Bright Kids @ Mortimer

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and at ease in nursery.

They confidently choose activities from the well-resourced indoor and outdoor areas. Staff are caring and attentive. This helps children who are new to the nursery settle very quickly.

Children are motivated and willing to have a go. They concentrate while they make potions from sticks, leaves and flower petals in the 'Autumn Café'. They persevere, trying different ways to open a conker, so that they can take a look inside.

They show high levels of curiosity while scooping out the contents of a pumpkin, exploring the texture of the pulp and seeds they find. Younger c...hildren explore colour mixing while they print pictures by dipping apples in paint.Leaders want the best for all children and take advice from other professionals to enhance practice.

For example, they welcomed support to discover ways to help children to catch up in learning lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. This inspired them to make significant changes in the activities provided, the learning environment and routines. There are now increased opportunities for children to lead their own learning, make choices in their play and develop their ideas.

Children are now making more rapid progress.

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

Staff generally know what they want children to learn next. They plan a range of appealing activities that support children's all-round development very well, overall.

However, their teaching does not always precisely match children's learning needs. For example, two-year-old children find it difficult to use the tools provided to scoop out a pumpkin. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, however, benefit from highly detailed plans to support their learning.

This contributes to the excellent progress that they make.Curriculum plans are sequenced well, overall, to promote children's learning. For example, staff know that children need to develop their big muscles before moving on to finer physical skills.

They encourage children to roll, snip and squeeze while they play with gingerbread scented dough, to strengthen their hands in preparation for early writing.Staff place great emphasis on encouraging children's love of reading. Staff share familiar stories and bring songs and rhymes to life with appealing props and actions.

Children join in with enthusiasm. They extend their vocabulary and develop a good understanding of new words. They speak with confidence and are articulate.

Leaders prioritise staff development, which is focused on improving outcomes for children. For instance, staff have developed their understanding of how to support children's mathematical learning. Children show a particular strength in this area.

There is an embedded culture of self-reflection and commitment to personal development across the staff team. This contributes to an excellent capacity to drive the quality of education to the highest levels.Staff gather detailed information from parents when children first begin to attend.

This helps to inform bespoke plans that meet children's care needs precisely. Parents describe the nursery as 'amazing' and say they 'cannot fault it'. They feel confident to share suggestions with staff and appreciate the good communication about what children have learned in nursery.

Children behave well. They pay attention to staff and understand the boundaries that are in place to keep them safe. Children develop early friendships and play happily together.

For example, two children pretend to be parents in the role-play home area, feeding and dressing the dolls.Staff help children to develop their independence. Children learn to manage tasks by themselves, for example putting on their coats and washing their hands.

They very much enjoy the responsibility of helping to set the table for lunch.Staff provide activities linked to a diverse range of customs and celebrations. However, they have not considered ways to deepen children's understanding of families and communities beyond their own.

Activities are, at times, brief. Children's experiences and resources do not consistently reflect the diversity of the local community and wider world.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have excellent knowledge of how to safeguard children, which they share with the staff team. Staff know how to identify, respond to and report signs that indicate a child may be at risk from harm. The manager is alert to families who need support.

She works closely with other agencies to get them the help they need. This helps to protect children's overall health and well-being. Recruitment procedures are robust.

Rigorous checks help to ensure that staff are suitable to care for children. Risk assessments are shared with staff, who are vigilant to potential hazards in the nursery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus teaching precisely on what children need to learn next even more consistently to help all children to make the best possible progress in their learning nextend the opportunities that children have to learn about, and respect, the similarities and differences between themselves and others, and to celebrate what makes them unique.

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