Hunny Bears Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and settle quickly to activities. They form secure relationships with one another and staff. Children benefit from a wide and varied curriculum, which is based on their interests and next steps in learning. Children are excited to explore, whether they are building tracks together or inviting staff to an imaginary party. Children make independent choices in their play and have good opportunities to develop their physical skills and benefit from fresh air and exercise.

Children behave well. Staff have high expectations of the children and help them to make good choices. Children learn to respect one another. They practise developing their fine-motor skills to help them prepare for school and learn how to hold a pencil in preparation for writing. They develop a wide vocabulary as they engage in conversation with the staff and their peers, focusing well on the activities which ignite their imagination and support them to make good progress.

Communication has remained good between the parents and staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has helped children to feel safe and secure. Staff remain focused on supporting children in their personal, social and emotional development, which has been particularly important for children who have had limited social experiences due to the pandemic.

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

• Staff skilfully support children's communication and language. Children can name different animals and recognise the initial sounds of words. Staff give children praise and encouragement such as, 'that is super clever' and 'well done' when they identify other words beginning with the same letter sound as those of the animal names. Staff use children's experiences and introduce new words to build on their vocabulary. Children use descriptive words and expressions well to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.
• Staff have a good understanding about the importance of children developing a love of stories and books. They share a 'story of the week' with the children who join in with familiar phrases and talk about what happens next in the story. However, during whole-group story time, staff struggle to keep children interested and engaged because rather than sitting with the children, some staff set up activities which is a distraction. This means that learning opportunities are not fully explored.
• Children share warm interactions with staff, who know them well. Children of all ages play well together and engage in activities which are well resourced and supervised. Outside, children ride on wheeled vehicles negotiating pathways successfully. They enjoy sensory play as they pour water into funnels and tubes. They skilfully use spoons to scoop water and milk as they make 'cups of tea', developing good hand-to-eye coordination.
• Children's behaviour is good. They play well alongside each other and help with tasks such as carrying boxes at tidy-up time. They help one another such as getting their friend a tissue when they cannot reach it for themselves.
• Children count in routines and activities. They sort items into groups by colour. They recognise the number of spots on a dice and match the numeral correctly. However, staff do not encourage older children to use the language associated with making simple calculations to increase their mathematical knowledge further.
• Children follow good hygiene routines and understand the importance of healthy eating. Staff ensure they provide a clean and hygienic environment. They follow good procedures for nappy changing and support children well to be independent in looking after themselves. For example, staff encourage children to wipe their nose using a mirror for guidance.
• Staff recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents. Parents are happy with the progress their children make. They appreciate how staff keep them up to date with their children's progress and give them ideas of how they can support their children's learning further at home.
• Staff work well together as a team. The manager provides staff with good support and coaching as she works alongside them. This helps her to monitor staff practice effectively, to ensure they can continue to develop their professional practice. As a result, staff feel well supported.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend staff's practices further to support all children's learning and participation during whole-group activities
• provide more opportunities for older children to compare groups of objects and use the language associated with making simple calculations.