Bear’s House Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children arrive and confidently separate from their main carers to start their busy day at nursery. Children happily seek out their friends to join them in a wide range of activities and experiences.

However, the curriculum offer is variable. Some staff demonstrate a good understanding of how to plan and implement effective educational programmes in line with their individual needs. Children with special educational needs and /or disabilities (SEND) equally have their needs well supported.

This helps children make good progress. However, other staff do not have a clear understanding of how to ensure that all children rece...ive purposeful engagement to contribute towards their learning. At times, staff have their attention drawn to the most able and chatty children, which means quieter children are often missed.

They struggle to settle to any particular activity or play experience and have limited interactions. Despite this, children demonstrate confidence as they set themselves self-chosen challenges. For example, older children work together to organise an egg-and-spoon race in the garden.

Staff teach children the rules for the race, and children show resilience and concentration when trying to keep their egg on the spoon. They delight in their successes. Staff work closely with the babies to help them feel safe and secure.

Babies show curiosity as they explore the resources available to them in their playroom. Staff set up tabletop activities and provide walkers to encourage babies to stand and take first steps. Staff praise their efforts and provide continued support.

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

Leaders seek the views of children, staff and parents to help them reflect and evaluate the quality of their provision. The manager identifies their strengths and areas to work on and has an action plan in place. This is to contribute towards driving continued improvement.

However, there are discrepancies where senior leaders do not place a sharp enough focus to ensure that processes are carried out and checked. As a result, there are some inconsistencies in recruitment processes, some confusion around allegation management and accident management and a variable curriculum offer.The curriculum offer is not fully embedded across the whole provision.

The manager recognises that she has newer staff that need more support to develop their knowledge. She uses her extensive qualifications to offer less-experienced staff the support they need to help them plan and implement educational programmes. However, variations in the quality mean not all children receive the help they need to make consistently good progress.

The most able children engage well, with good levels of language to express their ideas. However, there are other children who wander around the room disengaged, not noticed by staff.Overall, children generally behave well.

There are occasions when children struggle with taking turns and sharing with their friends, which requires adult support. Staff explain to children the impact of their behaviour and help them find solutions to overcome minor altercations. Due to the curriculum offer being variable, this directly impacts on children's attitudes to learning.

Some children struggle to maintain concentration and flit from one play experience to another without gaining any benefit, which can go unnoticed by staff.All children have a key person in place who takes time to work closely with them to identify their care and learning needs. Staff work with families and colleagues to share information about their key children through a variety of documentation.

This also helps to maintain continuity of care when a member of staff is absent. Staff show a genuine interest in children, asking them questions while they are playing and seeking their views during story times to get to know them well. Staff have not fully explored their key children's cultural heritage to help children learn about their similarities and differences and what makes them unique.

The special educational needs coordinator has very good knowledge of the children with SEND. She ensures that children receive timely interventions through making referrals to external professionals and implementing strategies to help them catch up.Staff seek ways to expose children to opportunities to develop their communication and language skills.

This includes asking children open-ended questions, reading them stories, singing songs and narrating their experiences linked to their play. This helps to contribute towards building children's vocabulary.Partnership with parents is effective at this provision.

Staff work closely with parents to provide feedback about their child's time at the nursery. This includes daily feedback, two-year-old check assessments and parent meetings. Leaders and staff offer suggestions on how parents can further support children's learning.

This includes a lending library so parents can borrow books to share with their children at home. Parents comment favourably about the provision and are happy with the care their children receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure senior leaders have sharper oversight to ensure all required processes and checks are in place for the safe and efficient running of the provision 26/08/2024 develop staff's teaching practice so all children receive good quality learning experiences and ensure quieter children are not overlooked.26/09/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to gain a greater understanding of families' cultural heritage and use this information to tailor the care and education offered to children.