Mama Bear's Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children and their families warmly as they arrive at the nursery. Toddlers and pre-school children independently hang up their belongings on their designated peg and join their peers, ready for the day ahead. Staff plan their curriculum well and know what they want each child to learn. Babies develop their communication skills effectively. Through interactive songs, they learn sign language and say single words. For instance, babies say 'duck' and 'quack' as staff sing the rhyme 'Five Little Ducks'. Toddlers start to join words together to form simple sentences. Staff encourage them to learn new vocabulary linked to springtime, such as daffodil and sunflower. Older children speak in full sentences and can make their needs and wants known. They confidently talk about the pictures they have drawn, saying that they will place them in an envelope and that the envelope needs to be sealed.

Children play cooperatively and enjoy the company of their friends and adults alike. All children are independent individuals. Babies learn to feed themselves at lunchtime using a spoon. Older babies also attempt the use of a fork. Toddlers and pre-school children self-serve using utensils. They confidently scoop up roast potatoes, chicken pieces and vegetables and place them on their plate.

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

• All children enjoy stories. Babies listen well for short periods and staff enable them to feel the textures in the book. Toddlers enjoy their favourite tales both inside and outside. Older children show their extensive understanding of how stories are structured. They talk about the different animals in the book and where they live, such as the 'fox' living in an 'underground house'. Children develop their literacy skills well.
• Children enjoy comfort from staff. They smile when they enter the nursery and show a willingness to go to staff. Babies lift their arms out to be carried and toddlers sit on staff's laps. Pre-school children invite adults into their play. However, in the baby room, key persons, at times, pass babies between one another while they tend to other children or carry out tasks. Some babies become upset and unsettled.
• Parents speak highly of the care and education of children at the nursery. They say how staff support them as a family and how they receive relevant advice for their children such as around potty training. The nursery provides a lending library scheme, where children can borrow books. They also provide home learning packs to help children build on their skills at home. Additionally, staff place learning intentions on the entrance door for parents, which highlights the curriculum and what knowledge children will gain.
• The nursery has strong links with the on-site college. Students who are undertaking childcare qualifications are invited in to share their ideas. For example, students have created a 'sensory area' where children can go to relax and engage in small-group activities. Additionally, the nursery has formed positive partnerships with local schools and external professionals. Staff liaise regularly with them to help provide a consistent two-way flow of information to support children's development.
• Overall, care practices are effective. Staff ensure they support children with toilet training and hygiene routines. Children independently wipe their noses and dispose of the tissue. They then know to wash their hands afterwards to reduce the spread of germs. Staff reassure children when they begin to get hungry, and the on-site chef prepares a range of healthy snacks and meals to meet their nutritional needs. However, lunchtime in the baby room is disorganised. Babies spend long periods of time waiting for their food and become irritable.
• Staff support children's mathematical development well. Pre-school children understand the concept of 'thick' and 'thin' when they play with tree branches. They estimate which branch will be 'taller' or 'shorter' by looking at them and then test their theory by measuring them. Younger children join in with number songs and rhymes and learn to count in sequence.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the key-person system more effectively to help babies form close bonds so they feel settled and secure
• develop the organisation of lunchtimes to ensure babies' care needs are met rapidly.