Bear’s House

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happy and eager to enter the nursery. They confidently and independently choose what they would like to do from the range of experiences available. The baby room is calm and welcoming.

Staff plan experiences to help babies to develop their social, communication and physical skills. Babies learn through hands-on sensory experiences. They enjoy exploring lights in the sensory room and engage in plenty of tummy time opportunities to support their core strength.

The older children's room is fun and vibrant, and children enjoy a range of experiences which help them to grow and develop. For instance, they are... engaged and explore paint using their senses. Staff differentiate the activity to meet children's individual ages and stages of development.

Older children explore mixing colours, while younger children explore the texture of the paint on their hands. Children feel safe and secure. They are extremely confident in this warm and loving environment.

Staff genuinely enjoy their time with children, who demonstrate a strong sense of belonging in this setting. Staff have high expectations for children. Children are very sociable with each other and staff.

Staff encourage them to share experiences from home with their friends. Overall, the curriculum offers children exciting and challenging activities. They are continuously engaged in their play, especially when staff have linked children's learning experiences to their interests.

Children have plenty of opportunities to be physically active. They go for walks in the local community and to the park, visit the library and go on bus rides to different museums.

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

Staff give children's emotional well-being a high priority.

They get to know children extremely well. Staff take great care in ensuring that children's transitions into the setting are seamless. They step in when they see unwanted behaviour and ask children to stop.

However, staff do not consistently help children to understand the reasons why some behaviour is not appropriate towards others.Staff support children's communication and language development well, overall. Children confidently chat to staff about their interests, experiences and what they would like to do during their time at nursery.

For instance, after singing about a caterpillar, they link this to their knowledge a caterpillar story and decide that they would like to paint some butterflies. However, on occasion, staff's eagerness means that children do not always have enough time to express their own views and suggestions.Staff weave books, stories and singing into the heart of setting.

They constantly sing and talk to babies as they play and engage in routines, such as nappy changing. Older children enjoy listening to a wide range of stories. They are able to anticipate what comes next in familiar stories and join in with key phrases.

For example, children act out a 'bear hunt' story in the garden. They move in a range of ways as they pretend to go over, under and through different areas.Older children independently meet their own self-care needs, such as washing their hands before they eat.

They help themselves to a drink of milk and fresh fruit for snack as they learn about the importance of having a healthy and balanced diet. Staff encourage babies to begin to feed themselves to promote their independence and developing self-care skills.Staff quickly identify where children might need additional support and put plans in place to help them to achieve.

They work closely with other professionals to make sure that children get the support they need. The manager has established a good working relationship with the local health visitor and uses the progress check for children aged between two and three years effectively, to assess children's progress and identify their next steps in learning.Partnerships with parents are good.

Staff share what children are doing and learning in the setting using a range of strategies. For example, they complete daily diaries and learning books for all children. Staff give parents detailed verbal feedback and share photos of children engaging in activities on a parent hub and private social media page.

Parents are very complimentary about the setting and praise the dedicated staff and management team.The manager is passionate about early years and wants all children to succeed. She works closely with staff and monitors their performance well.

The manager completes regular supervision sessions and staff observations, which she uses to set targets for staff to work towards. This helps to enhance staff's practice and extend the opportunities they provide for children. Staff have access to a wide range of online training opportunities to help them develop and enhance their knowledge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager has safe recruitment procedures in place to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff are clear in their role and responsibilities to protect children.

They have a secure understanding of child protection policies and procedures, and know the possible signs that a child may be at risk from harm. Staff keep their training up to date with current guidance, legislation and broader aspects of safeguarding. Staff deploy themselves effectively to ensure that children are closely supervised and supported in their care and learning.

The premises are safe and secure. The manager completes thorough risk assessments to minimise hazards to children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support children to gain a better understanding of the impact their behaviour may have on others provide children with time to respond to questions in order to fully support them to express their own ideas and suggestions.