Honeybee Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are at the heart of this welcoming nursery. They are highly motivated and eager to learn. Children cooperate, take turns and are generally respectful of each other. Behaviour is very good. Children show high levels of concentration and keep on trying when faced with challenges. For example, when playing in the water, two-year-old children fill and empty the containers with great care, and they persevere when trying to work a dispenser or spray bottle.

Caring and attentive staff support children well. All children, including children with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND), build positive relationships with their key person. This helps to make children feel safe and secure in the nursery. Staff teach children to become increasingly independent in managing their personal needs. Children wipe their own noses and wash their hands, putting the tissue and paper towels in the bin. As a result, children develop good hygiene practices and develop independent skills.

Children's physical development is promoted, both inside and outside. Children have access to areas where they can run, jump, climb, roll and balance. For example, children take great delight in following the prompt cards to move their bodies in different ways. This supports children to build their core body strength and provides the foundations for developing healthy bodies, and social and emotional well-being.

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

• Leaders plan an ambitious curriculum and have a good overview of what children need to learn. Different resources support the developing two-year-old and the most able three- and four-year-old children. For example, sponges, pipettes and spray bottles, along with different-sized jugs, are provided in the water tray.
• Opportunities are planned to develop children's knowledge and experience of the wider community. 'People who help us', for example the dentist, doctor, pharmacist and 'lollipop lady', visit the nursery. Children walk to the shop to buy the ingredients for their baking activities. This ensures that all children enjoy a wide range of experiences.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and are well informed about their child. Information on what children learn is shared each week. Parents feel welcomed into the setting and enjoy the stay-and-play sessions. This allows parents to speak with the key person and understand the learning and development needs of their child. Parents report that their children are well prepared for starting school.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported effectively.
• Multilingual staff speak to children in both English and their home language. They work with parents of children who speak other languages, such as Russian and Kurdish, to be able to use key words with them - for example, toilet and drink. This helps children to feel valued and included and provides opportunities for children to develop and use their home language, both in play and in learning.
• Staff support communication and language effectively. Staff talk with children, ask questions and comment on what children are doing. They engage in meaningful back-and-forth conversations. Children enjoy sharing books with staff and listen attentively to the stories, joining in with familiar parts. As a result, children make good progress in their spoken language.
• Staff are effective role models and have high expectations of children's behaviour. They interact with children extremely well. They play alongside children, joining in and modelling how to use different resources. For example, staff model the use of the doctor's equipment and introduce new words, such as thermometer. Children enjoy meaningful learning across all areas of the curriculum. As a result, all children remain engaged and focused.
• Children follow the routines of the setting well. Labels with pictures and words, both in English and Arabic, help children to know where resources belong. For example, when hearing the music for tidy-up time, they stop and start to tidy up. This helps children to become independent.
• Children with SEND are very well supported, and additional needs are identified early. Individual support plans are quickly put in place. The SENDCo works well with outside agencies to offer the support children need. As a result, children make rapid progress.
• Staff expertly weave mathematical language into children's play. For example, staff talk about objects being big or small; they identify numbers in the environment and name shapes as children play. Staff introduce new language during activities. For example, a child says that the tower is 'getting bigger' and the adult replies, 'Yes, it is getting taller'. This develops children's mathematical understanding.
• At times, some literacy activities focus on higher levels of development. Activities do not always take account of what children already know and can do. This means that some younger children do not always benefit from the learning experience. For example, two-year-olds, with limited language, sit in a group learning phonic sounds.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen children's literacy development with age-appropriate activities that match the child's individual development needs.