Bovington Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff prioritise children's mental health and emotional well-being, recognising that this underpins children's behaviour and their attitude to learning. Throughout the nursery, children are very happy, extremely busy and eager to learn. Even young children learn to manage their feelings and will take themselves off to the 'chill out zone' if they want to calm down.

Children show by their attitudes and their response to their friends and to adults that they feel secure and safe in this welcoming nursery. Older children take part in the 'mile a day' challenge with great enthusiasm. Children chat to each other and to staff as they... walk.

They move in different ways, walking, running, skipping or moving like a crab. They get warm after a few laps, taking off their coats and hats. They look at each other, noticing how their cheeks are pink and their hearts are beating faster.

Children explain, 'I like walking. It makes me smile and now mummy and I go for more walks.'

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

The ambitious and committed manager has enabled and encouraged all staff in the nursery to attend the same training over the last year.

The focus of this training is to help staff prevent and treat any behaviour problems and promote children's social and emotional development to support their play and learning. As a result, there is a consistent approach to enabling children of all ages to learn the skills they need to manage their feelings and recognise and respect the views of others. This has had a significant impact on children's behaviour and their attitudes to learning, which are exemplary.

The partnership with parents is a strong feature of this nursery. Parents acknowledge and appreciate the effective communication between them and their child's key person about their child's development. Staff work well with parents to manage issues ranging from potty training, children's language, and behaviour management.

The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to develop and implement effective strategies to enable children who need extra help to reach their potential and make good progress from their starting points.This is an inclusive nursery, where all children are valued.

There are resources and activities to support children who speak English as an additional language. However, these resources are not used regularly and effectively to enable children to hear and speak their home language as they play, or to help other children learn that some families speak different languages.Babies enjoy a warm, nurturing environment, where staff support their emotional security with skill and sensitivity.

The effective setting-in procedures provide time for each child to settle at their own pace to ensure they feel safe and confident when they first start at nursery. These very young children demonstrate high levels of confidence and are eager to explore and investigate.Older children gain the skills they need to move to school.

They enjoy making marks and writing for a purpose; they recognise numbers and count well. These pre-school children are engaged in their play, eager to learn and manage their personal care well. They have high levels of confidence and self-esteem and play cooperatively by sharing and taking turns.

They are very kind to each other.At times, the floor in the baby room is cluttered and this limits babies' free movement as they learn to develop their emerging walking skills.The manager values her staff and supports their mental and physical health, professional development and well-being.

The recent training programme has inspired staff to develop their practice and they clearly enjoy their work. Overall, they react quickly and effectively to the needs of children and parents, adapting the environment when they observe the children at play. For example, they improved the home corners, introducing real lamps, telephones, cutlery and crockery, to entice the children and invite meaningful and purposeful imaginative play.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff complete safeguarding training, and they are confident in identifying signs that may indicate a child is at risk. The four designated safeguarding lead practitioners have attended training at a higher level and staff know how to refer any concerns.

All play areas are safe and secure, enabling children to play and learn in safety. Even very young children enjoy opportunities to challenge themselves on climbing equipment and learn how to manage risks for themselves.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make better use of the resources available to enable children to hear and use their home languages as they play, and to help all children understand that some people speak languages other than English to communicate review and improve the environment in the babies' room to provide consistently clear space for babies developing their emerging walking skills.