Bunnybrookes Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children of all ages enjoy a wide range of messy play.

For example, staff provide babies with paints, while toddlers have tremendous fun making fruit tea. Older children create books based on their favourite stories, such as 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. They begin writing their name as they explore sounds and letters.

Additional resources, such as bowls, spoons and small pots, provide opportunities for children to extend their imaginative ideas while retelling a story.Children are exceptionally happy and settled. Babies are greeted warmly by their key person, who provides soothing cuddles and reassurance.

...>This helps them to separate from their parents with confidence. Older children show great care and concern for each other. For example, when a child falls, others immediately check they are okay.

Children provide reassurance and show genuine care. All children behave very well. They take turns to share resources and collaborate during imaginary games, which helps them to develop very good negotiating and social skills.

Children have excellent opportunities to extend their personal independence. Staff have high expectations and encourage children to take responsibility for their environment. For example, children tidy up at the end of the session and learn to recycle.

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

Children are very confident communicators. Babies babble happily in response to their key person, while toddlers use newly learned words to point out characters and objects in picture books. During spontaneous group activities, staff engage all children very effectively, ensuring everyone who wants to can take part.

Babies thoroughly enjoy sensory experiences. They have fun exploring very large, recyclable water bottles filled with shiny paper, rice and pasta. Staff encourage babies to roll the bottles.

Babies laugh with glee as they watch the sparkly paper tumble around and listen to pasta hitting plastic. Staff praise the babies for their efforts, which encourages them to rock the bottles forwards and backwards. This helps them to develop balance and hand-to-eye coordination.

All children make good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff share information with other professionals involved in children's care and follow tailored learning plans that help to support children's development. Good tracking systems are implemented to check that all children make progress.

Any gaps in learning are identified and action is taken to minimise or close these quickly.The manager and staff make particularly good use of additional funds to increase the wide range of opportunities that support children's interests and learning needs. For example, recently the outside play area has been considerably enhanced.

This now provides additional writing and mathematical huts, as well as an extensively equipped mud kitchen, orchard and storytelling areas. Children enjoy daily access to the very large nursery garden, which provides endless opportunities for them to explore and develop their physical skills and general knowledge.Staff are exceptionally good at sharing information with parents in many different formats.

This helps to support continuity in children's care and promotes shared learning at home. Parents praise the manager and nursery team very highly. They comment that they are extremely happy with the care their children receive.

Parents enjoy opportunities to socialise and meet other families through the nursery coffee mornings and many other organised social events.Successful partnerships with staff at local schools have been fostered by the manager and her team. This helps to support children as they make the move to full-time education.

Teachers visit the nursery to meet the children and speak to their key person to discuss the children's progress and friendship groups. This helps to promote continuity in children's ongoing learning and development.The manager completes regular supervision meetings with staff to help them develop their practice.

She encourages them to undertake further training relevant to their role. This helps to improve and extend staff's knowledge and teaching skills. While teaching is good, the current system for planning children's next steps for learning is not yet robust enough to ensure that they are consistently challenged as far as possible.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager ensures that all staff have a good understanding of child protection matters. Excellent attention to monitoring ongoing training helps to ensure that this remains up to date.

Changes to written policies are shared with parents and staff. This helps to ensure that they are kept well informed about safeguarding legislation. Staff's knowledge is regularly tested during meetings.

Staff know how to record and report child protection concerns to help protect children's welfare effectively. The setting is kept secure to ensure that children remain safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: refine the arrangements for planning children's next steps for learning.