Bright Horizons Watford Day Nursery and Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are excited to arrive at this friendly nursery. They are eager to join their friends and explore the activities which the management team and staff carefully plan. Children of all ages form close bonds with staff.

Babies seek out their key staff for affection when tired. Older children cuddle up to staff for stories and enjoy nurturing interactions during activities. For example, toddlers giggle and squeal when playing hide and seek with staff.

Children of all ages demonstrate high levels of curiosity. Staff encourage this with their nurturing support during planned activities. For example, staff clap and chee...r babies when exploring the taste and smell of citrus fruits in a sensory activity.

Toddlers are fascinated by the effects they create in a painting activity. Staff encourage them to pour their own paints and explore the textures and colours with their hands.Children across the nursery show high levels of confidence.

Staff support this by offering praise for children's efforts and achievements. Children engage well with visitors to the setting. Toddlers ask them to pose for their drawings and encourage them to join in their modelling dough activity.

Pre-school children chat enthusiastically about their favourite football teams and are keen to find out those of visitors.

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

Children's transitions through the nursery are well planned. They spend a significant amount of time in their new environments prior to moving permanently.

Detailed information about children's interests and progress is shared between staff. This supports children to settle swiftly and continue to make good progress.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.

They develop particularly close relationships with their key staff, and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure in their care. Staff work closely with other professionals to develop high-quality teaching skills to meet the specific needs of children. For example, staff work closely with sign language specialists to support the development of children who have limited verbal communication.

Staff support children's understanding of appropriate behaviour well. Children are involved in creating 'promises'. These are the rules they follow to keep one another safe and happy.

Children and staff use a familiar character to help identify activities and resources that could be hazardous. For example, when engaging in a cooking activity, children use 'Candyfloss', the safety mascot, to support their understanding of the possible risks of kitchen equipment.The management team reflect well on all areas of their practice.

They seek feedback from parents, children and other professionals, to identify areas for development. For example, managers are enhancing the garden area to support the development of children with limited access to outdoor play.Partnerships with parents is strong.

Management and staff gather comprehensive information about children's early experiences. This supports children to settle swiftly. Parents are highly complimentary about the care staff provide.

They comment on the high-quality communication they receive about children's learning and development. Parents also value the practical and emotional support staff offer when they have concerns about their children.Staff monitor children's learning well.

They conduct regular assessments and have good knowledge of children's interests, abilities and needs. Staff plan engaging activities based upon this information. For example, babies delight at the songs their key staff sing with them during music sessions.

Older children respond well to the thought provoking questions staff ask about their emotions when creating crumpet faces. However, not all staff consistently demonstrate such strong knowledge of how children learn in their interactions with children.The provider places sharp focus on supporting the well-being and development of all staff.

The manager works hard to create an environment where staff feel valued and relaxed. For example, she has recently established a calm, peaceful area for staff to reflect in. The manager conducts regular appraisals on all staff to identify areas for development.

Staff have access to a variety of online and face-to-face training opportunities to enhance their knowledge. However, methods of coaching are not yet sufficient to support staff to consistently identify areas for improvement in their practice.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Management and staff demonstrate good knowledge of the signs and symptoms of abuse. They confidently discuss the correct process to follow when reporting these concerns to the appropriate authorities. The provider has robust recruitment and induction processes in place to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children.

All staff complete regular safeguarding and first-aid training in line with local authority guidelines. This supports them to keep their knowledge up to date with changes in legislation.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nensure all staff consistently support children's learning and development with high-quality, age-appropriate interactions nenhance current methods of coaching and mentoring to support staff to raise the quality of their practice to a consistently high level.