical concepts and language. New children quickly develop confidence to join in with activities because of staff's reassurance and support.

All children make good progress and develop fundamental skills for school. This includes children who speak English as an additional language, those in receipt of additional funding and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, children love singing, stories and books, and they confidently talk to the inspector. They are well behaved and independent. For example, children readily pour their own drinks. They cut up melon at snack time, which staff describe as 'sweet and juicy'. Children enjoy sharing sociable experiences, such as learning about ancient and traditional oral hygiene aids used in certain cultures, such as a 'miswak'. Children talk about how this smells, feels and tastes.

Children demonstrate good physical skills. Younger children manoeuvre wheeled toys, propelling themselves with their feet. Older children whizz around with great speed while skilfully pedalling tricycles. Children confidently master challenging apparatus, such as the rope ladder, and delight in blowing and chasing bubbles.

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

• Overall, staff plan broad and effective educational programmes. They work closely with other professionals to ensure inclusive practice for children with SEND. However, the outdoor curriculum is not as well planned to sustain younger children's engagement.
• Staff continually observe and assess children's progress, and they promptly identify and support any early developmental concerns. They focus strongly on key foundations for children's future learning, such as their early speech. This is of paramount importance given that the majority of the children attending speak English as an additional language or are bilingual.
• Staff use English alongside children's home languages. They sing songs, including those linked to children's cultural heritage. Staff enthusiastically read stories in the well-equipped story corner and use props to support and extend their storytelling. They introduce amazing facts and explain the meaning of new words. For example, staff talk about the importance of 'pollination' by honey bees. Staff help children recall the book of the week through role play, mark making and craft activities, for instance.
• Strong relationships between staff and families stem from effective transitions, including effective information-sharing. For example, families attend stay-and-play sessions, and staff carry out home visits before the settling-in process.
• Staff share children's electronic records of learning and suggest home learning activities, such as a library visit. Staff and families celebrate events together, such as World Book Day and Eid. The manager is in the process of organising parent information and training sessions to expand parent partnerships.
• Staff model and reinforce respectful and kind behaviours. For example, they explain that 'sharing is caring' and plan outings that enable children to contribute positively to their community, such as litter picking.
• After listening to an engaging story about a bee, children plant seeds as part of a planned follow-up activity. However, staff rush this. Consequently, they do not consistently use opportunities to expand older children's learning and enable them to talk about, process and remember what they are learning.
• Toddlers make marks with painting tools and squeeze sponges, and three-year-old children operate the water wheel and use utensils to fill and pour. Older children competently use dough tools and a magnifying glass to follow a tiny ant's journey in amazement. Such activities promote the hand-to-eye coordination that children need for later writing.
• Staff's qualifications have an overall positive impact. The manager and deputy model teaching and provide ongoing coaching, support and mentoring. Staff undertake continued professional development. This is achieved, for example, through staff meetings, training, support from the local authority, webinars, research and early years publications. This contributes successfully to the progress of the nursery since the last inspection.
• The provider and staff use many self-evaluation tools to reflect on and develop practice, including teaching. For example, they devise comprehensive colour-coded improvement plans.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the outdoor curriculum to increase younger children's engagement and facilitate their interests to the highest level
• expand and ignite the oldest and most-able children's learning during activities to challenge them further and help them achieve to their highest potential.