Honeybear Nursery ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, content, and safe at this vibrant nursery. They sing songs as they arrive and beam with delight while greeting their key person. Children embrace their friends with hugs and form secure bonds with staff. They have high levels of confidence, self-esteem, and resilience. Children are confident to speak to the inspector and give him a 'special sticker'. They behave well and show positive attitudes towards their learning. Children share toys and praise their friends for their achievements. They work together to solve puzzles and enjoy enacting roles of shopkeepers.

Babies enjoy exploring sand and giggle while looking at their reflections in low-level mirrors. They babble with delight while cuddling staff and enjoy looking at sensory books. Toddlers are fascinated while exploring pasta and cornflour. They talk about tractors and delight while splashing in water. Pre-school children attempt to write their names and show good physical skills while running and climbing outdoors. Children enjoy learning about the world around them. They excitedly discuss the process of planting seeds and caring for them until they grow. Older children search for bugs and younger children are fascinated while listening to birds sing.

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

• Since the last Ofsted inspection, leaders have been relentless in their pursuit to raise standards across the nursery. The manager exhibits strong leadership skills and aspires for the nursery to be 'the best'. Self-evaluation is accurate and the views of parents, children and staff are included in improvement plans.
• Leaders provide a curriculum that is built on educational research and what they already know about the children at the nursery. Children are fully immersed in activities and show positive attitudes towards their learning. All children make good progress and are well prepared for their move on to school.
• Leaders ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support that they rightly deserve. Links with external professionals are in place and intervention plans are monitored with rigour. Children with SEND make good progress and gaps in their learning close.
• Overall, partnership working is strong. Links with the local authority are rooted in trust and respect. Parents commend the staff on their loving and caring nature. Parents receive newsletters and have daily discussions with staff about their children's time at the nursery. However, leaders identify that the current arrangements to support children's learning at home need strengthening.
• Leaders give staff well-being high priority. Staff comment that the nursery is like 'one big family'. They attend appraisal meetings and have regular supervision sessions. However, leaders do not consistently provide staff with incisive feedback about their interactions with children, to raise their practice to a higher level.
• Overall, care practices are good. Staff follow safe sleep guidelines and are aware of the importance of teaching children about good oral health. Children eat healthy foods and have access to fresh drinking water. That said, some staff do not consistently teach children about good hygiene practices. For instance, some children are not always taught about the importance of washing their hands before eating and after blowing their noses.
• Children in receipt of additional funding make good progress. Leaders ensure that children are given opportunities to go on outings that they would not usually experience. These include going on train journeys to museums. Children relish these opportunities and talk about them with excitement.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills very well. They listen to children with interest and ask them questions during their play. Children are confident communicators, who use a wide range of vocabulary. Staff instil a love of reading in children and read with animation. This captures children's interest, and they cannot contain their excitement to find out what happens to characters in stories.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen parental partnerships, to better support children's learning at home
• strengthen supervision arrangements for staff, to provide them with clear feedback about raising their practice to a higher level
• reinforce good hygiene practices for children, with particular reference to the importance of washing their hands before eating and after blowing their noses.