The Bridge Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager's vision of ensuring 'children get the best education and start to life' is what makes this nursery so special. The atmosphere buzzes with children's excitement and their laughter fills the air. At the heart of the nursery's success is the support in place for children's personal, social and emotional development. All children are confident, resilient and independent individuals. They form close bonds with staff and develop secure friendships with their peers. They are happy, content and safe. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents do not enter the nursery as they usually would. Children wave their parents off at the front door and embrace staff with cuddles.

Children show positive attitudes towards their learning and behave well. Pre-school children enact roles of dentists and talk about the importance of brushing their teeth. Toddlers giggle with delight while building sand castles and show fascination while looking at books. Babies enjoy exploring sensory toys and beam with delight while staff sing nursery rhymes to them. Staff support children's physical skills well. Children balance on apparatus with good coordination. They enjoy playing ring games and become enthralled while making 'magical mud pies'. They enjoy making dens outdoors and excitedly talk about visiting cows at the local field.

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

• Leaders are relentless in their pursuit to bring about change and strive for excellence. Significant improvements have been made by leaders since the last Ofsted inspection. They work closely with the local authority and external professionals to support continual improvement. Self-evaluation is accurate and leaders aspire for the nursery to be a beacon of exceptional practice.
• Leaders have developed a new and ambitious curriculum, which follows educational research and what they already know about children. Overall, activities build on what children already know and can do. However, some staff are not fully aware of what leaders intend them to teach children. This means that, on occasion, staff do not provide children with greater levels of challenge in their learning.
• Staff share their love of reading with children. Storytime is a joyous occasion, where children cannot contain their excitement to choose a book. Staff are animated and allow children to select props. Children relish these moments and become enthralled while anticipating what will happen next in the story.
• Parental partnerships are strong. Parents receive newsletters and regular updates about their children's time at the nursery. Leaders obtain parental views through questionnaires and act upon suggestions to improve the nursery.
• Staff well-being is a priority of leaders. Staff morale is high and staff say that they are 'proud to work here'. Staff have frequent supervision sessions and appraisal meetings. However, leaders do not always provide staff with incisive feedback about their interactions with children, in order to raise standards in their practice to a higher level.
• Leaders ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language receive the support that they rightly deserve. Intervention plans include the views of parents and external professionals. Children make good progress and they acquire the necessary skills in readiness for school.
• In the main, children are confident communicators. They engage in deep conversations with their friends and staff. They use a range of language, such as when describing the texture of fruit and vegetables as 'smooth' and 'prickly'. However, some staff do not always use the correct vocabulary and letter sounds when interacting with children.
• Children in receipt of additional funding receive high levels of support. Leaders use funding to take children on trips to places that they might not usually go. These include visits to the local Fusilier museum and rides on public transport.
• Care practices are good. Staff follow stringent hygiene routines and teach children about healthy living. A highly effective oral hygiene scheme is in place and children understand the importance of brushing their teeth. Children behave well and show positive attitudes towards their learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to better understand the curriculum intent, in order to provide children with greater levels of challenge in their learning
• provide staff with even more support during supervision sessions, in order to raise their practice to a higher level
• strengthen children's communication and language development, by supporting staff to consistently use the correct vocabulary to children.