Sunbeams Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive at this very welcoming nursery. They come in enthusiastically and are greeted by caring staff who are genuinely excited to see them. They happily wave goodbye to their parents and quickly become engaged in play. Children have lovely relationships with staff, excitably hugging and welcoming back staff who have been away for a while. Children have access to a variety of inviting, interesting resources that help them to develop and make good progress in all areas. For example, babies explore lettuce and ice and toddlers play with gloop, exploring how it feels hard, then runny. This means all children have opportunities to explore and experiment with various textures. Children who learn best outside have many opportunities to learn. For example, children often have free access to the outside play area, where they can build, ride on wheeled toys, climb and draw.

Staff have high expectations of children and are good role models. Children behave well in this very calm and safe environment and show positive attitudes towards learning. They form close bonds with their friends, working together outside to build a dam to stop the water, and sharing toys. They are independent, serving their own lunch and spreading butter on their crackers at snack time.

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

• Staff feel supported by a highly effective, caring management team. Regular meetings and daily 'checking in' ensure they are happy and in the best place to help children develop and grow. The management team is reflective, always evaluating what it is doing well and where it could make improvements.
• Parents love the nursery. They say the low staff turnover makes them feel confident that staff know their children and families well. They feel listened to, with any concerns they may have quickly addressed by the strong management team. However, parents are not always clear what about they can do to further help their children's learning at home.
• Children have many opportunities to learn mathematical concepts and hear mathematical words throughout the day. For example, staff ask children if they would like 'more' crackers at snack time and tell children they need 'one more' as they have only had one cracker. Pre-schoolers learn about shapes, with both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes available to the children, to further challenge those that need it.
• Babies are encouraged to be inquisitive and curious, with attentive staff and exciting resources. They explore treasure baskets with interested staff who talk about what they are seeing, helping to build babies' vocabulary. Babies are excited when they pick an object out of the song basket and staff sing their chosen song, helping to build their self-esteem.
• Staff are aspirational and provide children with an interesting curriculum that builds on what they know and can do. They plan exciting activities that keep children motivated to learn. For example, pre-school children cut up real food in the home corner, learning how to cut safely and then using the food in their role play. Any gaps in children's learning are addressed and all children are making good progress.
• The setting has great links with the local community and specialist teams. For example, it links with health visitors and speech and language therapists to get extra support for children, when needed. Staff and children visit the local residential home, singing to the residents. This continued during COVID-19, with the children singing from the garden.
• Children have great opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. The kind staff get down to children's level and engage in conversations, taking into account children's views and ideas. They regularly read children stories and sing songs. Children have free access to a variety of fiction and non-fiction books in every room.
• Children learn about healthy eating and keeping themselves safe. All children wash their hands in clean water before eating, including babies who wash their hands in individual bowls of soapy water. Children have a very healthy choice of food at snacks and mealtimes, with the nursery placing a high emphasis on healthy lifestyles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further improve partnership with parents to support children's learning at home.